Albert Thurgood

Albert John Thurgood (11 January 1874 – 8 May 1927) was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football Association (VFA), Victorian Football League (VFL) and the Western Australian Football Association (WAFA).

Albert Thurgood
Personal information
Full name Albert John Thurgood
Date of birth (1874-01-11)11 January 1874
Place of birth North Melbourne, Victoria
Date of death 8 May 1927(1927-05-08) (aged 53)
Place of death Malvern, Victoria
Height 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 76 kg (168 lb)
Position(s) Centre half-forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1892–1894 Essendon (VFA) 57 (183)
1895–1897 Fremantle (WAFA) 48 (128)
1899–1902, 1906 Essendon (VFL) 46 (89)
Total 151 (400)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1906.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

He is considered one of the great champion players of the VFA and VFL and possibly the longest place kick of any code in history.[1] Described as "an ideal footballer", he usually played at centre-half-forward; but his skill and versatility enabled him to be switched to any position on the ground.[2]

Family

The son of builder/contractor John Joseph Thurgood (1840–1881),[3] and Amelia Mary Thurgood (1854–1901), née Buckland,[4][5] Albert John Thurgood was born at Errol Street, North Melbourne, on 11 January 1874.

He married Ida Alma Mary Thomas (?–1950) at Fairfield on 26 April 1899.[6][7] They had two daughters: Marjorie Thurgood (1902-),[8] and Gwenyth Ida Thurgood (1907–?).[9]

Thurgood died on 8 May 1927 as the result of a car accident.[10][11] He was buried with Anglican rites in Brighton Cemetery.[12]

He is the cousin of former Essendon footballer Jimmy Thurgood, and the great-great uncle of former Hawthorn player Josh Thurgood.

Education

He was educated at Brighton Grammar School.

Football career

On leaving school,[13] he joined the Essendon Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).

VFA

Thurgood played for Essendon in the VFA in 1892–94,.

At six feet tall (183 cm) and twelve stone (76.2 kg), Thurgood possessed qualities that made him a versatile key position player: he was extraordinarily fast, a superb mark, and very nimble and agile.

His greatest asset was his kicking. Usually playing at centre half-forward, he could regularly kick distances up to 65-70 yards and beyond.[14][15]

Thurgood kicked 64 goals in 1893, and 63 in 1894. In the last two games for 1893, he scored 21 goals: nine of Essendon's ten goals against North Melbourne, and twelve of Essendon's fourteen goals against Richmond the following week, all extraordinary feats giving the low scoring of the era.

He played 57 VFA games for Essendon and kicked 183 goals.[16]

WAFA

In 1895 he left Essendon to seek work in Western Australia, and played for the Fremantle Football Club (not connected to the current club of the same name) in the Western Australian Football Association (WAFA). During his stint there he topped the WAFA goal kicking list on three consecutive occasions between 1895 and 1897, helping the side lift premierships in the first two of those years.[17]

VFL

He returned to Victoria in 1898 and sought to resume his career with Essendon in the newly formed Victorian Football League (VFL, later AFL) but the VFL denied him a permit for residential reasons. Forced to sit out of football in 1898, he finally took the field for Essendon in 1899, and headed the club's goalkicking list in 1900 (25) and 1902 (33).[18] While contemporaries noted that Thurgood was slower, heavier and less keen, he produced his finest performance in the 1901 VFL Grand Final against Collingwood when he kicked three of the side's six goals and was a major contributor to Essendon's victory. The same year, he won Essendon's Club Champion award.[18]

In 1902, a mysterious player, only identified as "Goodthur", played in two matches for Essendon at the time that Thurgood was serving a three match suspension for striking St Kilda footballers Mick English and Alf Trevillian: in the back-pocket, against Fitzroy on 14 June 1902 (round 8),[19][20] and in the ruck, against Melbourne on 5 July 1902 (round 10).[21][22][23]

In 1902 there were widespread allegations that he had 'laid down' against Collingwood in the Challenge Final, which Essendon lost by the heavy margin for the time of 33 points. In disgust, Thurgood demanded, and was refused, a clearance to the Magpies, whereupon he decided to retire. He was tempted back to Essendon four years later, but after playing eight games he was forced to retire permanently when he sustained a serious ankle injury.

