#leighmatthews #afl #australianfootball
Leigh Matthews is a football legend. But I bet his daughters wouldn't agree. They grew up pretty much without a dad, thanks to his obsession with the game. But was it all worth it? After so much work, what did he get? Well, Leigh got a stain on his career - all thanks to a punch he threw on Neville Bruns. It’s evil and you need to hear more about it!
Born on March 1, 1952, in Frankston, Victoria, Australia, Matthews started playing junior football at 12 in the Melbourne suburb of Chelsea. He grew up on a farm in Langwarrin, learning to play golf on the Frankston public course, which is now the city’s botanic gardens. But he always wanted to play football and play it at its highest level. According to him, he never had a time when he didn’t want to do that.
He would spend his time playing in paddocks, wearing a North Melbourne jumper with number 17, idolizing Allen Aylett, the North Melbourne great and future VFL president. On the matter, he said, "Strange, really, because the whole family barracked for Essendon. But I took a shine to North, I think because Langwarrin wore their colors."
When he was 10, the family moved to Chelsea, which is where his football career really took off. He became the captain of the Chelsea under-15s and quickly moved up to the seniors the following year. Thanks to his talent, Chelsea won the premiership, and Matthews was the competition’s leading goal-kicker. Zoned to Hawthorn, he made his debut at 17, and within three years, he had played in a VFL premiership, won the club’s best and fairest, and represented Victoria! It seemed like the sky was the limit for the young sportsman!