Australian Football

Immensely aggressive and combative, and boasting good all round skills, 'Johnny' Compton might easily have developed into one of the game's all time greats had World War Two not deprived him of potentially his most productive seasons. As it was, he merely enjoyed a very good, rather than genuinely great, career. 

He began with Claremont in 1935 but then spent a season away from the limelight with Kalgoorlie City in the GNFL. He returned to the Monts in 1937 an altogether tougher and more explosive player, and during the club's first truly auspicious era he revelled in the role of the team's enforcer. He was at full forward when Claremont beat East Fremantle for the 1938 premiership, and in the centre two years later when South Fremantle was vanquished. He missed the winning Grand Final of 1939, also against East Fremantle, after being reported during the previous week's preliminary final defeat of East Perth, and suspended for 3 matches.

Such was the 'no holds barred' nature of his approach to the game that, during the course of his career, Compton became extremely well acquainted with the dealings of the Tribunal. That career continued when senior WANFL football resumed after a three year break for the war in 1945, and by the time he retired in 1948 'Johnny' Compton had played a total of 105 league games. He also represented a West Australian second string combination against St Kilda in 1938.

Author - John Devaney