He held four records at his retirement: his 1893 season total was a Victorian record until 1915, his 12 goals in a match until 1919, his career total of 272 goals was an Essendon record until broken in Round 8, 1935 by Keith Forbes, his record place kick of 107 yards, 2 ft 1 in (98.48m) with slight wind assistance at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground 22 June 1899 still stands as the longest place kick in history by a footballer of any code.[1]

After football

He was also a solid cricketer, playing three first XI matches for the North Melbourne Cricket Club during the 1890s;[24] he was also an avid golfer. After his retirement from football, Thurgood became active in horse racing—for some years as a bookmaker and subsequently as an owner. He ran a number of successful horses, including Amazonia, which won the Bagot Handicap in 1921 and was placed third in the Melbourne Cup that year.

In 1996, Thurgood was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame. He was named in the Essendon Team of the Century, which was selected in their VFL/AFL centenary year of 1997. Nicknamed "The Great", he was inducted into the WA Football Hall of Fame in 2004 as an inaugural inductee.[25]

Champions of Essendon

In 2002 an Essendon panel ranked him at 9 in their Champions of Essendon list of the 25 greatest players ever to have played for Essendon.

Honours

The Fremantle Football Club and Essendon Football Club created the "Albert Thurgood Challenge" to be played between the two teams. The first ever meeting was known as D-Day. On 11 February 1995 Fremantle won its first official game of AFL, defeating Essendon by 50 points at East Fremantle Oval.[26]

Footnotes
  1. Atkinson, Graeme, ed. (1989). 3AW Book of Footy Records. Melbourne, Victoria: Magenta Publishing. p. 66. ISBN 1-86321-009-1.
  2. ""BEST ALL-ROUND FOOTBALLER"". The Argus. Melbourne. 11 July 1934. p. 15. Retrieved 30 May 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. Deaths: Thurgood, The Age, (Friday, 16 September 1881), p.1.
  4. Machen—Thurgood, The Australasian, (Saturday, 8 March 1884), p11.
  5. Deaths: Machen, The Argus, (Tuesday, 25 June 1901), p1.
  6. Marriages: Thurgood—Thomas, The Australasian, (Saturday, 10 June 1899), p.55.
  7. Deaths: Thurgood, The Age, (Monday, 30 January 1950), p2.
  8. Weddings: Caster—Thurgood, Table Talk, (Thursday, 22 March 1923), p.29.
  9. She married Nels Emil Nilsen in 1930 (Australian Dictionary of Biography: Nilsen, Nils Emil (1902–1975)).
  10. Deaths: Thurgood, The Argus, (Tuesday, 10 May 1927), p.1.
  11. Terrible Collision on Toorak Road, The Age, (Monday, 9 May 1927), p.12; (Sensational Accident, The Argus, (Monday, 9 May 1927), p.13; Motor Accident Inquests: Mr. A. J. Thurgood's Death, The Argus, (Friday, 3 June 1927), p.10.
  12. Funeral Notices: Thurgood, The Argus, (Tuesday, 10 May 1927), p.1.
  13. Football Jottings, The Cobram Courier, (Thursday, May 1895), p.5.
  14. "SPORTING NEWS". The Daily News (SECOND EDITION ed.). Perth. 22 July 1895. p. 2. Retrieved 31 May 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. "FOOTBALL". The Argus. Melbourne. 2 September 1901. p. 7. Retrieved 31 May 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. Fiddian, Marc (2004). The VFA. Australia. pp. 223–224.
  17. Ashton, Norman (2015). Fremantle Football: The origins 1885 to 1904. The AJ Diamond Club. pp. 138–139. ISBN 978-0-9871489-7-1.
  18. Lovett, Michael, ed. (2005). AFL Record Guide to Season 2005. Melbourne, Victoria: AFL Publishing. p. 111. ISBN 0-9580300-6-5.
  19. League Matches: Essendon v. Fitzroy, The Herald (Saturday, 14 June 1902), p.4.
  20. "Follower" in The Age () noted that "Goodthur" (in quotes) played well.
  21. League Matches: Essendon v. Melbourne, The Herald (Saturday, 5 July 1902), p.4.
  22. "Follower" in The Age () listed "Goodthur" (in quotes) as one of Essendon's best players.
  23. Football historians Michael Maplestone and Stephen Rogers, through a process of elimination, believe that the mysterious "Goodthur" was, in fact, Fred Mann, and was not Thurgood playing under a nom de guerre (Maplestone (1996) p.61). The current VFL/AFL player statistics for Fred Mann in rounds 8 and 10 reflects their view: "Fred Mann". AFL Tables.
  24. "VCA 1st XI Career records 1889-90 to 2014-15, S-Z" (PDF). Cricket Victoria. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  25. http://www.wafootballhalloffame.com.au/inductees/5059-albert-thurgood
  26. Everett, Les (2014). Fremantle Dockers: An Illustrated History. Slattery Media Group. p. 27. ISBN 9780987526342.
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References
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