Alf Quill

Alf Quill

Personal information
Full name	Alfred Louis Quill
Date of birth	(1910-07-09)9 July 1910
Place of birth	Ultimo, Sydney, Australia
Date of death	3 October 1997(1997-10-03) (aged 87) [1]
Place of death	New Lambton, New South Wales, Australia [1]
Position	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1927–1928	Pyrmont	10	(18)
1929–1930	Leichhardt-Annandale	42	(63)
1931–1933	Wallsend	37	(67)
1934–1936	Goodyear	59	(119)
1937–1943	Wallsend	114	(229)
1943	Lake Macquarie	1	(3)
1943–1949	Wallsend	93	(121)
Total		356	(620)
International career
1938	Australia	2	(2)
Managerial career
	Wallsend
	Australia
	Newcastle KB United (youth)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alfred Quill (9 July 1910 - 3 October 1997) was an Australian soccer player who played for the Australian national team among several other clubs in his 24-year senior career. Often considered one of the best soccer players in New South Wales, he scored 868 goals in all NSW competitions in his professional career. ^[2]

Early career

Quill was born in Sydney. He first showed his signs as a footballer, whilst attending Globe Public School. At the age of 12, he represented New South Wales as a schoolboy against Victoria, South Australia and Queensland. For three seasons he played for Wentworth Juniors before joining the senior side of Pyrmont. ^[3]

Club career

Beginning in his teens, Quill played 24 seasons.

Pyrmont

Quill began his career with Pyrmont at age 17 in the New South Wales State League in 1927. ^[4]

Leichhardt-Annandale

While contracted at Leichhardt-Annandale, English club Bolton Wanderers wanted to sign Quill on 25 April 1931, which was rejected. ^[5]

Wallsend

He made a return to Wallsend on a three-year contract on 6 January 1937. ^[6] Quill did not have any intentions on leaving Wallsend at the end of the 1939 season, as he signed a form to stay with Wallsend. ^[7] At the start of the 1943 season, he left Wallsend top play for Lake Macquarie, and returned to Wallsend on 22 May 1943 to play the remainder of the season. ^[8] In the 1937 season, he scored a record 78 goals for Wallsend as a state record for most goals in a season. ^[9]

He proposed a retirement from football at the end of the 1945 season, ^[10] but he came back to Wallsend's squad in April 1946 to play a home match against Lysaght's-Orb the next week. ^[11] Over his career he scored 802 goals in 477 league and cup matches, ^[12] but some sources state that he retired in 1949 with 1,002 goals in total, although these numbers probably include goals in friendlies and unofficial matches. ^[13] In total, he scored 271 top-tier goals after turning 30 years old in 1940, which makes him one of the most prolific top-tier goalscorers in that age bracket in the history of football. ^[14]

International career

Quill played twice in full international matches for Australia, both against India in September 1938, ^{[15] [16]} scoring twice in the former to help his side to a 5–3 win. ^[17]

Coaching career

After finishing playing he coached Wallsend before a stint as coach of Australia. ^[12]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season, and competition. Only official games are included in this table. ^{[18] [19]}

Club	Season	League		State Premiership Sheahan Cup		State League Cup		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Pyrmont	1927	1	2	0	0	1	2	0	0	2	4
	1928	9	16	0	0	3	6	2	1	14	23
Leichhardt	1929	19	27	0	0	3	2	0	0	22	29
	1930	23	36	0	0	4	8	1	2	28	46
Wallsend	1931	12	18	0	0	1	2	0	0	13	20
	1932	10	18	1	4	1	3	4	3	16	28
	1933	15	31	1	1	3	4	1	1	20	37
Goodyear	1934	17	35	0	0	3	6	5	13	25	54
	1935	22	39	0	0	4	9	1	0	27	48
	1936	20	45	1	3	1	0	1	0	23	48
Wallsend	1937	22	63	4	3	3	7	3	5	32	78
	1938	22	39	2	4	3	7	2	2	29	52
	1939	19	23	1	4	2	2	1	0	23	29
	1940	22	32	1	0	1	0	3	5	27	37
	1941	19	41	2	4	3	3	3	5	27	53
	1942	10	31	3	5	4	7	3	7	20	50
Lake Macquarie	1943	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3
Wallsend
	1943	13	30	1	0	1	1	6	10	21	41
	1944	20	22	0	0	4	6	4	4	28	32
	1945	13	24	2	1	1	1	4	3	20	29
	1946	12	10	0	0	4	2	4	3	20	15
	1947	12	13	0	0	2	5	4	5	19	23
	1948	13	13	0	0	2	5	1	1	16	19
	1949	10	9	0	0	3	5	0	0	13	14
	Total	356	620	19	29	57	93	53	70	485	812

