Henry "Tracker" Young (16 May 1873 – 10 January 1923) was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He competed in several sports, including Australian rules football, boxing, cycling (in the Melbourne to Warrnambool road race), and rowing.
Family The son of Samuel Young (1840–1923),Death of Mr. Samuel Young, The Geelong Advertiser, (Friday, 16 February 1923), p.5. and Margaret Young (–1926),Late Mrs. Margaret Young, The Geelong Advertiser, (Saturday, 13 March 1926), p.14. née Calhoun, Henry Young was born in Geelong on 16 May 1873.Birth: Young, The Geelong Advertiser, (Saturday, 17 May 1873), p.2.
He married Ruby May Gaylard (1886–1940) in 1920. Ruby remarried in 1923. Both she and her second husband, Leslie Alexander Eastgate, died as the result of an accident on 20 December 1940.Deaths: Eastgate, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Saturday, 21 December 1940), p.26; First Holiday Tragedy: 2 Killed in Smash, The Argus, (Saturday, 21 December 1940), p.1.
Football Young was a tap-ruckman recruited from Wellington, a local team, who first played in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) days.
He played as a ruckman, and opposing rovers often attempted to play off his hit outs.
Young missed games due to injuries in 1898 and 1899, but returned to captain the club in 137 games.
Tracker also won the Geelong Best and Fairest Award (pre-Carji Greeves Medal) in 1905 and 1906.
Rowing An outstanding oarsman, he was the honorary rowing coach of Geelong College from 1917 until his death in 1923.
Death Young died of heart failure — "having been under special treatment for heart trouble during the last four months"'J.W.', "Football: Death of Henry Young", The Australasian, (Saturday, 13 January 1923), p.22. — at the age of 49, shortly after a swim. "With the death of Henry Young Geelong has lost its greatest athlete. As a citizen and a comrade the loss is still greater. He was a good club man and friend, and played the game, no matter what it might be, with all the vigor and power that was in him. He took care that he was always physically fit, and gave of his best to the side, and help to a mate who needed it in a hard contest. To friend and foe alike, he always played his hardest, but always played the game, with the result that he had not an enemy among those against whom he competed. At the close of a contest, no matter how vigorous it was, or how the result went, he would give or accept congratulations, knowing that, on his part, there was no incident to have regret over. He was never happier than when imparting knowledge to a beginner."Charles Brownlow (chairman of the Australian Football Council, and secretary of the Geelong Football Club).
Recognition In 1996 he was inducted (as one of 138 inductees) into the inaugural AFL Hall of Fame.
In 1996, he was named as the resting forward-pocket ruckman in the Geelong Football Club's Team of the Century; and, in 2002, he was declared to be one of the Geelong Football Club Legends, among the inaugural group of 20 highly significant former players.
See also 1908 Melbourne Carnival
Footnotes
References 'Follower', "The Footballers' Alphabet", The Leader, (Saturday, 23 July 1898), p.17. 'Cover Point', "A Great Footballer: 'Tracker' Young's Career", The (Melbourne) Herald, (Wednesday, 10 January 1923), p.6. Pivot Sportsmen Honored: Touching Tributes, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 22 June 1929), p.5. Pennings, Mark (2016), Origins of Australian Football: Victoria's early History: Volume 4: Tough Times: Victorian Football loses its Way, 1891 to 1896, Brunswick, Victoria: Grumpy Monks Publishing. Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996.
External links
Boyles Football Photos: Henry Young.