Football
23 April, 2024
70th Anniversary of a Champion Essendon Debut
Celebrations will be held this week for Reg Burgess who is celebrating a special anniversary - 70 years after making his debut for the Essendon Football Club.
What: 70th Anniversary, Essendon Football Club Debut
When: 24 April 2024
Who: Reg Burgess, of Apsley (retired to Edenhope)
124 games, Hall of Fame, Team of Century, Champion, Life member Essendon FC.
Life member of Edenhope Apsley Saints, 3 time Premiership player for Casterton FC
Where: Cheers at Edenhope Football Clubrooms, Thursday April 25th after team selections announced approximately 8pm. Events in other locations to be confirmed.
We are encouraging clubs and fans in Apsley, Edenhope, Casterton, Essendon and across the state to mark the milestone.
Seventy years ago, on 24th April 1954, a speedy youngster, Reg Burgess from Apsley in far western Victoria made his debut for Essendon Football Club in front of 23,000 people at Windy Hill. When Lance Mann was ruled out due to a knee injury, Reg, a 19 year old shy country boy stepped up to play his first senior game. He had grown up listening to his Essendon heroes on the wireless - Reynolds, Hutchie and Coleman amongst them, while he played in a cross border league footy. Reg had won a premiership with Apsley in 1952 and was runner up league best and fairest in 1953. He was spotted by Essendon and after playing one game on permit in 1953, he moved to Essendon in 1954 to try his hand at the club.
Reg was nervous and to this day believes he did not play well on the half forward flank. “Reynolds gave me three games to prove myself,” said the lightning fast Reg, who was in round 4 moved to the wing in place of Peter O’Sullivan. Reg was such a talented rookie that before season’s end he was filling in for Jack Clarke in the centre during his Victorian commitments. Reg impressed selectors, won the best first year player award and he went on to play almost 100 games on the wing.
The lineup of Sewell-Clarke-Burgess would become one of the most iconic centrelines in the league and arguably the greatest in Essendon’s history. Reg was named: as number 13 in the Champions of Essendon; named in Essendon’s Team of the Century; and is a member of Essendon’s Hall of Fame. He won club best and fairest in 1957 and 1960, played seven times for Victoria and was named all Australian in 1958.
Reg was meticulous in his preparation for each game. His boots were polished to remove all traces of the ‘Merri Creek mud’. He spent 15-20 minutes by himself, thinking how he would beat his direct opponent. Reg said, “I always believed that if I allowed him to get the first kick, he would be the best player. If I got the first kick, away we would go.” Exceptional opposition players like Melbourne’s Brian Dixon, and Collingwood’s Thorold Merrett and Bill Serong rate him as one of the hardest opponents they had to shut down, despite the fact he never once threw a punch or broke the gentleman’s code of conduct. “My, he was tough,” recalled Dixon.
He had an ability to read the play and slow time down. His drop kicks hit the forwards on the chest, hard, every time. Kevin Merrett of Apsley, nephew to Collingwood’s Thorold Merrett said, “He was a magnificent kick. I remember at footy training at Apsley, we were only kids. He could stand in the centre. he would stab kick, sandshoes in winter. I would go home, red as red where it hit you.”
Reg played unselfish football, perhaps robbing himself of a few Brownlow votes. Despite being a small player at 175cm, he played big. Reg had a massive stride and left an even bigger impression. For those who never experienced the thrill of watching Reg play, some believe that Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury is a modern day footballer who most matches his style.
Essendon almost lost Reg in his second season when homesickness overcame him. “It wasn’t that bloody easy, I didn’t know anything. You had to break in down there and get to know people,” said Reg. But he returned with a new attitude and won the club’s most improved that year. Reg played in the 1957 finals while his battle with the measles was hidden from the press. There was one time he almost drowned under a pack at Footscray on a very wet day. In 1959 Reg moved into the centre. He didn’t waste a minute of this opportunity and clocked up another 24 games. In 1960 Reg played arguably his best year, winning club ‘best and fairest’ and the press named him ‘best on’ in his final game.
But, back in the 1950s and 60s players were not paid much, taking home around £6 ($240 equivalent today) per game, and so despite being one of the greats of the game, at age 26 Reg was lured back to the bush. He won three premierships as a player coach at Casterton, where he earnt more in his first year than all seven at Essendon. Literally thousands of fans turned up to watch him and his talented team play. In 1963 Reg was still recovering from a dislocated shoulder, sustained in an Interleague match, when he kicked 7 goals in the grand final.
In 1964 Reg returned to his home club of Apsley where he won the Kowree Naracoorte League Mail Medal in his first year and helped the team to a premiership in 1965. Reg hung up his perfectly polished boots in 1966 and spent the next 60 years giving back to the sport and to the community.
“I never put as much into football as I got out of that football. I can tell you that now,” said Reg who attributed much of his success to the unwavering support of his wife Marg and their family.
Reg now lives in Edenhope and will celebrate his milestone enjoying a quiet drink with friends and family.
In 1954 Jimmy Caldow from Edenhope travelled with Reg to train with Essendon. While Jimmy did not make the cut, he did have plenty of talent and passion. Seventy years later, Jimmy’s son Clayton and grandson Angus are working with local author Toni Domaschenz to write a book about the great Reg Burgess. The trio are still looking for stories, photos and videos. If you can help out, please phone Toni on 0422 591 998, Clayton on 0407 356 558 or Angus on 0479 137 751.
Reg also features in a book by Ballarat authors Michael Kearney & Phil Hoey called ‘Coley’s Champs’ in which they speculate in one chapter ‘What If?’ Reg Burgess had still been playing in 1962. Coley’s Champs is available for sale at the Edenhope Post Office.
Cheers Reg, congratulations on this wonderful milestone.