John Birt (born 29 January 1937) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the VFL and West Torrens in the South Australian National Football League. Birt was a rover and after being recruited to Essendon from Ballarat, he made his VFL debut in 1957. The following year he had one of his finest seasons, finishing 6th in the Brownlow Medal and topping Essendon's goalkicking charts with 31 goals. He was a premiership player in 1962 and 1965 as well as playing in two losing Grand Finals, and won the W. S. Crichton Medal for his club's Best and Fairest in 1961, 1965 and 1967.