Malcolm Cooper (footballer)

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mitch Ames (talk | contribs) at 11:15, 28 April 2020 (remove space before ref, per MOS:REFSPACE). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Malcolm Cooper
Playing career
Years Club Games (Goals)
1954–1955 Port Adelaide 5

Malcolm Cooper was an Indigenous Australian rules footballer who played for Port Adelaide during the 1950s.[1]

Football

Cooper was noticed as an up and coming player in the junior ranks, winning the "most improved" award for Port Adelaide Colts in 1953.[2] He is considered the first indigenous Australian to play senior football for Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).[3] Harry Hewitt did represent the club in an interstate match against Victorian club Fitzroy in 1891 but that was not an SANFL fixture.[4]


Malcolm was also the first Aboriginal footballer to play for the Port Adelaide Football Club in a Grand Final, the seven-point loss to West Torrens in 1953.[5]

Social activism

Malcolm Cooper founded the Aboriginal Progress Association and became its first president in 1964.[6][7] The association was formed in response to perceptions that the South Australian Aborigines' Advancement League was dominated by non-Aboriginal members, lessening the voice of indigenous Australians politically.[7] He met and lobbied Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies in 1963 in Canberra as part of a delegation to promote justice for Aboriginal people.[8]

References

  1. ^ "List of Port Adelaide's indigenous players in the AFL and SANFL - portadelaidefc.com.au". portadelaidefc.com.au. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  2. ^ ""Sport" Holes". Messenger. No. 135. South Australia. 29 October 1953. p. 2. Retrieved 20 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ Homfray, Reece (13 July 2017). "If you bleed black and white you're in part of the family". WA Weekend.
  4. ^ "The Fitzroy Matches". South Australian Chronicle. Vol. XXXIV, no. 1, 720. 8 August 1891. p. 15. Retrieved 9 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ https://www.alicespringsnews.com.au/2019/02/01/kids-from-the-alice-when-malcolm-met-menzies/
  6. ^ "Port Adelaide's pain over racism after long and proud Indigenous history". ABC News. 2016-08-23. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
  7. ^ a b Australia, National Museum of. "Collaborating for Indigenous Rights Home". indigenousrights.net.au. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
  8. ^ https://www.alicespringsnews.com.au/2019/02/01/kids-from-the-alice-when-malcolm-met-menzies/
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Malcolm_Cooper_(footballer)&oldid=953658530"