Bert Smedley Explained

Bert Smedley
Fullname:Ernest Edward Smedley
Birth Date:1 April 1905
Birth Place:Richmond, Victoria
Death Place:St Kilda, Victoria
Originalteam:Castlemaine
Position:Forward
Statsend:1931
Years1:1928–29
Club1:St Kilda
Games Goals1:19 (55)
Years2:1929,1931
Club2:Prahran (VFA)
Years3:1930
Club3:Corowa (OMFL)

Ernest Edward "Bert" Smedley (1 April 1905  - 30 November 1979)[1] was an Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the late 1920s.[2]

Smedley debuted in the 1928 VFL season and finished the year with exactly 50 goals, a tally which included six goal haul in just his second VFL game and a high of eight goals which he kicked in a win over North Melbourne at Arden Street.

The Castlemaine recruit was involved in a controversial incident in St Kilda's round 17 encounter with Melbourne.[3] In the dying seconds, a pass from Horrie Mason had found Smedley, who played on and was running into an open goals when the bell rang. The umpire however had failed to hear it and only after Smedley had kicked the goal, which put his team one point up, did the game end. Melbourne unsuccessfully appealed the result but the win wasn't enough to put St Kilda into the finals as they missed out through percentage.

During the 1929 season Smedley transferred to Prahran and then, in 1930, Smedley was appointed as Captain / Coach of the Corowa Football Club in the Ovens and Murray Football League,[4] before being cleared back to Prahran in April 1931.[5]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bert Smedley - Player Bio. Australian Football. 14 March 2015.
  2. Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
  3. Web site: Devaney. John. Saints edge home after the bell. AustralianFootball.com. 14 March 2014.
  4. Web site: 1930 - Corowa FC - Appoint Coach . Trove Newspapers . The Corowa Free Press . 1 April 1930, p. 3..
  5. Web site: 1931 - Football . The Argus . 25 June 2021 . 15 . 18 April 1931.