John Todd (footballer)

For other people of the same name, see John Todd (disambiguation).

John Todd (born 21 May 1938 in Manjimup, Western Australia) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. After becoming youngest ever winner of the Sandover Medal in his first year of senior football he suffered a serious knee injury, which affected his playing career. He then concentrated on coaching and is one of only four coaches in the major Australian football leagues to have coached over 700 senior games.

Playing career

Todd first came to notice when he scored 7 goals in South Fremantle's reserve grade WAFL premiership. He made his senior debut the following year aged 16 years and 336 days, one of the youngest and played in every league game, winning both the Sandover Medal and South's best and fairest award. Aged 17 and 4 months when he beat Graham Farmer by 4 votes in the 1955 Sandover Medal count, he was the youngest ever winner apart from Laurie Bowen in 1942 during the restricted under age seasons during World War II.

However, he then suffered a knee injury after only five games in 1956 that was unable to be repaired with the medical techniques of the time. Wearing a special leg brace he was able to continue playing but only had two more seasons in his career that were not affected by injury. He won the South Fremantle best and fairest award in each of these years, 1958 and 1961 and also was selected in the All-Australian Team following Western Australia's successful 1961 Brisbane Carnival performance. Todd played a total of thirteen state games for Western Australia between 1955 and 1962, kicking 25 goals.

He was appointed the playing captain-coach of South Fremantle in 1959 but relinquished the position in 1960. He retired from playing in 1964 and was reappointed coach in 1966. He made a comeback to the playing field in June 1966 in the Foundation Day Derby but retired again soon after, finishing with 132 games.

Coaching career

Todd made his name as a coach in both the WAFL and AFL, coaching in 741 senior games over 6 decades.

He first coached his old club South Fremantle as a captain-coach in 1959, then after his retirement as a player, from 1966-1968. He then coached East Fremantle from 1973–1976, including winning the 1974 premiership. In 1977 he moved to Swan Districts, where he coached for eleven seasons winning a hat-trick of premierships between 1982 and 1984.

While at Swans in 1982, Todd caused controversy by sending a reserves team to Melbourne to compete in a Night Series quarter-final against VFL-club Richmond. Todd's actions were in protest to a change of the quarter final schedule, which he felt would be detrimental to his senior team's performance in the WAFL. The inexperienced team lost by 186 points, and the club was banned from the Night Series for three years.

Todd was called up in 1988 to coach the West Coast Eagles in the then-VFL, taking over from Ron Alexander. He was the first coach to take them into the finals in 1988, but after a mediocre year in 1989 he was succeeded by Mick Malthouse.

Todd went back to the WAFL to Swan Districts, where he coached the team to a premiership in his first year back in 1990, before moving back to his original team, South Fremantle in 1995. He coached them to the 1997 premiership before leaving again after the 1998 season, taking a year off from coaching. In 2000 he made his final move, back to Swan Districts, before finally retiring at the end of 2002. In August 2001 he became the first West Australian and the fourth Australian to coach 700 senior games. The Parliament of Western Australia suspended its standing orders to pass a motion of congratulation to Todd for his contribution to Australian rules football.

Todd's total coaching career spanned 735 senior games, including:

• 417 games for Swan Districts, including four premierships
• 172 games for South Fremantle, including one premiership
• 87 games for East Fremantle, including one premiership
• 45 games for the West Coast Eagles
• 14 representative games for Western Australia

He also coached six International Rules tests for Australia.

Todd was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2003 as a coach and is a Legend of the West Australian Football Hall of Fame.

References

• East, Alan; Chris Pike, Tracey Lewis, Gary Stocks & Joel Waddell (September 2006). Alan East. ed. The Sandover Medal Men. Alan East. pp. 193–198. ISBN 0-9775813-0-6. 
• Full Points Football Biography

Preceded by Ron Alexander	West Coast Eagles coach 1988-1989	Succeeded by Mick Malthouse
Preceded by Merv McIntosh	Sandover Medalist 1955	Succeeded by Graham Farmer