Edward 'Ted' Bourke 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 for Richmond

Richmond Football Club

The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

 and 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...

 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 1920s.

Often playing at centre half back, Bourke spent his early football years with Tungamah and Brunswick

Brunswick Football Club

Brunswick Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1897 until 1990. They were originally nicknamed the Pottery Workers before being renamed the Magpies and were based in Brunswick, Victoria. The club wore black and white guernseys...

.

He kicked three goals on debut for Richmond in the opening round of the 1924 VFL season

1924 VFL season

Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1924.-Premiership season:In 1924, the VFL competition consisted of nine teams of 18 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves", although any of the 18 players who had left the playing field for any reason could later resume their...

 and participated in the round robin finals series which took place that year.

After crossing to South Melbourne without success in 1927, Bourke missed the entire 1928 football season while he waited for a clearance to 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...

. He was signed by Sandringham in 1929 and won the Recorder Cup in his first season.

Bourke later served as captain-coach of Yarraville

Yarraville Football Club

Yarraville Football Club was an Australian rules football club founded in 1903 and played in the VJFA until 1927. In 1928, the club joined the VFA where it played until 1984 when the club went into recess. In 1996, the Kingsville Football Club in the FDFL who by this time had taken over the...

 and Ararat

Ararat Football Club

The Ararat Football Club are an Australian rules football club which compete in the Wimmera Football League . They are based in the city of Ararat, Victoria....

.