Haydn Bunton Sr.

Haydn Bunton Sr.
Haydn Bunton Sr.
Personal information
Full name	Haydn William Bunton
Date of birth	5 July 1911
Place of birth	Albury, New South Wales
Date of death	5 September 1955 (aged 44)
Place of death	Adelaide, South Australia
Original team(s)	Albury Rovers, Albury, West Albury
Height	179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	73 kg (161 lb)
Position(s)	Rover
Playing career1
Years	Club
1931–1937, 1942	Fitzroy
1938–1941	Subiaco
1945	Port Adelaide
Total
Representative team honours
Years	Team
1931–1937	Victoria
1938–1939	Western Australia
Coaching career3
Years	Club
1936	Fitzroy
1947–1948	North Adelaide
	1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1945. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1948.
Career highlights
	VFL 3× Brownlow Medal: 1931, 1932, 1935; Fitzroy captain: 1932, 1936–1937; 2× Fitzroy leading goalkicker: 1936, 1937; 2× Fitzroy Club Champion: 1934, 1935; WAFL 3× Sandover Medal: 1938, 1939, 1941; Subiaco captain: 1938–1939, 1941; Subiaco Leading goalkicker: 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941; Subiaco Best & Fairest: 1938, 1939, 1941; SANFL Played in 1945 SANFL Grand Final; Honours Australian Football Hall of Fame (legend status); AFL Team of the Century (forward pocket); New South Wales – Team of the Century (rover); New South Wales – NSW Greatest Team of all Time; Fitzroy team of the century (rover); Subiaco team of the century (ruck-rover); Ovens & Murray Football League Hall of Fame; 2 x premiership player: Albury Rovers, 1926 & 1927; 1 x premiership player: Albury, 1928; 1 x premiership player: West Albury, 1929;
	Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Haydn William Bunton (5 July 1911 – 5 September 1955) was an Australian rules footballer who represented Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL), Subiaco in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), and Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) during the 1930s and 1940s.

Bunton is the only footballer to have won the Brownlow Medal and the Sandover Medal three times each. He is one of only four footballers to have won the Brownlow three times (the others being Ian Stewart, Dick Reynolds and Bob Skilton), and one of only five footballers to have won the Sandover at least three times (the others being Bill Walker, who won it four times; and Barry Cable, Graham Farmer and Merv McIntosh, who each won it three times). Bunton is also the only player to have averaged one Brownlow vote per game over his career, averaging 1.04 votes per game.^[2]^[3]

Like cricketer Don Bradman and the racehorse Phar Lap, Bunton was a sporting champion who made life bearable for the Australian public during the dark days of the Great Depression.^[4] A brilliant runner and ball-winner, he was regarded by some historians and observers of Australian rules as its greatest-ever player.^[5]

^ "2019 - NSW Greatest Team of all time". AFL. 9 May 2019.
^ Flanagan, Martin (28 June 2008). "Bunton, a sporting god with a human touch". The Age.
^ "Brownlow Medal Career Totals".
^ Robinson, Mark (29 April 2014). "Fitzroy legend Haydn Bunton unlucky to be left out of Herald Sun's Rebooted Team of the Century". Herald Sun. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
^ Daffey, Paul (12 July 2003). "Bunton push recalls a club's soul". The Age. Retrieved 2 February 2007.

[1] "2019 - NSW Greatest Team of all time". AFL. 9 May 2019.

[god-2] Flanagan, Martin (28 June 2008). "Bunton, a sporting god with a human touch". The Age.

[3] "Brownlow Medal Career Totals".

[4] Robinson, Mark (29 April 2014). "Fitzroy legend Haydn Bunton unlucky to be left out of Herald Sun's Rebooted Team of the Century". Herald Sun. Retrieved 8 December 2017.

[push-5] Daffey, Paul (12 July 2003). "Bunton push recalls a club's soul". The Age. Retrieved 2 February 2007.

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