Australian Football

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Key Facts

Full name
Henry Ross Pears

Known as
Harry Pears

Nickname
Kirchin

Born
28 July 1877

Died
20 April 1912 (aged 34)

Place of death
Port Melbourne, VIC (3207)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 24y 279d
Last game: 30y 328d

Height and weight
Height: 170 cm
Weight: 70 kg

Senior clubs
Port Melbourne; Collingwood

Jumper numbers
Collingwood: 15

Recruited from
Port Melbourne (1902)

Harry Pears

Advanced stats
ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
Port MelbourneVFA1898-190140———————
CollingwoodV/AFL1902-190895780.8269%———0
Total1898-1908135780.58—————

AFL: 729th player to appear, 2,568th most games played, 1,394th most goals kickedCollingwood: 80th player to appear, 196th most games played, 111th most goals kicked

After 40 VFA games for Port Melbourne between 1898 and 1901 Harry Pears crossed to Collingwood just as the team was tuning up to become the principal power in the VFL. In both 1902 and 1903 the Magpies were premiers and Pears was a key member of the winning grand final combinations against Essendon in the former year and Fitzroy in the latter. Capable of playing either as what would nowadays be called a small forward, or else as on the ball as a rover, he combined an ability to bore into packs and emerge with the ball, and flawless distribution skills. Between 1902 and 1908 he played 95 VFL games for Collingwood and kicked 78 goals.

In 1912 Pears decided, aged thirty-four, to resume his football career with his original club Port Melbourne, but he tragically died after being injured in a pre-season practice match. 

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers by Russell Holmesby & Jim Main; Wikipedia article

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Footnotes

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