Australian Football

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Key Facts

Full name
Percy Bushby

Known as
Percy Bushby

Born
27 May 1919

Died
29 August 1975 (aged 56)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 17y 52d
Last game: 29y 135d

Height and weight
Height: 189 cm
Weight: 90 kg

Senior clubs
Essendon

Jumper numbers
Essendon: 35

Recruited from
Narrandera (1936); Essendon (1949); Stawell (1955)

Percy Bushby

ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
EssendonV/AFL1936, 1939-1948142460.3268%14
StawellWFL1949-1952
AraratWFL1955-1958
V/AFL1936, 1939-1948142460.3268%14
WFL1949-1952, 1955-1958
Total1936, 1939-1952, 1955-1958142460.32

AFL: 4,419th player to appear, 1,452nd most games played, 2,166th most goals kickedEssendon: 506th player to appear, 86th most games played, 186th most goals kicked

Percy Bushby (Essendon), who gained three votes in The Herald’ £100 trophy voting on Saturday, finished in second place to Lou Richards (Collingwood), who won the £100 by a clear margin after the second last round of matches.¹

Hailing from Narrandera, Essendon's Perc Bushby was a tough, vigorous footballer who, after an aborted start to his VFL career in 1936, when he played just one game, returned three years later to give the Dons sterling service in a further 141 games spread over ten seasons. Between 1939 and 1941 he alternated between the seniors and the reserves, and indeed was a member of the club's 1941 reserves premiership-winning team. In 1942 he had the satisfaction of emulating this achievement at senior grade level when he lined up in a back pocket, changing in the ruck with Hugh Torney, as Essendon overcame the grand final challenge of Richmond by 51 points.

Bushby later also played in the winning grand final of 1946 against Melbourne as well as in the losses to Richmond in 1942, Carlton in 1947, and Melbourne, in a replay, in 1948. The sort of player who improved with age, he won Essendon's best and fairest award in 1944, and represented the victorious VFL side at the 1947 Hobart carnival. After leaving the Bombers he coached various country teams, most notably Ararat, whom he led to a Wimmera Football League record four successive flags from 1955 to 1958, while from 1964 to 1968 he served as non-playing coach of VFA club Coburg, with third place in first division in his first season the closest he came to overseeing a premiership. Bushby was also coach of the VFA representative side at the 1966 Hobart carnival.

Author - John Devaney

Footnotes

1. “The Herald”, 1/9/47, page 14.

Sources

Crème de la Crème

Footnotes

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