Fred Phillips (footballer)

Frederick Rowden "Flops" Phillips (27 May 1905 – 21 April 1933) was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family.
The son of Frederick John Edmonds Phillips (1859–1931), and Sylvia Amy Phillips (1870–1950), née Rowden, Frederick Rowden Phillips was born in Richmond, Victoria on 27 May 1905. He was born with a "hare lip".
Education.
He was educated at Laing's Prahran College, and, later, at Scotch College, Melbourne, where he excelled at both cricket and football.
Football.
St Kilda (VFL).
Phillips could play as a ruckman or in defensive key positions. A strong mark of the ball, Phillips was St Kilda's best and fairest in 1930. He finished eighth in the 1931 Brownlow Medal, and equal 9th the following season.
Hawthorn (VFL).
In early March 1933 he was appointed to the role of captain-coach but by the time the season began a few weeks later he had died from blood poisoning caused by an elbow cut. It was believed the dye in the new club jumper was toxic.
Interstate football.
Originally selected as 19th man for the Victorian team to play against South Australia at the MCG on 11 June 1932, Phillips replaced Collingwood's Frank Murphy in the selected side. Victoria beat South Australia by 8 points — 12.20 (92) to 12.12 (84 — and Phillips was one of the best on the ground; and, along with Richmond's Frank Titus, he scored three goals.
Death.
He died in a private hospital in Glenferrie, Victoria on 21 April 1933. The prevailing view is that he died from blood poisoning, caused by the (toxic) dye from his Hawthorn jumper running into a cut on his elbow.
Funeral.
Phillips was buried on Monday, 24 April 1933 at the Melbourne General Cemetery. A large crowd followed his coffin's journey to the cemetery.