George S. Sparrow was an Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with South Melbourne

Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

 and both played for and coached St Kilda in the VFL

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

.

Nicknamed 'Sugar', Sparrow began his career in the Victorian Football Association where he donned the Richmond colours. He joined the VFL in its second season and represented South Melbourne before switching to St Kilda the following year.

After retiring Sparrow turned to coaching and was appointed senior coach of St Kilda in 1913. He steered the club to their first ever Grand Final appearance that season but the Saints lost the decider to Fitzroy. Sparrow didn't coach again until 1920 but he couldn't repeat the success of 1913 and the club finished with the wooden spoon. He returned again in 1928, this time for a two season stint, and in 1929 coached St Kilda to the Semi Finals.