# Alf Quill

Alfred Quill (born 1910) was an Australian soccer player and played for the Australia national team. Often considered one of the best soccer players in New South Wales, he scored 868 goals in all NSW competitions in his 24-year senior career.

## 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.

## 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.

### Leichhardt-Annandale

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

### Wallsend

He made a return to Wallsend on a three-year contract on 6 January 1937. 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. 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. In the 1937 season, he scored a record 78 goals for Wallsend as a state record for most goals in a season.
He proposed a retirement from football at the end of the 1945 season, but he came back to Wallsend's squad in April 1946 to play a home match against Lysaght's-Orb the next week. Over his career he scored 802 goals in 477 league and cup matches, 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.

## International career

Quill played twice in full international matches for Australia, both against India in September 1938, scoring twice in the former to help his side to a 5–3 win.

## Coaching career

After finishing playing he coached Wallsend before a stint as coach of Australia.

## Career statistics
### Club

Appearances and goals by club, season, and competition. Only official games are included in this table. :
| Club | Season | League | League | State Premiership Sheahan Cup | State Premiership Sheahan Cup | State League Cup | State League Cup | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Pyrmont | 1927 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Pyrmont | 1928 | 9 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 22 |
| Leichhardt | 1929 | 19 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 29 |
| Leichhardt | 1930 | 23 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 44 |
| Wallsend | 1931 | 12 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 20 |
| Wallsend | 1932 | 10 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 28 |
| Wallsend | 1933 | 15 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 37 |
| Goodyear | 1934 | 17 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 25 | 52 |
| Goodyear | 1935 | 22 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 48 |
| Goodyear | 1936 | 20 | 45 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 48 |
| Wallsend | 1937 | 22 | 63 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 32 | 78 |
| Wallsend | 1938 | 22 | 39 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 29 | 52 |
| Wallsend | 1939 | 19 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 29 |
| Wallsend | 1940 | 22 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 27 | 37 |
| Wallsend | 1941 | 19 | 41 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 27 | 53 |
| Wallsend | 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 |
| Wallsend | 1943 | 13 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 21 | 41 |
| Wallsend | 1944 | 20 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 26 | 30 |
| Wallsend | 1945 | 13 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 29 |
| Wallsend | 1946 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 15 |
| Wallsend | 1947 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 21 |
| Wallsend | 1948 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 18 |
| Wallsend | 1949 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 14 |
| Wallsend | Total | 356 | 620 | 19 | 29 | 57 | 93 | 45 | 60 | 477 | 802 |

### International

| National team | Year | Competitive | Competitive | Friendly | Friendly | Total | Total |
| National team | Year | 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 | |
| 2 | 3 September 1938 | Royal Agricultural Showground, Sydney, Australia | India | 4–2 | 5–3 | Friendly | |

## Honours

* NSW State League: 1932, 1933, 1938, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944
* 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