1885 is a growth year for the game. A new team, Albert Park enters the fray and there appears to be an extensive list of fixtures. Prahran win the Beaney Cup and Richmond take out the George and George Cup
Teams
Melbourne (red and blue)
South Melbourne (blue)
Prahran (Maroon)
Albert Park
Richmond (white)
Saturday 21 March
South Melbourne 3 Prahran 0 at Middle Park
Saturday 28 March
South Melbourne 0 Richmond 1 at Middle Park (George and George Challenge Cup)
Saturday 3 April
Melbourne v South Melbourne at Albert Park
Saturday 11 April
Melbourne v Prahran at Middle Park
Saturday 18 April
Prahran 1 v South Melbourne 2
Saturday 25 April
South Melbourne v Albert Park at Middle Park
Saturday 2 May
Richmond v South Melbourne at Richmond Cricket Ground(George and George Challenge Cup)
Saturday 9 May
Carlton v Prahran at Warehousemen's Cricket-ground, St. Kilda road (George and George Challenge Cup)
Saturday 9 May
Albert Park v Melbourne at Carlton Cricket-ground (George and George Challenge Cup) South Melbourne v Carlton at Middle park
Saturday 23 May
Richmond 2 v Prahran 3 at Richmond Cricket Ground(George and George Challenge Cup)
Monday 25 May (Queen's Holiday)
England v Scotland at Warehousemen's Cricket-ground
Saturday 30 May
Carlton v South Melbourne (draw) at Warehousemen's Cricket-ground, St. Kilda road (George and George Challenge Cup)
Saturday 6 June
Albert Park v Melbourne at ??? (George and George Challenge Cup) Prahran v South Melbourne at Warehousemen's Cricket-ground (friendly)
Saturday 13 June
Carlton v South Melbourne at Richmond Cricket Ground (postponed) (George and George Challenge Cup)
Saturday 20 June
Carlton v South Melbourne at Carlton Cricket-ground (George and George Challenge Cup) Prahran v Albert Park at Warehousemen's Cricket-ground
Saturday 4 July
South Melbourne v Prahran at Richmond Cricket Ground (Beaney Cup)
Thursday 16 July
Victoria 4 v NSW 0 at East Melbourne Cricket Ground
NSW team that visited Victoria in 1885 The Sydney Mail 8 July 1925. Argus article, 17 July suggests a Victorian photograph was taken as well.
Saturday 18 July
Victorian English 2 v NSW 2 at Richmond Cricket Ground
Monday 20 July
Victorian Scottish v NSW at Warehousemen's Cricket-ground
Saturday 25 July
Carlton v Prahran at Warehousemen's Cricket-ground (George and George Challenge Cup)
Saturday 15 August
Albert Park v Prahran at Warehousemen's Cricket Ground(George and George Challenge Cup semi-final) Carlton v Richmond at Carlton Cricket-ground (George and George Challenge Cup semi-final)
Saturday 22 August
Prahran def Carlton at Warehousemen's Cricket Ground(Beaney Cup final)
Saturday 29 August
Richmond 2 v Prahran 1 at Warehousemen's Cricket Ground(George and George Challenge Cup final)
A number of scratch and practice matches were played throughout the season. They have not been listed below. I have listed the matches recorded as competitive, though I suspect some of them* are also practice/scratch matches. The game on 9 June is the very first recorded game of competitive soccer in Melbourne.
*Saturday 12 May
Anglo Australian Association FC v Richmond at Richmond Cricket Ground
Saturday 9 June
Anglo Australian Association FC 4 South Park FC 1 at Richmond Cricket Ground
*Saturday 30 June
Anglo Australian Association FC 1 The Rest 1 at Richmond Cricket Ground
Thursday 16 August
Victoria 2 NSW 2 at East Melbourne Cricket Ground
The NSW team in Victoria Sydney Mail 3 June 1925
Saturday 18 August
Victoria 0 NSW 0 at South Melbourne Cricket Ground
QUALIFYING FINAL: Melbourne Knights 2 Bentleigh Greens 4 (HT: 1-2) ELIMINATION FINAL: South Melbourne 1 Green Gully 0 (HT: 0-0)
Women's Premier League :
QUALIFYING FINAL: Box Hill United SC 1 Sandringham SC 1 (E. Runnalls 1)(HT: 0-0)ELIMINATION FINAL: Bundoora United FC1 Heidelberg United SC 2 (HT: 1-2)
Men's State League 2 North-West Reserves:
ROUND 24: Whittlesea Ranges FC 0 Moreland City SC 3 (HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 4 North Reserves:
ROUND 24: Lalor United FC 5 Darebin United SC 2 (HT: 0-0)
On Sunday I did something I hadn't done in a while: went to see my team play at a ground I hadn't visited before. I and about 800 others descended upon SS Anderson Reserve in Port Melbourne to see the Sharks play host to South Melbourne in what was a crucial match for both teams. The winners would be in the finals. In the event of a draw, Port would make it. If Gully lost (which they were never going to do) both teams could make it.
