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Before the club enters in the significant events of 2014 to celebrate the Carlton Football Club’s 150th anniversary it is important that as many past players are actively involved as possible. That is why it is vital to become a member in 2013. As a result a membership mailout will commence shortly asking those past players that we have contact details for to join up.

Sadly, there are about one hundred past players who we are unable to contact due to lack of information. We are seeking to contact these men. If you are a past player who has not been in contact with the Spirit of Carlton or know a past player who would be happy to be contacted please let us know via email: admin@spiritofcarlton.com.au.

 

 

 

Peter Kerr

John Leatham

Ricky McLean

Adrian Gallagher

Lance Styles

Just a reminder that FREE premium reserve seats are available to Spirit of Carlton members for this Satuerday’s clash between the Blues and the Crows.

 

If you want these limited seats it is first in best dressed. If you haven’t signed up as a member as yet this is your opportunity to do so and get access to premium seats.

 

Please call Mandy on 03 9389 6256

A happy 86th birthday to Kevin Hart today!

Sadly, we do not have any contact details for Kevin, if anyone who reads this knows his whereabouts please let us know via email at admin@spiritofcarlton.com.au

 

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From the Blueseum:

 

Career : 1950
Debut : Round 1, 1950 vs Melbourne, aged 23 years, 1 day
Carlton Player No. 638
Games : 5
Goals : 3
Last Game : Round 11, 1950 vs Fitzroy, aged 23 years, 71 days
Guernsey No. 36
Height : 171 cm (5 ft. 7 in.)
Weight : 70 kg (11 stone)
DOB : April 21, 1927

A rover who made his senior debut for Carlton the day after his 23rd birthday, Kevin Francis Hart wore guernsey number 36 in his five matches for the Blues in 1950. Born in Moreland, he honed his football skills at Preston YCW, before he served briefly as an 18 year-old with the Royal Australian Navy in 1945 – the last year of World War II.

In 1947 he was recruited by Fitzroy, and appeared in 19 matches for the Maroons over three seasons. He crossed to Carlton in 1950, and was selected as a reserve twice before he made his on-ground debut when Carlton took on Geelong at Kardinia Park in round 9 of that year. A huge crowd of 23,000 packed into the stadium, and the home fans were in delirium when Geelong led by five goals at three quarter time. But helped by a freshening wind, Carlton swamped the Cats in the last fifteen minutes to win by a point. Hart shared the roving with Fred Stafford and was effective, kicking two goals.

That was the high-point of Hart’s brief stay at Princes Park, because he played only twice more for the Blues, and finished up after a surprise 25-point loss to his former club in round 11. His career as at Carlton lasted five matches over exactly 70 days, and produced a 3-2 win/loss result.

In 1951 Hart accepted an offer to join Diamond Valley League club Macleod, and played there for two seasons to round off his football journey.

Happy 83rd birthday to Doug Beasy!

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From the Blueseum:

 

Career : 1951 – 1959
Debut : Round 1, 1951 vs Hawthorn, aged 21 years, 4 days
Carlton Player No. 647
Games : 129
Goals : 124
Guernsey No. 17
Last Game : Semi Final, 1959 vs Melbourne, aged 29 years, 148 days
Height : 178 cm (5 ft. 10 in.)
Weight : 75.5 kg (11 stone, 12 lbs.)
DOB : 16 April, 1930
Best and Fairest 1956
Victorian Representative 1955 & 1957

The son of 1932 Carlton captain Maurie Beasy, Doug Beasy was a fine player in his own right through nine lean seasons at Princes Park in the 1950s. An elusive midfielder-forward with neat foot-passing skills and an uncanny ability to lose his man, he won Carlton’s Best and Fairest award in 1956, and emulated his father by representing Victoria a year earlier.

Born Douglas Edward Beasy, he was raised on the family farm at Dunolly and won his local club’s Best and Fairest as an 18 year-old in 1948. The following year he came to Carlton, and made his senior debut on a half-forward flank in the Blues’ first match of 1951 – a memorable game against Hawthorn at Princes Park. Beasy was quietly effective and kicked his first career goal that afternoon, but he was outshone by his fellow first-gamer Keith Warburton, who dazzled the crowd by booting seven goals on debut at full-forward, in a big win by the Blues. Afterwards, Beasy was eased into the senior side over the season, playing the first two, and the last five games of the year inguernsey number 17. Carlton wound up in seventh spot on the ladder and missed the finals, but Doug continued on with the Reserves and was outstanding in a hard-fought Grand Final victory over Essendon.

Always confident of his ability, Beasy established himself in Carlton’s senior side in 1952, and didn’t miss a game. In 20 matches as a rover, half-forward or centreman, he kicked 20 goals and earned five Brownlow Medal votes – the third-best at the club behind Ollie Grieve andFred Davies. In early September, he played finals football for the first time, when Carlton lost a cliff-hanger Semi Final to Fitzroy by a solitary point. But from then on, he was to make only two more finals appearances during his career – losing both – as the Navy Blues entered a period of mediocrity that was to last a decade.

