Fred Leach
| Fred Leach | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Leach in 1901 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | John Frederick Leach | ||
| Date of birth | 6 March 1878 | ||
| Place of birth | Heidelberg, Victoria | ||
| Date of death | 14 April 1908 (aged 30) | ||
| Place of death | Surrey Hills, Victoria | ||
| Original team(s) | Boroondara | ||
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Weight | 83 kg (183 lb) | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1897–1903 | Collingwood | 84 (8) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1903. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
John Frederick Leach (6 March 1878 – 14 April 1908) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[1]
Family
[edit]The son of Thomas Leach (1847-1916),[2] and Emma Bunkin Leach (1847-1893), née Stuckey,[3] John Frederick Leach was born in Heidelberg, Victoria on 6 March 1878.[4]
Brothers
[edit]His two brothers, Arthur Thomas Leach (1876–1948) and Edward Hale "Ted" Leach (1883-1965) also played for Collingwood.[5]
Football
[edit]Leach was a centreman in the losing Grand Final side of 1901, but played at centre half-back in the 1902 premiership team.
1899 team of "champions"
[edit]At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion player", the football correspondent for The Argus, Reginald Wilmot ("Old Boy"), selected a team of the best players of the 1899 VFL competition:
- 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 — Wilmot selected Pat Hickey as his "champion player" of the season.[6]
Death
[edit]He died of typhoid fever at his father's residence in Surrey Hills on 14 April 1908.[7][8]
Footnotes
[edit]- ^ "Fred Leach". Collingwood Forever. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
- ^ Deaths: Leach, The Argus, (Friday, 6 October 1916), p.1.
- ^ Deaths: Leach, (Saturday 9 December 1893), p.5.
- ^ Births: Leach, The Argus, (Tuesday, 12 March 1876), p.1.
- ^ The three brothers appear in the photograph at File:Collingwood 1902 premiers.jpg of 23 Collingwood First XVIII players, taken in 1902 (the same photograph, with all individuals identified by name, is at [1]).
- ^ 'Old Boy', "Football: A Review of the Season", (Monday, 18 September 1899), p. 6.
- ^ Deaths: Leach, The Age, (Wednesday, 15 April 1908), p.1.
- ^ Death at Surrey Hills, The (Box Hill) Reporter, (Friday, 24 April 1908), p.4.
References
[edit]- Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
External links
[edit]
- Fred Leach's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- Fred Leach at AustralianFootball.com
 | This Australian rules football biography of a person born in the 1870s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1878 births
- 1908 deaths
- Collingwood Football Club players
- Collingwood Football Club premiership players
- Australian rules footballers from Melbourne
- Deaths from typhoid fever in Australia
- VFL/AFL premiership players
- People from Heidelberg, Victoria
- Infectious disease deaths in Victoria (state)
- Australian rules biography, 1870s birth stubs