Tommy Lahiff

Tommy Lahiff

Personal information
Full name	Thomas Lahiff
Date of birth	31 July 1910
Original team	Port Melbourne
Height/Weight	168 cm / 68 kg
Position(s)	Rover
Playing career¹
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1935-37 1942 1942-44 Total -	Essendon South Melbourne Hawthorn	49 (67) 6 (10) 19 (23) 74 (100)
Coaching career³
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1944 1965	Hawthorn South Melbourne	18 (2) 1 (0)
¹ Playing statistics to end of 1944 season .
Career highlights

Thomas 'Tommy' Lahiff (31 July 1910 - 8 December 1996) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon, South Melbourne and Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) before becoming a successful coach and radio commentator.

Lahiff, a small rover who could play forward, started his career at Brighton before moving to Port Melbourne. He was recruited to Essendon in 1935 and kicked 32 goals in his debut season. In 1938 he returned to Port Melbourne and captain-coached them to the 1941 VFA premiership.

The VFA competition was suspended during the war so Lahiff had another spell in the VFL, joining South Melbourne. He had a memorable debut match for his new club when he kicked five goals, against Collingwood at Princes Park. His teammate Lindsay White, also making his debut with his second club, kicked seven. After just six games he crossed to Hawthorn mid season and in 1944 was appointed coach of the Hawks for the year but could only register two wins.

The rover finished up at Port Melbourne in 1945 and retired, having played 178 games from his VFA debut in 1930. He had won 'Best and fairests' in 1934 and 1940. In 2003 he was named as a forward pocket in Port Melbourne's official 'Team of the Century'.

He continued to coach in the 1960s, firstly at Port Melbourne in 1962 and then as caretaker coach of South Melbourne during the 1965 VFL season.

References

Tommy Lahiff's statistics from AFL Tables
Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

Coaches of the Hawthorn Football Club

1925: Hall • 1926–1927: Minogue • 1928: Sutton • 1929: Chadwick • 1930–1931: Harris • 1932: Jackson • 1933: Rademacher • 1933–1934: Twomey • 1935–1938: McAlpine • 1939: Thomas • 1940–1941: Mills • 1942–1943: Cazaly • 1944: Lahiff • 1945–1946: Shea • 1947–1949: Albiston • 1950–1951: McCaskill • 1952–1959: Hale • 1960–1963: Kennedy • 1964–1965: Arthur • 1966: O'Donohue • 1967–1976: Kennedy • 1973: Simonds • 1977–1980: Parkin • 1981–1987: Jeans • 1988: Joyce • 1989–1990: Jeans • 1991–1993: Joyce • 1994–1995: Knights • 1996–1999: Judge • 2000–2004: Schwab • 2001: Connolly • 2004: McDonald • 2005–: Clarkson

Italics denote caretaker coach

Coaches of the South Melbourne Football Club/Sydney Swans

1909: Ricketts • 1910–1911: Thomas • 1912: Ricketts • 1913: Kelly • 1914–1917: Belcher • 1918–1919: Elms/Howson • 1920: Hiskins • 1921: Wood • 1922: Cazaly • 1923–1928: Pannam • 1929: Caldwell • 1929: Fleiter • 1930–1931: Scanlan • 1932: Leonard • 1933–1936: Bisset • 1935: Diggins • 1937–1938: Cazaly • 1939: Matthews • 1940: Baggott • 1941–1944: Kelly • 1945–1948: Adams • 1948–1949: Hale • 1950–1952: Lane • 1953: Nash • 1954–1957: Matthews • 1958–1959: Clegg • 1960–1961: Faul • 1962–1964: McMahen • 1965–1966: Skilton • 1965: Lahiff • 1967–1968: Miller • 1969–1972: Smith • 1973–1975: John • 1976–1977: Stewart • 1978: Tuddenham • 1979–1981: Stewart • 1982–1984: Quade • 1984: Franklin • 1984: Hammond • 1985: Northey • 1986–1988: Hafey • 1989–1991: Kinnear • 1992–1993: Buckenara • 1993: Scott • 1993–1995: Barassi • 1996–2002: Eade • 2002–2010: Roos • 2011–: Longmire

Italics denote caretaker coach

Persondata
Name	Lahiff, Tommy
Alternative names
Short description	Australian rules footballer
Date of birth	31 July 1910
Place of birth
Date of death	8 December 1996
Place of death