Allan Ruthven

Allan Gordon Ruthven (17 April 1922 – 14 March 2003) was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League. He played his entire 222-game career with Fitzroy. In 1950, Ruthven won the prestigious Brownlow medal. A product of Falconer Street School in North Fitzroy, Ruthven subsequently joined Fitzroy in 1940 as a 17-year-old schoolboy star. So impressed with his skill and potential, the club subsequently gave Ruthven guernsey number 7, previously worn and made famous by triple Brownlow Medallist, Haydn Bunton.

Universally known as "the Baron", for his dapper dress sense, Ruthven reportedly earned his nickname when a teammate called out "here comes Baron Rothschild" after he turned up to the club in one of his flamboyant suits.

Player honors Brownlow Medal: 1950. Fitzroy best and fairest: 1944, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1949. Fitzroy club leading goalkicker: 1944, 1945, 1954. 3 May 2001: Ruthven was named in Fitzroy's Team of the Century, in the forward line. 2007: Brisbane Lions recognised Ruthven as one of the two greatest Fitzroy players from the era 1927 to 1956. The other player being Haydn Bunton.

Post career

After retiring as a player, Ruthven became a household name when he appeared as a regular panelist on the Channel 7 television show, World of Sport.