Australian Football

William Payne gave great service to Carlton over 127 VFL games between 1904 and 1912, but ended up resigning prematurely from the club after alleging he had been treated unfairly.

He spent the 1913 season playing in the country for Ararat. A pacy, strong marking, long kicking half back for most of his career, Payne was among the best players afield when the Blues thrashed Fitzroy by 49 points in the 1906 VFL Grand Final. He was also a member of the 1907-8 premiership teams, as well as the losing Grand Final teams of 1909-10. Quite what the ill treatment was that precipitated his departure from Carlton is unclear, but the fact that the Blues slumped from third place, after a strong premiership challenge, in 1912 to a distant sixth the following year suggests that they, and not William Payne, were the major losers in the affair.

Author - John Devaney