Hugh L. Purse 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 Melbourne

Melbourne Football Club

The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....

 in the Victorian Football League

Australian Football League

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

 (VFL).

Purse, originally from Brighton

Brighton Football Club

Brighton Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA. The club was based in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton and were nicknamed the Penguins...

, was the younger brother of Melbourne's 1900 premiership player Jack Purse. Noted for his strong marking, Purse played many of his early games as a half forward. He represented Victoria at the 1908 Melbourne Carnival

1908 Melbourne Carnival

The 1908 Melbourne Carnival was the inaugural Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. It was known at the time as the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival as it commemorated 50 years of Australian rules football.-Teams:The Victorian team was...

and was also club captain of Melbourne that year.

He returned to Brighton, as captain, in 1910, but made his way back to Melbourne in 1912.