Ben Sandford
St Kilda
AFL career
31 games5 goals
- Debut
- R4 1901 v FIT18 May 1901
- Most recent
- R7 1903 v SME8 June 1903
Stats
Bio
Born in Lara, Ben Sandford was one of three brothers to represent St Kilda during the club's formative and often difficult years in the VFL. Emerging from the Geelong district, he joined the Saints at a time when the club was firmly anchored to the bottom of the ladder, playing in three consecutive wooden spoon seasons between 1901 and 1903. While his time in the VFL was defined by resilience in a struggling lineup, his football journey took a fascinating turn after he left Moorabbin. Sandford crossed the Tasman to New Zealand in 1904, where he became a pioneer for the code in a rugby-dominated landscape. He played in the inaugural season of the Auckland Australian Football League and served as a vocal advocate for the sport, actively writing to newspapers to defend the Australian game’s merits against its rugby codes.
Profile
- Born
- 14 Nov 1877
- Died
- 26 June 1942 (aged 64y 224d)
- Birthplace
- Lara, VIC
- Deathplace
- Hamilton, New Zealand
Teams
Family
- Brother:Cecil Sandford, George Sandford
Bio
1 revisionBorn in Lara, Ben Sandford was one of three brothers to represent St Kilda during the club's formative and often difficult years in the VFL. Emerging from the Geelong district, he joined the Saints at a time when the club was firmly anchored to the bottom of the ladder, playing in three consecutive wooden spoon seasons between 1901 and 1903. While his time in the VFL was defined by resilience in a struggling lineup, his football journey took a fascinating turn after he left Moorabbin. Sandford crossed the Tasman to New Zealand in 1904, where he became a pioneer for the code in a rugby-dominated landscape. He played in the inaugural season of the Auckland Australian Football League and served as a vocal advocate for the sport, actively writing to newspapers to defend the Australian game’s merits against its rugby codes.