Australian rules footballer
| Bill Pearson | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | William James Pearson | ||
| Date of birth | (1922-06-11)11 June 1922 | ||
| Place of birth | Carlton, Victoria | ||
| Date of death | 6 December 2010(2010-12-06) (aged 88) | ||
| Original team(s) | La Mascotte (EDFL) | ||
| Height | 177 cm (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Weight | 82 kg (181 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Centreman | ||
| Playing career | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1945–47 | Essendon | 51 (24) | |
| Playing statistics correct to the end of 1947. | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
William James Pearson (11 June 1922 – 6 December 2010) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1940s.
Pearson served in the Australian Army during World War II, seeing active duty as an AIF gun layer in the New Guinea jungle.
Pearson was recruited from La Mascotte and in just his third league game kicked four goals to help his club defeat Carlton by 100 points. He was the centreman in the Essendon premiership side of 1946 and finished tenth in that season's Brownlow Medal count with 13 votes, the most by an Essendon player.
A knee injury in 1947 ended Pearson's career when a series of operations, five in total, weren't enough to allow him to play again.
References
- Premiership player Bill Pearson passes away Archived 19 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- "World War II Roll: William James Pearson". Department of Veterans Affairs.
- Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2002). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (4th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Crown Content. p. 513. ISBN 1-74095-001-1.
External links
- Bill Pearson's playing statistics from AFL Tables
| Essendon Football Club 1946 VFL premiers | |
|---|---|
| Essendon 22.18 (150) defeated Melbourne 13.9 (87), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground | |
| |
| Coach: Reynolds |
 | This Australian rules football biography of a person born in the 1920s is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |
- 1922 births
- 2010 deaths
- Essendon Football Club players
- Essendon Football Club premiership players
- Australian rules footballers from Melbourne
- Australian Army personnel of World War II
- VFL/AFL premiership players
- People from Carlton, Victoria
- Military personnel from Melbourne
- 20th-century Australian sportsmen
- Australian rules biography, 1920s birth stubs