George Sparrow

For George Sparrow the coalmaster, see Thomas Savery.

George Sparrow
George Sparrow, 1895
Personal information
Full name	George Stephen Sparrow
Date of birth	20 November 1869
Date of death	6 April 1933(1933-04-06) (aged 63)^[1]
Original team(s)	Richmond (VFA)
Playing career¹
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1898 1899 Total	South Melbourne St Kilda	14 (2) 11 (0) 25 (2)
Coaching career
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1913, 1920, 1928–29	St Kilda	63 (37–26–0)
¹ Playing statistics correct to the end of 1929.

George Stephen Sparrow (20 November 1869 – 6 April 1933)^[2] was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne and both played for and coached St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Nicknamed 'Sugar', Sparrow began his career in the Victorian Football Association where he donned the Richmond colours. He joined the VFL in its second season and represented South Melbourne before switching to St Kilda the following year.

After retiring, Sparrow turned to coaching and was appointed senior coach of St Kilda in 1913. He coached the club to its first ever Grand Final appearance. That season the Saints defeated Minor Premiers Fitzroy in the penultimate game of the season to become number 1 ranked team in the finals - and then lost the Grand Final to the same team Fitzroy under the "Minor Premiers Right To Challenge" rule the following week.

Sparrow quit as coach at the end of his first season in 1913.

Sparrow didn't coach again until 5 games as caretaker coach in 1920.

He returned again in 1928, this time for a two-season stint, with the Saints finishing 6th, missing the Finals on percentage. In 1929 he coached St Kilda to the Finals again with a Semi Final loss in week 1 ending the clubs season.

He finished with a winning percentage of 58.73%.

References

↑ "FOOTBALL.". The Mercury. Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 10 April 1933. p. 2. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
↑ "Family Notices.". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 7 April 1933. p. 1. Retrieved 16 September 2014.

George Sparrow's statistics from AFL Tables
Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

Coaches of the St Kilda Football Club

1906: Hall 1908: Grace 1909: J. Smith 1911: Drohan 1913: Sparrow 1914: McNamara 1915; 1918:* J. Smith 1919: Eicke 1920: Sparrow 1920–1921: Ricketts 1922–1923: McNamara 1924: Eicke 1925–1926: Clark 1927: Heinz 1928–1929: Sparrow 1930: Cubbins 1931–1932: Hardy 1932: King 1933: Deane 1934: C. Watson 1935–1937: Minogue 1938–1940: Clarke 1938: B. Patterson 1941: Knight 1942–1943: Garvin 1944–1945: H. Thomas 1946–1947: Hird 1948–1950: Froude 1951: Green 1952–1953: Williamson 1954–1955: Foote 1956–1958: Killigrew 1959–1960: Francis 1961–1976: Jeans 1972; 1974: Guy 1977: R. Smith 1978–1980: M. Patterson 1980–1982: Jesaulenko 1983–1984: Jewell 1984–1986: Gellie 1987–1989: Baldock 1987: Davis 1990–1993: Sheldon 1994–1998: Alves 1999–2000: T. Watson 2001: Blight 2001–2006: G. Thomas 2007–2011: Lyon 2012–2013: Watters 2014–: Richardson

St Kilda did not participate in the VFL from 1916–1917 due to World War I Italics* denote caretaker coach

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