I arrived at half time in the U21 game in time to see an attacking South team dismantle the 10-men Sharks 4-1. Suffice it to say that the senior team, a few nervous moments aside, dominated and thrashed the hapless Port team 4-0, sending them down to 6th place and out of the finals (in light of Gully's win) and us to a home elimination final at home this Sunday at 5pm. If you want a match report, the unsurpassable Mavroudis gives his thoughts here.
Now I'm looking forward to Sunday (as long as I can get back from Ballarat in time - a long story).
The view from behind the Southern goal in the first half. Note the substantial crowd on the western side of the ground.
It was a great afternoon, warm-to-hot in that just-wait-for-a-mild-breeze-to-run-through-you kind of way that Melbourne has in store for the unprepared. Even though I didn't partake, the fragrant odours from the canteen were tempting. (Instead I bought cashews through the fence.) The banter from behind the goals was fantastic. It varied, as usual, from the vulgar crudities to first-rate ironies that soccer fans seem to produce so easily. It was so good to be back with the South fans at an away game.
View from the northern end during the half-time break.
Aside from the eastern wing (patrolled by security to prevent spectators entering), passionate support surrounded the ground. 800 (possibly 1000) people presumed not to exist by some mainstream soccer writers cheered on their teams as if this was the only game in town.
Habitual Neos Osmos readers will know my beef with writers like the Age's Michael Lynch who insists that he doesn't write about VPL because there's little-to-no interest and even if there were substantial interest the competition is second tier and doesn't deserve coverage in a national newspaper (except when there's a 'crowd riot' or a betting scandal).
Travelling in the car after the game, listening to the ABC coverage of the grand finals of 5th, 6th and 7th-tier footy, the double standard was driven home. Typically, in the next day in the Age we could read reports of Upper Woop-Woop and their mighty footy Grand final come-back against Kickacrowalong, but a report on the weekend's most significant game of elite Victorian winter soccer (along with the classified results for the rest of the competitions) was nowhere to be seen.
It would do mainstream soccer writers well to come out to grounds like SS Anderson, especially when bigger games are on. But it would also do them well to get to Quarries Park or Campbell reserve from time to time. Some of their assumptions would be productively undermined and they might well be able to imagine an audience for articles on the VPL and other state leagues. They would see colour and excitement and not a little skill on the field. It would not be foolish to predict that 2 or 3 of Sunday's players were potential A-League recruits and a mainstream journalist covering the game would at least have the vital experience of having seen them play in the flesh (rather than having to phone around their contacts asking "Wot's 'e like then?").
One of the three memorial press boxes in Melbourne named in honour of Laurie Schwab, at JJ Anderson.
But the most important reason for these journos to come out to SS Anderson would be for them to note the phenomenon that is "The Laurie Schwab Press Room". It is striking in its presence, a tiny, rust-coloured little room that nonetheless provides a place for those journos willing to cover the game and perhaps a reminder of the extent to which mainstream coverage of winter soccer in Victoria has dwindled to a level that is insulting at worst and derisory at best.
It also would present a suggestion to the thoughtful among them that this is what comes to those journos who cover our game properly: respect and remembrance.
