| Jim Cleary | |
| Fullname: | James Leslie William Cleary |
| Nickname: | Gentleman Jim[1] |
| Birth Date: | 13 July 1914 |
| Birth Place: | Carlton, Victoria |
| Originalteam: | Thornbury CYMS |
| Height: | 183 cm |
| Weight: | 89 kg |
| Statsend: | 1948 |
| Years1: | 1934–1948 |
| Club1: | South Melbourne |
| Games Goals1: | 222 (6) |
Jim Cleary (13 July 1914 – 2 May 1993) was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Cleary played as a fullback and won two best and fairest awards for South Melbourne, in 1942 and 1944. He was a highly regarded player, and attracted lucrative offers – an undisclosed amount from Brighton in 1940,[2] and £400 from Camberwell in 1945[3] – to cross to the Victorian Football Association during the throw-pass era, but chose to remain with South Melbourne.
Cleary's reputation as a fair player earned him the nickname "Gentleman Jim";[4] this did not stop him from being suspended for eight matches for a striking offence in the notoriously violent 1945 VFL Grand Final – in an incident team-mate Laurie Nash later described as "one of the few honest accidents in the game".[5]
He left the club in 1949 and went on to become captain and coach of Victorian Football Association club Port Melbourne; he coached there from 1949 until 1952, leading the club to consecutive minor premierships and Grand Final losses in 1951 and 1952; he then coached at fellow VFA clubs Brunswick (from 1953 until 1958) and Dandenong (from 1959 until 1961), coaching a total of 267 VFA games. He remained involved in the game even after retiring as a coach, becoming a regular panelist on World of Sport.