1923 Essendon FC Premiership Medal with Curious Engraving

1923 Essendon Football Club Premiership Medal in 15ct gold, made by H.E.Brown, with large E.F.C. in black and red enamel surrounded by the words 'Premiers V.F.L. 1923', The premiership match, attended by 46,566 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 17 points over Fitzroy, marking that club's fifth premiership victory. Curiously, the medal has been engraved for R.J. Dillon, who does not appear to have played in the Grand Final, nor in any other game for the First team. Although not listed on the Essendon F.C. site, there is no doubt that he was recruited for the team. The Age newspaper of 6th July 1923, at page 14 reports, At Wednesday night's meeting of the Umpire and Permit Committee the [Essendon] club obtained the services of a few new men. The first to pass the tests was G. Rawle, a resident of Essendon for five years, who once played with North Melbourne. The second was R.J. Dillon, a tall player from Footscray..... Dillon....played four games for Footscray last season......With these latest additions the reserve list at Essendon is a very sound one. The team is thus in a much stronger position than it was last year.'