Gary Dempsey (born 1949) played in the ruck for the Australian Rules Footscray Football Club from 1967 to 1978, playing 206 games and winning the 1975 Brownlow Medal. He captained Footscray in 1971-2, and again in 1977-8. Dempsey won the Footscray Best & Fairest in 1970, then consecutively from 1973 to 1977. He was named as ruck in the Footscray Team of the (20th) Century. Ruck can refer to a contest for possession in different forms of football. ... Australian rules football (also known as Aussie Rules or Footy) is a game played between two teams of 18 players, generally played on cricket ovals during the winter months. ... The Western Bulldogs, formerly known as the Footscray Football Club or The Bulldogs is an Australian Football League (AFL) club based at the Whitten Oval in western suburban Melbourne, Australia, drawing its supporter base from this traditionally poor, industrial, and less leafy part of Melbourne. ... The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal, is an annual medal awarded to the fairest and best player in the Australian Football League during the regular season (ie. ...

He shifted to the North Melbourne Football Club in 1979, winning the club Best & Fairest in his first year there. He played out his career at the Kangaroos, playing 122 games for them, and left AFL football in 1984. Dempsey was named an emergency in the Kangaroos Team of the Century. The North Melbourne Football Club, trading as the Kangaroos, and informally known as the Shinboners or the Kangaroos Football Club plays Australian rules football in the Australian Football League. ... Team of the Century is a term used to describe the best team over a period of 100 years, or for a century (always the 20th). ...

In 1969, aged 20, Dempsey spent six weeks in hospital after being burnt by a bushfire near his home in Truganina and was told he would never play football again. Truganina is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ...

Post playing career

Dempsey was appointed Specialist Ruck Coach of the Carlton Football Club at the end of the 2005 season. Carlton Football Club, nicknamed The Blues for their dark blue playing colours, is one of the oldest and most successful Australian rules football clubs. ...