World Footy News

Our friends at The Footy Almanac (in particular Marius Cuming, Phil Dimitriadis and John Harms) are seeking to crowdfund restoration of the grave of Tom Wills, one of the fathers of Australian Football.  Read on for more details as originally published at www.footyalmanac.com.au. 

Australia’s first sporting legend and the father of Australian football lies in a crumbling grave in a Melbourne cemetery.

With a largely unknown but extraordinary life story, Tom Wills deserves a final resting place in better condition.

With the blessing of the Wills family, The Footy Almanac is now raising funds to renovate the gravesite of our first cricketing hero who also gave Australians our own spectacular game.

The project will cost about $15,000 and with millions of AFL supporters and cricket lovers, the Australian public should be able to do the right thing by this man and restore his gravesite to its former glory.

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In doing so we wish to draw attention to his remarkable life that started within a pioneering farming family before becoming a young cricketing hero in England, colonial star for Victoria then outback Queensland station manager. After personal tragedy he formed, mentored and coached the first aboriginal cricket team that later became the first Australian team to tour England.

Enigmatic, controversial and egalitarian are words used to describe a man whose immense sporting foresight lives on today.

His strong personal relationships with the aboriginal people of western Victoria were cemented in sport and provide inspiration for modern day reconciliation.

DONATE HERE:

Please donate what you can to a remarkable man who gave Australian sport so much via https://ozcrowd.com/campaign/2447

The Tom Wills project is an initiative of Marius Cuming, Phil Dimitriadis and John Harms of www.footyalmanac.com.au