Harry Dowdall

Harry Dowdall
Harry Dowdall
	Dowdall in 1896 during his Collingwood VFA career
Personal information
Full name	Henry Arthur Dowdall
Date of birth	24 June 1872
Place of birth	Emerald Hill, Victoria
Date of death	9 May 1912 (aged 39)
Place of death	Collingwood
Original team(s)	South Melbourne
Playing career1
Years	Club
1892–1896	Collingwood (VFA)
1897-1900	Collingwood
1901	St Kilda
Total
	1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1901.
Career highlights
	1896 VFA premiership player;
	Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Henry Arthur Dowdall (29 June 1872 – 9 May 1912) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the 1897 inaugural Victorian Football League (VFL) season.^[1]

Family

The son of James Dowdall and Isabella McGowan, Harry was small of stature and lightly built, and used these traits to his advantage, particularly in wet weather.

Football

Harry's older brother Jim had both previously played for South Melbourne in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) from 1887, with Harry playing in the 2nd Twenty. In 1892 they both tried to move to Collingwood. Jim was unsuccessful and instead played for Richmond.^[2]

In Collingwood's final game of the 1897 VFL season, Harry refused to play unless he was allowed to play on the ball for the entirety of the game. Although not pleasing Collingwood officials with his stance, he remained at the club for a further three seasons, playing 38 games and kicking 21 goals, before crossing to St Kilda in 1901 at the age of 29, where he played only one game.

Notes

^ Newspaper reports of the time spell his name (and Jim's) variously as Dowdell/Dowdall. Dowdall is correct.
^ Contemporary newspaper reports

References

Football and fighting
'Follower', "The Footballers' Alphabet", The Leader, (Saturday, 23 July 1898), p.17.
Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

Harry Dowdall's playing statistics from AFL Tables

[1] Newspaper reports of the time spell his name (and Jim's) variously as Dowdell/Dowdall. Dowdall is correct.

[2] Contemporary newspaper reports

[1]

[2]