Happy 97th Birthday to Don McIntyre today.
Don is the 3rd oldest past senior player for the Blues. Don played 100 games from 1935-42 and is a 1938 premiership player.
Don McIntyre
Career : 1935 – 1942
Debut : Round 7, 1935 vs Footscray, aged 20 years, 95 days
Carlton Player No. 521
Games : 100
Goals : 2
Last Game : Round 15, 1942 vs Fitzroy, aged 27 years, 163 days
Guernsey No. 2
Height : 179 cm (5 ft. 10 in.)
Weight : 77 kg (12 stone, 2 lbs.)
DOB : 5 March, 1915
Premiership Player: 1938
Club Best & Fairest: 1937
He played exactly 100 games for the Navy Blues, and kicked all his career goals in one match. His first senior game ended in a draw, and he waited almost a year to play his second. He won his club’s Best and Fairest award before he had completed thirty matches, and he was an integral member of a Carlton team that waited 23 years for a Premiership. He is Daniel Gordon ‘Don’ McIntyre – the Blues’ back pocket dynamo for eight seasons in the era of World War II.
Born in Geelong, and a star full-back for the Pakenham Football Club by his late teens, McIntyre was not only residentially tied to Geelong under the VFL rules of the day, he was also a staunch Cats’ supporter. That was until Carlton slipped under Geelong’s guard, and convinced him that his opportunities were greater at Princes Park. Don began his senior career in round 7 of 1935 against Footscray at the Western Oval, when he lined up in a back pocket alongside Carlton’s resolute full-back Frank Gill. The Blues played all over the Doggies that afternoon, but wayward kicking for goal proved costly, and Footscray escaped with a draw.
McIntyre’s game on that windy afternoon showcased his potential, so Carlton approached Geelong seeking a clearance for him. By the time an agreement was reached however, a new season was well underway. Eventually, Don was named as 19th man against Collingwood in round 6 of 1936, at Princes Park, and marked his return by pushing forward and kicking his only two career goals, as the Blues lost a typically torrid encounter by one straight kick.
From then on, McIntyre made the back pocket in Carlton’s senior team his domain. A natural defender with good pace and superb judgement, he was courageous, and rarely lost his man. All of those qualities were on display when he appeared in his first VFL final in September, and Carlton lost a tight Semi Final to Melbourne by 9 points.
In 1937, one of the great last defensive lines of any era in Carlton’s history was formed when Don McIntyre, Frank Gill and Jim Park combined in the teeth of Carlton’s goal. Although the Blues missed out on the finals by two points, McIntyre’s consistent good form – boosted by his confidence in Park and Gill – won him Carlton’s Best and Fairest award and placed him among the elite players in the game.
By 1938, Carlton had endured a Premiership drought of 23 years, and it took the vision of a great administrator; Sir Kenneth Luke, to finally break it by convincing the club to appoint former South Melbourne champion Brighton Diggins as captain-coach. Diggins promptly galvanised a talented, but previously uninspired team, and when the Blues accounted for Collingwood in a classic Grand Final, Don McIntyre celebrated his 50th match in the best possible way. A massive, record crowd of more than 98,000 spilled onto the playing field that day, when a jubilant Carlton claimed VFL flag number six.