Billy Libbis

William Edward Libbis (2 July 1903 – 15 August 1986[1]) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood and Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Billy Libbis
Personal information
Full name William Edward Libbis
Nickname(s) Pickles
Date of birth 2 July 1903
Place of birth Port Melbourne, Victoria
Date of death 15 August 1986(1986-08-15) (aged 83)
Place of death Doncaster, Victoria
Original team(s) Fairfield
Height 175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 80 kg (176 lb)
Position(s) Rover
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1925–1933 Collingwood 138 (150)
1933–1935 Melbourne 039 0(25)
Total 177 (175)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1926–1933 Victoria 12
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1935.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 1933.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Family

William Edward Libbis was born in Port Melbourne, Victoria on 2 July 1903.

He married Stella Millicent Hannebery (1905-1961) in 1929.

Collingwood

Libbis was a rover and made his debut in 1925. He became a member of the successful Collingwood side which won four consecutive premierships from 1927 to 1930, Libbis the first rover for each grand final. Gordon Coventry called him "the best rover he ever saw".[2]

In 1931, he was suspended for eight weeks for striking Ted Pool in the match against Hawthorn on 9 May 1931.[3][4] Returning from his suspension, he only played in three matches before he was hospitalized and operated on for appendicitis.[5] He did not play again that season.

Melbourne

At the beginning of the 1933 season Libbis protested against the player's weekly match payments being reduced and he was cleared to leave the club for Melbourne.[6][7]

Northcote

Having transferred from being the coach of the State Savings Bank team in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) in 1938,[8] he served as coach of Northcote from 1939 to 1941 (the VFA was in recess due to World war II 1942-1944); he began his tenure as a non-playing coach, but soon returned to the field as a captain-coach.[9]

Footnotes
  1. "Billy Libbis". Collingwood Forever. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  2. Holmesby & Main (2011), p.497.
  3. In Trouble: Six Players Reported, The Sporting Globe, (Wednesday, 13 May 1931), p.8.
  4. Unfair Football: Six Players Charged: Three Disqualifications, The Argus, (Friday, 15 May 1931), p.5; League Tribunal, The Age, (Friday, 15 May 1931), p.6.
  5. Victorian Football Jottings, The Referee, (Wednesday, 26 August 1931), p.14.
  6. Will Libbis Go?, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 13 May 1933), p.2; Collingwood Clears Libbis. The Argus, (Wednesday, 17 May 1933), p.11; Snapshots from Field and Clubroom: Never Tires, The Herald, (Friday, 18 August 1933), p.14.
  7. Piesse (1993), p.170.
  8. Tymms as Coach, The Argus, (Thursday, 16 March 1939), p.20.
  9. V.F.A. Club Notes, The Age, (Friday, 24 March 1939), p.4;W. Libbis to Play, The Age, (Friday, 18 August 1939), p.7; Association, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 19 August 1939), p.6.

References
  • Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim, The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (9th ed.), (Melbourne), Bas Publishing, 2011. ISBN 978-1-921496-12-7
  • Piesse, Ken, The Complete Guide to Australian Football, (Melbourne), Pan MacMillan Australia Pty Limited, 1993. ISBN 0-330-35712-3
  • Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0
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