Tom Banks (Australian rules footballer)

Tom Banks
Cigarette card of Banks in 1905
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Banks
Date of birth	(1867-06-17)17 June 1867
Place of birth	Maryborough, Victoria
Date of death	26 November 1919(1919-11-26) (aged 52)
Place of death	Melbourne, Victoria
Original team(s)	Maryborough, Fitzroy (VFA)
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	80 kg (176 lb)
Position(s)	Defender
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1888-1896	Fitzroy (VFA)	163 (22)
1897	Fitzroy (VFL)	008 0(0)
Total		171 (22)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
1892-1893	Victoria (VFA)	002 0(1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1897.
Career highlights
Victoria (VFA) captain 1892, 1893 Fitzroy (VFA) captain 1893, 1894, 1895 VFA premiership captain 1895 Fitzroy life member VFL Life member AFC life member
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Thomas Banks (17 June 1867 – 26 November 1919) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fitzroy Football Club in both the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and the Victorian Football League (VFL). He captained the club to its first VFA premiership in 1895, and also captained Victoria in intercolonial matches.

Born in country Victoria to an African ex-slave who escaped the Southern United States, Banks was one of the most popular footballers of his generation, and in 1911 became the first ex-player to be awarded life membership of the VFL.