The son of Rev. Henry Yeo,[2][3] and Sarah Ann Yeo, née Allan,[4] Norman Wyatt Yeo was born at Ballarat East on 21 June 1886.
He married Eva Agnes Thompson on 29 October 1914.[5][6]
Education
He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne, where he was a member of their first XVIII football team.
Football
Essendon (VFL)
Yeo was the leading goalkicker for Essendon in his only season with the club, scoring 31 goals in his 15 games. According to Maplestone (1996), "Yeo had business commitments that kept him out of football [in 1907]" (p.69).
VFL Representative team
Yeo was selected in the VFL side to play against a combined Ballarat team, in Ballarat, on Saturday, 11 August 1906. It was a "return" match, the first having been played in Melbourne, on the MCG, on 23 June 1906.
The combined Ballarat team outclassed the VFL side, eventually winning the match 11.7 (73) to 6.7 (43);[8] and, although selected at full-forward, Yeo failed to score a goal.[9]
In 1909, Yeo again returned to senior football ranks, this time playing two games for University in the Victorian Football League.
Beverley (MJFA)
Yeo returned to the Beverley Football Club, and he captained them until he retired at the end of the 1913 season.[13]
Later life
After his football career, Yeo was a leading figure in the Australian wool industry, being the chief accountant of the Central Wool Committee
during World War I and the British Australian Wool Realization Commission which was set up to deal with the disposal of wool stocks when the war ended. He also helped the Government in its operation of the Central Wool Committee during World War II.[14][15]
Death
Norman Wyatt Yeo died at his home in East Malvern on 1 June 1950.[16][17]
Notes
^Some sources including the Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers state that Yeo played in the Victorian Football Association for both Richmond and Hawthorn, however club records do not show him ever playing for these teams. Yeo had retired by 1914, the year that Hawthorn were first admitted to the VFA
Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2014), The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.), Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing. ISBN978-1-921496-32-5
Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN0-9591740-2-8