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Alan Ridley
Image Descriptions: Alan Ridley was born in Gulargambone on 18 July 1910 and played his early football with Queanbeyan Acton Rovers in the Canberra competition. His rise to international honours was meteoric and he developed into one of the greatest wingers in league history. At the age of 18 he was chosen from the Canberra competition to represent Group 8, Southern Division, New South Wales Country and Australia, all in the same year without having played first grade football.
Alan was a big man at 14 stone and 6 ft. He won the 100 yard sprint for the Federal Territory in a time of 10.1 seconds, and he was the first sportsman from the Federal Territory to represent Australia in any sport.
He was the 'baby' of the 1929 Kangaroos and was highly acclaimed in England. In a match at Castleford which Australia won 53-2, Alan scored five tries, a feat that was not equalled until achieved by Terry Lamb in 1986. Ridley was reserve for the first Test but suffered a knee injury before the second and underwent surgery in London. He did not play again on tour.
Prior to his surgery, he played in seven games and scored 11 tries. He joined Western Suburbs in 1931 and between then and 1936 the club won two premierships. Ridley was selected, along with Wests captain Frank McMillan, for the 1933-1934 Kangaroo tour. On this tour he played 27 matches and scored 25 tries, the highest for the team, and was second in point scoring only to the immortal Dave Brown who scored 19 tries and kicked 82 goals.
Alan Ridley moved to Orange when offered a position with Radio 2GZ in 1933. He continued to travel to Sydney each weekend to play with Wests until 1936. He played in all three Tests against England in 1936 and then retired just as suddenly as he had entered the game.
He married Edna Pritchard who captained the New South Wales women's cricket team and played basketball for New South Wales. Alan was Mayor of Orange in 1956-1957 and retired in Orange, the city he represented with pride and great distinction.
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