Australian Football

AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game

 

Key Facts

Full name
Herbert Matthews

Known as
Herb Matthews

Born
2 September 1894

Died
2 June 1964 (aged 69)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 19y 291d
Last game: 30y 11d

Height and weight
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 89 kg

Senior clubs
South Melbourne; Richmond; Melbourne

Jumper numbers
South Melbourne: 31, 16
Richmond: 13
Melbourne: 6

Recruited from
South Melbourne (1915); Richmond (1919); Melbourne (1923)

Family links
Herbie Matthews Snr (Son)Norm Matthews (Son)Don Matthews (Grandson)Herbie Matthews Jnr (Grandson)

Herb Matthews

ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
South MelbourneV/AFL1914, 1923-192432270.8463%0
RichmondV/AFL1915300.0067%0
MelbourneV/AFL1919-192250240.4828%0
V/AFL1914-1915, 1919-192485510.6042%0
Total1914-1915, 1919-192485510.6042%0

AFL: 2,124th player to appear, 2,850th most games played, 2,010th most goals kickedSouth Melbourne: 267th player to appear, 450th most games played, 267th most goals kickedRichmond: 141st player to appear, 950th most games played, 920th most goals kickedMelbourne: 338th player to appear, 334th most games played, 267th most goals kicked

The patriarch of the Matthews footballing clan, Herb Matthews played briefly in the VFA with North Melbourne in 1913 before commencing his VFL career the following season with South Melbourne. He played just once for South before crossing to Richmond, where he added three games in 1915. Between 1916 and 1918 he did not play football, eventually resuming in 1919 with Melbourne. A ruckman, he was a stalwart of the side for four seasons, making 50 senior appearances and scoring 24 goals. He rounded off his career with 31 games and 24 goals back at South Melbourne in 1923-4. His identically named son and grandson (profiled below) both also played league football.

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Full Points Publications

Footnotes

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