International

National team	Year [15]	Competitive		Friendly		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Australia	1938	0	0	2	2	2	2

List of international goals scored by Alf Quill

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	3 September 1938	Royal Agricultural Showground, Sydney, Australia	India	1–0	5–3	Friendly	[17]
2				4–2

Honours

• NSW State League: 1932, 1933, 1938, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944 ^[20]
• NSW State League Cup: 1937, 1942, 1944
• NSW Robinson Cup: 1938, 1939
• NSW Daniels Cup: 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1949

Individual

• NSW Top Scorer: 1932, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1943, 1945 ^[21]

References

1. Roach, Stewart (4 October 1997). "Final whistle for one of soccer's greats" . Newcastle Herald (Late ed.). Rural Press. p. 1. ProQuest   364470982 – via ProQuest.
2. Grant, Sid (1974). Jack Pollard's Soccer Records. North Sydney: Jack Pollard Pty Ltd. p. 123. ISBN   0909950741.
3. "Soccer Sidelights - the Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder (NSW : 1913 - 1954) - 21 Jun 1929". Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder. 21 June 1929.
4. "Alf Quill". Football Australia. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
5. "ENGLISH SOCCER CLUB WANTS ALF QUILL". The Labor Daily . No. 2306. New South Wales, Australia. 25 April 1931. p. 3. Retrieved 27 March 2021– via National Library of Australia.
6. "SOCCER PLAYERS SIGN ON". The Newcastle Sun . No. 5948. New South Wales, Australia. 6 January 1937. p. 2. Retrieved 27 March 2021– via National Library of Australia.
7. "A. Quill Will Remain With Wallsend". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate . No. 19, 718. New South Wales, Australia. 21 December 1939. p. 15. Retrieved 27 March 2021– via National Library of Australia.
8. "QUILL BACK TO WALLSEND". The Daily Telegraph . Vol. VIII, no. 53. New South Wales, Australia. 22 May 1943. p. 12. Retrieved 27 March 2021– via National Library of Australia.
9. "QUILL STILL HOLDS SOCCER RECORD". The Newcastle Sun . No. 9311. New South Wales, Australia. 3 November 1947. p. 16. Retrieved 27 March 2021– via National Library of Australia.
10. "Quill To Retire From Soccer". The Newcastle Sun . No. 8639. New South Wales, Australia. 5 September 1945. p. 11. Retrieved 27 March 2021– via National Library of Australia.
11. "Quill To Carry On In Soccer Until Replacement Found". The Newcastle Sun . No. 8833. New South Wales, Australia. 22 April 1946. p. 11. Retrieved 27 March 2021– via National Library of Australia.
12. "Quill, Alfred". Australian Player Database. OzFootball. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
13. "Who scored the most goals in history?". 90soccer.com. 31 October 2021. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
14. "Cristiano Ronaldo: now all-time top scorer after 30 years!". www.iffhs.com. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
15. The Australian National Men's Football Team: Caps And Captains (PDF). Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
16. "Sporting Person: QUILL, ALFRED, Soccer". Newcastle City Council. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
17. "CLOSE SOCCER GAME". The Sun . No. 8943. New South Wales, Australia. 3 September 1938. p. 9 (LAST FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 23 December 2022– via National Library of Australia.
18. "Trove". trove.nla.gov.au.
19. Jack Pollard's Soccer Records - Sid Grant. 1974. p. 226.
20. "NSW Champions". socceraust.co.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
21. Jack Pollard's Soccer Records - Sid Grant. 1974. p. 116.