Geoff Tunbridge

Who is Geoff Tunbridge?

Geoff Tunbridge is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League. At the age of 25, Tunbridge was recruited to Melbourne from Ballarat, where he was an Old Boy and teacher at Ballarat Church of England Boys Grammar School. He originally commenced his footy career for University Blues in the Victorian Amateur Football Association. His jumper was number 23 and he was a red-headed, spearing left-foot flanker.

Tunbridge refused on ideological grounds to accept payment from Melbourne Football Club, as he believed that players should play for the love of the game. The only money he did accept was compensation for the cost of petrol, given the long drive between Ballarat and Melbourne. He also accepted a Four 'n' Twenty meat pie half an hour before the game.

Tunbridge earned a nomination on the forward flank for the Melbourne Team of the Century, but this position was ultimately awarded to Garry Lyon. He played in three premierships for Melbourne in the late 1950s, and snapped the winning goal in front of the largest ever home and away crowd in the history of the AFL, to give the Demons victory by three points.