David Armitage (footballer)

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David Armitage
Armitage playing for St Kilda in August 2018
Personal information
Full name David Clancy Armitage
Date of birth (1988-06-16) 16 June 1988 (age 35)
Place of birth Mackay, Queensland
Original team(s) Morningside (QAFL)
Draft No. 9, 2006 National Draft, St Kilda
Height 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 84 kg (185 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2007–2019 St Kilda 169 (98)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2019.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

David Clancy Armitage (born 16 June 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life and junior football[edit]

Armitage was born in Mackay, Queensland.[1] Despite growing up in a rugby league stronghold city, Armitage played Australian rules football in his younger years. His father, Greg, was an avid Australian rules fan and introduced him to the game at a young age. He played his junior football for the Eastern Swans in the AFL Mackay competition. He made his senior debut for the Swans in 2002 at 14 years old and kicked five goals against Bakers Creek.[2] In 2005, at the age of 16, he made the decision to move to Brisbane and play for Morningside in the hope of increasing his chances of getting drafted to an AFL club. While at Morningside, he represented the under 18s Queensland team several times and played alongside future AFL players Courtenay Dempsey and Lee Spurr.[3] He also competed in the 2005 QAFL Grand Final. The decision paid off as he was drafted to St Kilda with the 9th pick in the 2006 AFL draft.

AFL career[edit]

Armitage made his AFL debut in Round 8, 2007 against Hawthorn. He played in St Kilda’s 2008 NAB Cup winning side, the club's third preseason cup win.[4][5] He played in three of 22 matches in the 2009 season's home and away rounds in which St Kilda qualified in first position for the finals series, winning the club’s third minor premiership.[6] He became a regular player in St Kilda's midfield from the 2011 season.[7]

After his 2014 season had been interrupted by injury, Armitage planned with St Kilda coach Alan Richardon and committed to shedding excess muscle to re-design himself as a player, modeling himself after Hawthorn premiership player Jordan Lewis. In 2015 pre-season training he emphasized his running rather than his weight-lifting and shed five kilograms of weight, which led to a major improvement in his game,[8] and he enjoyed career-best form in the 2015 season. He played almost every game of the season for St Kilda, in August he was one of the top five in the AFL for possessions, and he filled in as captain for three games in the absence of Nick Riewoldt. Already contracted until for 2016, he signed a three-year contract extension to stay at the club until the end of 2019.[9] He finished off the season having played 21 out of 22 games for St Kilda and came second in the Trevor Barker Award, St Kilda's best and fairest, as well as polling 12 votes in the Brownlow Medal.[10]

In 2017 Armitage struggled with a groin injury, which required surgery and sidelined him from all but 2 of St Kilda's matches for the year.[11] His final years at the club were hampered by injury and he finished the 2019 season on the sidelines due to concussion. He retired at the end of the 2019 season.[7]

Statistics[edit]

Statistics are correct to end of 2019[12]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2007 St Kilda 20 3 0 0 11 9 20 7 7 0.0 0.0 3.7 3.0 6.7 2.3 2.3
2008 St Kilda 20 13 10 6 77 56 133 39 43 0.8 0.5 5.9 4.3 10.2 3.0 3.3
2009 St Kilda 20 3 3 1 30 17 47 9 26 1.0 0.3 10.0 5.7 15.7 3.0 8.7
2010 St Kilda 20 9 4 2 64 77 141 29 50 0.4 0.2 7.1 8.6 15.7 3.2 5.6
2011 St Kilda 20 22 12 12 180 156 336 63 99 0.5 0.5 8.2 7.1 15.3 2.9 4.5
2012 St Kilda 20 21 17 8 275 151 426 100 98 0.8 0.4 13.1 7.2 20.3 4.8 4.7
2013 St Kilda 20 21 10 10 248 209 457 71 115 0.5 0.5 11.8 10.0 21.8 3.4 5.5
2014 St Kilda 20 15 11 6 176 154 330 59 67 0.7 0.4 11.7 10.3 22.0 3.9 4.5
2015 St Kilda 20 21 11 12 282 315 597 83 125 0.5 0.7 13.4 15.0 28.4 4.0 6.0
2016 St Kilda 20 22 11 2 214 264 478 78 125 0.5 0.1 9.7 12.0 21.7 3.6 5.7
2017 St Kilda 20 2 1 1 18 15 33 9 8 0.5 0.5 9.0 7.5 16.5 4.5 4.0
2018 St Kilda 20 15 8 11 152 147 299 70 43 0.5 0.7 10.1 9.8 19.9 4.7 2.9
2019 St Kilda 20 2 0 0 20 13 33 8 6 0.0 0.0 10.0 6.5 16.5 4.0 3.0
Career 169 98 71 1747 1583 3330 625 812 0.6 0.4 10.3 9.3 19.7 3.7 4.8

References[edit]

  1. ^ Mackay's David Armitage now one of AFL's best
  2. ^ Armo through the years
  3. ^ David Armitage rewarded for staying power
  4. ^ "St Kilda wins NAB cup". The Age. 8 March 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  5. ^ "Saints are NAB Cup Champions in 2008". Jeld-Wen. 8 March 2008. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  6. ^ "2009 Season Scores and Results - Ladder". AFL Tables. 2009. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  7. ^ a b "Armitage bids farewell". saints.com.au. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  8. ^ Morris, Tom (3 June 2015). "Stalk the Hawk, walk the walk". saints.com.au. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  9. ^ Holmesby, Luke (6 August 2015). "Armo in for the long haul". saints.com.au. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  10. ^ Beveridge, Riley (22 August 2019). "Veteran mid to leave Saints, but 'not closing the door'". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  11. ^ Wood, Lauren (21 April 2017). "David Armitage to miss extended period as St Kilda veteran battles ongoing groin issue". Herald Sun. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  12. ^ David Armitage's player profile at AFL Tables

External links[edit]

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