In the lead-up to Saturday evening’s momentous encounter with Gold Coast at the Gabba, Chris Judd’s impending 200th career game has justifiably attracted much publicity.

But who would know that almost 100 years ago to the day another Carlton captain set the standard, in becoming the first footballer in League history to reach the coveted 200-game milestone?

Carlton statistician Stephen Williamson records that Fred “Pompey” Elliott completed the noble deed for the old dark Navy Blues in the sixth round of 1911 - Saturday, June 3 - against St Kilda at the Junction Oval.

Elliott, at that time captain-coach, had previously turned out for Melbourne in 12 senior matches through 1899, and would represent Carlton in a total of 197 from 1900-’01 and 1903-’11 . . . with a season at North Fremantle sandwiched in between.

By then, “Pompey” had already played his part in Jack Worrall’s history-making premiership teams of 1906 and ’08 (with suspension having robbed him of a place in the 1907 Grand Final triumph).

The Carlton players who took to the field in Round 6, 1911 - amongst them the club’s latest Hall of Fame inductee Vin Gardiner - ensured that Elliott’s milestone match would be one to remember, securing a 10-point win for their captain-coach in what would be his last year as a League footballer.

But Elliott’s name would live on . . . or at least his nickname . . . by way of the Australian Brigadier General Harold Edward “Pompey” Elliott - a staunch Carlton supporter and one of this nation’s greatest military figures of World War One.

Fred “Pompey” Elliott
April 7, 1879 - August 3, 1960
Recruited from: Cardigan/Melbourne               
12 games, four goals, Melbourne 1899; 197 games, 86 goals, Carlton 1901 & 1903-1911
Senior debut, Carlton: Round 1, 1900 v Geelong (21 years, 28 days)
Final game, Carlton: 1911 semi final v Essendon (aged 32 years, 162 days)             
Guernsey number: 1          
Premiership Player: Carlton 1906 & 1908
Carlton Captain 1908
Carlton Captain-coach 1909-1911
Carlton Hall of Fame (1988)

Chris Judd
September 8, 1983 -                                                           
Recruited from: Caulfield Grammar/Sandringham/West Coast     
134 games, 138 goals West Coast 2002-’06; 65 games, 42 goals Carlton, 2008 -
Senior debut, Carlton: Round 1, 2008 v Richmond, MCG (24 years, 194 days)
Guernsey number: 5          
Premiership Player: West Coast 2006
Carlton Captain: 2008 -
Carlton best & fairest (John Nicholls Medallist): 2008, ’09, & ’10  
Brownlow Medallist: 2004 (West Coast), 2010 (Carlton)
Norm Smith Medallist 2005