{{short description|Australian rules footballer (1895–1994)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox AFL biography | name = Horrie Gorringe | image = [[File:Horrie gorringe.jpg|170px]] | alt = | caption = Gorringe with the Cananore FC | fullname = Horace Charles Gorringe | birth_date = {{birth date|1895|07|04|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Sandford, Tasmania]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1994|07|17|1895|07|04|df=y}} | death_place = [[Cygnet, Tasmania]] | originalteam = Brighton Rovers | height = 172 cm | weight = 73 kg<ref>''Monotone Sporting Record'', 4 August 1928</ref> | debutdate = 25 April 1914<ref>''[[The Mercury (Hobart)|The Mercury]]'' (Tasmania), 27 April 1914</ref> | debutteam = [[Cananore Football Club|Cananore]] | debutopponent = [[North Hobart Football Club|North Hobart]] | debutstadium = [[TCA Ground]] | years1 = 1914–1930 | club1 = [[Cananore Football Club|Cananore]] | careerhighlights = * Player of the Carnival, [[1924 Hobart Carnival]] * 5 time [[Cananore Football Club|Cananore]] premiership player * Named as a forward pocket in the [[Australian rules football in Tasmania#Tasmanian Football Team of the Century|Tasmanian Team of the Century]] in 2004 * Inducted as an ''Icon'' of the [[Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame]] in 2005 * Inducted into the [[Australian Football Hall of Fame]] in 2011 }}
'''Horace Charles Gorringe''' (4 July 1895 – 17 July 1994) was an [[Australian rules football]] player in [[Tasmania]], who is considered to have been one of the greatest [[Follower (Australian rules football)|rover]]s in the game's history.<ref>Alomes, 2008.</ref><ref>Coventry, 1938.</ref><ref>O'Neil, 1938a; 1938b.</ref>
==Family== The son of Lowther Gorringe (1864–1927),<ref>"Mr. Lowther Gorringe, a well-known land-owner in Tasmania, died suddenly in Hobart on Saturday afternoon during the football match between Cananore (Hobart) and North Launceston for the premiership of Tasmania. Mr. Gorringe, whose son Horace is the well-known Cananore player, had with his wife motored from Tea Tree to Hobart to watch his son play, and a minute before half-time interval collapsed and died immediately. At the express wish of H. Gorringe Cananore resumed the game with one player short." ([http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3884085 Personal, ''The Argus'', (Monday, 10 October 1927), p.14]).</ref><ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article24208787 Obituary: Mr. Lowther Gorringe: Collapse at Football Match, ''The (Hobart) Mercury'', (Monday, 10 October 1927), p.6.]</ref><ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article24208727 Deaths: Gorringe, ''The (Hobart) Mercury)'', (Monday, 10 October 1927), p.1.]</ref> and Evelyn Sophia Gorringe (1868–1954), née Watson,<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12715229 Marriages: Gorringe–Watson, ''The (Hobart) Mercury'', (Wednesday, 18 March 1891), p.1.]</ref><ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27217513 Deaths: Gorringe, ''The (Hobart) Mercury'', (Saturday, 3 July 1954), p.21.]</ref> Horace Charles Gorringe was born on 4 July 1895 at [[Sandford, Tasmania]].<ref name="Onlooker1939">[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25759734 'Onlooker', "H. Gorringe's Career: Tasmania's Champion", ''The (Hobart) Mercury'', (Friday, 1 September 1939), p.12.]</ref>
He married Myra Muriel Newnham (1899–1992) on 7 February 1929.
==Football== {{Quote box |title ='''HORRIE GORRINGE''' |quote = '''An Acrostic'''<br> '''G'''reat little player in a class of his own,<br> '''O'''ur little rover he stands out alone.<br> '''R'''ight wonderful judgment in midst of the mill;<br> '''R'''arely they catch him to send him a spill.<br> '''I'''n a close finish he is just grand;<br> '''N'''ow they are roaring from the grandstand;<br> '''G'''orringe, they yell, look out, you backs,<br> '''E'''ven now there's a chance for the Yellow and Blacks.<br> "One of the Canaries" (1922)<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article169037704 Horrie Gorringe: An Acrostic, ''The (Hobart) Critic'', (Friday, 18 August 1922), p.4]: The editor notes "The initial letters read downwards spell the name of the most brilliant footballer Tasmania has seen since the days of the peerless [[Fred McGinis|McGinis]]. As a rover he has probably had no superior."</ref> |source = |align = right |width = |border = |fontsize = 90% |bgcolor = |style = |title_bg = |title_fnt = |tstyle = |qalign = |qstyle = |quoted = |salign = |sstyle = }}
===Brighton Rovers=== In 1912 and 1913 he was playing along with his brother, Eric Lowther John Gorringe (1893–1970), for the Brighton Rovers.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article189096979 Patmore Trophy: Brighton Rovers v. Richmond, ''The (Hobart) Daily Post'', (Monday, 16 September 1912), pp.7-8]: "For Brighton Rovers H. Gorringe was the pick of the eighteen. Gorringe is only a mere boy, but showed some of his elders how the game should be played." (p.8).</ref><ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10292069 The Patmore Trophy: Brighton Rovers v. Richmond: Victory for Brighton, ''The (Hobart) Mercury'', (Monday, 14 July 1913), p,7.]</ref>
===Cananore (TFL)=== Gorringe played for the [[Cananore Football Club|Cananore]] club in the [[Tasmanian Football League]] between the years 1914 and 1930.
