Alf Quill

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Alf Quill

| image =

| upright =

| caption =

| full_name = Alfred Quill

| birth_date = 1910

| birth_place = Ultimo, Sydney, Australia

| height =

| position = Forward

| years1 = 1927–1928

| clubs1 = Pyrmont

| caps1 =

| goals1 = 18

| years2 = 1929–1930

| clubs2 = Leichhardt-Annandale

| caps2 =

| goals2 = 63

| years3 = 1931–1933

| clubs3 = Wallsend

| caps3 = 24+

| goals3 = 67

| years4 = 1934–1936

| clubs4 = Goodyear

| caps4 = 40+

| goals4 = 119

| years5 = 1937–1943

| clubs5 = Wallsend

| caps5 = 108+

| goals5 = 229

| years6 = 1943

| clubs6 = Lake Macquarie

| caps6 =

| goals6 = 3

| years7 = 1943–1949

| clubs7 = Wallsend

| caps7 = 65+

| goals7 = 120

| totalcaps = 237+

| totalgoals = 619

| nationalyears1 = 1938

| nationalteam1 = Australia

| nationalcaps1 = 2

| nationalgoals1 = 2

| manageryears1 =

| managerclubs1 = Wallsend

| manageryears2 =

| managerclubs2 = Australia

| manageryears3 =

| managerclubs3 = Newcastle KB United (youth)

}}

Alfred Quill (born 1910) was an Australian soccer player and played for the Australia national team. Often considered one of the best soccer players in New South Wales, he scored 868 goals in all NSW competitions in his 24-year senior career.{{cite book|title=Jack Pollard's Soccer Records|last=Grant|first=Sid|publisher=Jack Pollard Pty Ltd|year=1974|isbn=0909950741|location=North Sydney|pages=123}}

Early career

Quill was born in Sydney. He first showed his signs as a footballer, whilst attending Globe Public School. At the age of 12, he represented New South Wales as a schoolboy against Victoria, South Australia and Queensland. For three seasons he played for Wentworth Juniors before joining the senior side of Pyrmont.{{cite web | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/99412050?searchTerm=Alf%20Quill%20schoolboy%20soccer | title=Soccer Sidelights - the Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder (NSW : 1913 - 1954) - 21 Jun 1929 | newspaper=Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder | date=21 June 1929 }}

Club career

Beginning in his teens, Quill played 24 seasons.

=Pyrmont=

Quill began his career with Pyrmont at age 17 in the New South Wales State League in 1927.{{cite web|url=https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/alf-quill|title=Alf Quill|date=4 February 2021|access-date=27 March 2021|publisher=Football Australia}}

=Leichhardt-Annandale=

While contracted at Leichhardt-Annandale, English club Bolton Wanderers wanted to sign Quill on 25 April 1931, which was rejected.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236589241 |title=ENGLISH SOCCER CLUB WANTS ALF QUILL |newspaper=The Labor Daily |issue=2306 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=25 April 1931 |access-date=27 March 2021 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}

=Wallsend=

He made a return to Wallsend on a three-year contract on 6 January 1937.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166538417 |title=SOCCER PLAYERS SIGN ON |newspaper=The Newcastle Sun |issue=5948 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=6 January 1937 |access-date=27 March 2021 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} Quill did not have any intentions on leaving Wallsend at the end of the 1939 season, as he signed a form to stay with Wallsend.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article135457618 |title=A. Quill Will Remain With Wallsend |newspaper=Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate |issue=19,718 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=21 December 1939 |access-date=27 March 2021 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}} At the start of the 1943 season, he left Wallsend top play for Lake Macquarie, and returned to Wallsend on 22 May 1943 to play the remainder of the season.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247882280 |title=QUILL BACK TO WALLSEND |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |volume=VIII |issue=53 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=22 May 1943 |access-date=27 March 2021 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}} In the 1937 season, he scored a record 78 goals for Wallsend as a state record for most goals in a season.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article158776767 |title=QUILL STILL HOLDS SOCCER RECORD |newspaper=The Newcastle Sun |issue=9311 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=3 November 1947 |access-date=27 March 2021 |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia}}

He proposed a retirement from football at the end of the 1945 season,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article156733881 |title=Quill To Retire From Soccer |newspaper=The Newcastle Sun |issue=8639 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=5 September 1945 |access-date=27 March 2021 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}} but he came back to Wallsend's squad in April 1946 to play a home match against Lysaght's-Orb the next week.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article158275540 |title=Quill To Carry On In Soccer Until Replacement Found |newspaper=The Newcastle Sun |issue=8833 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=22 April 1946 |access-date=27 March 2021 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}} Over his career he scored 802 goals in 477 league and cup matches,{{cite web |url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/Q/Q.html |title=Quill, Alfred |publisher=OzFootball |work=Australian Player Database |access-date=10 July 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110615001755/http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/Q/Q.html |archive-date=15 June 2011 |url-status= live}} but some sources state that he retired in 1949 with 1,002 goals in total, although these numbers probably include goals in friendlies and unofficial matches.{{cite web |url=https://90soccer.com/the-soccer-players-who-scored-the-most-goals-in-the-history-of-the-sport-since-the-19th-century/ |title=Who scored the most goals in history? |website=90soccer.com |date=31 October 2021 |access-date=31 January 2024 |archive-date=14 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230714202906/https://90soccer.com/the-soccer-players-who-scored-the-most-goals-in-the-history-of-the-sport-since-the-19th-century/ |url-status=live }}

International career

Quill played twice in full international matches for Australia, both against India in September 1938,{{cite book|url=http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/site/_content/document/00000632-source.pdf |title=The Australian National Men's Football Team: Caps And Captains |publisher=Football Federation Australia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527210520/http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/site/_content/document/00000632-source.pdf |archive-date=27 May 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=26 December 2012 }}{{cite web |url=http://collections.ncc.nsw.gov.au/keemu/pages/nrm/Display.php?irn=8232&QueryPage=%2Fkeemu%2Fpages%2Fnrm%2Fnmuseum%2FQuery.php |title=Sporting Person: QUILL, ALFRED, Soccer |publisher=Newcastle City Council |access-date=10 July 2011}} scoring twice in the former to help his side to a 5–3 win.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230806463 |title=CLOSE SOCCER GAME |newspaper=The Sun |issue=8943 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=3 September 1938 |accessdate=23 December 2022 |page=9 (LAST FINAL EXTRA) |via=National Library of Australia}}

Coaching career

After finishing playing he coached Wallsend before a stint as coach of Australia.

