Wally Buttsworth

Wallace Francis Buttsworth (21 January 1917 – 22 May 2002) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Wally Buttsworth
Personal information
Full name	Wallace Francis Buttsworth
Date of birth	(1917-01-21)21 January 1917
Place of birth	North Perth, Western Australia
Date of death	22 May 2002(2002-05-22) (aged 85)
Place of death	Milton, New South Wales
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	91 kg (201 lb)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1935–1937	West Perth	051 (10)
1939–1949	Essendon	188 0(2)
Total		239 (12)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1949.
Career highlights
West Perth premiership player 1935 West Perth best and fairest 1937[1] Essendon best and fairest 1941, 1945 & 1947 Essendon premiership player 1942 & 1946 Essendon Team of the Century (Centre half-back)
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Family

Wally had two younger brothers Fred and Brian Buttsworth. Fred Buttsworth was also a cricketer and footballer and winner of the 1951 Sandover Medal.^[2] Brian Buttsworth played for West Perth Football Club. Their father, Frederick Richard Buttsworth, was himself a first-class cricketer,^[3] playing for Western Australia in the 1920s.^[4]

Football

Before he joined Essendon, Buttsworth played for the West Perth Football Club.^[5]

A defender, Buttsworth was a best and fairest winner for Essendon on three occasions and played in two VFL premiership teams inn 1942 and 1946.^[6] He is the centre half-back in Essendon's 'Team of the Century'.^[6] He was broadly considered best on ground in the club's one point 1947 grand final loss against Carlton, taking 25 marks at centre half-back for the game.^[7][8][9]

Cricket

He represented Western Australia in two first-class cricket matches.^[10]

Champions of Essendon

In 2002 an Essendon panel ranked him at 12 in their Champions of Essendon list of the 25 greatest players ever to have played for Essendon.