Ron Clegg

Ron "Smokey" Clegg (17 November 1927 – 23 August 1990) was an Australian rules footballer in the (then) Victorian Football League.

Ron Clegg
Personal information
Date of birth 17 November 1927
Date of death 23 August 1990(1990-08-23) (aged 62)
Original team(s) South Melbourne Under 19's
Height 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 84 kg (185 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1945-1954, 1956-1960 South Melbourne 231 (156)
Coaching career
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1958–1959 South Melbourne 36 (15–21–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1960.
Career highlights
  • Brownlow Medal 1949
  • Runner Up Brownlow Medal 1951
  • South Melbourne Best & Fairest 1948, 1949, 1951
  • South Melbourne captain 1953-1954, 1957-1960
  • South Melbourne/Sydney Swans Team of the Century
  • Victorian representative (15 games, 7 goals)
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Clegg was recruited from the South Melbourne Under 19's after winning the 1944 Melbourne Boys Football League's best and fairest award[1] and was best on ground in the 1944 grand final for South Melbourne.[2]

Richmond were very keen to secure Clegg's signature in 1944, before he settled on South Melbourne.[3][4][5]

Clegg debuted in 1945 and from early on South Melbourne knew they had a star in the making[6] and he played in South Melbourne's losing 1945 VFL grand final.[7]

By the time Clegg was 18 years old he had established himself as a gifted senior player in the VFL in 1946.[8]

A brilliant key position player at either centre half-forward or centre half-back, he was awarded the Brownlow Medal in 1949[9] while playing with the then South Melbourne Football Club and was runner up in the Brownlow in 1951.[10]

He won the club's Best and Fairest award three times, in 1948,[11] 1949[12] and 1951[13] and was runner in the 1953 award to follower, Jim Taylor[14] and again in 1954 to Eddie Lane.[15]

Clegg sought a clearance to New Norfolk in early 1951 and was refused a clearance,[16] then was later appointed as vice captain of South Melbourne FC in 1951.[17] Clegg won the 1951 London Stores Best Player Award in the VFL.[18]

In 1951, Clegg took an incredible 32 marks against Fitzroy at the Lakeside Oval.[19]

Clegg was appointed as club captain in 1953 and also lead the club in 1954 too.[20]

In 1955, Clegg was captain-coach of the North Wagga Football Club in the Albury & District Football League,[21] winning the £50 - Border Mail Newspaper / Albury & DFL Footballer of the Year Award, before returning to South Melbourne in 1956.[22]

Clegg represented Victoria on 15 occasions in the key positions at either half forward or half back.

In 1961 and 1962, Clegg was captain-coach of the Brunswick Football Club.

Clegg played 42 first eleven games of Victorian Premier Cricket for South Melbourne between 1942 and 1947[23] before giving it away to concentrate on VFL football. Clegg made his debut in round one, 1942 as a 14 year old left hand bat.[24]

In 1996, Clegg was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.[25]

In 2003, Clegg was named at centre half back in South Melbourne's Team of the Century.[26]

References
  1. "1944 - Ron Clegg wins best and fairest trophy". Record. 23 September 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  2. "1944 - Ron Clegg best on ground". Record. 23 September 1923. p. 3. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  3. "1944 - Richmond & South Junior". Record. 27 May 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  4. "1944 - Ron Clegg a coming star". Record. 12 August 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  5. "1944 - Promising boys impress officials". Record. 19 August 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  6. "1945 - Promising Recruits". The Age. 9 June 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  7. "1945 - Carlton Premiers". Record. 6 October 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  8. "1946 - Key player at 18". The Age. 20 June 1946. p. 8. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  9. "1949 - Ron Clegg's Year". Record. 3 September 1949. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  10. "1951 - Two-men contest from start". The Argus. 6 September 1951. p. 9. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  11. "1948 - Ron Clegg, winner of best & fairest". Record. 2 October 1948. p. 1. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  12. "1949 - Clegg, Donald & Austen best players". The Argus. 2 September 1949. p. 18. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  13. "1951 - Ron Clegg wins £250". Record. 8 September 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  14. "1953 - Taylor best at South". The Argus. 4 September 1953. p. 16. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  15. "1954 - Eddie Lane wins award at South". The Age. 10 September 1954. p. 10. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  16. "1951 - South emphatic over Ron Clegg". Record. 10 March 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  17. "1951 - I won't play again". The Herald. 20 April 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  18. "1951 - Two share football award". The Age. 7 September 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  19. Richard Davis (11 September 2012). "Almanac Footy History: Clegg's Match". The Football Almanac. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  20. "1953 - He's skipper at South". Weekly Times. 15 April 1953. p. 67. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  21. "1954 - Clegg's move to North Wagga". Record. 22 December 1954. p. 2. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  22. "1956 - Clegg will go to South". The Argus. 29 February 1956. p. 26. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  23. "Victorian Premier Cricket Register". Victorian Cricket Association. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  24. "1942 - The final call". Record. 10 October 1942. p. 3. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  25. "1996 - AFL - Hall of Fame". AFL. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  26. "2003 - Team of the Century". Sydney Swans Football Club. 2003. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  • Ross, John (1999). The Australian Football Hall of Fame. Australia: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 50. ISBN 0-7322-6426-X.


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