Career statistics

=Club=

rowspan=2\|Club !rowspan=2\|Season !colspan=2\|League !colspan=2\|State Premiership Sheahan Cup !colspan=2\|State League Cup !colspan=2\|Other !colspan=2\|Total
class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%; text-align: center;" \|+ Appearances and goals by club, season, and competition. Only official games are included in this table.{{Cite web\|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/\|title=Trove\|website=trove.nla.gov.au}}{{Cite book\|title=Jack Pollard's Soccer Records - Sid Grant\|date=1974\|page=226\|language=en}}
Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals
rowspan=2\|Pyrmont \|1927 \|1	2	0	0	1	2	0	0	2	4
1928 \|9	16	0	0	3	6	0	0	12	22
rowspan=2\|Leichhardt \|1929 \|19	27	0	0	3	2	0	0	22	29
1930 \|23	36	0	0	4	8	0	0	27	44
rowspan=3\|Wallsend \|1931 \|12	18	0	0	1	2	0	0	13	20
1932 \|10	18	1	4	1	3	4	3	16	28
1933 \|15	31	1	1	3	4	1	1	20	37
rowspan=3\|Goodyear \|1934 \|17	35	0	0	3	6	5	11	25	52
1935 \|22	39	0	0	4	9	1	0	27	48
1936 \|20	45	1	3	1	0	1	0	23	48
rowspan=6\|Wallsend \|1937 \|22	63	4	3	3	7	3	5	32	78
1938 \|22	39	2	4	3	7	2	2	29	52
1939 \|19	23	1	4	2	2	1	0	23	29
1940 \|22	32	1	0	1	0	3	5	27	37
1941 \|19	41	2	4	3	3	3	5	27	53
1942 \|10	31	3	5	4	7	3	7	20	50
rowspan=1\|Lake Macquarie \|1943 \|1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3
rowspan=9\|Wallsend
1943 \|13	30	1	0	1	1	6	10	21	41
1944 \|20	22	0	0	4	6	2	2	26	30
1945 \|13	24	2	1	1	1	4	3	20	29
1946 \|12	10	0	0	4	2	4	3	20	15
1947 \|12	13	0	0	2	5	2	3	17	21
1948 \|13	13	0	0	2	5	0	0	15	18
1949 \|10	9	0	0	3	5	0	0	13	14
\|Total !356	620	19	29	57	93	45	60	477	802

=International=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
rowspan="2" \|National team	rowspan="2" \|Year	colspan="2" \|Competitive ! colspan="2" \|Friendly ! colspan="2" \|Total
Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals
Australia \|1938 \|0 \|0 \|2 \|2 \|2 \|2

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

rowspan="2" |National team

rowspan="2" |Year

colspan="2" |Competitive

! colspan="2" |Friendly

! colspan="2" |Total

Apps

!Goals

!Apps

!Goals

!Apps

!Goals

Australia

|1938

class="wikitable sortable" \|+ List of international goals scored by Alf Quill
scope="col"\|No. !scope="col"\|Date !scope="col"\|Venue !scope="col"\|Opponent !scope="col"\|Score !scope="col"\|Result !scope="col"\|Competition !scope="col" class="unsortable"\|{{Abbr\|Ref.\|Reference}}
style="text-align:center"\|1 \|rowspan="2"\|{{dts\|3 September 1938}} \|rowspan="2"\|Royal Agricultural Showground, Sydney, Australia \|rowspan="2"\|{{fb\|IND\|British}} \|style="text-align:center"\|1–0 \|rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" {{won\|5–3}} \|rowspan="2"\|Friendly \|rowspan="2"\|
style="text-align:center"\|2 \|style="text-align:center"\|4–2

class="wikitable sortable"

|+ List of international goals scored by Alf Quill

scope="col"|No.

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Venue

!scope="col"|Opponent

!scope="col"|Score

!scope="col"|Result

!scope="col"|Competition

!scope="col" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

style="text-align:center"|1

|rowspan="2"|{{dts|3 September 1938}}

|rowspan="2"|Royal Agricultural Showground, Sydney, Australia

|rowspan="2"|{{fb|IND|British}}

|style="text-align:center"|1–0

|rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" {{won|5–3}}

|rowspan="2"|Friendly

|rowspan="2"|

style="text-align:center"|2

|style="text-align:center"|4–2

Honours

NSW State League: 1932, 1933, 1938, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944{{cite web|url=http://www.socceraust.co.uk/NSW/Champions/state.htm|access-date=16 April 2023|website=socceraust.co.uk|title=NSW Champions}}
NSW State League Cup: 1937, 1942, 1944
NSW Robinson Cup: 1938, 1939
NSW Daniels Cup: 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1949

Individual

NSW Top Scorer: 1932, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1943, 1945{{Cite book|title=Jack Pollard's Soccer Records - Sid Grant|year=1974|page=116}}

References

Category:Australian men's soccer players

Category:1910 births

Category:Year of death missing

Category:Men's association football forwards

Category:Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees

Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen