Peter Bedford

Who is Peter Bedford?

Peter Lawrence Anthony "Wheels" Bedford is a former Australian Rules footballer and first-class cricketer. As a footballer, he is best known for his time at South Melbourne, where he won Victorian Football League's Brownlow Medal in 1970 as the best and fairest in the competition.

Bedford began his football career at Christian Brothers College Victoria Parade, East Melbourne. He began his senior career in the Victorian Football Association, where he played at Port Melbourne Football Club. He was part of the Port Melbourne team which lost the controversial 1967 VFA Grand Final against Dandenong. He played 52 senior games with Port Melbourne during this phase of his career.

At the end of the 1967 football season, Bedford was approached by South Australian National Football League club Port Adelaide with an offer to move to South Australia to play for Port Adelaide as well as for the South Australian cricket team. South Australian cricket selector Sir Donald Bradman considered Bedford a leading candidate for the Australian cricket team and urged Bedford to accept the offer from Port Adelaide.