FIVE-TIME Footscray best and fairest and AFL Hall of Fame member John Schultz died on Sunday, aged 85.
Schultz, the 1960 Brownlow medalist had been recruited from Boort in 1958 where he was working in the State Savings Bank.
Former Gordon Shire secretary Trevor Forbes said Schultz’s mother ran a small shop in Godfrey Street and had married Elaine Graham, of Durham Ox. Elaine died in 2013.
Forbes said the Footscray legend regularly returned to Boort to play in the annual Easter tennis tournament.
“He had a great association with Boort and was a nice fellow, quiet and reserved and an absolute gentleman,” said Forbes.
Schultz was 21 when he won the 1960 Brownlow by one vote from Fitzroy’s Kevin Murray. He was Footscray’s best and fairest player five times (1960, 1962, 1964–66), played for Victoria 21 times and was an All-Australian in 1961.
Commentators of the era said Schultz was an effective knock ruckman, he was acclaimed for good tackling, elegant marking, and hard, fair bumping across 188 VFL games. He was named in the Footscray-Western Bulldogs team of the century and presented the AFL premiership cup to the Bulldogs after the club’s drought-breaking grand final win in 2016.