Barry Connolly
Footscray
AFL career
13 games20 goals
- Debut
- R2 1958 v RCH19 Apr 1958
- Most recent
- R17 1958 v GEE16 Aug 1958
Stats
Bio
Recruited from Benalla in the Ovens & Murray League, Barry Connolly was a talented country footballer who made an immediate impact at Footscray, booting three goals on debut against Richmond. Despite showing promise as a courageous centreman who could drift forward and hit the scoreboard, his VFL career was cut short by homesickness and a preference for life in the bush. He returned to the country after just one season to become a colossus of the Goulburn Valley, eventually serving as a premiership coach and a long-standing league president known as "Mr Football." His legacy extended well beyond his own playing days, as he mentored Richmond legend Francis Bourke and fathered former Fremantle coach Chris Connolly.
Profile
- Born
- 30 Aug 1938
- Died
- 06 May 2011 (aged 72y 249d)
- Height
- 173 cm
- Weight
- 79 kg
Teams
Family
- Son:Chris Connolly
Bio
1 revisionRecruited from Benalla in the Ovens & Murray League, Barry Connolly was a talented country footballer who made an immediate impact at Footscray, booting three goals on debut against Richmond. Despite showing promise as a courageous centreman who could drift forward and hit the scoreboard, his VFL career was cut short by homesickness and a preference for life in the bush. He returned to the country after just one season to become a colossus of the Goulburn Valley, eventually serving as a premiership coach and a long-standing league president known as "Mr Football." His legacy extended well beyond his own playing days, as he mentored Richmond legend Francis Bourke and fathered former Fremantle coach Chris Connolly.