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{{Use Australian English|date=September 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2015}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{essay|date=September 2018}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2018}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2018}}
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{{Infobox AFL biography
{{Infobox AFL biography
| name = Syd Coventry
| name = Syd Coventry
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| alt =
| alt =
| caption =
| caption =
| fullname = Sydney Andrew Coventry
| fullname = Sydney Alfred Coventry
| birth_date = {{birth date|1899|6|13|df=y}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1899|6|13|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Greensborough, Victoria]]
| birth_place = [[Greensborough, Victoria]]
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| games_goals1 = 227 (62)
| games_goals1 = 227 (62)
| sooyears1 = 1922–1934
| sooyears1 = 1922–1934
| sooteam1 = Victoria
| sooteam1 = [[Victoria Australian rules football team|Victoria]]
| soogames_goals1 = 27
| soogames_goals1 = 27
| coachyears1 = 1935–1937
| coachyears1 = 1935–1937
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| coachgames_wins1 = 36 (8–26–2)
| coachgames_wins1 = 36 (8–26–2)
| careerhighlights = *{{AFL Col}} premiership captain [[1927 VFL Grand Final|1927]], [[1928 VFL Grand Final|1928]], [[1929 VFL Grand Final|1929]], [[1930 VFL Grand Final|1930]]
| careerhighlights = *{{AFL Col}} premiership captain [[1927 VFL Grand Final|1927]], [[1928 VFL Grand Final|1928]], [[1929 VFL Grand Final|1929]], [[1930 VFL Grand Final|1930]]
*[[List of VFL/AFL minor premiers]] 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930
*[[List of VFL/AFL minor premiers|Minor premier]] 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930
*[[AFL Grand Final]] 1922, 1925
*{{AFL Col}} Team of the Century, captain
*{{AFL Col}} Team of the Century, captain
*[[Brownlow Medal]] 1927
*[[Brownlow Medal]] 1927
*{{AFL Col}} [[List of Collingwood Football Club captains|captain]] 1927–1934
*[[List of Collingwood Football Club captains|Collingwood captain]] 1927–1934
*[[Copeland Trophy]] 1927, 1932
*[[Copeland Trophy]] 1927, 1932
*[[Australian Football Hall of Fame]] 1996
*[[Australian Football Hall of Fame]] 1996
*[[Sport Australia Hall of Fame Awards]] 2002 (1929 Team)
*[[Sport Australia Hall of Fame Awards]] 2002 (1929 team)
*[[Victoria Australian rules football team]] Captain - 1927, 1930, 1933
*[[Victoria Australian rules football team|Victorian]] captain – 1927, 1930, 1933


}}
}}


'''Sydney Andrew Coventry''' (13 June 1899 – 10 November 1976) was an [[Australian rules football]]er.<ref name=encyc>{{cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897|last1=Holmesby|first1=Russell|last2=Main|first2=Jim|year=2009|edition=8th|isbn=978-1-921496-00-4|publisher=BAS Publishing|location=Seaford, Victoria}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/coventry-sydney-alfred-syd-12864|title=Sydney Andrew Coventry|publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian National University}}</ref>
'''Sydney Alfred Coventry''' (13 June 1899 – 10 November 1976) was an [[Australian rules football]] player, coach and administrator.<ref name=encyc>{{cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897|last1=Holmesby|first1=Russell|last2=Main|first2=Jim|year=2009|edition=8th|isbn=978-1-921496-00-4|publisher=BAS Publishing|location=Seaford, Victoria}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/coventry-sydney-alfred-syd-12864|title=Sydney Andrew Coventry|chapter=Coventry, Sydney Alfred (Syd) (1899–1976) |publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian National University}}</ref> He played for [[Collingwood Football Club|Collingwood]] in the [[Australian Football League|Victorian Football League]] (VFL) and also coached [[Western Bulldogs|Footscray]] in the VFL.


In 1969, the Collingwood Football Club named the newly built social club stand at [[Victoria Park, Melbourne|Victoria Park]] the S. A. Coventry Pavilion. In 1992, the [[Melbourne Cricket Club]] named Gate 7 after Coventry (and his brother) as part of the Great Southern Stand development at the [[Melbourne Cricket Ground]]. In 1996, Coventry was inducted into the first batch of players and officials in the [[Australian Football Hall of Fame]]. In 2016, Coventry was named by Sam Walker of ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' as one of the 16 best captains in sport history.<ref>{{cite web |title=Machine named among world's best ever sporting teams |url=https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/machine-named-among-worlds-best-ever-sporting-teams/ |publisher=Collingwood Forever |access-date=11 October 2023}}</ref>
⚫
==Family==
⚫
He married Gladys Eileen Trevaskis (1901–1977) on 8 October 1921.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wRxWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PuMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7257%2C2748651 Deaths: Coventry, ''The Age'', (Thursday, 11 November 1976), p.27.]</ref>

==West Coast of Tasmania==
Originally from [[Diamond Creek, Victoria|Diamond Creek]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], Coventry journeyed across the Bass Strait after the First World War to work in the mines at [[Queenstown, Tasmania|Queenstown]], [[Tasmania]], taking with him a reputation as a fine footballer.

⚫
Coventry first played for a [[Queenstown, Tasmania|Queenstown]] based team in 1919, but was appointed Captain of the Miners team from Gormanston for the 1920 season. The team played in the Queenstown based ‘Lyell Miners Football Association’ which included 9 teams. Gormanston was a small miners town at the top of Mount Lyell. The footballers in the region are noted as some of the hardiest in Australia given the weather and playing conditions, which include the famous Gravel Oval at [[Queenstown Oval|Queenstown]]. <ref>{{cite web |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/68031032?searchTerm=syd%20coventry%20football&searchLimits=l-state=Tasmania |title = 12 Jul 1933 - EARLY FOOTBALL. - Trove}}</ref>


==St Kilda==
==Early career==
⚫
Coventry was originally from [[Diamond Creek, Victoria|Diamond Creek]] in Victoria. He moved to [[Queenstown, Tasmania|Queenstown]] in Tasmania after World War II to work as a miner. Coventry first played for a Queenstown-based team in 1919, but was appointed captain of the miners team from [[Gormanston, Tasmania|Gormanston]] for the 1920 season. The team played in the Queenstown-based Lyell Miners Football Association. Gormanston was a small miners' town at the top of [[Mount Lyell (Tasmania)|Mount Lyell]]. The footballers in the region are noted as some of the hardiest in Australia given the weather and playing conditions, which include the famous gravel oval at Queenstown.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/68031032?searchTerm=syd%20coventry%20football&searchLimits=l-state=Tasmania |title = 12 Jul 1933 - EARLY FOOTBALL. - Trove| newspaper=Advocate | date=12 July 1933 }}</ref>
While still in Queenstown, Coventry was approached by [[St Kilda Football Club|St Kilda]], who wanted him to play for them in 1921. But he was still on the radar of a handful of VFL clubs, and signed to play with St Kilda when he came back to Melbourne.


While in Tasmania, VFL club [[St Kilda Football Club|St Kilda]] tried to recruit Coventry. Coventry initially agreed to sign with the Saints, but his brother [[Gordon Coventry|Gordon]]—who had just played his first year with Collingwood—to join the Magpies instead. The VFL gave Syd the options of either playing for St Kilda or taking 12 months off football to then play with Collingwood and Syd chose the Collingwood option.


==Collingwood==
==Collingwood==
⚫
In his first season at Collingwood, the [[1922 VFL season]], he played 18 games including that year's [[1922 VFL Grand Final]] kicking two goals in the match.
Syd duly agreed, but when he returned to Melbourne he was persuaded by his younger brother [[Gordon Coventry]], who had just finished his first season with [[Collingwood Football Club|Collingwood]], to reconsider. Apart from the issue of family loyalty, there was the small matter of the excessive distance between Diamond Creek and St Kilda to think of.


