For the 21-year-old South African student murdered in 2004, see Murder of Leigh Matthews.
Australian rules footballer
Leigh Matthews
Statue of Matthews outside the MCG
Personal information
Full name
Leigh Raymond Matthews
Nickname(s)
Lethal, Barney Rubble
Date of birth
(1952-03-01) 1 March 1952 (age 72)
Place of birth
Frankston, Victoria
Original team(s)
Chelsea (MPNFL)
Height
178 cm (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight
86 kg (190 lb)
Position(s)
Midfielder/Forward
Playing career1
Years
Club
Games (Goals)
1969–1985
Hawthorn
332 (915)
Representative team honours
Years
Team
Games (Goals)
1971–1982
Victoria
14 (29)
Coaching career3
Years
Club
Games (W–L–D)
1986–1995
Collingwood
224 (125–94–5)
1999–2008
Brisbane Lions
237 (142–92–3)
Club total
461 (267–186–8)
1997–1998
Representative Victoria
2 (2–0–0)
1998
Australia
2 (1–1–0)
Representative total
4 (3–1–0)
Total
465 (270–187–8)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1985.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2008.
Career highlights
Playing
4× VFL premiership player: 1971, 1976, 1978, 1983
VFL premiership captain: 1983
8× Peter Crimmins Perpetual Memorial Trophy: 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976–1978, 1980, 1982
VFLPA MVP Award (Leigh Matthews Trophy): 1982
Award renamed in 2002 in Matthews honour
Coleman Medal: 1975
All-Australian team: 1972
2× VFL Team of the Year: 1982, 1983
6× Hawthorn leading goalkicker: 1973, 1975, 1981–1984
Hawthorn captain: 1981–1985
AFL Team of the Century
Hawthorn Team of the Century
Championship of Australia Championship: 1971
NFL Night Series championship: 1976
AFC Night Series premiership: 1977
VFL Night Series premiership: 1969
2× Australian National Football Carnival Championship: 1972, 1975
Captain of Victoria
Coaching
4× AFL premiership coach: 1990, 2001–2003
3× All-Australian team: 2001–2003
AFL team of the year: 1990
AFLCA Coaching Legend Award: 2013
Hall of Fame
Australian Football Hall of Fame – Legend status
Sport Australia Hall of Fame - Legend Status
Hawthorn Hall of Fame – Legend status
Collingwood Hall of Fame
Brisbane Lions Hall of Fame
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com
Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions in the VFL and renamed Australian Football League (AFL).
Squat, short-legged and barrel-chested, Matthews earned the iconic nickname "Lethal Leigh" due to his physical as well as skillful style of play.[2] He is officially recognised as the "best player of the 20th century" according to the AFL, is a 'Legend' in the Australian Football Hall of Fame, named in the Hawthorn and AFL teams of the century, and is one of the most successful AFL coaches of all time.[3] Matthews is now an AFL commentator on television with the Seven Network and on radio with 3AW.
^"Hawthorn's pocket rockets". Hawthorn Football Club. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
^Holmesby and Main, 2011, p. 542.
^Blake, Martin (26 September 2003). "'Lethal' on verge of code's elite level". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL)...
The LeighMatthews Trophy is an annual award given by the AFL Players Association to the Most Valuable Player in the Australian Football League. It is...
LeighMatthews (8 July 1983 – 9 July 2004) was a South African university student who was kidnapped and murdered. Her disappearance and murder sparked...
Kameron LeighMatthews is an American physician. Matthews was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Growing up, she was enrolled in the Cheltenham...
Bob Keddie – 1969 LeighMatthews – 1972 Kelvin Moore – 1979 Michael Tuck – 1979 VFL/AFL Team of the Year (1982–1990) LeighMatthews – 1982, 1983 Kelvin...
Brisbane Lions's Michael Voss were the first players to be awarded the LeighMatthews Trophy as the AFL Players Association's Most Valuable Player (MVP)1...
"Western Bulldogs CEO Simon Garlick resigns". The Guardian. 19 January 2015. Matthews, Bruce. "Western Bulldogs midfielder Tom Liberatore tears ACL in NAB Challenge...
Awards AFL Coaches Association awards AFL Players Association awards LeighMatthews Trophy AFL Rising Star All-Australian team Brownlow Medal (winners)...
the club's 1990 premiership. The 1990 premiership team, coached by LeighMatthews and captained by Tony Shaw, had a one-sided grand final win against...
off-season, the club hired LeighMatthews, who in 1990 had delivered Collingwood its first premiership since 1958. Matthews, who was voted "Player of the...
Hawthorn's best and fairest". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 16 August 2016. Matthews, Josh (10 October 2015). "Josh Gibson wins second Hawthorn best-and-fairest"...
Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Cripps won the LeighMatthews Trophy in 2019 and the Brownlow Medal in 2022, and he is a three-time...
Medal. The two coaches, Kevin Sheedy and LeighMatthews, had met in a grand final 11 years prior, when Matthews' Magpies ended their so-called "Colliwobbles"...
is considered the game's most prestigious individual award; won the LeighMatthews Trophy twice (2002 and 2003), which is awarded annually to the league's...
match was the last game of Collingwood coach and then-Hawthorn forward LeighMatthews' playing career. At the conclusion of the home-and-away season, Essendon...
in new national competition". ABC.com.au. Retrieved 13 November 2016. Matthews, Bruce (27 July 2016). "Sixteen of the best: women's marquees named". AFL...
won it. Jason Gram: 2008 Robert Harvey: 2004 Nicky Winmar: 1996 The LeighMatthews Trophy is awarded by the AFL Players Association to the player voted...
player who kicks the best or most spectacular goal during the season LeighMatthews Trophy – to the best player in the league, voted by the players through...
Richmond, Victoria: Echo Publishing. p. 111. ISBN 9781760063160. Bruce Matthews (15 June 2016). "Eight teams named for inaugural women's league". Australian...
of gameplay. Several prominent coaches, including Kevin Sheedy and LeighMatthews, have publicly criticised the voting process. The eligibility system...
finals series. In 2017, Martin had what was described by AFL legend LeighMatthews as the greatest-ever individual season by a VFL/AFL player. Despite...
Bulldogs): 2016 Individual Western Bulldogs captain: 2020–present 2× LeighMatthews Trophy: 2021, 2023 AFLCA Champion Player of the Year Award: 2019 5×...
half, polled three votes to finish fourth. In a controversial moment, LeighMatthews—who was chairman of the voting panel—gave two votes to Richmond's Nathan...
league's highest individual honour, the Brownlow Medal, and was a dual LeighMatthews Trophy winner as the AFL Players Association most valuable player. He...
Taylor, Matthew Richardson, Cameron Ling, Tom Harley, Luke Darcy and LeighMatthews. The match commentary was conducted by Bruce McAvaney and Dennis Cometti...
Kelvin Matthews (born 15 December 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer. He is the brother of LeighMatthews, whom he played with at Hawthorn...
2012). "2003 grand final was Simon Black's standout performance, says LeighMatthews". The Courier-Mail. "Rocca out of grand final". ABC. 24 September 2009...
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