Herbie Matthews (20 November 1913 – 8 June 1990) was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League. He was recruited from suburban Fairfield under the League's "father and son" rule. His father, 'Butcher' Matthews, partnered the great Roy Cazaly in South Melbourne's ruck combination of the early 1920s. Although he was smaller and slighter in build than his ruckman father, he was a strong mark and showed a ferocious drive for possession of the football. He was recruited by South Melbourne at the age of 17 in the face of determined approaches from Collingwood and his local VFA club, Northcote.
A centreman/wingman with great pace, stamina and skills, he was awarded the Brownlow Medal in 1940 and was runner up on another two occasions. He won his club's Best and Fairest award 5 times and captained them from 1938 until 1945
In 1997 Matthews was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame and in 2003 was named on the wing in South Melbourne's official 'Team of the Century'.
Famous quotes containing the word matthews:
“I was supposed to retire when I was seventy-two years old, but I was seventy-seven when I retired. On my seventy-sixth birthday a lady had triplets. It was quite a birthday present.”
—Josephine Riley Matthews (b. 1897)