Gordon McCracken

{{Infobox AFL biography

| name = Gordon McCracken

| image =

| fullname = William Clifford Gordon McCracken

| birth_date = {{birth date|1898|3|22|df=y}}

| birth_place = Fitzroy North, Victoria

| death_date = {{death date and age|1964|1|27|1898|3|22|df=yes}}

| death_place = Fitzroy, Victoria

| originalteam = Essendon Association

| height = 191 cm

| weight = 86 kg

| position = Ruckman

| statsend = 1927

| years1 = 1919

| club1 = Essendon A (VFA)

| games_goals1 = {{0|00}}8 (11)

| years2 = 1920–27

| club2 = Fitzroy

| games_goals2 = 109 (61)

| careerhighlights =

}}

William Clifford Gordon McCracken, {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=90%|OBE}} (22 March 1898 – 27 January 1964) was an Australian Commonwealth Note and Stamp Printer and an Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1920s.{{Ref AFL Encyc|10th|570}}

Football

McCracken, who contested nine finals from 1922 to 1924, was Fitzroy's ruckman in the 1922 premiership side. He was again a follower in the 1923 Grand Final but was off the ground injured for much of the encounter and Fitzroy lost by 17 points. In the same year, McCracken represented the VFL at interstate football. Before arriving at Fitzroy, he played for Essendon Association in the Victorian Football Association.

Note and Stamp Printing

McCracken joined the Commonwealth Bank on 1 August 1936, as Works Manager, and was appointed as the Australian Note and Stamp Printer on 21 April 1940.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243566556 |title=Men Who Churn Out Money By The Ton |newspaper=The Herald |issue=21,999 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=22 November 1947 |page=13}} During this period he was responsible for introducing new equipment, the photogravure printing process, and (reportedly) the elimination of personal monograms and imprints in favour of 'By Authority' impersonal marks in 1942.{{cite web |url=http://www.acsc-history.info/misc.aspx |title=The Official Stamp Printers |publisher=History of The Australian Commonwealth Specialists' Catalogue}} He retired in March 1963, the same year he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.{{cite web |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1109133 |title=William Clifford Gordon NcCRACKEN |publisher=Australian Government}}

Notes

References

{{AustralianFootball | gordon+mccracken/3768 }}
{{AFL Tables | G/Gordon_McCracken }}
[http://www.thevfaproject.org/pages/Players/McCracken,_Gordon_C._W..php Gordon McCracken's playing statistics] from The VFA Project

Category:1898 births

Category:1964 deaths

Category:Fitzroy Football Club players

Category:Fitzroy Football Club premiership players

Category:Essendon Association Football Club players

Category:Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)

Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire

Category:VFL/AFL premiership players

Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen