George Davidson
Davidson in 1899
Personal information
Full name George Davidson
Date of birth (1872-06-13)13 June 1872
Place of birth Bealiba, Victoria
Date of death 25 August 1945(1945-08-25) (aged 73)
Place of death Corryong, Victoria
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1897–1900 South Melbourne 37 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1900.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

George Davidson (13 June 1872 – 25 August 1945) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the Victorian Football Association and South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[1] His football career ended prematurely when he broke his leg in 1900.

Family

The eighth of the ten children of David Davidson (1824-1895),[2][3] and Hellen Davidson (1828-1887), née Forrest,[4] George Davidson was born at Bealiba, Victoria, on 13 June 1872.

He married Alice Margaret Graves (1879-1962), at Rutherglen, Victoria, on 25 October 1904.[5] They had four children.

Football

Collingwood (VFA)

Recruited from Mission Ramblers in 1894,[6] he played in 13 games (kicked 2 goals) for Collingwood in the VFA over the team's last three seasons in the VFA competition (1894-1896).[7]

South Melbourne (VFL)

He played his first match for South Melbourne, against Geelong, at the Lake Oval on 24 July 1897.[8]

In his second-last match, playing on the half-back flank, he was one of the best players in the South Melbourne 1899 Grand Final team that lost to Fitzroy by one point: 3.8 (26) to 3.9 (27).[9]

In the final quarter of his last match for South Melbourne, against Essendon on 5 May 1900 — he had been appointed the team's captain for the 1900 season[10] — he fell and broke his leg.[11] He did not play VFL football again.[12][13]

1899

At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion player", Reginald Wilmot, the football correspondent for The Argus (i.e., "Old Boy"), selected a team of the best players of the 1899 VFL competition:[14]

Backs: Maurie Collins (Essendon), Bill Proudfoot (Collingwood), Peter Burns (Geelong); Halfbacks: Pat Hickey (Fitzroy), George Davidson (South Melbourne), Alf Wood (Melbourne); Centres: Fred Leach (Collingwood), Firth McCallum (Geelong), Harry Wright (Essendon); Wings: Charlie Pannam (Collingwood), Eddie Drohan (Fitzroy), Herb Howson (South Melbourne); Forwards: Bill Jackson (Essendon), Eddy James (Geelong), Charlie Colgan (South Melbourne); Ruck: Mick Pleass (South Melbourne), Frank Hailwood (Collingwood), Joe McShane (Geelong); Rovers: Dick Condon (Collingwood), Bill McSpeerin (Fitzroy), Teddy Rankin (Geelong).
From those he considered to be the three best players — that is, Condon, Hickey, and Pleass — he selected Pat Hickey as his "champion player" of the season.

Death

He died (suddenly) at Corryong, Victoria on 25 August 1945.[15][16][17]

Notes

References

  • Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2014), The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: Every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.), Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. ISBN 978-1-921496-32-5.
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