Jim Cleary (Australian footballer)

Jim Cleary (13 July 1914 – 2 May 1993) was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

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Jim Cleary
Personal information
Full name	James Leslie William Cleary
Nickname(s)	Gentleman Jim[1]
Date of birth	(1914-07-13)13 July 1914
Place of birth	Carlton, Victoria
Date of death	2 May 1993(1993-05-02) (aged 78)
Original team(s)	Thornbury CYMS
Height	183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	89 kg (196 lb)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1934–1948	South Melbourne	222 (6)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1948.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

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Cleary played as a fullback and won two best and fairest awards for South Melbourne, in 1942 and 1944. He was a highly regarded player, and attracted lucrative offers – an undisclosed amount from Brighton in 1940,^[2] and £400 from Camberwell in 1945^[3] – to cross to the Victorian Football Association during the throw-pass era, but chose to remain with South Melbourne.

Cleary's reputation as a fair player earned him the nickname "Gentleman Jim";^[4] this did not stop him from being suspended for eight matches for a striking offence in the notoriously violent 1945 VFL Grand Final – in an incident team-mate Laurie Nash later described as "one of the few honest accidents in the game".^[5]

He left the club in 1949 and went on to become captain and coach of Victorian Football Association club Port Melbourne; he coached there from 1949 until 1952, leading the club to consecutive minor premierships and Grand Final losses in 1951 and 1952; he then coached at fellow VFA clubs Brunswick (from 1953 until 1958) and Dandenong (from 1959 until 1961), coaching a total of 267 VFA games.^[6] He remained involved in the game even after retiring as a coach, becoming a regular panelist on World of Sport.