A former Australian rules football player and coach, Donald Neil Kerley AM. He is best remembered for participating in 32 state games for South Australia and leading three clubs to four South Australian National Football League championships over the course of three decades.
Neil Kerley: Hands, Biography, Obituary, Wife, Children, Family
Donald Neil Kerley AM was a former Australian rules footballer and coach. Let’s find out his personal details!
Hands:
Injury report: Neil “Knuckles” Kerley dislocated a finger flipping the coin. Doc currently trying to put it back in. #AUSvIRE
-Ryan Fitzgerald tweeted
Biography:
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Donald Neil Kerley | ||
| Nickname(s) | Knuckles, King , Kerley, Kerls | ||
| Date of birth | 29 February 1934 | ||
| Place of birth | Barmera, South Australia | ||
| Date of death | 29 June 2022 (aged 88) | ||
| Place of death | Walker Flat, South Australia | ||
| Original team(s) | Barmera | ||
| Height | 182 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Weight | 90 kg (198 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Ruckman, utility | ||
The second of the couple’s six children—including his sister Jennifer and brothers Michael, Ronald, James, and Brian—Neil Kerley is the son of Laurie and Lillian (née O’Brien) Kerley.
On February 21, 1945, Neil’s father passed away at Adelaide’s Daw Park Repatriation General Hospital, one day after Neil turned 11.
In addition to serving in the AIF during World War I and II, Laurie also fought in Egypt and Crete. After years of struggle as a single mother, his mother Lillian finally relocated to Adelaide later in life. She passed away in 1992.
On June 29, 2022, Kerley perished in an automobile accident at Walker Flat, South Australia.
Obituary:
According to the statement, shortly before 5.30 p.m. today, a car pulling a trailer left the road and crashed through a fence into a pasture.
In the pasture, the accident happened. The police and other emergency services have been alerted right away about Mallee Road.
The West Adelaide Football Club expressed their “horror and tremendous sadness” at the development in a statement as soon as the information became known. Shortly after the facts became widely known, the statement was made public.
Wife:
In 1955, Kerley fell in love with Barbara Gordon, a local girl. The couple got engaged on February 25, 1955, in Whyalla’s St. Teresa’s Catholic Church after they met while he was coaching North Whyalla.
In a story he related in Jim Rosevear’s book Knuckles from 2003, Kerley mentioned that his wife Barbara had picked up some pointers on Australian football rules from watching her husband’s teams for more than 30 years.
She was also able to inform Neil about the happenings during practises and games that he had missed thanks to all of these experiences, which was something he truly valued as a coach.
Children:
The Australian football legend had three children with his wife, Barbara Gordon. Their names are Gail, Donald Jr., and Robyn.
Family:
The second of the couple’s six children—including his sister Jennifer and brothers Michael, Ronald, James, and Brian—Neil Kerley is the son of Laurie and Lillian (née O’Brien) Kerley.
Three children were born to the couple after their marriage on February 25, 1955, at St. Teresa’s Catholic Church in Whyalla.
