John 'Wally' Beckwith 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 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...

 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).

Beckwith played his early footballer at Clifton Hill and West Melbourne CYMS. He made his only league appearance in the second round of the 1918 VFL season

1918 VFL season

Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1918.-Premiership season:In 1918, the VFL competition consisted of eight 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...

, when he played in Fitzroy's 40 point loss to eventual premiers South Melbourne at Brunswick Street Oval

Brunswick Street Oval

The Brunswick Street Oval, currently known as WT Peterson Community Oval, also known as the Fitzroy Cricket Ground is a cricket and Australian rules football ground located in Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North, Victoria...

.

A knee injury forced him to retire and he turned to umpiring. Beckwith officiated in 22 VFL matches as a boundary umpire in 1928 and 1929, the last of which was the 1929 Grand Final

1929 VFL Grand Final

The 1929 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and Richmond Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 28 September 1929. It was the 33rd annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine...

.

His son John

John Beckwith (footballer)

John Beckwith is a former Australian rules football player and coach, for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League .Beckwith's father, Wally Beckwith, was a VFL player for Fitzroy and was also a VFL umpire....

had a much more successful career, playing in five premiership teams at Melbourne.