Reg Coyle Explained

Reg Coyle
Fullname:Reginald Francis Coyle
Birth Date:1 October 1917
Birth Place:South Melbourne, Victoria
Death Place:Heidelberg, Victoria
Originalteam:South Melbourne City
Debutdate:1937
Debutteam:South Melbourne
Debutopponent:Carlton
Debutstadium:Lake Oval
Height:173 cm
Weight:76 kg
Statsend:1946
Years1:1937–1941
Club1:South Melbourne (VFL)
Games Goals1:53 (1)
Years2:1945
Club2:South Melbourne (VFL)
Games Goals2:9 (2)
Years3:1946
Club3:Port Melbourne (VFA)
Games Goals3:3 (0)

Reginald Francis Coyle (1 October 1917 – 26 April 1998) was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in the 1930s and 1940s.

Family

The son of Reginald Charles Coyle (1889–1940),[1] and Ellen Cecilia Coyle (1885–1963), née Sullivan, Reginald Francis Coyle was born at South Melbourne, Victoria on 1 October 1917.

He married Annie Veronica Cawley (1918–1989) in 1940. They had six children.

Football

South Melbourne (VFL)

Coyle was recruited from the local club South Melbourne City (he had won the competition's beat and fairest award in 1936),[2] and made his VFL debut for South Melbourne against Carlton at the Lake Oval in Round 12 1937.[3]

A wingman, Coyle had played 53 senior games by the end of the 1941 season, and polled votes in the 1940 and 1941 Brownlow Medal counts.

Second AIF

He enlisted in the Second AIF in 1942,[4] and continued to play football with Army teams during his service.[5] In Queensland, in late June/early July, he was the vice-captain, and one of the team's best players, of a combined Army team (captain Charlie Van Der Bist) that beat a combined RAAF team (captain Allan La Fontaine) 17.14 (116) to 14.11 (95).[6]

South Melbourne (VFL)

On his discharge from the army (in 1945),[7] he played a further nine games in the 1945 season.

Port Melbourne (VFA)

He was cleared from South Melbourne to Port Melbourne in April 1946.[8] [9]

Military service

He enlisted in the Second AIF on 18 July 1942, and had gained the rank of Corporal by the time of his discharge on 28 March 1945.[10]

Death

He died at Heidelberg, Victoria on 26 April 1998.[11]

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11323531 Deaths: Coyle, The Argus, (Friday, 5 July 1940), p.4.
  2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11051785 Association Men at South, The Argus, (Wednesday, 24 March 1937), p.12.
  3. AFL Tables.
  4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142417269 Taylor, Percy, "Sportsman turn to War, and — Are Proud of Their Uniform: 40 from North", The Australasian, (Saturday, 22 August 1942), p.14.
  5. See, for example, Taylor, Percy, "They Work Hard, but Play when they Can: Sportsmen in the Greater Game of War", The Australasian, (Saturday, 26 September 1942), p.12, and de Lacy, H.A., "Football among Servicemen: Airmen Score in Lightning Title, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 2 October 1943), p.2.
  6. Match report and team photographs at: Army beats Air Force in Northern Area, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 3 July 1943), p.2.
  7. "Reg Coyle, who last played in 1941, and is now in the Army, has notified [South Melbourne] officials that he will be on leave shortly, and expected to play a few games": South Train Again, The Argus, (Thursday, 15 March 1945), p.13.
  8. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206100677 V.F.A. Gains Players: Four from South Melb., The Age, (Wednesday, 10 April 1946), p.7.
  9. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206102302 League Men Switch, The Age, (Saturday, 13 April 1946), p.10.
  10. Nominal Roll.
  11. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/198233417/reginald-francis-coyle Reginald Francis Coyle, at Find a Grave.