Alf Goonan

Alfred Goonan (3 April 1904 – 22 January 1942) was an Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Alf Goonan
Personal information
Full name Alfred Goonan
Date of birth 3 April 1904
Place of birth North Melbourne, Victoria
Date of death 22 January 1942(1942-01-22) (aged 37)
Place of death near Johor, British Malaya
Original team(s) North Melbourne Under-19s
Height 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 74 kg (163 lb)
Position(s) Forward pocket
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1925–1926 North Melbourne 7 (12)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1926.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Family

The son of William Goonan (1868–1957), and Emma Goonan (1866–1925), née Williams,[1] Alfred Goonan was born in North Melbourne on 3 April 1904.

Football

North Melbourne (VFA)

Goonan joined the North Melbourne under 19s and, later, played the last two games of the 1924 season for the North Melbourne VFA team.[2][3][4]

North Melbourne (VFL)

He played in North's first ever VFL game, against Geelong at Corio Oval. Playing at forward pocket, he scored North's first score in a game of VFL: a behind. He kicked 1.1 for the match.[5]

Playing against Fitzroy at Arden Street, in North Melbourne's second VFL match, Goonan kicked 4 goals.[6]

Military service

He joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1940 at Mildura, and was deployed to British Malaya in August 1941. After the invasion of the colony by the Japanese Empire, Goonan's battalion fought fiercely, resulting in Goonan being wounded. The battalion fought the Japanese until forced to retreat at the Simpang-kiri River. The battalion left its wounded behind, including Goonan, in the hope that the Japanese would give them medical care. All 110 left behind were executed near Johor in the Parit Sulong Massacre, including Goonan.[7]

See also

Footnotes
  1. Deaths: Goonan, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Saturday, 18 July 1925), p.26.
  2. The VFA Project: Alf Goonan.
  3. Thrilling Finish at Northcote, The Age, (Monday, 25 August 1924), p.15; Northcote Hard Pressed, The Argus, (Monday, 25 August 1924), p.14.
  4. The Association: Principal Match, The Argus, (Saturday, 30 August 1924), p.19; North's Great Performance, The Age, (Monday, 1 September 1924), p.6; Footscray's First Defeat, The Argus, (Monday, 1 September 1924), p.14.
  5. North Finish Well, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 2 May 1925), p.1.
  6. Fitzroy Very Strong, The Argus, (Monday, 11 May 1925), p.17.
  7. "Remembering our ANZACs". nmfc.com.au. Retrieved 17 February 2020.

References
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.