Eddie Ford

This article is about the 1917-born Australian rules footballer. For the 2002-born Australian rules footballer, see Eddie Ford (footballer, born 2002).

Eddie Ford
Personal information
Full name	Edwin Bertram Ford
Date of birth	(1917-09-22)22 September 1917
Place of birth	Shepparton, Victoria
Date of death	13 July 1946(1946-07-13) (aged 28)
Place of death	Mooroopna, Victoria
Original team(s)	Shepparton (CGFL)
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	82 kg (181 lb)
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1942–1943	Richmond	4 (0)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1943.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Edwin Bertram Ford (22 September 1917 – 13 July 1946) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1940s.^[1]

Family

The son of Bertram Seymour Ford (1890-1974), and Joannah/Hannah Ford (1889-1980), née Shortis, Edwin Bertram Ford was born at Shepparton, Victoria on 22 September 1917.

Football

Richmond (VFL)

Recruited in 1941,^[2] he spent four seasons (1941 to 1944) with Richmond, employed with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, and playing in 4 senior games (0 goals), and 19 games (8 goals) with the Seconds.^[3] He made his senior debut against Melbourne at Punt Road in the second round of the 1942 VFL season, as Richmond amassed 196 to fall just three points short of their club record. The following week he appeared in his club's win over Collingwood but didn't play again for the rest of the year. In 1943 he played two further games, both against the same opponents from the previous season.^[4] He then returned home to the country, where he worked as a farmer.

Tungamah (MVFL)

In 1945 he was playing with the Tungamah Football Club in the Murray Valley Football League.^[3]

Katandra (CGVFL)

In 1946 he was the captain-coach of the Katandra Football Club in the Central Goulburn Valley Football League.

Death

On Saturday, 13 July 1946, during the third quarter of the Ardmona-Katandra GVFL match, Ford collided with an opposition player (Hugh Allan Russell).^[5] Although stunned, Ford stayed on the field for the rest of the match. Once home after the match, he became ill, and was taken to Mooroopna Hospital where he died later that evening.^[6][7][8][9]

Memorial

In June 1953, a new set of dressing sheds, dedicated to Ford, were opened at Katandra West.^[10][11]

Notes

1. Holmesby & Main (2007).
2. League Permits, The Age, (Thursday, 8 May 1941), p.4.
3. Hogan (1996), p. 74.
4. AFL Tables.
5. Coroner Probes Cause of Katandra Captain's Death; Accidental Collision on Field, The Shepparton Advertiser (Friday, 16 August 1946), p. 15.
6. Deaths: Ford, The (Melbourne) Sun News-Pictorial, (Wednesday, 17 July 1946), p. 22.
7. Footballer Dies After Collision in Game, The Argus, (Monday, 15 July 1946), p. 20.
8. Footballer dies after Game: Former Richmond Player, The Age, (Monday, 15 July 1946), p. 3.
9. Footballer’s Death Casts Gloom Over Katandra: Captain in Fatal Collision, The Shepparton Advertiser (Tuesday, 16 July 1946), p. 1.
10. Katandra's Big Day, The Shepparton Advertiser, (Friday, 19 June 1953), p.2.
11. Memorial Plaque Unveiled, The Shepparton Advertiser, (Tuesday, 23 June 1953), p.7.

References

• Hogan P: The Tigers of Old: A complete History of Every Player to Represent the Richmond Football Club between 1908 and 1996, Richmond FC, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-646-18748-1
• Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 978-1-920910-78-5.

External links

• Eddie Ford's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Eddie Ford at AustralianFootball.com