John Ellis is a former 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 Essendon

Essendon Football Club

The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

 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).

Ellis spent some time in the Essendon reserves, after coming to the club from Keilor

Keilor Football Club

Keilor Football Club is an Australian rules football club located 20 km north west of Melbourne in the suburb of Keilor.The first football match played at Keilor was in 1894 against an Essendon junior team...

.

He made just four senior appearances in 1967 but didn't miss a game in 1968, playing all 20 home and away fixtures and three finals. In the 1968 VFL Grand Final

1968 VFL Grand Final

The 1968 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 28 September 1968. It was the 72nd annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine...

, which Essendon lost, Ellis played as a centreman. He kicked 23 goals during 1968 season and also polled well in the Brownlow Medal, with eight votes, the second most by an Essendon player.

Essendon cut Ellis from their list during the 1971 season after failing to have much of an impact in the previous three seasons. He had missed a lot of football in 1969 due to a serious knee injury and was unable to recapture the form he showed in 1968.

After playing briefly for the Footscray

Western Bulldogs

The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...

 reserves in 1971, Ellis ended the year with WANFL

West Australian Football League

The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...

 club Perth

Perth Football Club

The Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League . The club plays its matches at Lathlain Park.-History:...

.

Ellis made a total of 40 appearances for Perth and then, in 1974, went to Queensland, where he captain-coached Sandgate

Sandgate Football Club

Sandgate Football Club are an Australian rules club which played its home games in the Brisbane suburb of Taigum. They were nicknamed both the Hawks and Sea Hawks and their club colours were bottle green and red.-History:...

. He led them to the 1974 QAFL

Queensland Australian Football League

The Queensland Australian Football League was an Australian rules football competition for clubs from South East Queensland.Up until 2010, the QAFL was the premier semi-professional competition in Queensland, with salary cap rules and regulations in place.It was previously known as the Queensland...

 premiership and in 1976 he finished second in the Grogan Medal

Grogan Medal

The Grogan Medal is an Australian rules football award given to the best and fairest player in home and away rounds of each season's QAFL/Queensland State League competition. It was first awarded in 1946, previously the league's best player won the De Little Medal.-Winners:-External links:*...

.

He spent the 1977 season with Cooee in Tasmania, meaning he had played at highest level in four different states.

In 1978 was appointed captain-coach of Dandenong

Dandenong Football Club

Dandenong Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association . Based in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong, the Redlegs wore navy blue and red as their club colours.-History:...

 in the Victorian Football Association

Victorian Football League

The Victorian Football League which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association , taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the premier Australian rules football league in Victoria The Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association...

 and steered them to fourth position on the ladder.

He joined Watsonia

Watsonia Football Club

The Watsonia Football Club is an Australian rules football club located in Watsonia, Victoria, currently competing in Division 3 of the Northern Football League.Watsonia is located 15.2 km north east of Melbourne and has a population of 8739 circa 2006....

 in 1979 and won that year's Frank Smith Medal, as the "Best and Fairest" player in the Diamond Valley Football League.