Vale #48,#37 Bruce 'Pancho' Gonsalves (1956-2020)

[Mr Miyagi]

Geez he looks like Phillips here!!!

[Pies4shaw]

^ In real life, he looked like about three Phillipses.

[inxs88]

Geez he looks like Phillips here!!!

Bit of John Wise about him too.

[The Average Tourist]

My memory was that Louie nicknamed him "Pancho" after he kicked 4 or more in a game but I to VicPark the next week and did not kick any

[Pies4shaw]

^ He played in a total of 5 games (1 in 1975, named as a reserve, I think, and the rest in 1976). He kicked all his goals in 1976, in 4 losses - 4 against Hawthorn at Waverley, 2 against St Kilda at Vic Park, 2 against Geelong at Kardinia Park (in a game the 'pies probably should have won - they stormed back to take the lead at 3/4 time with a 7.13 !!! third quarter to lead 10.25 at the final change but loss by a goal) and then played his final game against North in a 4-point loss at Vic Park - he only had two kicks and scored just one behind. To be fair, the North tall defenders that day included Dench and Gumbleton. amongst others, so it was no easy task.

[lihei]

Vale.

[sixpoints]

His nickname was “Pancho”.

[5 from the wing on debut]

Sad.
I remember the game at Vic Park in 76 against St Kilda when he lined up at FF against Cowboy Neale. He out marked Neale one on one which was a rare thing. He kicked a couple, he missed a couple. I thought he would make it but I was wrong. He had to get a game ahead of Thommo in the ruck, or Peter Moore at FF. Hard task. Three Brownlows between them.
My mind has played tricks on me. At 198cm and 100kg he was much taller and thinner than I thought that he was.

[Dr Pie]

I remember wondering whether he was the first player of Portuguese descent to play VFL. Gonsalves is definitely a Portuguese name. On the other hand his first name was Bruce which suggests his family had been in Australia for several generations. I have stronger memory of this question than I do of his football although I was definitely at at least three of his five games.

[LaurieHolden]

[piedys]

RIP. One of many whom was touted as the next big thing:

* Cameron O'Brien
* Brett Gloury

These two blokes were treated like shit by Matthews.
O'Brien walked out on the club at the end of 1988 after not getting a game since rnd 22 1987, and Gloury at the end of 1989, as he was behind Christian, Kelly and McKeown in the pecking order for key defenders.

[Redcraze]

I'm really surprised (and disappointed) that so few people have posted in remembrance of a pretty good footballer who was also a damn nice bloke.

[Penguin Pie]

I remember Pancho quite well. I recall one particular game at Waverly when he played in the 1sts. He never saw much of the ball that day, but he happened to hold an overhead mark late in the game, and I was so engrossed in following the game, that I pulled my head back as he marked, and almost knocked myself out hitting a metal pole behind my seat.

He was born just a few months before me, so far to young to have left this mortal coil. RIP Pancho.

[LaurieHolden]

https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/pl ... gonsalves/