Bill Proudfoot: the stunning career of the champion footballer who was also a hero cop

Back when footballers had real jobs too, Bill Proudfoot would walk the beat on Friday and don the black and white on Saturdays. And his heroics on the field were more than matched by his valour off it.

Collingwood champ and police officer, Bill Proudfoot

CHAMPION Collingwood captain Bill Proudfoot was a hero footballer and a hero cop — and sometimes both at once.

Armed with a baton and skills in boxing, wrestling and jujitsu, Constable Proudfoot kept the peace among the gangs, sly grog shops, gambling dens and brothels on the dangerous streets of Collingwood in the 1890s.

And on Saturdays, he played for Collingwood as a hard-as-nails defender, when those same policing skills were at times put to good use to save umpires from beatings by angry fans.

The three-time Premiership player is the subject of a bonus episode of the free In Black and White podcast, out today.

Constable Proudfoot’s remarkable double life has come to light in detail thanks to research by Melbourne writer and historian Michael Shelford, creator and guide for Melbourne Historical Crime Tours.

Shelford says “Proudy” was a local hero in the eyes of the public, and once put his life on the line to save a tram full of frightened passengers from a pair of bolting horses in Swanston St.

“He actually ran on foot, grabbed hold of the reins of the horses, steered them away from the tram, risking his own life, and managed to bring them under control,” he says.

“He received a bravery award for that.”

Shelford says such was Proudfoot’s love for football that when the Victorian chief police commissioner banned his officers from the sport, he simply adopted an alias and kept playing.
But Shelford believes senior police may have known of Proudfoot’s deception and simply turned a blind eye because he was an exemplary officer — and he’d proved his skills could come in handy on the footy field.

In one remarkable incident, Proudfoot saved an umpire from a savage beating at the hands of an angry mob of footy fans in a match between Collingwood and North Melbourne.

“At halftime, a female supporter in the crowd punched the umpire in the face,” Shelford says.

“That was a bit of a signal as to what was going to occur after the game … the entire crowd surged onto the field. They were baying for blood. They attacked the umpire.”

Both teams shielded the umpire from the attacks all the way off the field, but it didn’t seem like it was going to be enough.

“Members of the crowd were getting close enough to not only hit the umpire with fists but with other weapons,” Shelford says.

“One of the players from the North Melbourne team got completely knocked out.

“Constable Proudfoot partially carried the umpire off the ground and got right to the edge before he himself was knocked out, but by that time the umpire was safe.”

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here, on Spotify here or on your favourite platform.

Read more on the earlier episodes, from the slum boss and her relationship with Richmond great Jack Dyer, and the man most often credited with founding Aussie rules, champion cricketer Tom Wills.

Check out In Black & White in the Herald Sun newspaper Monday to Friday to see more stories like this.

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