Haydn William Bunton (5 July 1911 – 5 September 1955) was an Australian rules footballer who represented in the Victorian Football League (VFL), in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), and in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) during the 1930s and 1940s. Bunton is the only footballer to have won the Brownlow Medal and the Sandover Medal three times each. He is one of only four footballers to have won the Brownlow three times (the others being Ian Stewart, Dick Reynolds and Bob Skilton), and one of only five footballers to have won the Sandover at least three times (the others being Bill Walker, who won it four times; and Barry Cable, Graham Farmer and Merv McIntosh, who each won it three times). Bunton is also the only player to have averaged one Brownlow vote per game over his career, averaging 1.04 votes per game. Like cricketer Don Bradman and the racehorse Phar Lap, Bunton was a sporting champion who made life bearable for the Australian public during the dark days of the Great Depression. A brilliant runner and ball-winner, he was regarded by some historians and observers of Australian rules as its greatest-ever player. Early life The son of Victorians Ernest Edward Bunton, a brickmaker, and Matilda Caroline, née Luhrs, Bunton was born and raised in Albury, New South Wales. As a young teenager, Bunton excelled in Australian rules football, cricket, swimming, and athletics, creating many records in a number of different sports. Playing career Albury Rovers/Albury/West Albury Football Clubs (1923–1930) Bunton began playing for the Albury Rovers Football Club as a 12-year-old in 1923 and twice won the league's best-and-fairest award. After winning premierships with Albury Rovers in 1926 & 1927, he moved across to the Albury Football Club, although Bunton had earlier made his debut for the Albury Football Club in 1924 in the Ovens and Murray Football League as a 13-year-old boy. He played for the Albury Rovers Football Club in 1926 and 1927 in the Albury and Border Football Association and kicked 4 goals in their 1926 grand final win as a 15-year-old and also played in their 1927 premiership win. He also won the club's best-and-fairest award in both 1926 and 1927. In June 1928, the Victorian Football League played a match against the Ovens and Murray Football League in Wangaratta, and 16-year-old Hayden Bunton was praised after the game by VFL