Charlie Anderson, at around the time of his playing days, circa 1920s.

Of the 1250 players to have represented Carlton at senior VFL/AFL level since 1897, all but 108 are represented by at least one photograph in the football club’s collection.

That number has now been reduced by one to 107, with the discovery of the first known image of Charlie Anderson, whose sole senior appearance for Carlton coincided with the opening round of the 1924 season.

The portrait was recently sourced by lifelong Carlton supporter and amateur historian Ray Kinnear, who in scouring the Ancestry site sourced a pic of Anderson at about the time the former player was hunting the pigskin at Princes Park more than 100 years ago.

Charlie Anderson, at around the time of his playing days, circa 1920s.

Kinnear also located another image of Anderson in his later years.

Charles Victor Roddan Anderson was born on August 19, 1903, in the quaint Gippsland town of Rosedale by the Latrobe River  – the place where his grandparents first settled.

In his schoolboy years, Anderson earned the interest of the local newspaper for his prowess as short-distance sprinter – a talent shared by his older brother Arthur who tragically died at 19.

In 1923, Anderson headed for the big smoke - to Melbourne to partake in a teacher training course (although he never pursued teaching as his vocation). Finding lodgings in nearby Richmond, Anderson met his future wife Mona Garner, who  worked at the Bryant and May matchstick factory.

The following year, Anderson found his way to Royal Parade in pursuit of a football career. A newspaper correspondent reported in mid-April: “Charlie Anderson who has been showing such fine form on the wing in practice games at Carlton, and who is now attached to the staff of the Collingwood Technical School, was, at the Wednesday’s night meeting of the Victorian Football League granted a permit to play with Carlton. May success attend him!”.

At Carlton, the centreman completed his pre-season preparations and won a promotion to the seniors for the Round one match with Fitzroy at the Brunswick Street Oval.

In an extraordinary 100 minutes of football, the Blues, having at one staged trailed the Gorillas by 66 points, fell just two points short of completing the greatest of all comebacks – on a day in which the teams became the first of any to break the 100-point barrier in the same contest.

Anderson lost his place in the senior 18 following the Fitzroy game and never won a recall. But he wasn’t lost to the game and through the next three seasons earned senior appearances at South Melbourne (11 games), Richmond (three games) and Footscray (one match).

Little is known of Anderson’s post-football life. It is understood that he and Mona raised two children (a daughter Shirley and son Neville) and was employed as a foreman manager at the Dunlop rubber factory in Beaumaris.

Charlie Anderson in his later years, together with his wife Mona

In January 1985, Anderson was hit by a car as he walked across the road at a set of traffic lights not far from his home in Bethell Street, Ormond. He died shortly after at the age of 85, and his son Neville also passed away in June of that year.

Carlton is still seeking first images of the following former footballers, whose Carlton senior debut years are also listed. If you can assist please contact tony.debolfo@carltonfc.com.au

AHERN, Bill (1897)

ALLENDER, Henry (1899)

ARCHER, Joe (1899)

ARMSTRONG, Bob (1896)

ASHTON, Ernie (1904)

BARLOW, Alex (1901)

BARLOW, Fred (1898)

BENNETT, Ned (1900)

BROWN, Charlie (1898)

BUCK, Otto (1897)

CAMERON, Bob (1897)

CAMPBELL, Peter (1900)

CHURCHYARD, Bill (1898)

CLARKE, Len (1931)

COUCHER, Jim (1898)

COWELL, George (1899)

CROWE, Matt (1903)

CULLEN, Jim (1904)

CUMMINS, Arthur (1897)

DASHWOOD, Rob (1902)

DODDS, Bill (1901)

DOUGLAS, Jack (1898)

DUNNE, Henry (1896)

EVANS, Harold (1913)

FIELD, Frank (1901)

FROST, Jack (1897)

GAYNOR, Jimmy (1904)

GIBSON, Harvey (1906)

GILBERT, Jack (1899)

GOMEZ, Frank (1901)

GORDON, Vic (1915)

GRAF, Bert (1919)

GRANT, Bill (1906)

GRANT, Jack (1906)

GUNTER, John (1911)

HAINSWORTH, Herb (1902)

HANNA, Frank (1913)

HANSON, Tom (1911)

HARDY, Willis (1917)

HARRIS, Len (1946)

HARRISON, Arthur (1914)

HARRISON, Stan (1965)

HARRY, Ray (1933)

HART, Dick (1901)

HEARNDEN, Alf (1899)

HEFFERNAN, Ted (1897)

HOGG, Norm (1903)

HOLLAND, Reuben (1910)

HOWARD, Harry (1897)

HUGGETT, Alf (1916)

HUGHES, Tommy (1911)

JACKSON, Percy (1918)

JANE, Henry (1911)

JOHNSON, Bill (1912)

JOHNSON, Roy (1911)

KEILY, Jack (1918)

KINMAN, Tommy (1898)

LEWIS, Bill (1900)

LEWIS, Harry (1899)

LORIOT, Jim (1901)

LOWENTHAL, Herbie (1897)

LYONS, Jim (1897)

MANCHESTER, Oscar (1897)

MANGER, Bill (1926)

MAPLESTONE, Charlie (1900)

MARDEN, Les (1944)

MARRIOTT, Fred (1911)

MATTHEWS, Jim (1900)

McCART, George (1905)

McFARLANE, John (1902)

McGANN, George (1901)

McKENZIE, Wal (1902)

McNULTY, Pat (1902)

McPETRIE, Henry (1897)

McVEIGH, Bill (1905)

MEADOWCROFT, Des (1898)

MILLS, Bobby (1934)

MOORE, Alf (1898)

MORGAN, Harry H. (1897)

NEYLAN, Jim (1909)

O'DAY, Tommy (1898)

PATTERSON, Bill (1897)

PENDER, Dan (1898)

PENDER, Mick (1898)

PETTIT, Bill (1901)

POWELL, Harry (1901)

POWELL, Wally (1900)

PRENTICE, Alex (1903)

RAFF, Charles (1901)

RAUBER, Charles (1912)

REEKIE, Jack (1897)

REID, Sam (1897)

ROBERTS, Simon (1901)

ROBINSON, Jimmy (1901)

RYAN, Arthur (1904)

RYAN Pat (1913)

SCHUNKE, Charlie (1901)

SLATER, Jim (1905)

STEPHENSON, John T. (1903)

STEWART, Charlie (1901)

STEWART, Dick (1898)

STRICKLAND, Bill (1900)

TAYLOR, Charlie (1911)

WARDE, George (1898)

WHEELER, Bert (1907)

WHIGHT, Henry (1916)

WHITE, Robert (1916)