Australian Football

From East Coburg, Bill Wells was recruited by North Melbourne and, after a grounding in the seconds, made his senior league debut in 1939. Over the course of that season and the next he played 12 games and scored four goals for the shinboners before enlisting in the AIF. While serving in the Middle East he was seriously wounded and told he would never walk again, let alone play football. To the amazement of his doctors he managed a full recovery and by 1944, a year after being discharged from the AIF on health grounds, he was back on the VFL stage with North. Midway through the ‘44 season, after 14 games and four goals for the Shinboners, he transferred to St Kilda where he added a final 22 VFL appearances plus two goals.

Having left the VFL scene behind Wells spent the ensuing eight years playing for various clubs, including Williamstown (48 games, 16 goals in three stints) and Port Melbourne (eight games, eight goals in 1949). After starting the 1949 season with Port he finished it with Williamstown and lined up on a half back in that season’s grand final defeat of Oakleigh.

Author - John Devaney