Jack Regan

Jack Regan
Personal information
Date of birth	(1912-09-12)12 September 1912
Date of death	11 August 1988(1988-08-11) (aged 75)
Original team	Northcote Football Club
Debut	Round 3, 1930, Collingwood v. South Melbourne, at Lake Oval
Height/Weight	185 cm / 83 kg
Playing career1
Collingwood (1930–1941, 1943, 1946) 196 games, 3 goals
1 Playing statistics correct to end of 1946 season.
Career highlights
Collingwood premierships 1935, 1936 Copeland Trophy 1936 Collingwood captain 1940-41, 1943 Collingwood Team of the Century Represented Victoria 14 times Inducted into AFL Hall of Fame 1996

John Vincent "Jack" Regan (12 September 1912 in Northcote, Victoria – 11 August 1988) was an Australian rules footballer who represented Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1930s and 1940s.

Playing career

Recruited from Northcote, Regan struggled in his first few seasons and was tried in a variety of positions before he established himself at full-back.^[1]

Taking on and matching full-forwards like South Melbourne's Bob Pratt (whom Regan regarded as his most difficult opponent),^[2] Carlton's Harry Vallence, Richmond's Jack Titus and St Kilda's Bill Mohr, Regan earned his title as the "Prince of Full-backs". He was a magnificent mark and a superb kick. Archival footage shows him using the now defunct drop kick for his kick-ins. In slow motion they demonstrate his perfect balance and timing.

Regan was among the best players in the Magpies' 1935 and 1936 premiership victories, both against South Melbourne.^[3][4]

In May 1938, during a match against Carlton, Regan fell heavily and suffered a double dislocation of an elbow. He spent a week at St Vincent's Hospital,^[5] and ended up missing nine matches. He recovered in time to play a part in Collingwood's finals campaign, but again for the second successive year was on the losing end as Carlton emerged victorious with the 1938 pennant.

In January 1942 Regan announced his retirement from football to join the Salesian community at Sunbury as a lay brother.^[6]

In February 1943, with Australia now involved heavily in the Second World War, Regan enlisted with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)^[7] and served as a leading aircraftman. He returned in 1943 to captain Collingwood.

In April 1946, shortly after being discharged from military service, Regan returned to Collingwood and trained so well^[8] that he was selected for their Round 1 match of the 1946 season against Hawthorn.

In March 1947, it was announced that Regan had been appointed coach of Kalgoorlie City Football Club in Goldfields Football League.^[9]

Essendon champion Dick Reynolds considered Regan the best full-back he ever saw. In an article for Melbourne newspaper The Argus Reynolds recounted watching Regan play state football against the likes of Ken Farmer from South Australia and George Doig from Western Australia and said:

[H]e made them earn every goal they kicked against him. It was great to see the way in which he shadowed them or marked or punched the ball away, and then, with great dash and a beautiful kick, sent the ball in the right position for an attack. His quick thinking and unruffled style at critical moments made him a star full-back.^[10]

During his playing career, Regan had worked as a clerk for the Commonwealth Social Service in Melbourne.^[9] After returning to Melbourne from Kalgoorlie he continued to serve at Collingwood for many years, and was club secretary from 1969 to 1977.

Posthumous honours

Regan was among the first players inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, but was overlooked for the full-back position when the Team of the Century was named. That honour went instead to Carlton's Stephen Silvagni, to the bewilderment of many in the Australian football community.^[11] In 1997, when the Collingwood Team of the Century was announced, Regan was named at full-back.^[12]

In 2004, at the launch of the Collingwood Hall of Fame, Regan was one of 18 inducted players.^[13]

The Collingwood player who finishes fifth in the club's best-and-fairest count is awarded the Jack Regan Trophy.^[11]

References

Bibliography

• Atkinson, Graeme; Atkinson, Brant (2009). The Complete Book of AFL Finals. Australia: The Five Mile Press Pty Ltd. ISBN 978 1 74211 275 6.  Cite uses deprecated parameters (help)
• Ross, John (1999). The Australian Football Hall of Fame. Australia: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 112. ISBN 0-7322-6426-X. 
• Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2009). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers - Eighth Edition. Australia: Bas. ISBN 9781921496004.  Cite uses deprecated parameters (help)
• Terrell, John (1998). Kangas: Times and Tales of the Kalgoorlie City Football Club. Australia: Kalgoorlie City Football Club. ISBN 0 646 35462 0. 

