Gary Dempsey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Irish football (soccer) player, see Gary Dempsey (footballer).
Gary Dempsey (born November 22, 1948) played in the ruck for the Australian rules football Footscray Football Club from 1967 to 1978, playing 206 games and winning the 1975 Brownlow Medal. He captained Footscray in 1971-2, and again in 1977-8. Dempsey won the Footscray Best and Fairest in 1970, then consecutively from 1973 to 1977. He was named as ruck in the Footscray Team of the (20th) Century.
He shifted to the North Melbourne Football Club in 1979, winning the club Best and Fairest in his first year there. He played out his career at the Kangaroos, playing 122 games for them, and left AFL football in 1984. Dempsey was named an emergency in the Kangaroos Team of the Century.[1]
Dempsey finished in the top 10 in the Brownlow Medal 13 times. He polled more Brownlow votes then any player in history. He was named an All-Australian Team member at the 1972 Perth carnival. In 1996 Dempsey was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
In 1969, aged 20, Dempsey spent six weeks in hospital after being burnt by a bushfire near his home in Truganina and was told he would never play football again.
[edit] Career highlights
Playing career: 1967-1984 (Games: 329 Goals: 145)
- Footscray 1967-1978 (Games: 207 Goals: 122)
- North Melbourne1979-1984 (Games: 122 Goals: 39)
Player honors:
- Brownlow Medal 1975
- Runner-up Brownlow Medal 1970
- Footscray best and fairest 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977
- North Melbourne best and fairest 1979
- Footscray captain 1971-1972, 1977-1978
- Footscray/Western Bulldogs Team of the Century
- North Melbourne/Kangaroos Team of the Century
- All-Australian 1972, 1982 (VFL)
- Victorian representative (22 games, 8 goals).
[edit] Post playing career
Dempsey was appointed Specialist Ruck Coach of the Carlton Football Club at the end of the 2005 season.
[edit] References
- Ross, John (1999). The Australian Football Hall of Fame. Australia: HarperCollinsPublishers, p. 59. ISBN 0-7322-6426-X.
- AFL: Hall of Fame
| Preceded by Keith Greig |
Brownlow Medallist 1975 |
Succeeded by Graham Moss |
