Leigh Matthews

Who is Leigh Matthews?

Leigh Raymond Matthews AM is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League and coached Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions.

Squat, short legged and barrel-chested, Matthews earned the iconic nickname "Lethal Leigh" due to his physical as well as skilful style of play. He is officially recognised as the "best player of the 20th century", according to the AFL, is a Legend in the AFL Hall of Fame, is on the Hawthorn and AFL Teams of the Centuries, has polled the most Brownlow votes without winning a Brownlow and is one of the most successful AFL coaches of all time. In 2008, Matthews was named second, behind Wayne Carey, as part of Mike Sheahan's list of the top 50 players of all time, published in the book 'The Australian Game of Football', which was released by the AFL to celebrate 150 years of Australian rules football. He is now an AFL commentator on television with the Seven Network and on Radio with 3AW Football.