Fred Fanning
Fred Fanning was an Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne in the Victorian Football League who holds the record for most goals in a VFL/AFL match, with 18.
VFL career
Hailing from the Victorian Football Association club Coburg, Fanning was a strongly built forward standing at 193 cm and weighing 102 kg. In September 1939, playing for Melbourne Seconds against Richmond in the Seconds' Grand Final, Fanning kicked 12 goals in a 29-point victory.Fanning made his senior debut in 1940 and played in that year's Grand Final victory over Richmond. He topped the VFL's goalkicking charts in 1943, 1944 and 1945, a year in which he also won Melbourne's best and fairest award.
In Round 19, 1947, he kicked 18 goals, 1 behind, in a game against St Kilda, which remains the record for most goals in a VFL/AFL match to this day; this was coincidentally Fanning's final appearance in a VFL match. He kicked 97 goals for the 1947 VFL season, the highest in his VFL career.
Post-VFL
Fanning joined the Hamilton Football Club in the Western District Football League as captain-coach in 1948, after being offered 3 to 6 times the salary he was receiving at Melbourne. This appointment caused a split in the club, and the Hamilton Imperials were founded.Fanning held the Western District record for most goals in a game by kicking 22 against Heywood in 1949. The following year he kicked 20 goals against Penshurst. He kicked a Western District record of 151 goals in a season in 1952. He finished his football career at Coleraine in 1953.