The club was saddened to hear of the passing of John Cordner in December, aged 87, part of the Cordner dynasty that is synonymous with our club.

John was the last surviving Cordner brother – after former MCC president Don, Denis and Ted – and all four men played VFL games for Melbourne Football Club.

An MCC member for 76 years, John played six games for Melbourne in 1951, making his debut in Round 6 against Carlton before games against North Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda, South Melbourne and Footscray.

A talented sportsman, John also played four first-class cricket matches - three for Victoria in the 1951/52 season, against Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia.  He then moved to England to study nuclear science and played one match for Warwickshire in 1952, against the touring Indian team.

John played a season of MCC XXIX Club matches in 1967 and had a strong interest in sports history. He was a regular researcher in the MCC Library whenever visiting from his home in Sydney.

In 2002 he wrote The world of football: A history of football's various codes...from their origins to today, a copy of which is available in the MCC Library.