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Key Facts
Full name
Leonard Harris Toyne
Known as
Len Toyne
Born
12 July 1922
Place of birth
Terang, VIC (3264)
Died
17 March 1998 (aged 75)
Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 17y 339d
Last game: 27y 46d
Height and weight
Height: 175 cm
Weight: 77 kg
Senior clubs
Geelong; Fitzroy; Sandringham; Melbourne; Sturt; South Adelaide; Launceston
Jumper numbers
Geelong: 18, 33
Fitzroy: 3
Melbourne: 15
Recruited from
Geelong (1942); Fitzroy (1945); Geelong (1946); Sandringham (1949); Melbourne (1950); Sturt (1952); South Adelaide (1954)
State of origin
VIC
Family links
Ian Toyne (Second cousin)
Len Toyne
| Club | League | Career span | Games | Goals | Avg | Win % | AKI | AHB | AMK | BV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geelong | V/AFL | 1940-1941, 1945 | 35 | 15 | 0.43 | 23% | — | — | — | 1 |
| Fitzroy | V/AFL | 1942 | 12 | 4 | 0.33 | 58% | — | — | — | 0 |
| Sandringham | VFA | 1946-1949 | 67 | 9 | 0.13 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Melbourne | V/AFL | 1949 | 12 | 18 | 1.50 | 75% | — | — | — | 0 |
| Sturt | SANFL | 1950 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| South Adelaide | SANFL | 1952 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Launceston | NTFA | 1954 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| V/AFL | 1940-1942, 1945, 1949 | 59 | 37 | 0.63 | 41% | — | — | — | 1 | |
| VFA | 1946-1949 | 67 | 9 | 0.13 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| SANFL | 1950, 1952 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| NTFA | 1954 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Total | 1940-1942, 1945-1950, 1952, 1954 | 126 | 46 | 0.37 | — | — | — | — | — | |
AFL: 4,820th player to appear, 3,858th most games played, 2,557th most goals kickedGeelong: 438th player to appear, 421st most games played, 346th most goals kickedFitzroy: 580th player to appear, 586th most games played, 505th most goals kickedMelbourne: 691st player to appear, 738th most games played, 322nd most goals kicked
A persistently peripatetic footballer during an era when club loyalty was paramount, Len Toyne began his league career at Geelong in 1940, spent the 1942 season with Fitzroy, and then, after a couple of years of war service, resumed with the Cats in 1945. By far the most important phase of his career, however, was from 1946 until round 5 1949, when he served as captain-coach of Sandringham.
Right from the outset his impact on the team was considerable: in 1945, the Zebras had finished 11th; the following year, under Toyne, they carried everything before them, culminating in a 14.15 (99) to 13.14 (92) Grand Final defeat of Camberwell. It was not only the Zebras' first ever VFA premiership, but the first time they had even qualified for the finals, and Toyne's contribution, both as player, and in more general terms as motivator, was immense. Quite fittingly, he ended up being a popular winner of the club's 1946 best-and-fairest award.
Sandringham reached the Grand Final again in 1947, but on this occasion proved unable to get past Port Melbourne. Things began to go wrong the following season when Toyne began to attract some adverse publicity for what some saw as his overly vigorous style of play. During one match against Brighton he was reported following an altercation with Tommy New, and ended up being suspended for three matches. To make matters worse, on field performances declined significantly, and with only seven wins from 19 matches the club missed the finals by some measure.
Despite the apparent downward spiral, Len Toyne continued as coach of Sandringham in 1949, but after a spiteful clash with Prahran in round five, he resigned, claiming that he was being victimised by the umpires. He spent the rest of the season with Melbourne, before moving to South Australia as captain-coach of Sturt the following year. However, after the first game of the 1951 season, he resigned the captaincy and coached in a non-playing capacity for the remainder of the year.
Prior to the 1952 season, Toyne resumed training but, when he was not included on Sturt's 'A' list, moved to South Adelaide.¹ He retired at the end of that season but when he moved to Launceston on business in 1954, he was persuaded to pull the boots on once more. His form was good enough to warrant a place in the NTFA side as a centreman.² At the end of his season with Launceston, he retired once more, this time for good.
Author - John Devaney and Andrew Gigacz
Footnotes
1. 'Toyne trains with South', Adelaide Advertiser, 23 Apr 1952.
2. 'Senior footballer for 17 years', Hobart Mercury, 8 Sep 1954.