Hughie Callan


Philip Hughes Callan was an Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon and South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League.
He was killed in action serving with the First AIF in France.

Family

The son of Philip Hughes Callan, and Rose Margaret Callan, née Miller, Philip Hughes Callan was born at Ararat, Victoria on 26 December 1881.
He married Eleanor Lilian "Lala" Williams on 17 June 1911.

Education

He grew up in Melbourne, and attended Christian Brothers College, Victoria Parade, East Melbourne.

Football

Callan, who played his entire career as an amateur, played in the ruck, and was noted for his "nimbleness of foot", "extreme courage", and "excellent palming of the ball".

Essendon (VFL)

Callan's career began at Essendon in 1903 after he was recruited from Brighton. He spent three seasons with Essendon.

Eden (AFLA)

In 1906 he didn't play VFL football because he had been sent to New Zealand by his employer, the Bank of Australasia.
In New Zealand, Callan played for the Eden Football Club in the Australian Football League of Auckland during the 1906 season. Also in that year, he represented Auckland in an inter-provincial match against Waihi.

South Melbourne (VFL)

Callan returned the following year and joined South Melbourne, playing as a forward pocket in their losing 1907 VFL Grand Final team.

Hawthorn (MJFA)

In 1912 he was captain of the Hawthorn Football Club's team in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association.

Military service

He enlisted in the First AIF on 14 January 1916, and served overseas, leaving Melbourne in the HMAT Port Lincoln on 4 May 1916.

Death

On 5 February 1917, Callan was killed in action while fighting in France during World War I.
He was buried at Bancourt British Cemetery, in France.

Remembered

In the 1919 VFL pre-season, the Weekly Times football correspondent, "Rover", visited the South Melbourne Football Club, and had a long discussion with Herb Howson and Jack Marshall.
Herb Howson, the 1919 coach, had coached South Melbourne to a premiership in 1918, had played 204 VFA/VFL games for the club over 16 seasons, and had served as a club official in one capacity or another for many years. Jack "Twister" Marshall, the team's head trainer, originally a trainer of champion boxers, had served the club continuously as a trainer since 1883.
Given their extensive and detailed knowledge of football, and of the preceding thirty years or so at South Melbourne, the discussion soon turned to the great players of the past:

Footnotes

Football