Earl Spalding

Who is Earl Spalding?

Earl Spalding is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne and Carlton in the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League.

Spalding grew up in Perth, Western Australia, where he attended Wesley College. His father, George Spalding was a well-known West Australian National Football League player with the Perth Football Club.

After leaving school, Spalding played for 63 games for Perth between 1983 and 1986. He also played four games of first-class cricket for Western Australia as a fast bowler, during the 1984/85 season, taking 12 wickets at an average of 25.66.

He started his VFL/AFL career with Melbourne and was there from 1987 to 1991, playing 109 games. The following season he signed with Carlton and played 22 games for the year. He won a premiership with Carlton in 1995, and in 1996 brought up his 200th game of league football. He played his last senior AFL game in 1997. He then returned to Western Australia and switched to play for East Fremantle alongside his brother Scott, who played one game for Carlton in 1993. Earl played 32 games over the next two seasons, including their 1998 WAFL Premiership winning team, retiring after the 1999 season having played 314 senior games of football in the WAFL and AFL.