He was Club Champion in 1928, winning the Most Consistent award.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article24235780 Football: The Cananore Club: Presentation of Medals, ''The (Hobart) Mercury'', (Monday, 22 October 1928), p14.]</ref>
He played numerous matches at representative level for both the league and the state—in a war interrupted career (no TFL competition in 1916, 1917, and 1918), he played in 157 club games for Cananore, and in 35 combined games, and represented Tasmania in the 1924 and 1927 carnivals<ref name="Onlooker1939"/>—including the match in Adelaide, when the TFL representative team beat South Australia, in Adelaide, on 21 July 1923.<ref>[https://australianfootball.com/articles/view/southern%2Btasmanians%2Btoss%2Bthe%2Bcroweaters/1217 Devaney, John, "Southern Tasmanians toss the Croweaters", ''australian football.com''.]</ref><ref>[https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+280/1/41/288 Football Match in Adelaide (Photograph, 21 July 1923), collection of the ''State Library of South Australia''.]</ref> :: "In his playing days Gorringe used to practise his celebrated stab kick by aiming at the open top half of a stable door at his farm at [[Tea Tree, Tasmania|Tea Tree]], a few miles from Hobart. He could do it nine times out of ten with either foot from 30 yards.<ref>Whittington, 1957.</ref> :: "On Saturday [6 June 1925, when I was the central field umpire in the match in the match between [[Cananore Football Club|Cananore]] and [[Glenorchy Football Club|New Town]]] I saw [Gorringe] do what I've I've never seen another footballer do in my life, and that is to change his direction left and right practically in one stride. I've seen rovers who could swerve to the right, run a few strides, and then swerve to the left again, but very very few, yet Gorringe can left and then right turn with only one stride in between each action. It makes him extremely elusive. Ia addition to handling and kicking the ball like a champion, lie impressed me as being an ideal opponent." – eminent South Australia umpire, Charles Robert O'Connor (1873–1961).<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article233696648 G.S., ""Truly a Champion": "Horrie" Gorringe, of Cananore: "Best I've Ever Seen", Says O'Connor", ''The (Hobart) News'', (Monday, 8 July 1925), p.2.]</ref> :: "[[Frank Maher (footballer)|Frank Maher]], Essendon's skipper and first-class rover, considers that Horrie Gorringe, the Tasmanian, is the best rover seen in Melbourne for many a long day. "He is a beauty all right", said Maher. "Why. he is as slippery as an eel, a beautiful pass, and uncanny in his Judgment. On a running shot he is phenomenally accurate, while elsewhere his play stamps him as Australia's best rover. An amazing thing about Gorringe, however, is that on a deliberate shot he is not at all accurate." – ''The Sporting Globe'', 7 September 1927.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article184860253 Maher Praises Gorringe, ''The Sporting Globe'', (Wednesday, 7 September 1927), p.8.]</ref> :: "'''Running Backward''' There Is another rather rare method of obtaining a clean breakaway It is to step backward. It is the last thing opponents expect you to do, and it is a very difficult feat to accomplish. But many of the finer points of football are difficult until you learn them. [[Allan La Fontaine|Alan la Fontaine]], of Melbourne, is able to run backward comfortably and I once knew a player in Tasmania, named Horrie Gorringe, who could run backward out of a pack just as fast as he ran into it." – [[Ivor Warne-Smith]], 1937.<ref>[[Ivor Warne-Smith|Warne-Smith, I.]], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11069287 "Swerving and Dodging: Champion's Hints for Footballers", ''The Junior Argus'', (Friday, 4 June 1937), p.7.]</ref>
==Death== He died on 17 July 1994, aged 99.<ref name="StateLibraryofTasmania_eheritage_HeadstoneofHoraceCharles(Horrie)GORRINGE">{{cite web|url=https://eheritage.libraries.tas.gov.au/resources/detaile54b.html?ID=HUFH_05460|title=Headstone of Horace Charles (Horrie) GORRINGE|publisher=[[State Library of Tasmania]]|accessdate=2009-11-14}}</ref>
==Recognition== ===Horrie Gorringe Medal=== The "Horrie Gorringe Medal" was between 2002 and 2005 a brief replacement of the [[William Leitch Medal]] for the [[best and fairest]] footballer in Tasmania.<ref name="Fullpointsfooty_Glossary_HorrieGorringemedal">{{cite web|url=http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/glossary.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020603193123/http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/glossary.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=3 June 2002|title=GLOSSARY|publisher=fullpointsfooty.net|accessdate=2009-11-14}}</ref>
===Tasmanian Football Team of the Century=== In 2004, he was selected as forward-pocket/rover in the [[Australian rules football in Tasmania#Tasmanian Football Team of the Century|Tasmanian Football Team of the Century]].
===Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame=== In 2005, he was inducted, as one of the three inaugural "'''icons'''",<ref>The other two were [[Darrel Baldock]] and [[Peter Hudson]].</ref> into the [[Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame]].<ref>[https://afltashalloffame.com.au/tasicons/12-horrie-gorringe Horrie Gorringe, at ''afltashalloffame.com.au''.]</ref>
===Australian Football Hall of Fame=== Gorringe was inducted into the [[Australian Football Hall of Fame]] in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/115904/default.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612142601/http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/115904/default.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 June 2011|publisher=Australian Football League|date=9 June 2011|accessdate=9 June 2011|first=Niall|last=Seewang|title=Profile of Horrie Gorringe}}</ref><ref>[https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/tasmanian-horrie-gorringe-inducted-into-afl-hall-of-fame/news-story/6b25c01c43ca58f306713d671e75cd3f?sv=7d03ebf6ee9a266c8f42f8facbb61bbe Anderson, Jon, "Tasmanian Horrie Gorringe inducted into AFL Hall of Fame", ''HerldSun'', Friday, 10 June 2011.]</ref> He was the first and (as of 2014) only player who played his entire career in Tasmania to have been so inducted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afl.com.au/news/event-news/hall-of-fame/players|title=The Australian Football Hall of Fame Players Inducted|accessdate=9 October 2014|publisher=Australian Football League}}</ref>
==See also== * [[1927 Melbourne Carnival]]
==Footnotes== {{reflist}}
==References== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * [https://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=798385&c=WW2 World War Two Nominal Roll: Horace Charles Gorringe (T26769), ''Department of Veterans' Affairs''.] * [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article233522000 Gorringe, H.C., "Unlimited Stamina is a Rover’s Chief Asset", ''The (Hobart) News'', (Friday, 25 July 1924), p.5.] * [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article185068031 Tasmania Prepares for the Carnival: Tasmanian Carnival Players: Two Hobart Stars, ''The Sporting Globe'', (Wednesday, 30 July 1924), p.14.] * [[Wallace Sharland|Sharland, "Jumbo]], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article184821358 "Who is Australia's Best Footballer", ''The Sporting Globe'', (Wednesday, 27 May 1925), p.6.] * [[Wallace Sharland|Sharland, "Jumbo]], [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article184858440 "Victoria Admires Footballers from Other Parts of Australia: Horrie Gorringe: Tasmania's Rover", ''The Sporting Globe'', (Saturday, 13 August 1927), p.6.] * [[Gordon Coventry|Coventry, G.]], [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/180861716 "Those Busy Rovers", ''The Sporting Globe'', (Saturday, 21 May 1938), p.8.] * [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article180865854 O'Neil, Pat (1938a), "Gorringe Finest Rover The Nationals (sic) Game Has Seen", ''The Sporting Globe'', (Wednesday, 6 July 1938), p.9.] * [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article180866142 O'Neil, Pat (1938b), "Only Training "Partner" Was A Barn Door", ''The Sporting Globe'', (Wednesday, 13 July 1938), p.11.] * [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25779254 Blaze at Cygnet: Grower's Home Destroyed: Trophies Lost, ''The (Hobart) Mercury'', (Monday, 19 February 1940), p.2.] * [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188798158 Gorringe Loses Home and Trophies, ''The Sporting Globe'', (Wednesday, 21 February 1940), p.15.] * [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225565086 Horrie Gorringe's Tips to Young Rovers, ''The Weekly Times'', (Wednesday, 10 June 1942), p.33.] * [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1922123 Dairyman Shows Value of Clover as Fodder Basis, ''The (Hobart) Mercury'', (Wednesday, 8 October 1952), p.25.] * [http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/A/Australian%20football.htm Alomes, Stephen,"Australian Football", ''The Companion to Tasmanian History'', University of Tasmania, Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies. 2008.] {{div col end}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{AustralianFootball|ref=horrie%2Bgorringe/15955}}
{{Tasmanian Team Of The Century}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorringe, Horrie}} [[Category:1895 births]] [[Category:1994 deaths]] [[Category:Cananore Football Club players]] [[Category:Australian rules footballers from Tasmania]] [[Category:Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees]] [[Category:Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees]]