Pat J. McNamara 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 who played with Melbourne

Melbourne Football Club

The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....

 and 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...

 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).

McNamara was a wingman and half-forward, originally from St Pat's in East Melbourne. He appeared in preliminary finals for Melbourne in 1937 and 1938.

Having received a clearance, McNamara joined South Melbourne for the 1939 VFL season

1939 VFL season

Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1939.-Premiership season:In 1939, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus one substitute player, known as the 19th man...

. He won the Gardiner Medal

Gardiner Medal

The Gardiner Medal was an Australian rules football award, formerly awarded to the best and fairest player in the VFL Reserves competition.Officially named the Seconds prior to 1959 and the Reserves from 1959 onwards, the competition ran from 1919 until 1999 and the medal was first awarded in...

in 1941, for his performances with the South Melbourne seconds, whom he would also coach.