Trevor Ranson

May 10, 2016

Ranson-01> Two games for St Kilda, 1934
> Around 100 games for Scottsdale, 1927-31, 1948
> 140 games for Launceston, 1932-33, 1935-41, 1945
> Launceston captain-coach, 1945
> Scottsdale captain-coach, 1948
> Launceston NTFA premierships, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1945
> Launceston state premierships, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1938
> Launceston Best and Fairest, 1937
> Tasmanian National Carnival representative, 1933 (Sydney)
> Five representative matches for NTFA, 1937-45 (captain in 1945)

One of the greatest full backs in Tasmanian history, Trevor Ranson was a key member of the powerhouse Launceston teams of the 1930s.

Originally from Scottsdale in Tasmania’s north east, Ranson debuted for Scottsdale in the North East Association in 1927 at the age of 15, playing five seasons with the club, including a premiership in 1928. In 1932 he moved to Launceston to join the Launceston Football Club and was soon regarded as one of the best young players in the state, culminating in his selection in the Tasmanian side for the 1933 National Carnival in Sydney. After playing a key role in Launceston’s NTFA-state premiership double that season, Ranson was lured across Bass Strait to the VFL, where he made his debut for St Kilda in the first round of 1934. Sadly Ranson would manage only two games for the Saints before his season and VFL career were cut short by a severe knee injury, and he returned to Tasmania shortly afterwards.

Rejoining Launceston, Ranson was soon back to his best, playing in a second NTFA and state premiership with the Blues in 1935, before again leaving to spend a year with the Loorana Football Club on King Island. As captain Ranson helped Loorana to their first KIFA flag in 16 years, with Ranson himself booting 10 goals in the grand final. Late in the season Launceston made the unprecedented move of chartering a plane to King Island to bring Ranson back to Tasmania in order for him to play in the 1936 NTFA finals series, which he did, though he ultimately missed the club’s premiership win over North Launceston.

In 1937 Ranson was back at Launceston for the first extended period he had spent at the club, and over the next five seasons he played in no less than three NTFA and two state premierships, stamping himself as one of the most integral members of by far the most dominant team in Tasmania. From 1942-44 the NTFA was suspended by the Second World War, and on resumption in 1945 Ranson was appointed captain-coach of Launceston. This would be his final season at the Blues, but it would be a successful one, with Launceston winning the first post-war NTFA flag by six points over arch rival North Launceston; they also contested the first state final after the war, but were ultimately beaten by North Hobart.

Ranson retired after the state final with a record of 140 senior appearances and six NTFA premierships for Launceston. He went into umpiring for a couple of seasons with marked success, before ending his playing career for good with one final season in the NTFA. Fittingly, it was back where his journey first began, with the now 35-year old Ranson appointed as captain-coach of Scottsdale for their first season in the NTFA in 1948, 17 years after his last game with the club.

Trevor Ranson passed away in 1996 at the age of 84.