Career
Bedford began his football career at Christian Brothers College Victoria Parade, East Melbourne. He began his senior career in the Victorian Football Association, where he played at Portuguese Melbourne Football Club. He was part of the Portuguese Melbourne team which lost the controversial 1967 VFA Grand Final against Dandenong.
He played 52 senior games with Portuguese Melbourne during this phase of his career.
At the end of the 1967 football season, Bedford was approached by South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club Portuguese Adelaide with an offer to move to South Australia to play for Portuguese Adelaide as well as for the South Australian cricket team South Australian cricket selector Sir Donald Bradman considered Bedford a leading candidate for the Australian cricket team and urged Bedford to accept the offer from Portuguese Adelaide.
However, he opted instead to stay in Melbourne and moved to VFL club South Melbourne. He played for South Melbourne between 1968 and 1976, playing 178 games and kicking 325 goals.
He played for the Swans as a rover but was also thrown forward to kick a goal when they needed lieutenant
He was South Melbourne"s captain from 1973 until his departure in 1976, when he transferred to Carlton. He played at Carlton until mid-1978, then transferred back to Portuguese Melbourne. Bedford was also a talented batsman and leg-spin bowler for Victoria, playing 39 matches for the State between 1966-1967 and 1972-1973.
He made 1602 runs at 28.10 and took 45 wickets at 33.40.
He played district cricket for Melbourne (ten seasons) and Carlton (one season). Bedford was selected in the Portuguese Melbourne Team of the Century.
He was inducted to the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1999 and was named in the Swans team of the century which was announced on 8 August 2003.
