A couple of very rare sporting photos have made their way into the club’s collection in recent weeks – featuring two of the biggest names in Collingwood’s sporting history.

One of them is Albert Collier, 1929 Brownlow Medallist, triple Copeland Trophy winner, six-time Premiership player and the beating heart of the famous Machine team of the late 1920s.

Here he is as a youngster playing with the Victorian schoolboys side in 1922. He is in the second back row, second player from the left.

That same year, ‘Leeter’ was also in the Victorian schoolboys cricket side that played a carnival in Sydney, where he starred as a wicketkeeper/batsman. Luckily for us, he ended up choosing footy over cricket!

And speaking of cricket, fans of the one-time summer game would appreciate the significance of the other photo. It is of a man known as the King of Collingwood, Jack Ryder.

Ryder played 20 Tests for Australia and 177 first class games as an all-rounder in a career that spanned more than 20 years. The Ryder Stand at Victoria Park was named after him.

But this super rare image shows Ryder as a footballer, with the Collingwood Districts side in 1910. He was more than handy with the football, kicking 42 goals (at least, records are still incomplete) that year, to win the club’s goalkicking. But he doesn’t seem to have continued his footy career after that, presumably because he chose to focus on his cricket career.

The team photo featuring Ryder was copied for us by Suzie Adams, great great granddaughter of Frank Sanguinetti, who was also a member of that Districts team.

The photos of Albert Collier were donated to us by Trudi Renwood, daughter of former Magpie Brian Renwood, who died last year. She also gave us a number of other photos featuring Brian, including one of him with the 1954 under-19s team.

Big thanks to both Suzie and Trudi for their generosity: photos are the lifeblood of the Archives and we’re eternally grateful for any that come our way.