Bernie McCarthy is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with North Melbourne

North Melbourne Football Club

The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...

 in the Victorian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (VFL).

McCarthy was the eldest of three brothers from Yea

Yea Football Club

Yea Football Club is an Australian rules football club based based in the Victorian town of Yea. The club was established in 1893 and competed in the Alexandra & Yea Football Association. At the end of 2005 Central Goulburn Football League broke up and the teams went to other leagues. Yea FC went...

 who played in the VFL. The youngest, Shane, played at Geelong

Geelong Football Club

The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...

 and the other, Gavan, made two appearance for North Melbourne, one of them with Bernie in round five of the 1965 VFL season

1965 VFL season

Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1965.-Premiership season:In 1965, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man...

. A nephew, Matthew

Matthew McCarthy

Matthew McCarthy is a former Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League , playing 22 games between 2003 and 2006. He is the brother of Collingwood player John McCarthy....

, was also a Geelong footballer and another, John, is currently at Collingwood

Collingwood Football Club

The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

.

A centre half-forward

Centre half-forward

In Australian rules football, the centre half-forward is a position on the half-forward line of a football field. The directly opposing player is a Centre-Half-Back....

, McCarthy partnered John Dugdale

John Dugdale (footballer)

John Dugdale is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Kangaroos in a 15 year career which began in 1955. He shares with Jock Spencer the club record of 6 times topping their season ending goalkicking charts...

 as North Melbourne's key forwards throughout the 1960s.

He finished the 1971 season at Preston

Northern Bullants

Northern Blues Football Club is a long-established Australian rules football club based in Preston and currently playing in the Victorian Football League representing the central and outer areas of Melbourne...

 and was one of the club's best players in the Grand Final

1971 VFA Division 1 Grand Final

The 1971 VFA Division 1 Grand Final was an Australian rules football match played between the Dandenong Redlegs and the Preston Bullants. The match was held on Sunday 26 September 1971 at the Junction Oval in St Kilda, Victoria, to decide Division 1 Premiership for the 1971 Victorian Football...

 loss to Dandenong

Dandenong Football Club

Dandenong Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association . Based in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong, the Redlegs wore navy blue and red as their club colours.-History:...

 that year.

His career then continued in the Bendigo Football League

Bendigo Football League

The Bendigo Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the Bendigo region of Victoria, Australia.Formed in 1880, it is one of the oldest football leagues in Australia, and among its members are some of the oldest football clubs in Australia, including the Castlemaine...

, where he captain-coached South Bendigo

South Bendigo Football Club

The South Bendigo Football Club are an Australian rules football club which compete in the Bendigo Football League .Since South Bendigo entered the league in 1894, no club have won more premierships...

. He won the Michelsen Medal in 1973 and lead his side to a premiership in 1974.