John Reedman

John Cole "Jack" Reedman (9 October 1865 – 29 March 1924) was a leading Australian sportsman of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Reedman began to make his mark as an Australian rules footballer in 1884, whilst playing parklands football for Medindie. He went on to join Hotham who were in the Adelaide Suburban Association (ASA) competition, and was a key member of the club's 1885 premiership side. He captained Hotham when they again won the ASA title in 1886.

Hotham joined the South Australian Football Association (SAFA) in 1887, with Reedman as captain. Just prior to the 1888 football season, Hotham changed their name to North Adelaide (no connection to the current club) and again Reedman was captain.

When North Adelaide amalgamated with the Adelaide club in 1889, Reedman moved to South Adelaide, where he was appointed captain, a position he held until 1898, playing 172 consecutive matches (bringing his total to 200) and leading South to five premierships in seven years before the introduction of electorate football (whereby footballers had to play for their local team) forced his move to North Adelaidein 1899. Reedman led North Adelaide from 1901–1905, and in that time the club won premierships in 1902 and 1905, with Reedman also being part of the 1900 premiership team. He also captained South Australia in 1903.

Following his retirement from playing, Reedman was appointed coach of the lowly West Adelaide Football Club in 1908. To the end of 1907, West Adelaide had won only 23 and drawn 1 of the 145 SAFA matches they had played, and had been perennially close to or on the bottom of the ladder. Reedman coached West Adelaide to its first ever premiership in 1908, and then defeated Victorian Football League (VFL) champions Carlton Football Club to become Champions of Australia. Reedman promptly left West Adelaide to return to North Adelaide for one last season as a player, but it was an inauspicious finale, as the red and whites finished second last.

Reedman played 115 matches for North Adelaide, bringing his career total of matches to 319. He retired at the age of 43.

His 319 career matches remained a record in South Australian football until 1970, when it was broken by Lindsay Head. His record of 200 consecutive matches was a record in elite football until it was broken by Jack Titus in 1943.

Reedman made his first-class cricket debut for South Australia on 17 February 1888 against Victoria at the Adelaide Oval. An all-rounder, Reedman made a duck in his only innings of the match and did not bowl as South Australia won by an innings and 113 runs. Despite this inauspicious start, Reedman went on to captain South Australia and represent Australia in one Test match against England, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) during the 1894/95 Ashes series. Reedman made 17 and four and produced bowling figures of 1/12 and 0/12.

In addition to his football and cricket exploits, Reedman was also a leading long distance swimmer of the period.

Reedman has been selected as a back pocket and change ruckman in South Adelaide's official ‘Greatest Team’. In 1996, he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame and in 2002, he was inducted into the South Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Reedman's brother Sid also captained South Adelaide.

• Atkinson, Graeme (1982). Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About Australian Rules Football, But Couldn't Be Bothered Asking. Melbourne: Five Mile Press. ISBN 978-0-86788-009-0.
• Hutchinson, Garrie; Geddes, Margaret (1999).Ross, John (ed.). Australian Football League's Hall of Fame. Pymble, NSW: HarperCollins Publishers. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-7322-6426-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)