Australian Football

AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game

 

Key Facts

Full name
William Thomas John Valli

Known as
Bill Valli

Born
16 April 1950 (age 74)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 28y 356d
Last game: 30y 136d

Height and weight
Height: 171 cm
Weight: 71 kg

Senior clubs
West Perth; Collingwood; Essendon; Subiaco

Jumper numbers
Collingwood: 2
Essendon: 15

Recruited from
West Perth (1979); Collingwood (1980); Essendon (1981)

Bill Valli

Advanced stats
ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
West PerthWANFL1969-19781472071.41—————
CollingwoodV/AFL197917171.0059%13.595.351.474
EssendonV/AFL1980100.00100%18.006.003.000
SubiacoWAFL1981-198237230.62—————
WAFL1969-1978, 1981-19821842301.25—————
V/AFL1979-198018170.9461%13.835.391.564
Total1969-19822022471.22—————

AFL: 9,063rd player to appear, 6,892nd most games played, 4,080th most goals kickedCollingwood: 789th player to appear, 612th most games played, 351st most goals kickedEssendon: 882nd player to appear, 1,185th most games played, 1,155th most goals kicked

Boasting a powerful physique and plenty of courage, Bill Valli was a strong, ball-winning rover who gave West Perth fine service in 147 WANFL games between 1969 and 1978. Together with ruckmen Graham Farmer and Bill Dempsey he gave the Cardinals arguably the strongest first ruck combination in West Australian football for several years. A club fairest-and-best winner in 1974, 1977 and 1978, Valli represented Western Australia in the interstate arena half a dozen times, with his intense style of play being regarded as particularly appropriate for matches against the Victorians. 

In 1979, aged 29, he embarked on the second phase of his career in the VFL, playing 17 games for Collingwood that year, and one with Essendon the next. He returned to Western Australia in 1981 and spent the final two seasons of his league career with Subiaco, where he added another 37 WAFL games.

Bill Valli enjoys a high reputation at West Perth, and in October 2000 he was selected in the forward pocket in the club's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'.

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Full Points Footy's WA Football Companion

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.