Wally Donald (27 May 1927 – 8 November 2003) was recruited by Footscray Football Club (now Western Bulldogs) in the Victorian Football League, now Australian Football League, in 1946 from Braybrook. He played only one senior game that year, but from 1947 to 1957 he was a fixture in the Footscray team. By 1949, Donald was established as one of the best defenders in the league, and in 1950 he represented Victoria during the Brisbane Carnival. Donald even did fairly well in the Brownlow Medal that year, polling a total of nine votes out of a career total of 27.
His unique understanding with full-back Herb Henderson, made for an almost impassable backline, whose record of conceding only 959 points in the 1953 home-and-away season. He was a member of Footscray's 1954 premiership team (playing his landmark 150th game in the Grand Final), and was chosen as a member of the Bulldogs Team of the Century in 2000.
Donald played a total of 205 games for one goal — curiously kicked in exactly his 100th game in round eight (the "National Day Round") of the 1952 season,[1] when a depleted Footscray (its stars playing at the MCG for Victoria) was beaten by St Kilda on a very muddy ground at Yallourn[2] — won Best and Fairest in 1949 and was runner-up in 1952, 1953 and 1954. He retired in 1958 after being dropped from the senior side after two games.
- ^ VFL Games Tomorrow, The Age, (Friday, 13 June 1952), p.16.
- ^ First Win for Saints, The Age, (Monday, 16 June 1952), p.12; VFL Statistics, The Age, (Monday, 16 June 1952), p.12; Wet helps Saints to first victory, The Argus, (Monday, 16 June 1952), p.8.
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Italics denote caretaker coach
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| Persondata |
| Name |
Donald, Wally |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
Australian rules footballer |
| Date of birth |
27 May 1927 |
| Place of birth |
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| Date of death |
8 November 2003 |
| Place of death |
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