In June 1955, Doug Beasy and John James both represented Victoria against South Australia at the MCG. In his first representative outing, Doug came on to the ground as 20th man late in a game already won and had little influence. Two years later, on July 20, 1957 at the North Hobart Oval, Doug kicked three goals against Tasmania in Victoria’s 25-point victory. Between those two games for the Big Vee, he edged out his good mate James to win Carlton’s Best and Fairest award in 1956.

In 1957, Beasy celebrated his 100th game for the Blues by kicking three goals in a good win over Footscray in round 14 at Princes Park. By the end of the home and away rounds, Carlton had climbed back in the top four – only to be knocked out of contention in the first Semi Final by Hawthorn. Beasy shared the roving duties with Leo Brereton on that remarkable Saturday afternoon, when a monster hail-storm flooded the MCG at half-time, and the Blues lost by 23 points.

Almost exactly two years later, Doug’s VFL career wound up when he limped off the MCG on the way to his third successive loss in a final. In front of 72,000 spectators on a sodden and windy MCG, the Blues were no match for eventual premiers Melbourne in the 1959 second Semi Final, going down by eight goals. Beasy didn’t play in the following week’s Preliminary Final loss to Essendon, and announced his retirement from VFL football at year’s end.

In 1960, Doug was appointed captain-coach of VFA club Box Hill. Playing in the centre for the Mustangs, he won the 1961 Liston Trophy as the Association’s Best and Fairest player, even as his team languished near the foot of the table.

Milestones

50 Games : Round 16, 1954 vs Essendon
100 Games : Round 14, 1957 vs Footscray

100 Goals : Round 18, 1957 vs Essendon

Footnote

As at 2012, the Beasy football genes are still represented at elite level, in the person of Hawthorn’s Brendan Whitecross. The grand nephew of Doug, and the great-grandson of Maurie Beasy, Whitecross is a promising 183 cm midfielder-forward recruited by the Hawks at number 29 in the 2007 National Draft.

“Carlton footballer Doug Beasy went out to the North Balwyn Methodist Church Sunday School anniversary Sunday to talk to children. He took with him a Carlton guernsey to illustrate some point in his address.
“What is this?” he asked the goggle-eyed 300, pointing at the guernsey. They told him.
“And what does this mean?” he asked, pointing to the entwined C.F.C. on the front. They told him.
“And what’s this for?” he asked, pointing at the number on the back. One boy told him.
“For when you get reported.”
(Argus September 27 1955 p1)

Happy 84th to Tom Simmons today!

 

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From the Blueseum:

 

Career: 1948 – 1949
Debut : Round 6, 1948 vs Essendon, aged 19 years, 39 days
Carlton Player No. 624
Games : 27
Goals : 23
Last Game : Round 16, 1949 vs Collingwood, aged 20 years, 115 days
Guernsey No. 2
Height : 183 cm (6 ft. 0 in.)
Weight: 82.5 kg ( 13 stone)
DOB : 13 April, 1929
Best First Year Player: 1948

Tom Simmons was recruited from Northcote Juniors. A superbly built 6-footer, he was a star junior all-round athlete, winning the 100 and 200 yard championships of Melbourne Technical Schools, as well as the high and long-jump titles. He also won the 220 yards dash at the Inter-Technical schools championship at Olympic Park. Later, the warm days of summer were filled by playing seconds for the Carlton Cricket Club.

Tom amassed an impressive 27 games in just two years, playing mainly on either the half back or half forward flank for the Blues – all before the age of twenty one. During this time Tom’s display of impressive pace, long kicking, high marking and a determined appetite for the ball made him a difficult opponent for opposition teams. Laurie Kerr opined, “He looked and performed like Mighty Mouse on the field.” Umpire Harry Beitzel referred to young Simmons on the field as ‘champion’. The future looked bright, Carlton had just played off in a Grand Final, a strong team full of champions pointed to a bright future, and perhaps Tom might soon also rise to the lofty level his potential suggested.

Then in a pre-season game before the 1950 season, a knee injury tragically struck down the young athlete. However, Tom was determined to return. After two knee operations, full fitness eventually returned to the point where in the professional running season over the summer of 1950-51 Tom won the Terang, Ararat and Maryborough Gifts within a few short weeks. Then a decision had to be made; to continue on the lucrative professional running circuit (albeit off shorter marks) for events such as the Bendigo 1000 and Stawell Gift – or attempt to resurrect a fledgling footy career.

Tom chose to return to his beloved Blues, aiming to fill the hole left by the retirement of champion full forward Ken Baxter. Regular track watchers soon observed the young Simmons at training, taking spectacular marks over seasoned veterans such as Bert Deacon and the towering Jack Howell. With pace to burn, and a strong pair of hands, the position of full forward seemed a natural progression for Tom. It is not clear what happened next; perhaps it was the demands of the lateral movement of football rather than the straight running of sprinting that pressured an already weak knee, or perhaps it was the sudden rise of freakish goalkickerKeith Warburton – but sadly, Tom never got to play another senior game for the Blues.

Tom married his sweetheart Lorraine the following year, and forged a successful career as an industrial chemist working for companies such as Revlon and Estee Lauder. Tom and Lorraine raised a family of seven children, and Tom regularly attended Carlton games with his family for years after his football career ended.