External links

• Collingwood Team of the Century
• Jack Regan's statistics from AFL Tables
• Profile at Australian Football
• Jack Regan's Service Record at the RAAF

v t e Collingwood Football Club 1935/1936 VFL Premiers Captain: 1. H. Collier 7/2. A. Collier 4/3. Bowyer 5/4. Carmody 11/7. Doherty 13/8. Froude 14/9. Fraser 17/12. Kyne 18/13. Morgan 25/16. Regan 23/17. Riley 24/18. Ross 27/19. Stackpole 15/21. Pannam 28/21. Whelan 29/22. Woods Coach: McHale

v t e Captains of the Collingwood Football Club 1897: Strickland 1898–1899: Proudfoot 1900: Condon 1901: Proudfoot 1902–1904: Tulloch 1905: C. Pannam 1906: Dummett 1906–1908: Leach 1908: Drohan 1908–1909: Nash 1910–1911: Angus 1912–1913: McHale 1914–1916: Minogue 1917–1918: Wilson 1919: McCarthy 1920–1921: Lee 1922: Drummond 1923: Curtis 1924–1926: Tyson 1927–1934: Coventry 1935–1939: Collier 1940–1941: Regan 1942: Kyne 1943: Regan 1944: Fricker 1945: A. Pannam 1946–1949: Kyne 1950–1951: Hocking 1952–1955: Richards 1955–1956: Mann 1957: Twomey 1958–1959: Tuck 1960–1963: Weideman 1964–1965: Gabelich 1965: Henderson 1966–1969: Tuddenham 1970–1971: Waters 1971–1975: W. Richardson 1976: Tuddenham 1977: M. Richardson 1978: Thompson 1979–1980: R. Shaw 1981–1982: Moore 1983–1986: Williams 1987–1993: T. Shaw 1994–1998: Brown 1999–2007: Buckley 2008: Burns 2009–2013: Maxwell 2014–: Pendlebury

v t e Collingwood Football Club · Team of the Century 1896–1997 Full-back Harold Rumney Jack Regan Syd Coventry (c) Half-back Billy Picken Albert Collier Nathan Buckley Centre Thorold Merrett Bob Rose Darren Millane Half-forward Des Fothergill Murray Weideman Dick Lee Full-forward Phonse Kyne Gordon Coventry Peter Daicos Ruck Len Thompson Des Tuddenham Harry Collier Interchange Tony Shaw Wayne Richardson Marcus Whelan Gavin Brown Coach Jock McHale

v t e Copeland Trophy • Collingwood Football Club Best and Fairest Winners 1927: S. Coventry 1928: H. Collier 1929: A. Collier 1930: H. Collier 1931: Rumney 1932: S. Coventry 1933: G. Coventry 1934: A. Collier 1935: A. Collier 1936: Regan 1937: Fothergill 1938: Fothergill 1939: Whelan 1940: Fothergill 1941: Murphy 1942: Pannam 1946: Kyne 1947: Kyne 1948: Kyne 1949: Rose 1950: Utting 1951: Rose 1952: Rose 1953: Rose 1954: Mann 1955: Healey 1956: Twomey 1957: Weideman 1958: Merrett 1959: Merrett 1960: Gabelich 1961: Weideman 1962: Weideman 1963: Tuddenham 1964: Graham 1965: Steer 1966: Waters 1967: Thompson 1968: Thompson 1969: Price 1970: McKenna 1971: Richardson 1972: Thompson 1973: Thompson 1974: Richardson 1975: Carman 1976: Hyde 1977: Thompson 1978: R. Shaw/Picken 1979: Moore 1980: Moore 1981: Williams 1982: Daicos 1983: Picken 1984: T. Shaw 1985: Williams 1986: Fellowes 1987: Millane 1988: Daicos 1989: Brown 1990: T. Shaw 1991: Francis 1992: McGuane 1993: McGuane 1994: Buckley/Brown 1995: Rocca 1996: Buckley 1997: Brown 1998: Buckley 1999: Buckley 2000: Buckley 2001: Licuria 2002: Licuria 2003: Buckley 2004: Clement 2005: Clement 2006: Didak 2007: Cloke 2008: Swan 2009: Swan 2010: Swan 2011: Pendlebury 2012: Beams 2013: Pendlebury

Persondata
Name	Regan, Jack
Alternative names
Short description	Australian rules footballer
Date of birth	12 September 1912
Place of birth
Date of death	11 August 1988
Place of death