MELBOURNE Grand Final player Arnold ‘Bud’ Byfield has passed away aged 91.

Byfield played 18 matches for Melbourne in 1946, including the losing Grand Final against Essendon.

It was his only season for the club.

He made his VFL/AFL debut in round four against South Melbourne at Punt Road, with his final match for Melbourne being the 1946 Grand Final.

A great figure of Western Australian football, Byfield played for Claremont in Western Australia and was a member of its 1940 premiership as a 16-year-old. After playing for Melbourne in 1946, he returned to Claremont.

He later became president of the West Australian Country Football League from 1973-91 and was inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2004.

Byfield also played cricket for Western Australia as an all-rounder.

He made four first-class appearances and took the wickets of former Australian captains Ian Craig and Bob Simpson, when they played for New South Wales.

His highest score was 38 against the touring South Africans in 1953.