James Peter Stynes OAM was an Irish-born footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football. Playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), he went on to become one of the game's most prominent figures, breaking the record for most consecutive games of VFL/AFL football (244) and winning the sport's highest individual honour, the Brownlow Medal, in 1991. Off the field, he was a notable AFL administrator, philanthropist, charity worker and writer.
Stynes in 2008
Statue of Stynes outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Jim Stynes Bridge in Docklands, Melbourne
Gaelic football, commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kicking or punching the ball into the other team's goal or between two upright posts above the goal and over a crossbar 2.5 metres above the ground.
Gaelic footballers in action during the 2009 National Football League Final
A league game between Dublin and Tyrone in 2013
The ball used for a match, made by Irish company O'Neills
A player from a Canada GAA club shoots for goal