A highly talented ruckman with a strong overhead mark, and a delightfully graceful and accurate "palm", he walked straight into the Essendon senior team at 19 years of age.
Recruited from the Longerenong Agricultural College, in Horsham, Victoria, he made his debut, two days after his nineteenth birthday, for Essendon's seniors in the first home-and-away match of the 1951 season, on 21 April 1951, when Essendon defeated Melbourne 13.8 (86) to 10.16 (76) at Windy Hill.[1]
Having missed the 1951 Grand Final due to illness, he played in his first grand final in 1957 but was on the losing side. It turned out to be his last game of football as he retired at the age of just 25 to concentrate on his business career.
Fans were shocked at his decision to retire, because he seemed to be just starting to achieve his outstanding potential, and he seemed destined to become one of the all-time great ruckmen. His retirement created the space for the (then) second-string ruckman Geoff Leek's career to blossom.
john, gill, footballer, born, 1932, carlton, player, john, gill, footballer, born, 1941, john, somers, gill, april, 1932, march, 2003, australian, rules, footballer, played, with, essendon, victorian, football, league, from, 1951, 1957, john, gillpersonal, inf. For the Carlton player see John Gill footballer born 1941 John Somers Gill 19 April 1932 3 March 2003 was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League VFL from 1951 to 1957 John GillPersonal informationFull nameJohn Somers GillDate of birth19 April 1932Date of death3 March 2003 2003 03 03 aged 70 Original team s Longerenong College HorshamHeight193 cm 6 ft 4 in Weight95 kg 209 lb Position s RuckmanPlaying career1YearsClubGames Goals 1951 1957Essendon107 76 1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1957 Career highlightsVictorian interstate representative 1955 amp 1957Sources AFL Tables AustralianFootball comA highly talented ruckman with a strong overhead mark and a delightfully graceful and accurate palm he walked straight into the Essendon senior team at 19 years of age Recruited from the Longerenong Agricultural College in Horsham Victoria he made his debut two days after his nineteenth birthday for Essendon s seniors in the first home and away match of the 1951 season on 21 April 1951 when Essendon defeated Melbourne 13 8 86 to 10 16 76 at Windy Hill 1 He won the Crichton Medal in 1954 and finished third in that season s Brownlow Medal count He represented Victoria in 1955 and 1957 Having missed the 1951 Grand Final due to illness he played in his first grand final in 1957 but was on the losing side It turned out to be his last game of football as he retired at the age of just 25 to concentrate on his business career Fans were shocked at his decision to retire because he seemed to be just starting to achieve his outstanding potential and he seemed destined to become one of the all time great ruckmen His retirement created the space for the then second string ruckman Geoff Leek s career to blossom References edit 1951 VFL season Round 1External links editJohn Gill s playing statistics from AFL Tables John Gill at AustralianFootball com Footystats Diary Obituary John Somers Gill Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John Gill footballer born 1932 amp oldid 1197184222, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
