Clyde Donaldson

Australian rules footballer

Clyde Donaldson
Personal information
Date of birth	9 June 1894
Place of birth	Elsternwick, Victoria
Date of death	23 May 1979(1979-05-23) (aged 84)
Place of death	St Kilda East, Victoria
Original team(s)	Brunswick Juniors
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb)
Playing career¹
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1913–14, 1919–26	Essendon	144 (28)
¹ Playing statistics correct to the end of 1926.
Career highlights
AIF Pioneer Exhibition Game, London, 28 October 1916
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Clyde Donaldson (9 June 1894 – 23 May 1979)^[1] was an Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Family

The son of George Donaldson (1857-), and Louisa Emma Susanna Donaldson (1858-1932), née Seyler,^[2] Clyde Donaldson was born in Elsternwick, Victoria on 9 June 1894. His brother, Eric Donaldson played for St Kilda.

He married Edith Evelyn Happell (1895-1968) on 16 April 1921.^[3] He married Daisy Evans (1905-1981) on 24 September 1969.

Football

Essendon (VFL)

After two seasons playing with Essendon, Donaldson's career was interrupted by World War I when he spent fours years overseas with the Australian Expeditionary Force.

Training Units team (AIF)

While in London he took part in the famous "Pioneer Exhibition Game" of Australian Rules football, held in London, in October 1916, representing the Australian Training Units team. A news film was taken at the match.^[5]^[6]

Essendon (VFL)

In 1919 he returned to Essendon and became a regular Victorian interstate representative throughout the 1920s. A back pocket specialist, Donaldson was tough to beat in an aerial contest and was a long kick of the ball. He was a member of Essendon's 1923 and 1924 premiership teams.

Journalist

After retiring in 1926, Donaldson became a noted football journalist for the Truth newspaper.^{[citation needed]}

Death

He died in East St Kilda on 23 May 1979.^[7]

Footnotes

^ "Past Player Profiles – D (Donaldson, Clyde)". essendonfc.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
^ Marriages: Donaldson—Seyler, The Argus, (Thursday, 9 August 1883), p.1.
^ Marriages: Donaldson—Happell, The Argus, (Saturday, 25 June 1921), p.13.
^ Detail of Organised by Australian Olympic swimmer Lieutenant Frank Beaurepaire, etc., in the collection of the Australian War Memorial (Accession number: H16688).
^ The original newsreel: Australian Football (Pathé Newsreel, 1916) on YouTube
^ The 2019 remastered and colourised version of the original newsreel: Australian Football (Pathé Newsreel, 1916), remastered and colourised version (2019) on YouTube
^ Deaths: Donaldson, The Age, (Thursday, 24 May 1979), p.36.

References

Photographs at The Sporting Globe, (Wednesday, 27 June 1923), p.1, and player at extreme right, back row, at File:Essendon_fc_1923.jpg.
Pioneer Exhibition Game Australian Football: in aid of British and French Red Cross Societies: 3rd Australian Division v. Australian Training Units at Queen's Club, West Kensington, on Saturday, October 28th, 1916, at 3pm, Wightman & Co., (London), 1919.
Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-9591740-2-8
Richardson, N. (2016) The Game of Their Lives, Pan Macmillan Australia: Sydney. ISBN 9781743536667
First World War Embarkation Roll: Private Clyde Donaldson (251), collection of the Australian War Memorial.
First World War Nominal Roll: Private Clyde Donaldson (251), collection of the Australian War Memorial.
First World War Service Record: Private Clyde Donaldson (251), National Archives of Australia.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clyde Donaldson.

Clyde Donaldson's playing statistics from AFL Tables
Clyde Donaldson at AustralianFootball.com
Clyde Donaldson, at Boyles Football Photos.

Essendon Football Club 1923/24 VFL premiers

1923: Essendon 8.15 (63) defeated Fitzroy 6.10 (46), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
1924: Essendon won the finals series with 2 wins, 1 loss, and a percentage of 142.74