Collingwood Forever

John McGuirk was one of the ex-Britannia players who featured in Collingwood’s debut season in 1892.

A wirily built tall forward, he had won a gold pin while at Britannia in 1889 for ‘best forward play’. Two years later, in Britannia’s final season, he won another award from them – this time a silver watch – again for ‘best forward play’.

So it’s no surprise that, when he got his chance to play for Collingwood, it was as a forward. And that chance came in the Magpies’ third game in 1892, against St Kilda.

Unfortunately for McGuirk, it wasn’t the best game to be a Magpie forward. St Kilda trounced us by 13 goals to four, and McGuirk (or McQuirk, as his name often appeared) did not trouble the scorers.

He was dropped the next week and didn’t reappear. Little is known about his football career post-Collingwood, though there was a McGuirk playing for a local team called Palace a few years later.

Instead he made more of a name for himself as a cricketer, where he was an all-rounder who loved to bat aggressively. He had played with Capulet (during which time he was chosen to represent Victoria in a junior intercolonial match against NSW), then North Fitzroy and later Fitzroy in Pennant/District cricket.

Sadly, though, he died young, passing away in 1911. Although his date of birth isn’t specifically known, it’s believed it was c1867, which means he was about 44 when he died.

– Michael Roberts