View source for Harry Collier

{{Short description|Australian rules footballer}}
{{for|the English footballer|Harry Collyer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox AFL biography
| name = Harry Collier
| image = Harry Collier.JPG
| alt = 
| caption = 
| fullname = Harry Collier
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1907|10|1}}
| birth_place = [[Collingwood, Victoria]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1994|8|16|1907|10|1|df=y}}
| death_place = 
| height = 173 cm
| weight = 72 kg
| position = 
| statsend = 1940
| years1 = 1926–1940
| club1 = {{AFL Col}}
| games_goals1 = 253 (299)
| sooteam1 = [[Victoria Australian rules football team|Victoria]]
| soogames_goals1 = 12 (1)
| careerhighlights = *{{AFL Col}} premiership player [[1927 VFL Grand Final|1927]], [[1928 VFL Grand Final|1928]], [[1929 VFL Grand Final|1929]], [[1930 VFL Grand Final|1930]]
*{{AFL Col}} premiership captain [[1935 VFL Grand Final|1935]], [[1936 VFL Grand Final|1936]]
*{{AFL Col}} Team of the Century
*[[Copeland Trophy]] 1928, 1930
*{{AFL Col}} [[List of Collingwood Football Club captains|captain]] 1935–1939
}}

'''Harry Collier''' (1 October 1907 &ndash; 16 August 1994) was an [[Australian rules football]]er in the [[VFL/AFL|Victorian Football League]].

==Playing career==
Originally from [[Ivanhoe, Victoria]], Collier played for the [[Collingwood Football Club]], debuting in 1926. Collier was a player in Collingwood's legendary [[AFL Grand Final|premiership side]]s from 1927–1930, the only side to have won four premierships in a row in the entire history of the [[VFL/AFL]].

He was appointed captain in 1935, a position which he held until 1939. During this period, his team won two premierships (in 1935 and 1936), and finished runners-up in the other three years he was captain. He was said to be Collingwood's best player during the era, taking out the [[Copeland Trophy|club best and fairest]] award in 1928 and 1930. Collier retired in 1940 after only one game for the season, his career record standing at 253 games and 299 goals with the Magpies.

=== Honours ===
Collier was retrospectively rewarded a [[Brownlow Medal]] after originally tying for the 1930 award where Collier, [[Stan Judkins]] and [[Allan Hopkins]] all finished with an equal number of votes. The Umpires Board (which administered the award) recommended that no medal be awarded as there were inconsistent provisions within the rules for the event of a tie.<ref>{{cite news |date=18 September 1930 |title=Brownlow Medal - Conditions of Award Conflict |page=15 |newspaper=The Herald |publication-place=Melbourne, VIC}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=24 April 1924 |title=Brownlow Medal |page=9 |newspaper=The Age |publication-place=Melbourne, VIC}}</ref> Significantly, among three informal votes cast during the year, one vote from a Collingwood game was simply labelled "Collier", but as there were two Collier brothers playing in the game, the vote was not counted.<ref>{{cite web |author=Glenn McFarlane |title=The Brownlow Medallists: Harry Collier |url=https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/the-brownlow-medallists-harry-collier/ |accessdate=18 May 2021 |publisher=Collingwood Forever}}</ref> The VFL board ultimately overruled the umpires board, and used the criterion that stated the medal be awarded to the player who polled the highest percentage of votes against games played to award the medal to Judkins.<ref name="tiebreak">{{cite news |date=27 September 1930 |title=Brownlow Football Medal awarded to Judkins |page=21 |newspaper=The Argus |publication-place=Melbourne, VIC}}</ref> To avoid situations like this in the future, the rules were altered to a 3-2-1 system in 1931. In 1989, the VFL retrospectively eliminated the countbacks from all tied Brownlow Medal results, and Hopkins and Collier, while both still living, were awarded joint 1930 Brownlow Medals.<ref>{{Citation |title=Harry Collier 1930 Retrospective Brownlow Medal And Alan Hopkins |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b9CRtWv5Z8 |access-date=2023-03-24 |language=en}}</ref>

Other honours include Collier's posthumous induction into [[Collingwood Football Club#Team of the Century|Collingwood's Team of the Century]] and, in 1996, induction into the [[Australian Football Hall of Fame]].

==Post-playing career==
Following his playing career, Collier coached the [[Essendon Football Club|Essendon reserves]] to a premiership in 1941. He later became a committeeman for Collingwood.

Collier was also a noted television personality during the time of Australia's first year of broadcasting in 1956 and subsequent years.

==Personal life==
Collier was the older brother of former champion Collingwood player (and 1929 [[Brownlow Medal]] winner) [[Albert Collier|Albert]].

==Death==
Collier died in 1994.

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* {{cite book |last=Ross |first=John |title=The Australian Football Hall of Fame |year=1999 |publisher=HarperCollinsPublishers |location=Australia |isbn=0-7322-6426-X | page=53}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928042351/http://prod.www.afl.cfour.com.au/Season2007/Awards/HallofFame/Players/tabid/856/Default.aspx Australian Football Hall of Fame]

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
*{{AFL Tables|H/Harry_Collier}}

{{1927–30 Collingwood premiership players}}
{{1935/36 Collingwood dual premiership players}}
{{Collingwood Football Club captains}}
{{Collingwood Team of The Century}}
{{Copeland Trophy}}
{{VFL/AFL club best and fairest winners in premiership years}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, Harry}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian rules footballers from Melbourne]]
[[Category:Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents]]
[[Category:Ivanhoe Amateurs Football Club players]]
[[Category:Collingwood Football Club players]]
[[Category:Collingwood Football Club premiership players]]
[[Category:Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Brownlow Medal winners]]
[[Category:Copeland Trophy winners]]
[[Category:Camberwell Football Club players]]
[[Category:Australian television personalities]]
[[Category:VFL/AFL premiership players]]
[[Category:People from Collingwood, Victoria]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen]]