DOB: 15 November 1897
Died: 27 October 1983
Debut: Round 1, 1920 against South Melbourne at MCG
Last MFC Game: Semi Final Replay 1928 against Collingwood at MCG
From: Prahran
Number: 17 (1920-1928)
Honours:
Premiership Player - 1926
Captain - Coach - 1924 - 1927
Team of the Century member
150 Heroes selection
MFC Hall of Fame - 2001
Australian Football Hall of Fame member - 1995
Victorian state player - 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928 (22 games including 10 as captain/coach)
Life Member - 1945
Games: 141 (158 total)
Goals: 45 (53 total)
Career Statistics
| Wins | Draws | Losses | Winning % | |
| 71 | 3 | 67 | 50.35 | |
Enlisting in the Flying Corp as a 19-year-old - having added a year to his age when signing up - Chadwick served in Palestine, Egypt and Arabia during World War I. He was Mentioned in Dispatches for his courageous work in supporting the Light Horse regiment against better equipped German forces.
With the war won, Chadwick returned to Australia in 1919 and was discharged. Having played both Australian Rules and Rugby in the army he went to Toorak Park to watch a VFA game and realised that he could probably match it with the Association players. Voicing his opinion to the man standing next to him it turned out that his fellow spectator was the secretary of Prahran. He ironically invited Chadwick to come to training on the Tuesday and show the players how to do it. He slipped into training unnoticed, and by the end of the session was signed by the Two Blues and debuted that Saturday.
He played out the rest of the 1919 season, showing promise as a ruckman, and wrote a letter to Melbourne asking for a chance to play. Secretary Andrew Manzie later said that while he thought Chadwick was just another youngster trying to chance his way onto a VFL list he decided to take a closer look at him based on the neatness of his handwriting and the courtesy of his letter.
The next year he debuted in the VFL, played 16 games and was selected in the state side. Reinventing himself at the MCG as a tough centre-half back, Chadwick was appointed captain in 1924, a year when he was also runner-up by one vote in the first ever Brownlow Medal.
In 1927 Chadwick captained Victoria to victory in the interstate carnival, and in 1928 he represented the VFL against the Bendigo League. He played 19 games for Victoria and was captain on many occasions. He was named on the interchange of the Melbourne "Team of the Century"
Coaching
First game: Round 1, 1925 vs St. Kilda at MCG
Last game: Round 18, 1927 vs Footscray at Western Oval
Career statistics
| Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | % |
| 58 | 42 | 1 | 15 | 73.28 |
In 1925 Chadwick was appointed Captain/Coach to replace Gordon Rattray. A year later he had coached a premiership - Melbourne's first since 1900. Despite missing eight weeks after suffering a leg injury in the Round 1 victory over St. Kilda, Chadwick returned in round 9 and missed just one more game for the year en route to the Grand Final success.
Chadwick ceded the captaincy to Ivor Warne-Smith before the 1928 season started and was appointed vice-captain. He retired at the end of that year but was persuaded to move to Hawthorn as playing coach in 1929, where he spent one season.
Presidency
During World War II Chadwick was the Director of Recruiting for the RAAF. Employed as an engineer throughout his career, Chadwick became chairman of the Victorian Gas and Fuel Corporation and was President of the Melbourne Cricket Club from 1965-1979. He was knighted Sir Albert in 1974.
Chadwick later served as on the MFC committee in 1932, 1933 and from 1950 to 1962. For his second stint he was MFC President. He was president of the Melbourne Cricket Club form 1965 to 1978 and an MCC committeeman from 1941 to 1979.
Despite winning his sole premiership as a coach in 1926, "Sir Bert" was Melbourne's last surviving premiership coach before he passed away in 1983.
In 1930 Chadwick was appointed to the first independent board which appointed VFL field umpires. He served as Melbourne's VFL delegate from 1951 until resigning in January 1962. He was then awarded life membership of the league. Chadwick had also acted as manager of a VFL team which played in Bendigo in 1960.
His son Bob played two games for Melbourne in 1949.
| Year | Games | Goals | Brownlow | |
| 1920 | 16 | 8 | n/a | |
| 1921 | 15 | 9 | n/a | |
| 1922 | 16 | 2 | n/a | |
| 1923 | 13 | 9 | n/a | |
| 1924 | 16 | 2 | 6 | |
| 1925 | 18 | 1 | 4 | |
| 1926 | 13 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1927 | 18 | 3 | 1 | |
| 1928 | 16 | 10 | 1 | |
Lists
Family
Hawthorn
Players who served during war
VFA
Media
Sun - 04/06/1926
Argus - 18/06/1926
Referee - 07/03/1928
Football Record R18 1928
Sydney Morning Herald - 05/06/1943
Age - 30/06/1951, 23/08/1978
Links
Boyles Football Photos
Demonwiki image gallery
Dictionary of Australian Biography
VFA Project profile
War Record
Wikipedia profile