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Cyril Leonard Gambetta (1 August 1899 – 20 August 1974) was an Italian-Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Due to having suffered from polio as a child he had badly bowed legs which gave him an awkward running style.

Gambetta came to Melbourne from Sandhurst in Bendigo at the start of the 1921 season. After being refused a clearance to St Kilda, he joined Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) where he played as a forward.

The next season, he joined St Kilda where he spent most of his time as a key position defender and was twice chosen to represent Victoria at interstate football. He won St Kilda's best player award in 1925 and finished equal sixth in the 1928 Brownlow Medal.

In June, 1925, Benalla Football Club offered Gambetta their coaching job, but St.Kilda refused to clear him

References

1. "LEAGUE PERMITS". The Argus. Melbourne. 30 April 1921. p. 17 – via National Library of Australia.
2. Gordon, Harry & Michael. One For All : the story of the Hawthorn Football Club. ISBN 978-1-921332-83-8.
3. "St. Kilda Club". The Argus. Melbourne. 15 December 1925. p. 6 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "Gambetta refused a clearance". Benalla Standard. 12 June 1925. p. 3. Retrieved 12 November 2020 – via Trove Newspapers.

External links

• Cyril Gambetta's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Cyril Gambetta at AustralianFootball.com
• Italian Team of the Century
• Cyril Gambetta of St. Kilda One of Victoria’s Greatest Footballers from the Sporting Globe

This Australian rules football biography of a person born in 1899 is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

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• 1899 births
• 1974 deaths
• Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents
• Sandhurst Football Club players
• St Kilda Football Club players
• Hawthorn Football Club (VFA) players
• Australian rules footballers from Bendigo
• Australian rules biography, 1899 birth stubs