Ron Clegg

Ron Clegg
Ron Clegg
Personal information
Date of birth	17 November 1927
Date of death	23 August 1990 (aged 62)
Original team(s)	South Melbourne Under 19's
Height	183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	84 kg (185 lb)
Playing career1
Years	Club
1945-1954, 1956-1960	South Melbourne
Coaching career
Years	Club
1958–1959	South Melbourne
	1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1960.
Career highlights
	Brownlow Medal 1949; Runner Up Brownlow Medal 1951; South Melbourne Best & Fairest 1948, 1949, 1951; South Melbourne captain 1953-1954, 1957-1960; South Melbourne/Sydney Swans Team of the Century; Victorian representative (15 games, 7 goals);
	Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Ron "Smokey" Clegg (17 November 1927 – 23 August 1990) was an Australian rules footballer in the (then) Victorian Football League.

Clegg was recruited from the South Melbourne Under 19's after winning the 1944 Melbourne Boys Football League's best and fairest award^[1] and was best on ground in the 1944 grand final for South Melbourne.^[2]

Richmond were very keen to secure Clegg's signature in 1944, before he settled on South Melbourne.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Clegg debuted in 1945 and from early on South Melbourne knew they had a star in the making^[6] and he played in South Melbourne's losing 1945 VFL grand final.^[7]

By the time Clegg was 18 years old he had established himself as a gifted senior player in the VFL in 1946.^[8]

A brilliant key position player at either centre half-forward or centre half-back, he was awarded the Brownlow Medal in 1949^[9] while playing with the then South Melbourne Football Club and was runner up in the Brownlow in 1951.^[10]

He won the club's Best and Fairest award three times, in 1948,^[11] 1949^[12] and 1951^[13] and was runner in the 1953 award to follower, Jim Taylor^[14] and again in 1954 to Eddie Lane.^[15]

Clegg sought a clearance to New Norfolk in early 1951 and was refused a clearance,^[16] then was later appointed as vice captain of South Melbourne FC in 1951.^[17] Clegg won the 1951 London Stores Best Player Award in the VFL.^[18]

In 1951, Clegg took an incredible 32 marks against Fitzroy at the Lakeside Oval.^[19]

Clegg was appointed as club captain in 1953 and also lead the club in 1954 too.^[20]

In 1955, Clegg was captain-coach of the North Wagga Football Club in the Albury & District Football League,^[21] winning the £50 - Border Mail Newspaper / Albury & DFL Footballer of the Year Award, before returning to South Melbourne in 1956.^[22]

Clegg represented Victoria on 15 occasions in the key positions at either half forward or half back.

In 1961 and 1962, Clegg was captain-coach of the Brunswick Football Club.

Clegg played 42 first eleven games of Victorian Premier Cricket for South Melbourne between 1942 and 1947^[23] before giving it away to concentrate on VFL football. Clegg made his debut in round one, 1942 as a 14 year old left hand bat.^[24]

In 1996, Clegg was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.^[25]

In 2003, Clegg was named at centre half back in South Melbourne's Team of the Century.^[26]

References

^ "1944 - Ron Clegg wins best and fairest trophy". Record. 23 September 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "1944 - Ron Clegg best on ground". Record. 23 September 1923. p. 3. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "1944 - Richmond & South Junior". Record. 27 May 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "1944 - Ron Clegg a coming star". Record. 12 August 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "1944 - Promising boys impress officials". Record. 19 August 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "1945 - Promising Recruits". The Age. 9 June 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "1945 - Carlton Premiers". Record. 6 October 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "1946 - Key player at 18". The Age. 20 June 1946. p. 8. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "1949 - Ron Clegg's Year". Record. 3 September 1949. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "1951 - Two-men contest from start". The Argus. 6 September 1951. p. 9. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "1948 - Ron Clegg, winner of best & fairest". Record. 2 October 1948. p. 1. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
^ "1949 - Clegg, Donald & Austen best players". The Argus. 2 September 1949. p. 18. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
^ "1951 - Ron Clegg wins £250". Record. 8 September 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
^ "1953 - Taylor best at South". The Argus. 4 September 1953. p. 16. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
^ "1954 - Eddie Lane wins award at South". The Age. 10 September 1954. p. 10. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
^ "1951 - South emphatic over Ron Clegg". Record. 10 March 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
^ "1951 - I won't play again". The Herald. 20 April 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
^ "1951 - Two share football award". The Age. 7 September 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
^ Richard Davis (11 September 2012). "Almanac Footy History: Clegg's Match". The Football Almanac. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
^ "1953 - He's skipper at South". Weekly Times. 15 April 1953. p. 67. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
^ "1954 - Clegg's move to North Wagga". Record. 22 December 1954. p. 2. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "1956 - Clegg will go to South". The Argus. 29 February 1956. p. 26. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "Victorian Premier Cricket Register". Victorian Cricket Association. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "1942 - The final call". Record. 10 October 1942. p. 3. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "1996 - AFL - Hall of Fame". AFL. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ "2003 - Team of the Century". Sydney Swans Football Club. 2003. Retrieved 7 March 2021.