CLIFF Burge died 100 years ago today.

A Melbourne Football Club player in 1914, Burge would play five matches for the red and blue as a ruckman/forward.

Originally from Rushworth, in northern Victoria, he made his debut in round one against Fitzroy at Brunswick St Oval and kicked his only VFL/AFL goal.

He later played against Carlton (round six), South Melbourne (round nine), Collingwood (round 11) and South Melbourne (round 18).

Burge enlisted in the army in 1915 and served in the Pay Corps.

He transferred to the Light Horse division and later the infantry.

Tragically, he was killed in World War I, aged 23 at Villers-Bretonneux, France, three months before hostilities ended.

He had survived the Gallipoli landings and a German gas attack.