Born Maffra, Victoria January 5, 1886 - died Heidelberg, Victoria, September 30, 1961
Recruited to Carlton from Carlton Juniors (VJFA)
Carlton player No. 201
At Carlton
60 matches, three goals 1906-1909
Premiership player 1906, 1907 & 1908
James Harold Leslie (‘Les’) Beck and Norman ‘Hackenschmidt’ Clark were the mainstays of the last line in those grand Carlton teams under Jack Worrall’s watch.
After relocating from Gippsland to the big smoke with his family, Beck immersed himself in the winter game with Carlton Juniors - and by 1906 the then 19 year-old was amongst the many hopefuls trying out at Princes Park.
Beck didn’t have to wait long, earning a call-up from Jack Worrall for the 8th Round match with Melbourne at the MCG. Partnering ‘Pompey’ Elliott in the ruck, he fared well in that maiden senior encounter, but managed just four more home and away appearances for the season before his form tapered.
Overlooked for Carlton’s semi against Collingwood at the Brunswick Street Oval, Beck appeared destined to miss the cut for the ’06 Grand Final with Fitzroy as well – until fate intervened in the last training session prior to the flag decider.
When Bert Parke badly rolled his ankle in that session, Worrall turned to Beck, handing the player the ultimate challenge just five matches into his senior career – to take his place on the last line and keep each of Fitzroy’s resting ruckmen in check.
Contemporary reports invariably mention the domination of Carlton’s defence in that history-making Premiership, with Billy Payne, Doug Gillespie, Norman Clark and of course Beck each negating the influence of their opponents. From that moment forward, Beck’s years as a defender were assured, and his contributions out of a back pocket on Grand Final day 1907 and at full-back in Doug Gillespie’s absence on Grand Final day 1908 helped land Carlton’s unprecedented Premiership hat-trick.
Amid a bitter political battle, which later saw a ‘reform group’ force an extraordinary ballot for all committee positions, Jack Worrall resigned his position and walked away from Carlton for good. In support of Worrall, Beck was amongst seven of the club’s bona fide champions to follow him out, thereby bringing sad end to a golden era.
Beck turned out for one last season with VFA club Port Melbourne, then gave away senior football altogether.
In October 1916, with the world embroiled in global conflict, Beck enlisted with the Army and promptly boarded a military ship bound for France. By June of the following year, Pte Beck of the 3rd Machine Gun Company found himself in the thick of the fighting, and would twice take a bullet – the second just weeks before the Armistice was signed.
But Beck survived, regained his health in a miliary hospital in England, and returned to his native land in April 1919. Reunited with his wife and family, he settled in Johnston Street in neighbouring Fitzroy and found work as a hotel barman. A true Digger, and one of the select few to feature in all three of Carlton’s hat-trick of Premierships, Les Beck died at the age of 75 on September 30, 1961.
