Australian Football

Described as "an acrobat in football boots"¹, full forward Keith Warburton was one of the primary reasons behind Brighton's emergence as a post-war VFA power. In 90 games for the Penguins he booted 317 goals, topping the competition's list with 101 in 1949. With Warburton at the goal-front, the Penguins attracted sizeable crowds to their games, and qualified for the finals for a club record-equalling three times in succession². In the 1948 Grand Final against Williamstown, Warburton was heavily concussed during the first half, but later returned to the fray to help his team to a nine-point triumph.

The 1951 season saw Keith Warburton at Carlton, where he hit the headlines with an opening round bag of seven goals. He went on to play 74 games in five seasons with the Blues, amassing 91 goals (including 48 in his debut year when he topped the club's list), but his career - and indeed his life - almost came to a premature end in 1952.

After playing in that season's losing First Semi Final against Fitzroy he attended a club dance during the evening, and collapsed. It transpired that the cause was a hefty blow to the abdomen received during the course of the afternoon's game, and it was only after receiving several blood transfusions that he recovered. Once his playing career was over, however, he had to have a kidney removed.

Author - John Devaney