Collingwood Forever

Clem Splatt’s connections to football stem well beyond his two games for Collingwood in 1922.

Splatt made his VFL debut in round two, 1922 against South Melbourne. Work commitments in Eildon restricted his time in the black and white and his second game, against Melbourne in round eight was his last for the club.

Perhaps his debut may have come earlier if it wasn’t for a wood chopping accident which saw him slice the top of his finger open.

It was this family pastime that acquainted Splatt with a pair of footballers that went on to share one of Collingwood’s most famous names. His father, Barl Splatt, was an axeman who competed with Harry Coventry – the father of Gordon and Syd Coventry.

A year before Gordon made a Collingwood debut that would start a 306-game career, the team photo of the 1919 Diamond Creek Football Club pictures him sitting side by side with his best friend Splatt, with Syd also seated not too far away.

After a season out of the game in 1923, Splatt returned to Melbourne in 1924 and joined a Hawthorn side that would enter the VFL in just a years’ time. He played in the Hawks’ first ever VFL game, was the first ever Hawthorn player to record a Brownlow vote and went on to poll three votes to finish fifth in the 1925 medal.

Despite the separation, his friendship with the Coventrys remained. He played two games for Victoria with Gordon, lining up at centre half-forward as Gordon played full-forward against New South Wales. But the majority of his football was played at centre half-back, and there he was a significant force.