PEARSON, Bill

Bill Pearson had all the attributes of a champion; he was a strong mark, a beautiful drop kick with either foot and had the knack of extricating himself from seemingly impossible situations.

He came to Essendon after serving in the Pacific with the Army during World War II, but only after the League ruled that he was an Essendon player when Footscray also claimed his services.
Prior to this he had played with La Mascotte in the Essendon District League where he kicked 28 goals in a game in 1939. This is still an EDFL record.

He was acclaimed by many critics as one of Essendon best centremen of all time but his career was cut short when he succumbed to a serious knee injury in 1947. He underwent five operations in an effort to return to playing, but they were unsuccessful. He ultimately endured 23 operations in total.

Pearson was one of Essendon best players in the 1946 premiership win, playing in the centre. He also won Essendon's Best First Year Player award in 1945 and scored most Brownlow Medal votes at Essendon in 1946 with 13 votes.

After retiring from Essendon, his only football involvement was as coach of St Mary's Under 18s in a Sunday competition in 1949.

Pearson was a leading greyhounds authority and wrote for The Age for many years. He also built a successful publishing business based around a gold form guide for greyhound racing which was given out at weekly meetings in North Essendon and Maribyrnong.

He was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000 from Prime Minister John Howard for his service to the racing industry. He was inducted into the Australian Greyhound Racing Association Hall of Fame in 2006.

His cousins were renowned Collingwood players Bill, Pat and Mick Twomey.

Bill Pearson died on 6th December 2010.