John Bourke

John Bourke (born ) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Preston in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and Collingwood reserves in the Victorian Football League (VFL) reserves competition.

Bourke played in back-to-back premierships for Preston in 1983 and 1984 while kicking regular bags of goals as a young forward. However, he is best known for shoving an umpire during a match for the Collingwood reserves team in 1985, resulting in a lengthy suspension.

Career VFA Bourke played for the Preston Football Club in the Victorian Football Association, kicking 104 goals in his 29 games for the club. He kicked six goals in the club's 1983 grand final win over Geelong West, and five goals in their 1984 grand final win over Frankston. He was also the club's leading goalkicker in 1983, with 51 goals for the season.

VFL reserves Bourke joined the Collingwood Football Club as a reserves player in 1984.

The match was being broadcast on the Seven Network, with commentator Ray Jordon crying: "You've gotta take the boy off!" as the incident unfolded.

As a result, Bourke was handed a suspension of ten years, equivalent to 240 matches. It was later reduced to six years.