Australian Football

AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game

 

Key Facts

Full name
Thomas Banks

Known as
Tom Banks

Born
17 June 1867

Place of birth
Maryborough, VIC (3465)

Died
26 November 1919 (aged 52)

Place of death
Melbourne, VIC (3000)

Occupation
Lands department

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 29y 325d
Last game: 30y 37d

Height and weight
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 80 kg

Senior clubs
Fitzroy

State of origin
VIC

Family links
Albert 'Darky' Banks (Brother)Jack Moriarty (Nephew)Geoff Moriarty (Brother-in-law)

Tom Banks

ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
FitzroyVFA1888-1896162260.16
FitzroyV/AFL1897800.0025%0
Total1888-1897170260.15

AFL: 10th player to appear, 8,626th most games played, 9,711th most goals kickedFitzroy: 2nd player to appear, 659th most games played, 807th most goals kicked

Thomas Banks was almost certainly the first player of West Indian extraction to play at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, but it was in the sport of Australian football, not cricket, that he excelled. Born in 1867, he made his VFA debut with Fitzroy in 1888, and went on to give the club ten years of solid, occasionally outstanding, service. The Maroons were quite a strong team during Banks' career with them, their five top four finishes during that time including a flag in 1895, and a runner-up spot in 1892, behind the all powerful Essendon combination of Forbes, Thurgood, Vautin et al. By all accounts, Thomas Banks lost very little if anything in comparison with such luminaries, and deserves to be regarded and extolled as one of the most auspicious names in the chequered, but on occasion, not least early on, resonantly memorable history of the Fitzroy Football Club.

Author - John Devaney


Footnotes

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