Men's Victorian Premier League : ROUND 23: Oakleigh Cannons 0 Green Gully Cavaliers 2(HT: 0-0) , Richmond 0 Dandenong Thunder 2(HT: 0-0) ROUND 22: Green Gully Cavaliers 3 Dandenong Thunder 1(HT: 1-0) , Port Melbourne Sharks 0 South Melbourne 4(HT: 0-1) , Northcote City 4 Hume City 2(HT: 2-0) , Melbourne Knights 2 Oakleigh Cannons 4(HT: 0-1) , Pascoe Vale 4 Richmond 1(HT: 3-0)
Men's Victorian Premier League Under 21s: ROUND 23: Oakleigh Cannons 1 Green Gully Cavaliers 2(HT: 0-1) , Richmond 3 Dandenong Thunder 1(HT: 0-0) ROUND 22: Green Gully Cavaliers 3 Dandenong Thunder 0(HT: 0-0) , Melbourne Knights 2 Oakleigh Cannons 4(HT: 0-0) , Pascoe Vale SC 0 Richmond 2(HT: 0-0)
Women's Premier League : ROUND 21: Ashburton Womens SC 1 EAP 0(HT: 0-0) ROUND 22: FC Bulleen Lions 0 Heidelberg United SC 3(HT: 0-2) , Sandringham SC 1 (S. Catley 1) South Melbourne Womens FC 3(HT: 0-2)
Women's Premier League Reserves: ROUND 22: Sandringham SC 0 South Melbourne Womens FC 6(HT: 0-4)
Men's State League 1: ROUND 22: Werribee City FC 1 Sunshine George Cross SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Eastern Lions SC 0 St Albans Saints SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Altona Magic SC 3 Western Suburbs SC 2(HT: 2-1) , Moreland Zebras FC 0 North Geelong Warriors SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Heidelberg United SC 2 FC Bulleen Lions 1(HT: 1-1) , Fawkner Blues FC 0 Box Hill United SC 2(HT: 0-2)
Men's State League 1 Under 21s: ROUND 22: Werribee City FC 4 Sunshine George Cross SC 2(HT: 0-0) , Eastern Lions SC 6 St Albans Saints SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Moreland Zebras FC 2 North Geelong Warriors SC 2(HT: 0-0) , Heidelberg United SC 2 FC Bulleen Lions 8(HT: 0-0) , Fawkner Blues FC 0 Box Hill United SC 17(HT: 0-0)
Women's State League 1: GRAND FINAL: Boroondara Eagles FC 2 Monbulk Rangers SC 0(HT: 0-0) Men's State League 2 North-West: ROUND 21: Brunswick City SC 0 Avondale Heights SC 0(HT: 0-0) ROUND 22: Westgate FC 3 (K. Otuo-Acheampong 1, R. Origlia 1, S. Murat 1) Ballarat Red Devils SC 1(HT: 3-0) , Sydenham Park SC 4 Whittlesea Ranges FC 3(HT: 1-2) , Avondale Heights SC 3 (B. Micovski 1, D. Campelj 1, L. Celentano 1) Preston Lions FC 1(HT: 2-0) , Fitzroy City SC 0 Altona East Phoenix SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Keilor Park SC 5 (J. Pilcher 1, S. Mussel 1, F. Tijani 1, S. Sacco 1, B. Gagovski 1) Moreland City SC 0(HT: 3-0) , Brunswick City SC 7 (K. Joryeff 3, D. Sadik 2, G. Richards 1, A. Tsonis 1) La Trobe University SC 0(HT: 4-0)
Men's State League 2 North-West Reserves: ROUND 21: Brunswick City SC 2 (G. Mavrelis 1, J. Luburic 1) Avondale Heights SC 1(HT: 1-0) ROUND 22: Moreland City SC 3 Altona East Phoenix SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Westgate FC 6 Ballarat Red Devils SC 0(HT: 2-0) , Sydenham Park SC 1 Whittlesea Ranges FC 7(HT: 0-2) , Avondale Heights SC 2 Preston Lions FC 4(HT: 0-0) , Fitzroy City SC 1 Altona East Phoenix SC 2(HT: 0-0) , Keilor Park SC 3 (R. Fusca 1, D. Koutroulis 1, M. Mohamed 1) Moreland City SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Brunswick City SC 2 (T. Barforosh 1, P. Cominos 1) La Trobe University SC 4 (A. Rofo 2, A. Faust 1, H. Al Saffar 1)(HT: 0-0) ROUND 24: Whittlesea Ranges FC Moreland City SC (HT: 0-0) (Washed Out)
