Leigh Matthews

Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach.

He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the in the VFL and renamed Australian Football League (AFL).

Squat, short-legged and barrel-chested, Matthews earned the iconic nickname "Lethal Leigh" due to his physical as well as skillful style of play.

He is officially recognised as the "best player of the 20th century" according to the AFL, is a 'Legend' in the Australian Football Hall of Fame, named in the Hawthorn and AFL teams of the century, and is one of the most successful AFL coaches of all time.

Matthews is now an AFL commentator on television with the Seven Network and on radio with 3AW.

Matthews played his junior football at the Chelsea Football Club.

He was part of a footballing family: Matthews' brother Kelvin played 155 games at Hawthorn and Geelong.

Matthews was married and had his first child at 18.

Matthews joined Hawthorn in January 1969, aged sixteen and having already played senior suburban football.

He made his senior debut for the Hawks in Round 16 of the 1969 season against Melbourne as a forward pocket, crumbing around the feet of Hawthorn's champion full forward, Peter Hudson.

Matthews kicked a goal with his first kick and went on to kick at least one goal in each of his five games that year, winning the club's Best First Year Player award.

By midway through 1970, Matthews had earned a regular place in the team as a rover rotating forward.

He was immediately impressive, kicking 20 goals from 16 games for the season.

Though still a teenager, Matthews became one of the most important players in a dominant Hawthorn team in 1971.

He developed an uncanny ability to win contests, especially near the goals.

He kicked 43 goals at an average of 1.9 in 1971 and earned his first of fourteen Victorian guernseys, his first of eight Hawthorn best and fairest awards, and his first of four playing premiership medallions.

On 17 July 1971, Matthews notoriously felled one of the game's fairest and best rovers, Barry Cable, with an elbow to the head.

In Round 2 of 1972, Matthews destroyed North Melbourne for the first of what would end up being many times during his playing career.

He kicked 8 goals in the absence of Hudson (who suffered a season-ending knee injury the previous week).

Matthews made his presence felt early again in 1973 with an amazing 11-goal haul against Essendon in Round 3, also amassing 42 possessions in the same game.

The rest of his season was comparatively quiet; however, his total of 51 goals from 19 games was an impressive figure given the increased time he spent in the midfield.

By 1974, Matthews had become one of the toughest and most damaging players in the game.

Strong, quick and almost impossible to tackle, Matthews regularly turned matches with brilliant solo efforts.

Against Collingwood in a semi-final, Matthews proved the difference with 7 goals from 24 disposals.

He went on to win his third best and fairest, averaging 21.8 disposals and kicking 52 goals for the season.

After six seasons in the VFL, Matthews established himself as a superstar of the competition in 1975, winning the Coleman Medal as the League's leading goal kicker, with 67 goals (68 including finals), while averaging 22.9 disposals per game.

While 67 goals was an unusually low tally, it was a rare result for a non-full forward to lead the competition.

He started the season brilliantly with 47 goals in the first 12 games, including five bags of 5 or more.

His 6 goals from 28 kicks in Round 9 against Footscray was a highlight.

He was unable to maintain this pace in the second half of the season and could manage only 21 goals in his last 11 appearances.

Hawthorn made the grand final; however, they fell to North Melbourne, with Matthews going goalless on the day.

Another brilliant season in 1976 confirmed Matthews as one of the best players in the game.

He kicked more goals than most full-forwards, while also being one of the most effective ball-winners in the game.

For the season, Matthews kicked 71 goals at 3.2 per game and averaged 22.5 disposals, winning his fourth best and fairest.

His best game for the year came in a qualifying final against North Melbourne, when he had 31 kicks and kicked 7 goals from 13 scoring shots.

It was an immense performance in a hard-fought win.

Hawthorn again played North in the grand final, and although Matthews was not amongst the best this time, his second premiership medal was just reward for a brilliant season.

In the 1977 season, Matthews went from being from one of the best players in the league to one of the best of all time, with what was among the greatest individual seasons by any player in history.

This was the first in a series of occasional violent lapses that punctuated, and ultimately soiled, Matthews' stellar career, culminating in his conviction for criminal assault arising out of an on-field incident in 1985.

Matthews kicked another six goals against South Melbourne in Round 18 and finished the season with 45 goals at 2.1 per game; additionally, he won his second club best and fairest—all this before his 21st birthday.