Coventry played predominantly as a [[Ruck (Australian rules football)|ruckman]] despite his short stature. He was captain of Collingwood from 1927 until his retirement from playing in 1934. He was the captain of Collingwood's four consecutive premierships from 1927 to 1930. Coventry was one of Collingwood's best players in the [[1927 VFL grand final|1927 Grand Final]].
The upshot of it all was that Syd Coventry elected to throw in his lot with Collingwood, whereupon St Kilda, not surprisingly, screamed "foul!" The VFL Permits Committee was called in to adjudicate, and Coventry was faced with the choice of playing with St Kilda, or sitting out of football for twelve months so that he could join the Woods. He opted for the latter course of action.


Coventry won the [[Brownlow Medal]] as the [[best and fairest]] player in the league in 1927. As of 2023, he is the only premiership captain to win the Brownlow in the same season. He also won Collingwood's best and fairest, the [[Copeland Trophy]], in 1927 and 1932.
⚫
In his first season at [[Collingwood Football Club|Collingwood]] in the [[1922 VFL season]] he played 18 games including that year’s [[1922 VFL Grand Final]] kicking 2 goals in this match.


⚫
As captain, Coventry led Collingwood in 149 games. In that period, Collingwood won 115 games, drew twice and lost 32 times. Additionally, the team had a winning ratio of 77 percent, a VFL/AFL record for many years, but it has since beaten by [[Tom Harley]], who had a 49–7 win–loss record as captain of Geelong in 2007–2009, a winning ratio of 87.5 percent.
Despite standing only 180&nbsp;cm in height, Syd Coventry played mainly as a ruckman, where his aggression, vigour and dynamism more than compensated for any deficiency in stature. A born leader, he captained the Magpies from 1927 until he moved to [[Western Bulldogs|Footscray]] as coach at the end of the 1934 season. He thus enjoyed the unique privilege of captaining four successive VFL premiership teams.


Coventry represented [[Victoria Australian rules football team|Victorian]] 27 times in interstate matches from 1922 to 1934.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://australianfootball.com/players/player/Syd+Coventry/3962 |title=Syd Coventry |publisher=australianfootball.com}}</ref>
Often at his best when the going was rough, one of Syd Coventry's finest performances came on a waterlogged MCG in the 1927 grand final, when Collingwood and [[Richmond Football Club|Richmond]] between them could manage only 3 goals for the match. The 1927 season also saw him win both the [[Brownlow Medal]] and Collingwood's best and fairest award. He repeated the second achievement five years later.

Coventry till this day remains the only Premiership Captain to win a Brownlow in the same year. For good measure, he was named the best player in that year's Grand Final.

⚫
As a Captain, Syd led [[Collingwood Football Club]] in 149 games. In that period, Collingwood won 115 games, drew twice and lost 32 times. Additionally, the team had a winning ratio of 77 percent, a VFL/AFL record for many years, but it has since beaten by [[Tom Harley]], who had a 49–7 win–loss record as captain of Geelong in 2007–2009, a winning ratio of 87.5 percent.

Virtual omnipresent in VFL representative teams for most of his career, Coventry made a total of 27 interstate appearances. His eventual departure from Victoria Park to coach [[Western Bulldogs|Footscray]] came with the blessing of the Collingwood committee—but only on the proviso that he did not continue as a player.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://australianfootball.com/players/player/Syd+Coventry/3962 |title=Syd Coventry |publisher=australianfootball.com}}</ref>


==Footscray==
==Footscray==
After two unsuccessful and unhappy years with Footscray (1934–1935), Syd Coventry returned to Collingwood in an administrative capacity.
[[File:Len_Reynolds_The_Coventrys_of_Collingwood.jpg|right|thumb|362x362px|"The Coventrys of Collingwood" (L: Sid; R: [[Gordon Coventry|Gordon]]) Len Reynolds, ''Table Talk'', 9 October 1930.]]
[[File:Len_Reynolds_The_Coventrys_of_Collingwood.jpg|right|thumb|362x362px|"The Coventrys of Collingwood" (L: Sid; R: [[Gordon Coventry|Gordon]]) Len Reynolds, ''Table Talk'', 9 October 1930.]]
Coventry left Collingwood in 1935 to coach [[Western Bulldogs|Footscray]]. He spent two unsuccessful seasons with the Bulldogs before returning to Collingwood as a committee member.


