Harry Beitzel

Harry Beitzel
Harry Beitzel
Personal information
Full name	Harry John Beitzel
Date of birth	6 April 1927
Place of birth	Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia
Date of death	13 August 2017 (aged 90)
Place of death	Gosford, New South Wales, Australia
Playing career1
Years	Club
1944	Fitzroy
Umpiring career
Years	League
1948–1960	VFL
	1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1960.
Career highlights
	1955 VFL Grand Final Umpire;

Henry John "Harry" Beitzel

Australian football umpire, print, radio and television sports broadcaster and media personality best known for his contribution to Australian rules football.^[2]

Early sporting life

Harry attended Melbourne's University High School. He along with fellow schoolboy (future cricket test captain) Neil Harvey developed their skills for both football and cricket. Both boys were left-hander batsmen and together share many high scoring partnerships. Both boys joined the Fitzroy Cricket Club and Beitzel won the second grade batting averages. While Harvey's cricket blossomed, Beitzel's seemed to stall. Beitzel played football with Fitzroy seconds in 1944 and he was part of the premiership team. The following year because Australia was still at war he joined the Australian Navy.^[3]

Umpiring career

Harry became interested in umpiring so he joined the VFL umpires' class in 1946 and billeted out to regional Victoria, the NSW Riverina and games in Tasmania for three years. He umpired his first senior game of VFL in the

Jack Mueller

.

Media career

Beitzel later covered football for

The Australian. He also worked on television for the ABC and the Nine Network. His innovations included the introduction of statistics during broadcasts of matches, as well as comprehensive previews and reviews of games. In 2005, Beitzel rejoined 3AW as a semi-regular contributor to Rex Hunt

's pre-match show. For some years, Beitzel has filed his Footy Week section each week with the Melbourne Observer newspaper.

International rules football

Beitzel is also credited with pioneering the development of the composite rules sport

The Australian Football World Tour, a six-match series with games played against Irish teams in Ireland, the UK and the United States. The 1968 Galahs also played exhibition matches of Australian rules throughout the tour, including a game in Bucharest, Romania.^[4]

Honours and recognition

In 2000, Beitzel was inducted into the Melbourne Cricket Ground's Media Hall of Fame.^[5] In 2006, he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame as a media inductee.^[6]

Imprisonment

Beitzel became the face for "English soccer pools" in Australia. In October 1994, Beitzel was sentenced to 18 months jail, with a minimum of eight months to be served, after pleading guilty to obtaining financial advantage by deception over matters related to his work for a lottery organisation.

Pentridge Prison and then at the open, minimum-security Morwell River Prison Farm. Beitzel strenuously denied that he had ever intentionally committed a crime.^[7]

Personal life

The son of former St Kilda and Fitzroy player Arnold Beitzel.

Beitzel had three daughters and a son. As of 2014 he lived in Sydney with his second wife, Karolyn.^[2] Beitzel had been ill since 2014, after losing sight in one eye and suffering a fall, he also had heart problems. He died on 13 August 2017, aged 90.

References

^ Robinson, Paul (2 May 1989). "Entrepreneur Beitzel gets yet another forearm jolt". The Age. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Cherny, Daniel (12 December 2014). "Harry Beitzel critically ill in Sydney". The Age. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
^ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/178162330/20757072 Leagues youngest ever umpire, 16 July 1949, Sporting Globe
^ "No overseas trip for Galahs in 1969". The Age. 11 November 1968. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
^ "Inductees – 2000". MCG Media Hall of Fame. Melbourne Cricket Ground. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
^ Burgan, Matt (22 June 2006). "'Big H' enters Hall". Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 22 April 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2006.
^ Robinson, Paul (2 May 1989). "Entrepreneur Beitzel gets yet another forearm jolt". The Age. Retrieved 21 January 2020.

[age-forearmjolt-1] Robinson, Paul (2 May 1989). "Entrepreneur Beitzel gets yet another forearm jolt". The Age. Retrieved 1 March 2015.

[TheAge101214-2] Cherny, Daniel (12 December 2014). "Harry Beitzel critically ill in Sydney". The Age. Retrieved 12 December 2014.

[3] ttps://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/178162330/20757072 Leagues youngest ever umpire, 16 July 1949, Sporting Globe

[age-galahs1969-4] "No overseas trip for Galahs in 1969". The Age. 11 November 1968. Retrieved 1 March 2015.

[mcghalloffame-5] "Inductees – 2000". MCG Media Hall of Fame. Melbourne Cricket Ground. Retrieved 1 March 2015.

[AFLhalloffame-6] Burgan, Matt (22 June 2006). "'Big H' enters Hall". Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 22 April 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2006.

[7] Robinson, Paul (2 May 1989). "Entrepreneur Beitzel gets yet another forearm jolt". The Age. Retrieved 21 January 2020.

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