Dick Lee
Personal information
Full name Walter Henry Lee
Date of birth (1889-03-19)19 March 1889
Place of birth Collingwood, Victoria
Date of death 11 September 1968(1968-09-11) (aged 79)
Place of death Northcote, Victoria
Original team(s) Rose of Northcote
Debut Round 7, 1906, Collingwood vs. Melbourne, at Victoria Park
Height 175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 76 kg (168 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1906–1922 Collingwood 230 (707)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1922.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Walter Henry "Dick" Lee (19 March 1889 – 11 September 1968) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the (then) Victorian Football League (VFL).

Family

The son of long-term Collingwood trainer Walter Henry Lee (1863–1952),[1][2][3] and Isabella Lee (1867–1929), née Turnbull,[4] Walter Henry Lee was born in Collingwood on 19 March 1889.[5]

He married Zella Dixon (1888-1972) in 1927.[6]

Football

Enthusiast's Letter to the Editor
The Herald, 21 September 1934.[7]

Lee was one of the first great forwards in Australian Football with an ability to win the ball on the ground or in the air. He was considered one of the finest practitioners of the place kick in the game, a reputation which followed long after the skill disappeared from the game.[8]

In 1912, Lee had a cartilage removed from his knee;[9] and, according to his (then) team captain, Dan Minogue, writing in 1937, Lee was the first senior VFL footballer to have that operation.[10]

His last kick in his last match for Collingwood scored Collingwood's final goal in its 11-point loss to Fitzroy in the 1922 VFL Grand Final.

Death

He died at Northcote, Victoria, on 11 September 1968.[11][12][13]

Honours

Life Member

He was made a life member of the Collingwood Football Club in 1918.

Australian Football Hall of Fame

In 1996, Lee was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.[14]

Team of the Century

In 1998, he was selected on the half-forward flank in the Collingwood team of the Century.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ The "Curtain-Raiser", The Argus, (Saturday, 5 May 1934), p.21.
  2. ^ Barclay, Bert, "Wal Lee, Doyen of Collingwood's Many Pioneers", The Herald, (Thursday, 30 April 1936), p.49.
  3. ^ Three Sporting Identities Die, The (Adelaide) News, (Wednesday, 10 September 1952), p.27.
  4. ^ Dick Lee's Mother Dead, The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 16 February 1929), p.75; Liniment Poisoning: Footballer's Mother Dies, The Geelong Advertiser, (Monday, 11 February 1929), p.5; A Fatal Mistake: Linament Taken as Medicine, The Age, (Friday, 22 February 1929), p.6.
  5. ^ Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria, Births Registration no.11312/1889.
  6. ^ Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria, Marriages Registration no.2245/1927.
  7. ^ 'Enthusiast', "Best Ever in Victoria (Letter to the Editor)", The (Melbourne) Herald, (Saturday, 22 September 1934), p. 30.
  8. ^ "Dearth of players who use the place kick". Westralian Worker. 21 May 1926. p. 8.
  9. ^ Footballer in Hospital, The Age, (Thursday, 24 October 1912), p.14.
  10. ^ Minogue, D. (with Milard, P.J.), "League Captain at 22", The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 31 July 1937), p.8.
  11. ^ Deaths: Lee, The Age, (Thursday, 12 September 1968), p.21.
  12. ^ Funeral Notices: Lee,The Age, (Friday, 13 September 1968), p.17.
  13. ^ Hobbs, Greg, "Famous High Flying Forward Dies", The Age, (Thursday, 12 September 1968), p.28.
  14. ^ Ross, John (1999). The Australian Football Hall of Fame. Australia: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 88. ISBN 0-7322-6426-X.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dick Lee (footballer).
Collingwood Football Club: Team of the Century 1896–1997
Collingwood Football Club 1910 VFL premiers
Collingwood Football Club 1917/19 VFL premiers
Captains of the Collingwood Football Club
VFL Leading Goalkicker Medal winners
Collingwood Football Club · leading goalkickers
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