For the later player see John Lord
DOB: 16 September 1899
Died: 14 August 1980
Debut: Round 1, 1921 against Essendon at East Melbourne
Last MFC Game: Round 16, 1923 against Essendon at Windy Hill
From: Yarra Park/Footscray
Number: 11 (1921), 26 (1922-1923)
Games: 24 (54 total)
Goals: 7 (25 total)
Career Statistics
| Wins | Draws | Losses | Winning % |
| 11 | 2 | 11 | 42.59 |
Signed by Melbourne to play with their Junior side, Lord had played ruck for the Victorian schoolboy side in 1914 but was nearly lost to the game after the war. His interest was reignited by seeing an old school friend in a finals game at the end of 1919, and he signed with Melbourne.
Loaned out to VFA side Footscray during 1920, Lord injured his ankle in a finals game but had shown enough to be elevated to Melbourne's senior side the next year. In 1921 he represented the VFL against the Bendigo league, but played 14 games in his best year. He managed just 10 games combined over the next two seasons, playing both as a ruck and half back.
Lord spent three seasons at St. Kilda from 1924 to 1926. After one senior game his clearance was delayed when the VFL discovered he had signed for VFA side Brighton on the promise that he would play for them if he couldn't get a game for a VFL side. He claimed that he'd filled in the clearance form to Brighton but hadn't signed it.
Eventually, he was given the go-ahead to join them and appeared in 30 games. In 1927 he was appointed coach of VFA side Williamstown and spent one year there before joining Prahran for four seasons as captain-coach. He was also a fast bowler for Prahran's football side. He retired in 1934 after suffering a knee injury while playing for the VFA against New South Wales.
In 1932 he stood for election for the St Kilda committee. He stood for the seat of St Kilda in the 1945 State Election but was defeated.
Lord enlisted with the AIF in 1940 and during World War II was stationed in Palestine during 1942 with the Transportation Branch. In later years he would sign his correspondence with the letters FSOG. This was because before he made his debut he would receive cards with the letters, meaning Final Selection On Ground which would indicate he would be an emergency for the match. Once he finally graduated to the senior side he began using the term as a sign-off to his letters.
By 1953 he had been elected as mayor of Echuca three times, and in 1955 was president of the Echuca football club.
His son John Lord Jr. played 132 games between 1957 and 1965
| Year | Games | Goals | Brownlow |
| 1921 | 14 | 7 | 0 |
| 1922 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 1923 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Notes
May have been the first person to play for both the VFA and VFL state teams.
Lists
Family
Players who served during war
Players without photos
St Kilda
VFA
Media
Herald - 27/08/1920
Independent - 04/09/1920
Herald - 04/06/1921
Sporting Globe - 17/02/1923
Argus - 01/05/1924
Argus - 22/05/1924
Sporting Globe - 28/05/1924
Sporting Globe - 08/11/1924
Sporting Globe - 23/03/1927
Sporting Globe - 09/06/1928
Sporting Globe - 12/11/1932
Argus - 17/01/1942
Herald - 21/02/1942
Argus - 08/11/1945
Argus - 20/10/1953
Argus - 24/05/1955
Links
Boyles Football Photos
VFA Project profile
Wikipedia profile