Ron Shapter 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...

, Fitzroy

Fitzroy Football Club

The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...

 and 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) during the 1930s.

A ruckman and forward from the Queenscliff Football Club, Shapter was 24 when he made his VFL debut in the opening round of the 1930 season

1930 VFL season

Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1930.-Premiership season:In 1930, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus one substitute player, known as the 19th man...

, with future club great Bob Pratt

Bob Pratt

Harold Robert "Bob" Pratt was a former Australian rules footballer from Mitcham, Victoria.Pratt played with South Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League from 1930–1939 and again in 1946, and with the Coburg Football Club in the Victorian Football Association from 1940 to 1941...

 also playing his first game. He spent just two seasons at South Melbourne, both under coach Paddy Scanlan

Paddy Scanlan

Paddy Scanlan was an Australian rules footballer who played with and coached South Melbourne and Footscray in the VFL....

, but didn't miss any of the club's first 17 games while he was at the club. After struggling to command a regular place in the team in 1931, Shapter left for Fitzroy, while South Melbourne would two years later win the premiership. He made only one appearance for Fitzroy in 1932 but cemented a spot in the lineup from round six of the 1933 season only to be on the outer again in 1934.

Shapter spent 1935 as captain-coach Port Melbourne

Port Melbourne Football Club

The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne and is currently playing in the Victorian Football League ....

 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...

. The left footer returned to the VFL the following year, with Essendon, but could only add two more senior games to his tally. He then returned to his original club Queenscliff

Queenscliff Football Club

The Queenscliff Football Club is an Australian rules football club that plays in the Bellarine Football League and situated in the township of Queenscliff, on the Bellarine peninsula, Victoria, Australia...

as their captain-coach.