John "Johnny" Leonard was a player and coach of 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...

 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 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...

 (later renamed to Australian Football League) in the period 1922 to 1946.

He was born in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Playing career

A slightly built (173 cm, 68 kg) and very quick rover with brilliant skills, Leonard played in Subiaco Football Club

Subiaco Football Club

The Subiaco Football Club, nicknamed the Lions, is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League . It was founded in 1896, and admitted to the WAFL in 1901, along with North Fremantle...

's 1924 premiership side. He was Subiaco's Best and Fairest

Best and Fairest

Best and Fairest is the term commonly used in Australian sport to describe the player adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition while not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.In the...

 player five times. He played 158 senior club games and represented his State 25 times.

He won 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...

 in 1926 (the first English-born player to do so) and was awarded a retrospective medal for the 1929 season after finishing second on a countback. Prior to 1930 only one vote per game was given by the umpire, and a countback was not possible; the WAFL president would cast a deciding vote to decide the winner. Both Leonard and William (Billy) Thomas of East Perth Football Club

East Perth Football Club

The East Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Royals, is an Australian rules football club that is a member of the West Australian Football League...

 polled the umpire's vote in five matches.

With the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 limiting employment options, Leonard moved to Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 in 1931, coaching Maryborough

Maryborough Football Club

The Maryborough Football Club are an Australian rules football club which compete in the Bendigo Football League.They are based in the town of Maryborough, Victoria.-History:...

 in the Ballarat Football League

Ballarat Football League

The Ballarat Football League is an Australian rules football competition that operates in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia.The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat Football League in 1908 and was briefly known as the Ballarat-Wimmera...

, then in 1932 being appointed as Captain-Coach of South Melbourne

Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

.

Playing career highlights:

• 158 games (146 Subiaco, 12 South Melbourne)
• Subiaco captain 1930
• Subiaco fairest and best 1926 to 1930
• Subiaco premiership player 1924
• Sandover medal 1926 and 1929 (retrospective)
• 25 state games for Western Australia

Coaching career

Leonard coached over only nine seasons but with a great deal of success, securing 5 WANFL premierships. He coached South Melbourne for the 1932 season, taking it to its first finals campaign in almost a decade. He is credited with laying the groundwork for the 'foreign legion' team which won the 1933 VFL premiership. He recruited leading WANFL players such as his Subiaco team mates Brighton Diggins

Brighton Diggins

Brighton Diggins was a former Australian rules footballer in the West Australian Football League and Victorian Football League....

 and Bill Faul

Bill Faul

Bill Faul was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League ....

.

Returning to Perth in 1933 for employment, he embarked on a further successful coaching period. He steered West Perth Football Club

West Perth Football Club

The West Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is an Australian rules football club located in Joondalup, Western Australia, competing in the West Australian Football League . It is the oldest existing Australian rules football club in Western Australia. It competes in the West Australian...

 to successive premierships in 1934 and 1935. He coached Claremont Football Club

Claremont Football Club

The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League . Its official colours are navy blue and gold....

 to three premierships, including the club's first ever premiership in 1938.

• West Perth coach 1934, 1935 and 1937
• Premierships with West Perth 1934 and 1935
• Claremont coach 1938 to 1941 and 1946
• Premierships with Claremont 1938, 1939 and 1940

Leonard was inducted to the Australian Football Hall of Fame

Australian Football Hall of Fame

The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators. It was initially established...

in 1996.