Stuart Spencer was one of the greatest players to come to Tasmania which he did for business reasons in 1957. He was a brilliant rover and astute reader of the game and gave the best years of his football career to Tasmania.
He started his football in Portland, Victoria playing 45 games with the club before being recruited to join VFL club Melbourne in 1950. While with Melbourne he played 91 senior games for a total of 122 in all grades.
He also won the best and fairest award (the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy) twice, participated in two premiership teams in 1955 and 1956 and represented Victoria. He was also club leading goalkicker in both of those years with 42 goals and kicked a total of 146 while with the Redlegs.
In 1958 Stuart won the Weller Arnold medal for best player in intrastate matches, having played in the TFL side that beat both the NTFL and the NWFU.
He played for Victoria in the 1956 carnival and won his first All Australian blazer playing for Tasmania at the 1958 Centenary carnival in Melbourne.
In the match against Western Australia which was played under lights, Tasmania caused the major shock of the carnival upsetting the Sandgropers by 16 points. Tasmania conceded a three goal advantage but clawed its way back to a thoroughly deserved win 13.16.94 to WA 11.12.78. Stuart Spencer got first mention in the best players.
In the next match Tasmania defeated South Australia in another thriller by two points. This was the first time a Tasmanian team had beaten both WA and SA in any championship series. Stuart Spencer was again prominent in the best players. In the next match however the islanders went down to Victoria by 102 points with Stuart Spencer trying his heart out and again getting first mention.
The 1958 Tasmanian Centenary carnival team - Stuart Spencer is pictured second from right in the fourth row. Also in that row is a young Darrel Baldock
; second from left with Trevor Leo
; first left and Arthur Hodgson
; third left. Rex Garwood
is second from left in the third row with Don Gale; third from right and Geoff Long
; first on the right. Neil Conlan is first on the right in the second row. John Leedham
(Captain) is third from left in the front row.
When he arrived in Tasmania he was quickly snapped up by Clarence as its coach, a position he retained until 1963, returning for another year in 1966. Clarence never won a premiership under his coaching but were runners up in 1962.
He had a mortgage on the Clarence best and fairest award winning it four years running from 1957 to 1960.
He also won the William Leitch medal in 1960, and the Lefroy medal for best and fairest Tasmanian player in 1957 when he tied with J.Murphy from the Latrobe club and 1960 when he won it outright.
He is best remembered for his sterling leadership of the Tasmanian team that defeated Victoria at York Park in 1960.
The famous 1960 Tasmanian team - Stuart Spencer is sitting fourth from the right in the front row. Sitting next to him is coach Jack Metherell
. Sitting at his feet is Bob Withers
and sitting on the ground second from left is Murray Steele. Also in the team is Mal Pascoe; second from left in the back row, Neil Conlan
; first left in the second row, Burnie Payne
first right in the second row with Barry Strange next to him, Don Gale
; second left in the front row with Jack Hawksley; fourth left in the same row.
He also coached St.Virgil's College to three successive State independent school's premierships.
He served two terms as president of the Clarence club and in 1979 was a member of the board of management.
He was also the president of the Melbourne Football Club from 1986 to 1991.
During his football career in Tasmania he won many awards and is the only player to have won the Lefroy medal twice. He is a life member of the Clarence club. A stand at Bellerive oval is named in his honour.
On the 24th June 2000 at a gala event in Melbourne Stuart Spencer was named in the position of rover in Melbourne Football Clubs Team of the Century joining other Tasmanian football legends Bob "Tassie" Johnson
and Ivor Warne Smith
in receiving this honour.
He is the present managing director of the Greens Group, a removals and storage company based in Hobart.
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Stuart Spencer - A Tasmanian Football Legend
