Kevin Coghlan (footballer)

Kevin "Skeeter" Coghlan (14 October 1929 – 22 August 2002)[1] was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood and Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Kevin Coghlan
Personal information
Full name Kevin Coghlan
Date of birth 14 October 1929
Date of death 22 August 2002(2002-08-22) (aged 72)
Original team(s) CBC Parade / Clifton Hill CYMS
Height 163 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Weight 56 kg (123 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1949–1952 Collingwood 31 0(25)
1953–1956 Hawthorn 59 0(95)
Total 90 (120)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1956.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Coghlan, said to have been the smallest player of his era, earned his nickname of "Skeeter" when during a junior high jump competition he successfully made it over a target which was three inches above his height.[2] Not surprisingly, Coghlan played his football as a rover. He won a Gardiner Medal in 1949 for his efforts in the league seconds.

He took a while he establish himself in the Collingwood senior side, with just four appearances from his first two seasons.[3] Over the next two years however he played 27 games.[3] Collingwood went on to win the premiership in 1953, but Coghlan was at Hawthorn, having applied for and been granted a clearance to the Hawks.

Coghlan was the leading goal-kicker for Hawthorn in three successive seasons from 1953 to 1955.[4] His tally of 19 goals in 1953 remains the lowest ever total to top the Hawthorn goal-kicking.[3]

After retiring, Coghlan worked as a football journalist. He was a teacher of senior school maths and physics at Melbourne Girls Grammar school and taught at Melbourne High School and at Northcote High School. He was also a television and radio football commentator.[5]

References
  1. "Kevin Coghlan". Collingwood Forever. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  2. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia Of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 978-1-920910-78-5.
  3. "AFL Tables: Kevin Coghlan". afltables.com.
  4. "Kevin Coghlan - Player Bio". Australian Football. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  5. The Age,"Better go for the lowly", 20 March 1980, p. 23
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