⚫
==Family==
==Collingwood committeeman==
⚫
He married Gladys Eileen Trevaskis (1901–1977) on 8 October 1921.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wRxWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PuMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7257%2C2748651 Deaths: Coventry, ''The Age'', (Thursday, 11 November 1976), p.27.]</ref> Two of Syd's sons played for Collingwood: [[Hugh Coventry]] played for a year before enlisting in the [[RAAF]] and was awarded with a [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]; another son, [[Syd Coventry, Jr.]], also played for the club.
⚫
He served as club vice-president from 1939 to 1949, and as president between 1950 and 1962. From 1963 until 1976 he was Collingwood's patron, rounding off more than fifty years of involvement with the club.


==Administrator==
In 1969, the Collingwood Football Club named the newly built social club stand at Victoria Park S.A Coventry Pavilion.
⚫
Coventry was Collingwood vice president from 1939 to 1949. He was then appointed president of the club in 1950, a role in which he served until 1962. From 1963 until 1976 he was Collingwood's patron.

In 1992, the Melbourne Cricket Club named Gate 7 after Coventry (& his brother) as part of the Great Southern Stand development at the MCG.

In 1996, Coventry was inducted into the first batch of players and officials in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Two of Syd's sons played for Collingwood: [[Hugh Coventry]] played for a year before enlisting in the [[RAAF]] and was awarded with a [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]; another son, [[Syd Coventry, Jr.]], also played for the club.

In 2016, Coventry was named by Sam Walker of [[The Wall Street Journal]] as one of the 16 best captain’s in sport history.

[https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/machine-named-among-worlds-best-ever-sporting-teams/]


==See also==
==See also==
* [[1927 Melbourne Carnival]]
* [[1927 Melbourne Carnival]]
⚫
* [[1930 Adelaide Carnival]]

⚫
* [[1930 Adelaide Carnival]]

* [[1933 Sydney Carnival]]
* [[1933 Sydney Carnival]]


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[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:Brownlow Medal winners]]
[[Category:Australian rules footballers from Melbourne]]
[[Category:Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents]]
[[Category:Collingwood Football Club players]]
[[Category:Collingwood Football Club players]]
[[Category:Collingwood Football Club Premiership players]]
[[Category:Collingwood Football Club premiership players]]
[[Category:Copeland Trophy winners]]
[[Category:Copeland Trophy winners]]
[[Category:Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Western Bulldogs coaches]]
[[Category:Western Bulldogs coaches]]
[[Category:Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)]]
[[Category:Brownlow Medal winners]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Melbourne]]
[[Category:VFL/AFL premiership players]]
[[Category:Four-time VFL/AFL Premiership players]]
[[Category:People from Diamond Creek, Victoria]]
[[Category:Collingwood Football Club administrators]]

Latest revision as of 01:54, 14 February 2024

Syd Coventry
Personal information
Full name Sydney Alfred Coventry
Date of birth (1899-06-13)13 June 1899
Place of birth Greensborough, Victoria
Date of death 10 November 1976(1976-11-10) (aged 77)
Place of death Fairfield, Victoria
Original team(s) Diamond Creek Football Club
Height 182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 86 kg (190 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1922–1934 Collingwood 227 (62)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1922–1934 Victoria 27
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1935–1937 Footscray 36 (8–26–2)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1934.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1937.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Sydney Alfred Coventry (13 June 1899 – 10 November 1976) was an Australian rules football player, coach and administrator.[1][2] He played for Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and also coached Footscray in the VFL.

