Bob Pratt

Infobox afl player | firstname = Bob
lastname = Pratt




image size = 100
birthdate = 31 August 1912
birthplace =
originalteam = Mitcham
heightweight = 180cm / 76 kg
dead =
deathdate = 6 January 2001
deathplace =
debutdate = 1930
debutteam = South Melbourne
debutopponent =
debutstadium =
playingteams = South Melbourne (1930-39) (1946)
* 158 games, 681 goals
Coburg Football Club (VFA)
coach =
coachingteams =
statsend = 1946
careerhighlights =
For South Melbourne
* All time leading goalkicker
* Season's leading goalkicking 1932-36 and 1939
* Team of the Century memberFor the League
* Leading goalkicker 1933-1935
* Equal most goals in a season of all time
* AFL Hall of Fame Legend

Bob Pratt (31 August 1912 — 6 January 2001) was a former Australian rules footballer from Mitcham, Victoria.

He played with South Melbourne Football Club in the VFL from 1930-1939 and again in 1946. Considered one of the finest full-forwards ever to play the game, he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame with Legend status in 1996.

Pratt's career began in 1930 when he debuted for South Melbourne in the VFL at the age of seventeen. Known for spectacular diving and highflying marks, he topped the club's goalkicking for the first time in 1932 with 71 goals and for the next three seasons passed 100 goals. His total of 150 goals in 1934 was a VFL/AFL record haul and is now shared with Peter Hudson who equalled it in 1971. The tally included 15 goals in a single game, one of eight times that he would kick 10 goals in a game.

He was a member of South's 1933 premiership side, kicking 3 goals in the grand final but missed the decider in 1935 through injury. On Grand Final eve he was clipped by a truck moments after stepping off a tram. In 1934 against Carlton VFL,Bob Pratt kicked 8 goals in the third quarter, which is one of the highest in a quarter by an individual in the VFL. Pratt also kicked 7 goals in a quarter against Footscray Football Club in 1934. Injuries restricted him to a total of 13 games for the 1937 and 1938 seasons and at the end of 1939 he left the club. His tally of 37 goals in finals football was a club record until 2008.

In 1940 and 1941 Pratt represented Coburg in the VFA. In that time he continued his incredible goal scoring record, booting 183 during 1941, including 22 goals in a single game against Sandringham. Had he stayed at South Melbourne it is likely that with time on his side he would have passed the 1000 goal milestone.

In February 1942 Pratt enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and was discharged in November 1945. He attempted a comeback with South Melbourne in 1946; in his return match he kicked two goals before receiving a career ending leg injury.

At the time of his death in 2001 he was the last living member of the Swans 1933 Grand Final team. He was named beside Tony Lockett in the forward pocket in their official 'Team of the Century'.

External links

*AflRleague|ref=B/Bob_Pratt0.html
* [http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/p-q.htm#Bob%20Pratt%20(South%20Melbourne%20&%20Coburg) Fullpointsfooty profile]