Jack Lyons (footballer, born 1919) explained

Jack Lyons
Fullname:John Gerard Lyons
Birth Date:1919 12, df=yes
Birth Place:Essendon, Victoria
Death Place:Craigieburn, Victoria
Originalteam:Essendon CYMS
Height:179 cm
Weight:76 kg
Position:Defender
Statsend:1948
Years1:1945–46
Club1:Essendon
Games Goals1:32 (3)
Years2:1947–48
Club2:North Melbourne
Games Goals2:24 (0)
Games Goalstotal:56 (3)

John Gerard Lyons (5 December 1919 – 21 March 1955) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1940s.[1]

Recruited locally from Essendon CYMS, Lyons played 17 of a possible 20 games in 1945, his debut season.[2] A hard running back pocket, he polled well in Essendon's "Best and Fairest" count that season to finish runner-up to Wally Buttsworth.[3] Despite being a regular member of the team for most of the 1946 VFL season, Lyons wasn't selected in the finals series and crossed over to North Melbourne at the end of the year.

Lyons missed just two games in his first year with North Melbourne and polled nine votes in the Brownlow Medal count, finishing as his club's second best vote getter.

He was killed in a car accident, aged 35, in 1955.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Holmesby. Russell. Main. Jim. The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. 2007. 978-1-920910-78-5.
  2. Web site: Jack Lyons. AFL Tables.
  3. Web site: Essendon Football Club - Team Players - Jack Lyons. Essendonfc.com.au. 27 December 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20091012085126/http://www.essendonfc.com.au/team/player-past.asp?id=556. 12 October 2009. dead.
  4. News: 'Death corner' safe at 40, but. . The Argus. Melbourne . 22 March 1955 . 24 September 2014 . 1 . National Library of Australia.