Lew Roberts
| Lew Roberts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Lewis Edgar Roberts | ||
| Date of birth | 2 April 1918 | ||
| Place of birth | Evandale, South Australia[1][2] | ||
| Date of death | 3 March 2001 (aged 82)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1937–1941 | Port Adelaide | ||
| 1942–1944 | Port Adelaide/West Torrens | ||
| 1945–1948 | Port Adelaide | ||
| Total | 179 (50)[4] | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| South Australia | 6 | ||
| Coaching career | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 1948 | Port Adelaide | 17 (4–13–0)[5] | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1948. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Source: AustralianFootball.com | |||
Lewis Edgar Roberts (2 April 1918 – 3 March 2001), known as Lew Roberts, was an Australian rules footballer, railwayman and businessman, known as a noted player for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
Early life
[edit]Roberts was born in the Adelaide suburb of Evandale,[1][2] into a family that lived in the country township of Dublin, South Australia. He attended Adelaide High School.[6]
Football career
[edit]Roberts began his football career with Port Adelaide in 1937,[6] aged 19. He captained the club during the SANFL's wartime competition from 1942 to 1944. He won the club's best and fairest award in 1946.[7]
In 1948, Roberts again took the captaincy of the club along with coaching responsibilities in what was his last year playing for the club. His ability to kick the ball accurately to advantageous positions for his team mates was a notable part of his game.[7]
Railway and business career
[edit]After beginning his working life as a junior porter in a South Australian Railways carriage shed, Roberts progressed to performing the exacting tasks of a train controller.[6] In 1949, he joined the Silverton Tramway Company as traffic superintendent and in 1952 he was appointed general manager of the company, a position he held until 1971.[8]: 262 In the latter capacity, he oversaw the restructure and dieselisation of the 58-kilometre (36-mile) railway operated by the company between Broken Hill and Burns, New South Wales, and in the 1960s the creation of four subsidiaries.[6]
In 1972, in the wake of the closure of the tramway and its replacement by a government-operated standard gauge line two years earlier, Roberts became corporate managing director of the renamed Silverton Limited and its subsidiaries. Under his leadership the company, still headquartered in Melbourne, continued mine shunting in Broken Hill and began working on property development and rail construction projects around Australia.[6]
Personal life
[edit]Following Roberts's move to Broken Hill to further his career as a railway executive, he continued his sporting interests as chairman of the Broken Hill Football League. He also became chairman of the Barrier District Cricket League, and vice president of the Broken Hill Golf Club.[6] In his retirement he wrote a comprehensive history of the Silverton Tramway Company.[8]
References
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ a b "The story behind Roberts's trophy win". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Adelaide. 13 September 1946. p. 7.
- ^ a b "Family notices". The Advertiser. South Australia. 5 April 1918. p. 6.
- ^ "Lewis Edgar Roberts". Billion Graves.
- ^ "History: Hall of Fame". We are Port Adelaide. 10 February 2025.
- ^ "Australian Football - SANFL Season 1948". Archived from the original on 11 January 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f Roberts, Lew E. (1995). Rails to wealth: a history of the Silverton Tramway Company Limited, Broken Hill's railway service. Melbourne: L.E. Roberts. On dustjacket. ISBN 0646265873.
- ^ a b "Lew Roberts". AustralianFootball.com. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ a b Roberts, Lew E. (1995). Rails to wealth: a history of the Silverton Tramway Company Limited, Broken Hill's railway service. Melbourne: L.E. Roberts. ISBN 0646265873.
Further reading
[edit]- Roberts, L. E. (1995). Rails to Wealth: A History of the Silverton Tramway Company Limited, Broken Hill's Railway Service. Melbourne: L.E. Roberts. ISBN 0646265873.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Lew Roberts at Wikimedia Commons