Mick Grace

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Mick Grace
Personal information
Date of birth24 July 1874
Place of birthBurnley, Victoria
Date of death21 May 1912
Place of deathHeidelberg
Height/Weight180cm, 78 kg
Playing career

Fitzroy (VFA) (1895–1896)

? games, ? goals

Fitzroy (VFL) (1897–1900)

65 games, 55 goals

Carlton (VFL) (1903–1907)

86 games, 133 goals

Brighton (VFA) (1907)

? games, ? goals

St Kilda (VFL) (1908)

16 games, 26 goals

Victoria (representative)

4 games, ? goals
Coaching career

St Kilda (VFL) (1908)

18 games, 10 wins
Career highlights
  • Premierships:
    • Fitzroy VFA – 1895
    • Fitzroy VFL – 1898, 1899
    • Carlton VFL – 1906, 1907

Michael John Grace (24 July 1874 – 21 May 1912) was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Victorian Football Association (VFA).

Mick Grace was a follower/forward who started his career at the top level in the VFA in 1895 with Fitzroy, joining his older brother Jim. Grace was part of Fitzroy's premiership team in that season (although no Grand Final was played in the VFA at the time). In 1897, Fitzroy was one of the eight clubs to form the VFL as a breakaway competition from the VFA, and in 1898 and 1899, Grace was part of back-to-back VFL premierships with the Maroons. He was regarded as the best player on the ground in the 1898 Grand Final. Grace was part of the Maroons' 1900 losing premiership side, then retired from playing.[1]

In 1903, influential coach Jack Worrall persuaded Grace to return to the VFL for Carlton. Grace played for Carlton between 1903 and 1907. He won a further two VFL premierships with Carlton (in 1906 and 1907), and in 1906 he kicked 50 goals in a single season; the first VFL player ever to do so.

Grace retired from the VFL again halfway through the 1907 season, and was set to play for Brighton in the VFA for the remainder of the season, before Worrall convinced him to return to Carlton for the successful finals campaign.[2]

Grace left Carlton again at the end of the 1907 season, and moved to St Kilda where he played 16 games in 1908.

Altogether throughout his career in Victoria, Grace won five premierships (three for Fitzroy and two for Carlton). Grace also played four state games for Victoria.[3]

Grace had a brief coaching career, serving as St Kilda's coach in 1908 while playing, and later coaching in Sydney.

Grace was also a leading junior cricketer, representing the Combined Victorian Juniors against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) side during MCCs 1903/04 tour.[4]

Grace died in 1912, aged 37, from tuberculosis at Heidelberg.

References

  1. ↑ Blueseum, Mick Grace, Retrieved 9th April 2011.
  2. ↑ Blueseum, Mick Grace, Retrieved 9th April 2011.
  3. ↑ Donald, C. Fitzroy: for the love of the jumper: 100 players who made the Lions roar, Retrieved 9th April 2011
  4. ↑ Atkinson, p. 183.

Sources

  • Atkinson, G. (1982) Everything you ever wanted to know about Australian rules football but couldn't be bothered asking, The Five Mile Press: Melbourne. ISBN 0 86788 009 0.
  • Mick Grace at Blueseum
Preceded by
Inaugural coach		 University Football Club coach
1910 		Succeeded by
Gerald Brosnan
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