[2][3] Like cricketer Don Bradman and the racehorse Phar Lap, Bunton was a sporting champion who made life bearable for the Australian public during the dark days of the Great Depression.

[4] A brilliant runner and ball-winner, he was regarded by some historians and observers of Australian rules as its greatest-ever player.

[6] As a young teenager, Bunton excelled in Australian rules football, cricket, swimming, and athletics, creating many records in a number of different sports.

[7] Bunton began playing for the Albury Rovers Football Club as a 12-year-old in 1923 and twice won the league's best-and-fairest award.

[17] Shortly after Fitzroy had won the race to secure his services, it was revealed that they had paid him £222 (A$18,750 in 2020 terms) to join, which was illegal under VFL rules.

Bunton later claimed in a 1950 newspaper article that he had received the money for a knee operation after he tore his cartilage in the 1930 Ovens and Murray Football League grand final.

[19] The match was against the Hume Weir Football Club who proved too good and defeated West Albury for the premiership.

In 1938, Bunton moved to Western Australia, taking the position of captain/coach of Subiaco, while very competitive, they failed to play finals during his coaching stints of 1938, 1939 and 1941.

[30] Altogether, Bunton had won six league best and fairest awards in only eleven seasons between the two states in which he had played.

Corporal Haydn Bunton returned to Melbourne from Perth to enter the Army's Physical Training School at Frankston and was accompanied by four Fitzroy Football Club recruits from Western Australian in April, 1942.

[32] He managed to play only two games for Fitzroy Football Club in rounds one and three of 1942 VFL season, due to his Army commitments.

Bunton would form a formidable duo with Bob Quinn, helping Port Adelaide attract record crowds for the season.

[34] The win against Norwood qualified Port Adelaide for the 1945 SANFL Grand Final against West Torrens.

However, this was not enough for Bunton to win his first premiership as a player with Port Adelaide, falling short by 13 points to West Torrens.

[35] On Monday, 3 March 1947, the North Adelaide Football Club appointed Haydn Bunton as senior non-playing coach.

[39] North Adelaide Football Club went onto win the 1949 SANFL premiership, coached by Ken Farmer.

[49] On Thursday 1 September 1955, Bunton was critically injured when his car crashed into three gum trees 11 miles (18 km) north of Gawler, South Australia.

[6] In 1996, Bunton was named at left forward pocket in the AFL Team of the Century, and he was made an inaugural legend in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

[2][56] In July 1945, Mrs. Bunton sued for divorce on the grounds of her husband's misconduct with a certain Doreen May Scott, a member of the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS).