Bill McSpeerin
William Joseph McSpeerin was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fitzroy Football Club in the Victorian Football League.
Family
The son of James McSpeerin, and Catherine McSpeerin, née Reid, William Joseph McSpeerin was born at Carlton, Victoria on 25 September 1874.He married Mary Anna "Marie" Rau in 1906.
Football
A rover, McSpeerin debuted with Fitzroy when the club was still in the Victorian Football Association and was a member of their 1895 premiership side. When the Victorian Football League was formed in 1897, McSpeerin was a key member of the team and appeared in 10 out of 14 games that season, including one match against St Kilda where he reportedly ran the entire length of the oval to kick a goal.McSpeerin became one of the leading players of the early VFL years, playing in Fitzroy premierships in 1898 and 1899, being appointed club captain in 1901, and in 1903 becoming the first Fitzroy footballer to play 100 VFL games.
McSpeerin retired at the end of the 1904 VFL season, his last game being Fitzroy's Grand Final win over Carlton.
1899 team of "champions"
At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion player", the football correspondent for The Argus, Reginald Wilmot ("Old Boy"), selected a team of the best players of the 1899 VFL competition:- Backs: Maurie Collins, Bill Proudfoot, Peter Burns.
- Halfbacks: Pat Hickey, George Davidson, Alf Wood.
- Centres: Fred Leach, Firth McCallum, Harry Wright.
- Wings: Charlie Pannam, Eddie Drohan, Herb Howson.
- Forwards: Bill Jackson, Eddy James, Charlie Colgan.
- Ruck: Mick Pleass, Frank Hailwood, Joe McShane.
- Rovers: Dick Condon, Bill McSpeerin, Teddy Rankin.