Teddy Rankin
Encyclopedia
Edward 'Teddy' Rankin was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong
in the VFL
. His sons Cliff
and Bert
both also had successful careers with the club.
A rover, Rankin was a member of the inaugural Geelong VFL side in 1897. He didn't play at all in 1898 due to typhoid but returned to the side the following season and appeared in every season until his retirement in 1910, by then in the backlines. In 1903 he won the Geelong Best and Fairest
award. During the 1903 season he had become the first ever Geelong player to play 100 games and he is also credited as being the first player in the league to use the practice of touching the ball on the ground as oppose to bouncing it. He had used it during a wet game in the 1890s.
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...
in the VFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
. His sons Cliff
Cliff Rankin
Cliff Rankin is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League from 1915 to 1928....
and Bert
Bert Rankin
Bert Rankin was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the VFL. His brother Cliff and father Teddy also played league football for Geelong....
both also had successful careers with the club.
A rover, Rankin was a member of the inaugural Geelong VFL side in 1897. He didn't play at all in 1898 due to typhoid but returned to the side the following season and appeared in every season until his retirement in 1910, by then in the backlines. In 1903 he won the Geelong Best and Fairest
Carji Greeves Medal
The Carji Greeves Medal is an Australian rules football award given to the player adjudged Best and Fairest for the Geelong Football Club for the season....
award. During the 1903 season he had become the first ever Geelong player to play 100 games and he is also credited as being the first player in the league to use the practice of touching the ball on the ground as oppose to bouncing it. He had used it during a wet game in the 1890s.