Jimmy E. Bates was an 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 for the Essendon Football Club

Essendon Football Club

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

 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...

.

Bates played just one game in the VFL. Recruited to the Essendon seconds from Nathalia

Nathalia, Victoria

Nathalia is a town in northern Victoria, Australia. The town is located within the Shire of Moira Local government area on the banks of Broken Creek and on the Murray Valley Highway. At the 2006 census, Nathalia had a population of 1,431....

, Bates filled in as a wingman replacing Tom Clarke

Tom Clarke (Australian rules footballer)

Thomas Clarke was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the VFL.A wingman, Clarke won Essendon's best and fairest in 1931. He finished his career in the VFA with Brunswick. His son Ron went on to become an Olympic medalist in athletics and his other son Jack played 263 games...

 who was ill with the flu, and played his only league game on 6 May 1933, against St Kilda at Windy Hill

Windy Hill, Essendon

Windy Hill is an Australian rules football ground located in Essendon, a northwestern suburb of the Melbourne metropolitan area....

. In Bates' own words: "I played one game, had one kick and got paid three quid

Australian pound

The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...

." Unhappy with his performance, Bates retired from football immediately after the game, and returned to his favoured sport of competitive running, winning the Keilor Gift in 1939.

Before his death on 6 October 2009, Bates was the oldest surviving VFL/AFL player.

External links