Australian Football

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Key Facts

Full name
William George Goddard

Known as
Bill Goddard

Born
24 February 1880

Died
26 August 1939 (aged 59)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 27y 62d
Last game: 31y 134d

Senior clubs
South Fremantle; North Fremantle; South Melbourne; Carlton; St. Kilda; Port Melbourne; East Fremantle

Recruited from
South Fremantle (1902); North Fremantle (1907); South Melbourne (1910); Carlton (1911); St. Kilda (1913); Port Melbourne (1914)

Bill Goddard

Advanced stats
ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
South FremantleWAFA19001———————
North FremantleWAFA1902-190665———————
South MelbourneV/AFL1907-190828170.6157%———0
CarltonV/AFL19101320.1569%———0
St. KildaV/AFL1911700.0014%———0
Port MelbourneVFA191310———————
East FremantleWAFL1914-19186420.03—————
WAFL1900, 1902-1906, 1914-191813020.02—————
V/AFL1907-1908, 1910-191148190.4054%———0
VFA191310———————
Total1900, 1902-1908, 1910-1911, 1913-1918188210.11—————

AFL: 1,239th player to appear, 4,393rd most games played, 3,753rd most goals kickedSouth Melbourne: 189th player to appear, 489th most games played, 345th most goals kickedCarlton: 233rd player to appear, 686th most games played, 707th most goals kickedSt. Kilda: 368th player to appear, 950th most games played, 1,293rd most goals kicked

After playing a single game for South Fremantle in 1900, Bill Goddard joined North Fremantle a couple of seasons later, and gave the club five years of fine service, mainly as a half back flanker, over the course of 65 games. He also represented Western Australia on its eastern states tour of 1904. Crossing to Victoria in 1907 he went on to establish himself as one of the foremost centremen in the game. He was particularly prominent during his debut season with South Melbourne in 1907, and was sadly missed during that season's Grand Final, which the southerners lost to Carlton. After 28 games with South, Goddard had brief stints with Carlton (including the losing 1910 Grand Final), St Kilda, and Port Melbourne, before returning west.

The closing phase of Bill Goddard's career proved to be the most auspicious. Lining up with East Fremantle, he helped the side to three Grand Final appearances in four seasons, although only one of these - against South Fremantle in 1914 - was won. An injury sustained in 1918 forced him to miss that year's winning Grand Final against East Perth, and he subsequently retired, with 130 WAFA/L games to his credit.

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Full Points Footy Publications

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Footnotes

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