In 1969, the Collingwood Football Club named the newly built social club stand at Victoria Park the S. A. Coventry Pavilion. In 1992, the Melbourne Cricket Club named Gate 7 after Coventry (and his brother) as part of the Great Southern Stand development at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In 1996, Coventry was inducted into the first batch of players and officials in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. In 2016, Coventry was named by Sam Walker of The Wall Street Journal as one of the 16 best captains in sport history.[3]

Early career

[edit]

Coventry was originally from Diamond Creek in Victoria. He moved to Queenstown in Tasmania after World War II to work as a miner. Coventry first played for a Queenstown-based team in 1919, but was appointed captain of the miners team from Gormanston for the 1920 season. The team played in the Queenstown-based Lyell Miners Football Association. Gormanston was a small miners' town at the top of Mount Lyell. The footballers in the region are noted as some of the hardiest in Australia given the weather and playing conditions, which include the famous gravel oval at Queenstown.[4]

While in Tasmania, VFL club St Kilda tried to recruit Coventry. Coventry initially agreed to sign with the Saints, but his brother Gordon—who had just played his first year with Collingwood—to join the Magpies instead. The VFL gave Syd the options of either playing for St Kilda or taking 12 months off football to then play with Collingwood and Syd chose the Collingwood option.

Collingwood

[edit]

In his first season at Collingwood, the 1922 VFL season, he played 18 games including that year's 1922 VFL Grand Final kicking two goals in the match.

Coventry played predominantly as a ruckman despite his short stature. He was captain of Collingwood from 1927 until his retirement from playing in 1934. He was the captain of Collingwood's four consecutive premierships from 1927 to 1930. Coventry was one of Collingwood's best players in the 1927 Grand Final.

Coventry won the Brownlow Medal as the best and fairest player in the league in 1927. As of 2023, he is the only premiership captain to win the Brownlow in the same season. He also won Collingwood's best and fairest, the Copeland Trophy, in 1927 and 1932.

As captain, Coventry led Collingwood in 149 games. In that period, Collingwood won 115 games, drew twice and lost 32 times. Additionally, the team had a winning ratio of 77 percent, a VFL/AFL record for many years, but it has since beaten by Tom Harley, who had a 49–7 win–loss record as captain of Geelong in 2007–2009, a winning ratio of 87.5 percent.

Coventry represented Victorian 27 times in interstate matches from 1922 to 1934.[5]

Footscray

[edit]
"The Coventrys of Collingwood" (L: Sid; R: Gordon) Len Reynolds, Table Talk, 9 October 1930.

Coventry left Collingwood in 1935 to coach Footscray. He spent two unsuccessful seasons with the Bulldogs before returning to Collingwood as a committee member.

Family

[edit]

He married Gladys Eileen Trevaskis (1901–1977) on 8 October 1921.[6] Two of Syd's sons played for Collingwood: Hugh Coventry played for a year before enlisting in the RAAF and was awarded with a Distinguished Flying Cross; another son, Syd Coventry, Jr., also played for the club.

Administrator

[edit]

Coventry was Collingwood vice president from 1939 to 1949. He was then appointed president of the club in 1950, a role in which he served until 1962. From 1963 until 1976 he was Collingwood's patron.

See also

[edit]

Footnotes

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Syd Coventry.
  1. ^ Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2009). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (8th ed.). Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. ISBN 978-1-921496-00-4.
  2. ^ "Coventry, Sydney Alfred (Syd) (1899–1976)". Sydney Andrew Coventry. Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian National University.
  3. ^ "Machine named among world's best ever sporting teams". Collingwood Forever. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  4. ^ "12 Jul 1933 - EARLY FOOTBALL. - Trove". Advocate. 12 July 1933.
  5. ^ "Syd Coventry". australianfootball.com.
  6. ^ Deaths: Coventry, The Age, (Thursday, 11 November 1976), p.27.
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