Herbie Matthews

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Herbie Matthews
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Personal information
Birth November 12, 1913,
Recruited from Fairfield
Height and weight 177 cm / 76 kg
Playing career¹
Debut 1932, South Melbourne vs. , at
Team(s) South Melbourne (1932-45)
  • 191 games, 17 goals
Coaching career¹
Team(s) South Melbourne (1939) (1954-57)
  • 90 games, 27 wins, 62 losses, 1 draw
¹ Statistics to end of 1945 season
Career highlights

  • Brownlow Medal 1940
  • 2nd Brownlow Medal 1937, 1941
  • 3rd Brownlow Medal 1936 (equal)
  • South MelbourneBest and Fairest 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1943
  • South Melbourne captain 1938-45
  • South Melbourne/Sydney Swans Team of the Century
  • Represented Victoria (4 games, 1 goal)

Herbie Matthews (November 20, 1913 - June 8, 1990) was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League. He was recruited from suburban Fairfield under the League's "father and son" rule. His father, 'Butcher' Matthews, partnered the great Roy Cazaly in South Melbourne's ruck combination of the early 1920's. Although he was smaller and slighter in build than his ruckman father, he was a strong mark and showed a ferocious drive for possession of the football. He was recruited by South Melbourne at the age of 17 in the face of determined approaches from Collingwood and his local VFA club, Northcote.[1]

A centreman/wingman with great pace, stamina and skills, he was awarded the Brownlow Medal in 1940 and was runner up on another two occasions. He won his club's best and fairest award 5 times and captained them from 1938 until 1945

In 1997 Matthews was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame and in 2003 was named on the wing in South Melbourne's official 'Team of the Century'.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Branagan, Mark and Lefebvre, Mike, Bloodstained Angels, The Rise & Fall of the Foreign Legion, 1995, self-published, Melbourne, Australia, page 7