Pte.

Private (rank)

A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...

 Cyril Louis Hoft (born October 1897 in Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

; date and place of death unknown) was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n soldier and 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 for and in the West Australian Football League

West Australian Football League

The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...

 (WAFL) and Glenelg in the South Australian Football League (SAFL). He was the inaugural winner of the Sandover Medal

Sandover Medal

The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League...

, along with Tom Outridge

Tom Outridge

Tom Outridge was an Australian rules footballer who played for Subiaco and Perth in the WAFL.Outridge holds his place in Western Australian sporting history as the inaugural winner of the Sandover Medal. He won the award in 1921, while at Subiaco, having previously spent four seasons with Perth...

.

Career

Hoft played eleven games for in 1914, before switching to for the 1915 season.

Hoft enlisted in the 44 Infantry Battalion in June 1916, serving in Europe during the war

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. He also participated in the "Pioneer Exhibition Game" in October 1916, an exhibition match

Australian rules football exhibition matches

Australian rules football has been introduced to a wide range of places around Australia and the world since the code originated in Victoria in 1859....

 in benefit of the war organised by Frank Beaurepaire

Frank Beaurepaire

Sir Francis "Frank" Joseph Edmund Beaurepaire was an Australian distance freestyle swimmer from the 1900s to the 1920s, who won three silver and three bronze medals, from the 1908 Summer Olympics in London to the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, setting 15 world records.He was also a decorated...

.

He resumed his league career with Perth in 1919. In 1921, Hoft finished equal on votes with 's Tom Outridge

Tom Outridge

Tom Outridge was an Australian rules footballer who played for Subiaco and Perth in the WAFL.Outridge holds his place in Western Australian sporting history as the inaugural winner of the Sandover Medal. He won the award in 1921, while at Subiaco, having previously spent four seasons with Perth...

 in the inaugural Sandover Medal

Sandover Medal

The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League...

. As was customary at the time, the WAFL president had the deciding vote, which he gave to Outridge. In 1997, Hoft, along with other players that had finished equal on votes but lost on countback, was awarded a retrospective medal. Hoft represented Western Australia in the 1921 Perth Carnival

1921 Perth Carnival

The 1921 Perth Carnival was the fourth edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition...

.

In 1924, Hoft switched to Glenelg in the SAFL. Standing out in a team that had yet to win a match, Hoft was appointed captain two rounds into the season, and won the club's best and fairest in 1924, also representing South Australia at the 1924 Hobart Carnival

1924 Hobart Carnival

The 1924 Hobart Carnival was the fifth edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition...

. He was appointed captain-coach in 1925, and guided the club to its first ever win, against reigning premiers West Torrens

West Torrens Football Club

West Torrens Football Club was an Australian rules football club that competed in the South Australian National Football League from 1897 to 1990...

. Hoft returned to Perth in 1928, playing one final season.