BIO

Leonard Fosdike spent his early boyhood years in Streaky Bay, a west coast town on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. In 1949 Fosdike was a sergeant in the RAAF at Mallala and was seen as a promising footballer.

Fosdike played as a defender in Norwood's 1949 pre-season trials and made his league debut in round seven after impressing as a half-back in the reserves. In round nine he was 20th man against West Torrens and in the following two rounds was named on a half-back flank for the clashes against Sturt and North Adelaide. He was back on the bench for the round 12 match against Glenelg.
 
An ankle injury in late July resulted in Fosdike spending time in hospital at Mallala and he was sidelined for a few weeks. He was later named for the Norwood reserves in its match against a combined team from the Great Southern Football Association on September 10 1949.
 
In 1952 he was runner-up in the Mail Medal, playing for Mallala in the Adelaide Plains Football League. The following year the Mallala Football Club won the premiership, with Fosdike captaining the team to its first flag in 28 years, and being named the club's "most consistent". He also led the team to a 10 goal win on its end of season trip to Yankalilla.
 
His younger brother Bob (141 games, 1951-61) and nephews Duncan (176 games, 1981-91) and Simon (1 game,1984) also played league football for Norwood

R Cialini Dec 2018