Australian Football

AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game

 

Key Facts

Full name
Percy Martini

Known as
Percy Martini

Born
4 June 1888

Died
1 July 1961 (aged 73)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 21y 36d
Last game: 32y 8d

Height and weight
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 85 kg

Senior clubs
Geelong; Richmond

Jumper numbers
Geelong: 15, 14, 30, 11, 10
Richmond: 13

Recruited from
Geelong (1916); Richmond (1917)

Percy Martini

ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
GeelongV/AFL1909-1915, 1917-19201493332.2342%0
RichmondV/AFL191610222.2050%0
V/AFL1909-19201593552.2342%0
Total1909-19201593552.2342%0

AFL: 1,551st player to appear, 1,146th most games played, 133rd most goals kickedGeelong: 196th player to appear, 85th most games played, 11th most goals kickedRichmond: 157th player to appear, 682nd most games played, 283rd most goals kicked

Strongly built, superb overhead, and an exemplary exponent of the place kick, Percy Martini had all the attributes necessary to succeed as a forward in the pre- and post-World War I VFL. He began with Geelong in 1909 when, despite playing just eight games for the season, he topped the club's goal kicking list with 17 goals, an achievement he would repeat on eight occasions. In 1910 he became the first Geelong player to register 50 goals in a season, a remarkable achievement considering that he did not always line up at full forward.

In 1916, when Geelong dropped out of the VFL competition "as a gesture designed to encourage young men to join the military forces", Martini played for Richmond, and topped that club's goal kicking for the year with 22 majors from 10 games. He returned 'home' to Geelong where he went on to complete 149 league games for the Cats before retiring after round seven of the 1920 season. His V/AFL aggregate tally of 355 goals at an average of 2.23 per game was quite exceptional for the time.

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Full Points Footy Publications

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.