Leigh Matthews: Australian Football
Leigh Raymond Matthews AM (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian Rules football player and coach. He represented Hawthorn for 332 games in the Victorian Football League from 1969 to 1985 and coached Collingwood (1986-1995) and Brisbane Lions (1999-2008).
Greatest Sporting Achievements
Mathews was captain of Hawthorn for five years and played in four premiership sides. He became a staggering 8-time Hawthorn Best and Fairest, Player of the 20th Century, 6-time Hawthorn leading goal kicker and a recipient of the Coleman Medal in 1975. He was part of the All-Australian Team, AFL Team of the Century and was given the VFLPA MVP Award in 1982, an award which was later renamed to the Leigh Matthews Trophy in 2002 in his honor. Leigh Matthews is an inaugural legend in the Australian Football League’s Hall of Fame. As a coach, he had four premierships and 3 All-Australian. His team became AFL Team of the Year in 1990 and Matthews was later inducted into the Collingwood Hall of Fame and Brisbane Lions Hall of Fame.
Why Was He So Good?
He was popularly referred to “Lethal Leigh”. He possessed an abundance of both effectiveness and suitability, a highly skillful player. It was Hawthorn’s greatest era during the time Leigh Matthews won eight best and fairest. He also topped the club’s goal-kicking list not less than six times with a total of 915 goals, in which he showed the people the explanation for the suitability of the “Lethal” label. Even though Leigh Matthews didn’t acquire the highest individual honor – the Brownlow Medal – playing in the Hawthorn premiership sides for four years will undoubtedly have afforded more than enough reimbursement.
What You May Not Know
- He played his junior football at the Chelsea Football Club then joined Hawthorn when he was sixteen after playing senior suburban football.
- Leigh’s brother Kelvin Matthews played 155 games for Hawthorn and Geelong.
Was he a legend?
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Related Pages
- More Australian Football legendary players
- Athlete Database home
- About the sport of Australian Football
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