Jim Grace

Jim Grace
Jim Grace
	Cigarette card of Grace in 1905
Personal information
Full name	James Grace
Date of birth	21 September 1868
Place of birth	Burnley, Victoria
Date of death	31 December 1938 (aged 70)
Place of death	Royal Park, Melbourne
Debut	Round 5, 1890, Fitzroy vs. Geelong
Height	182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	78 kg (172 lb)
Playing career1
Years	Club
1890–1896	Fitzroy (VFA)
1897–1899	Fitzroy (VFL)
Total
	1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1899.
Career highlights
	VFA premiership player: 1895; 2× VFL premiership player: 1898, 1899; VFA leading goalkicker: 1890, 1891; Fitzroy leading goalkicker: 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896;
	Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Jim Grace (21 September 1868 – 31 December 1938^[1]) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fitzroy Football Club in the club's early years. His younger brother, Mick Grace, played beside him at Fitzroy.^[2]

Football

Grace joined Fitzroy in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1890. He played as a full-forward and dominated Fitzroy's goalkicking during his time at the club, winning the club's leading goalkicker award every year from his debut through until 1896. He was also the league's leading goalkicker in his first two seasons, 1890 and 1891. Grace was part of Fitzroy's 1895 premiership team, the same season that his younger brother Mick joined him at the Maroons.^[3]

After Fitzroy broke away from the VFA to join the new Victorian Football League (VFL) competition, Grace spent a further three seasons at Fitzroy, playing in Fitzroy's 1898 and 1899 premierships. By this stage of his career, he played often as a ruckman and follower, spending less time at full-forward than he had earlier in his career.

He retired at the end of 1899, with his career tally of 281 goals standing as a club record until Round 3 of 1918, when it was broken by Jim Freake. ^[4]

Notes

^ "MR. J. GRACE". The Argus. Victoria, Australia. 2 January 1939. p. 4.
^ Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing. p. 330. ISBN 978-1-921496-32-5.
^ Donald, C., Fitzroy: for the love of the jumper, Retrieved 9 April 2011.
^ This record was subsequently broken in Round 6 of 1931 by Jack Moriarty (son of Grace's long time teammate Geoff), who still holds the record.

References

Pennings, Mark (2016), Origins of Australian Football: Victoria's early History: Volume 4: Tough Times: Victorian Football loses its Way, 1891 to 1896, Brunswick, Victoria: Grumpy Monks Publishing. ISBN 978-0-646-93604-8

External links

Jim Grace's playing statistics from AFL Tables
Jim Grace at AustralianFootball.com

This Australian rules football biography of a person born in the 1860s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "MR. J. GRACE". The Argus. Victoria, Australia. 2 January 1939. p. 4.

[2] Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing. p. 330. ISBN 978-1-921496-32-5.

[3] Donald, C., Fitzroy: for the love of the jumper, Retrieved 9 April 2011.

[4] This record was subsequently broken in Round 6 of 1931 by Jack Moriarty (son of Grace's long time teammate Geoff), who still holds the record.

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