Con McCarthy

{{Short description|Australian rules footballer}}

{{for|the rugby league footballer of the 1910s for New Zealand, and Hawke's Bay|Con McCarthy (rugby league)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2016}}

{{Infobox AFL biography

| name = Con McCarthy

| image = Con_McCarthy_1923.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| fullname = John Cornelius McCarthy

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1893|2|10}}

| birth_place = Collingwood, Victoria

| death_date = {{death date and age|1975|6|19|1893|2|10|df=yes}}

| death_place = St Kilda East, Victoria

| originalteam = Fairfield

| height = 180 cm

| weight = 89 kg

| position =

| statsend = 1926

| coachstatsend = 1925

| years1 = 1915–1921

| club1 = {{AFL Col}}

| games_goals1 = 101 (22)

| years2 = 1925–1926

| club2 = {{AFL Foo}}

| games_goals2 = {{0}}30 (17)

| games_goalstotal = 131 (39)

| coachyears1 = 1925

| coachclub1 = {{AFL Foo}}

| coachgames_wins1 = 17 (4–13–0)

| careerhighlights = *{{AFL Col}} premiership player 1917

• {{AFL Col}} premiership captain 1919
• {{AFL Col}} captain 1919
• {{AFL Foo}} captains 1922–1926

}}

John Cornelius "Con" McCarthy (10 February 1893 – 19 June 1975){{cite web|url=https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/con-mccarthy/|title=Con McCarthy|publisher=Collingwood Forever|accessdate=4 September 2014}} was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood and Footscray in the VFL. He was known during his career as Con McCarthy.

Originally from Western Australia, McCarthy was a ruckman and started his league career in 1915 with Collingwood. He was a premiership player with them in 1917 and 1919, the latter as captain. He also captained Victoria during his career, leading the VFL to victory at the 1921 Perth Carnival.

In 1922, McCarthy joined Footscray in the VFA in 1922 as captain-coach on a lucrative deal, which saw him earn £10 per week, compared with the £2/10/– per week he had earned at Collingwood. Footscray at the time was a rich and ambitious club attempting to gain admission to the VFL, and it made several aggressive recruiting plays like this to further its case; the Sporting Globe commented that McCarthy was the first "big money" player in the game.{{cite news|newspaper=The Sporting Globe|publication-place=Melbourne|title=First in "Big Money" Football|page=6|date=21 August 1926}} As captain-coach, McCarthy led Footscray to back-to-back VFA premierships in 1923 and 1924. When Footscray was admitted to the VFL in 1925, McCarthy was their inaugural captain and coach; he continued as captain in 1926, before retiring at the end of the 1926 season.