Men's State League 2 South-East: ROUND 22: Dandenong City SC 0 FC Clifton Hill 3(HT: 0-2) , Malvern City FC 4 Noble Park United FC 0(HT: 3-0) , Langwarrin SC 2 Morwell Pegasus SC 1(HT: 0-0) , South Springvale SC 1 (A. Papadopoulos 1) Diamond Valley United SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Mornington SC 5 Doveton SC 1(HT: 4-1) , Kingston City FC 2 Springvale White Eagles FC 0(HT: 1-0)
Men's State League 2 South-East Reserves: ROUND 22: Dandenong City SC 2 FC Clifton Hill 2(HT: 0-0) , Malvern City FC 3 Noble Park United FC 0(HT: 0-0) , South Springvale SC 2 Diamond Valley United SC 2(HT: 0-0) , Mornington SC 3 Doveton SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Kingston City FC 3 Springvale White Eagles FC 1(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 3 North-West: ROUND 21: North Sunshine Eagles SC 3 Moreland United SC 0(HT: 0-0) ROUND 22: Westvale SC 1 Melbourne University SC 1 (B. Mitchell 1)(HT: 0-0) , Moreland United SC 1 Banyule City SC 6(HT: 1-1) , Geelong SC 3 Hume United FC 0(HT: 0-0) , Sunbury United FC 0 Cairnlea FC 0(HT: 0-0) , Sporting Whittlesea FC 0 North Sunshine Eagles SC 3(HT: 0-0) , Altona City SC 1 Yarraville FC Seniors 3(HT: 0-2)
Men's State League 3 North-West Reserves: ROUND 21: North Sunshine Eagles SC 3 Moreland United SC 0(HT: 0-0) ROUND 22: Westvale SC 1 Melbourne University SC 3(HT: 0-0) , Moreland United SC 4 Banyule City SC 1(HT: 4-0) , Geelong SC 3 Hume United FC 0(HT: 0-0) , Sunbury United FC (Reserves) 1 Cairnlea FC 3(HT: 0-0) , Sporting Whittlesea FC 0 North Sunshine Eagles SC 3(HT: 0-0) , Altona City SC 1 Yarraville FC Reserves 0(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 3 South-East: ROUND 22: Springvale City SC 0 Doncaster Rovers SC 9(HT: 0-7) , Casey Comets FC 1 (G. Lane 1) Frankston Pines FC 0(HT: 1-0) , Peninsula Strikers Senior FC 2 Beaumaris SC 0(HT: 2-0) , Berwick City SC 0 Heatherton United SC 2(HT: 0-0) , Warragul United SC 7 Nunawading City FC 0(HT: 5-0)
Men's State League 3 South-East Reserves: ROUND 22: Springvale City SC 0 Doncaster Rovers SC 3(HT: 0-0) , Casey Comets FC 3 Frankston Pines FC 0(HT: 2-0) , Peninsula Strikers Senior FC 8 Beaumaris SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Berwick City SC 4 Heatherton United SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Warragul United SC 5 Nunawading City FC 1(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 4 North: ROUND 21: Collingwood City FC 0 Northern Roosters FC 2(HT: 0-1) ROUND 22: Lalor United FC 3 Epping City SC 4(HT: 0-0) , North City Wolves FC 1 Heidelberg Stars SC 2 (A. Hassan 1, B. Bajrami 1)(HT: 0-1) , Upfield SC 1 Collingwood City FC 4(HT: 1-1) , Northern Falcons SC 3 Northern Roosters FC 5(HT: 2-1) , Darebin United SC 2 Plenty Valley Lions FC 2(HT: 2-0) , Old Carey SC 2 Whittlesea United SC 1(HT: 1-1)
Men's State League 4 North Reserves: ROUND 22: Lalor United FC 2 Epping City SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Upfield SC 2 Collingwood City FC 1(HT: 0-0) , Northern Falcons SC 1 Northern Roosters FC 4(HT: 0-0) , Darebin United SC 2 Plenty Valley Lions FC 0(HT: 0-0) , Old Carey SC 3 Whittlesea United SC 0(HT: 0-0) ROUND 24: Lalor United FC Darebin United SC (HT: 0-0) (Washed Out)
Men's State League 4 West : ROUND 22: Brunswick Zebras FC 2 Essendon United FC 3(HT: 1-1) , Bell Park SC 3 Williamstown SC 3(HT: 2-2) , FC Strathmore 2 Geelong Rangers SC 4(HT: 1-2) , Western Eagles SC 3 Corio SC 1 (Y. Mantzaridis 1)(HT: 2-1) , Essendon Royals SC 4 (N. Antic 2, M. Strasser 1, S. Mungherli 1) Maribyrnong Greens SC 3(HT: 3-1)
Men's State League 4 West Reserves: ROUND 21: Brunswick Zebras FC 1 Western Eagles SC 1(HT: 0-0) ROUND 22: Essendon United FC Essendon Royals SC (HT: 0-0) (Washed Out) , Bell Park SC 1 Williamstown SC 3(HT: 0-1) , FC Strathmore 3 Geelong Rangers SC 1(HT: 0-1) , Western Eagles SC 2 Corio SC 2 (I. Padula 1, A. Ukiqi 1)(HT: 0-0) , Essendon Royals SC 3 (R. Suri 2, J. Martino 1) Maribyrnong Greens SC 2(HT: 1-1)
Men's State League 4 South: ROUND 22: Hampton Park United Sparrows FC 2 Old Brighton Grammarians SC 4 (M. Kurek 2, D. Pitham 1, M. Francese 1)(HT: 0-0) , Elwood City SC 1 Sandringham SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Seaford United SC 3 (J. Baxter 1, D. Hodge 1, A. Roberts 1) Keysborough SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Endeavour United SC 2 South Yarra SC 2(HT: 2-0) , Middle Park FC 3 Caulfield United Cobras SC 0(HT: 2-0)
Men's State League 4 South Reserves: ROUND 22: Hampton Park United Sparrows FC 0 Old Brighton Grammarians SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Elwood City SC 0 Sandringham SC 1 (L. Campbell 1)(HT: 0-0) , Seaford United SC 1 (M. Curd 1) Keysborough SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Endeavour United SC 1 South Yarra SC 2(HT: 1-0) , Middle Park FC 2 Caulfield United Cobras SC 0(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 4 East: ROUND 22: Old Melburnians SC 1 Croydon City Arrows SC 3 (P. Rogers 2, D. Allsopp 1)(HT: 0-1) , Mooroolbark Senior SC 2 (M. Cauteruccio 2) Ashburton United SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Brandon Park SC 1 Old Camberwell Grammarians SC 1(HT: 0-1) , Rowville Eagles SC 0 Waverley Wanderers SC 4(HT: 0-2) , Monbulk Rangers SC 3 (J. Kerstens 2, O. Humennyj-Jameson 1) Monash University SC 0(HT: 2-0) , Knox City FC 1 Riversdale SC 2 (K. Crnic 2)(HT: 0-2)
Men's State League 4 East Reserves: ROUND 22: Old Melburnians SC 3 Croydon City Arrows SC 4 (V. Demsar 2, B. Henriques 1, S. Christidis 1)(HT: 0-0) , Mooroolbark Senior SC 4 (S. Egarter 2, A. Gatt 1, A. Cutri 1) Ashburton United SC 0(HT: 2-0) , Brandon Park SC 2 Old Camberwell Grammarians SC 2(HT: 0-2) , Rowville Eagles SC 2 Waverley Wanderers SC 1(HT: 0-1) , Monbulk Rangers SC 2 (C. Bryden 1, D. Hayton 1) Monash University SC 2 (M. Vassilopoulos 1, S. Woff 1)(HT: 1-2) , Knox City FC 1 Riversdale SC 1 (C. Reid 1)(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 5 North: ROUND 22: Bundoora United FC 11 (N. Coyle 2) Northern United SC 2(HT: 6-0) , Fawkner SC 3 Light United SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Watsonia Heights FC 5 Meadow Park Eagles SC 2(HT: 2-0) , Parkville Panthers FC 10 (A. Elmi 2, M. Ismail 2, M. Disasi 1, Y. Omer 1, A. Mohamud 1, I. Hussen 1, K. Farah 1, H. Ibrahim 1) Mitchell Rangers SC 1(HT: 6-1) , West Preston SC 4 (W. Sismanis 3, B. Zarogiannis 1) Keon Park SC 3(HT: 1-0) , Oak Park SC 5 Banksia Power FC 3(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 5 North Reserves: ROUND 22: Bundoora United FC 8 Northern United SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Fawkner SC 5 Light United SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Watsonia Heights FC 2 Meadow Park Eagles SC 2(HT: 1-0) , Parkville Panthers FC 10 Mitchell Rangers SC 3(HT: 0-0) , West Preston SC Keon Park SC (HT: 0-0) (Washed Out) , Oak Park SC 3 Banksia Power FC 1(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 5 West: ROUND 21: Laverton Park SC 7 (A. Panek 3, R. Castro 1, D. Martin 1, C. Garcia Tobar 1, M. Torrealba 1) Spring Hills FC 1 (A. Melrose 1)(HT: 3-0) ROUND 22: Altona North SC 9 Melbourne Lions SC 1(HT: 5-0) , Greenvale United SC 2 Balmoral FC 1 (E. Civic 1)(HT: 2-1) , Melbourne Tornado SC 0 Keilor Wolves SC 4(HT: 0-1) , Point Cook FC 2 (J. Spiteri 2) Brimbank Stallions FC 0(HT: 1-0) , Sunshine Heights Western Tigers FC 0 Melbourne City FC 3(HT: 0-0) , Melton Phoenix FC 1 (C. Briggs 1, N. Keltie 1, C. Velasquez 1) Sebastopol Vikings SC 4 (M. Jamieson 2, J. Hekkema 1, P. Mcclounan 1)(HT: 1-3) , Spring Hills FC 3 (A. Melrose 1, A. Soumbassis 1, J. Hughes 1) Truganina Hornets S. SC 5(HT: 3-3)
Men's State League 5 West Reserves: ROUND 21: Laverton Park SC 1 Spring Hills FC 5 (J. Olguin-Reyes 2, D. Chetcuti 1, S. Sekulic 1, E. Sami 1)(HT: 0-2) ROUND 22: Altona North SC 8 Melbourne Lions SC 5(HT: 3-5) , Laverton Park SC 3 Lara SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Greenvale United SC 1 Balmoral FC 0(HT: 0-0) , Melbourne Tornado SC 6 (B. Magee 1, M. Jovanovic 1, M. Beram 1, T. Luketic 1, O. Merhi 1, D. Bilaver 1) Keilor Wolves SC 3(HT: 2-0) , Point Cook FC 1 Brimbank Stallions FC 0(HT: 0-0) , Sunshine Heights Western Tigers FC 0 Melbourne City FC 3(HT: 0-0) , Melton Phoenix FC 1 Sebastopol Vikings SC 3 (A. Creati 1, J. Hekkema 1, J. Robson 1)(HT: 1-0) , Spring Hills FC 3 (E. Sami 1, J. Olguin-Reyes 1, T. Kotlar 1) Truganina Hornets R. SC 2(HT: 1-1)
Men's State League 5 South: ROUND 22: Dandenong Wolves FC 3 Albert Park SC 2(HT: 2-0) , Noble Park SC 12 Parkmore SC 0(HT: 7-0) , White Star Dandenong SC 3 Endeavour Hills SC 2(HT: 2-1) , Prahran City Football Club 0 Sandown Lions FC 11(HT: 0-8) , Lyndale United SC 0 St Kilda SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Brighton SC Firsts 2 Baxter SC 1 (D. O'Kane 1)(HT: 0-1)
Men's State League 5 South Reserves: ROUND 22: Dandenong Wolves FC 0 Albert Park SC 2(HT: 0-2) , Noble Park SC 6 Parkmore SC 2(HT: 5-1) , White Star Dandenong SC 1 Endeavour Hills SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Prahran City Football Club 0 Sandown Lions FC 11 (A. Mohammed 3, J. Manyok 2, G. Tholbok 2, C. Pouch 1, M. Yual 1, G. Majok 1, Y. Yoy 1)(HT: 0-6) , Lyndale United SC 1 St Kilda SC 3(HT: 0-1) , Brighton SC Seconds 1 Baxter SC 0(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 5 East: ROUND 22: University of Melbourne SC 1 Mazenod United FC 1(HT: 0-0) , Ringwood City FC 1 (J. Kennedy 1) Whitehorse United SC 0(HT: 1-0) , Glen Waverley SC 1 East Bentleigh SC 2(HT: 0-0)
Kids in Glebe, Sydney literally playing soccer (and cricket) "in the gutter", People Magazine 16 April 1958
This is an article I've been seeking for a while, 'They're throttling our sport', written by Geoff Allen for People, (16 April 1958. 45-46). I just dragged it out of the State Library of Victoria. It's an oft-cited touchstone story for the cultural/political difficulties that soccer has faced. Phil Mosely and Bill Murray use it in their piece on Soccer published in Sport in Australia: a social history, edited by Wray Vamplew and Brian Stoddart in 1994.
Theywrite, citing a Melbourne councillor quoted by Allen:
Public contempt was particularly strong in Victoria. When in 1958 a Melbourne soccer club sought to lease a council ground usually used by an Australian-rules club, one alderman replied with a sneer, "let them play . . . in the gutter".
But Allen's article is bigger than that. It focuses on the way in which urban development around Australia is affecting all sport and kids' access to playing fields. True enough, the author then goes on to show how this stress creates problems between codes but the 'throttling' in question is not specifically of, or by, soccer as might have been assumed by some but relates to the squeeze being put on all sport.
Allen finishes his article by transitioning into the stresses place on soccer but also makes the important point that they are stresses felt by most sports in most states:
One curious effect of out national lack of playing space is the rivalry that exists between various football codes for the use of grounds. In some cases, high rents are paid for grounds that are, in effect, nothing more than paddocks.
In Melbourne, the citadel of Australian Rules football, this shortage of grounds has led quite frequently to ill-feeling and tensions.
Not so long ago when a Melbourne Soccer club sought to lease from a council a ground normally allocated to an Australian Rules club, a councillor sneered, "Let them play their Soccer in the gutter."
Soccer is a growing sport in Australia, played largely by migrants from England, where it is the universal winter game. Reports from some State Soccer associations are typical of the difficulties besetting many other sporting organisations.
South Australian Soccer Football Association secretary Tom Connolly says most of his association's first-grade clubs have acquired their own grounds only by leasing undeveloped paddocks from district councils on condition that they develop the areas,
Some of the clubs have spent £3,000 and more to make their grounds fit for first-grade play, apart from further amounts necessary for spectator accommodation.
Yet I'm still not happy. Who is this un-named sneering councillor? I won't accept the veracity of this story until I have found his (or her) identity. It's important to find the utterer and the circumstances of utterance because I don't want to base my own work on possibly apocryphal stories. That's the way sporting bodies construct their mytholgies and not the way historians develop their own narratives.
Off to Trove I reckon. And then to council records.
Betting scandals and corruption in sport are not new, nor are links between sport and organised crime. The scale and impact have increased and the widespread links between betting on sporting outcomes now promoted assiduously by sporting organisations and abetted by governments and the media must be held partly to blame for the current episode affecting Australian soccer. International security expert Chris Eaton may say that Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States are the benchmarks for good governance of gambling but it is the insidious growth of a gambling culture in these countries, as elsewhere, which is at the root of the problems. It is easy and hypocritical to blame other countries for laxity in matching organised crime with an organised response. Soft targets abound in Australia as elsewhere and as long as there is a buck to be made by rigging a betting game, whether it is two up or World Cup football, fixing will go on. This time round we may see some exemplary punishments of low-level participants, but an end to match fixing in sport is not in sight.
In my own family, the story begins in late 1925 when our local club, then managed by my grandfather, was in danger of relegation from the top division of the Scottish Football League. My grandfather had been the captain of Glasgow Celtic, Newcastle United and Scotland before the First World War and he asserted that a director of the club had attempted to bribe a referee to secure a favourable result in a match against Third Lanark. When the issue became public and went before the Council of the Scottish Football Association my grandfather was told he had no evidence to support his allegation and that he should apologise. When he refused to do so he was suspended sine die (effectively a life time ban) from the game that had been his life to that point.
The man he had accused had been the Treasurer of the Scottish Football Association for 20 years and the SFA were not prepared to have him cross-examined about the issue. The next year he was voted off the SFA executive, the first time an incumbent had lost an election in more than two decades. My grandfather’s suspension was lifted a short time later. But he refused to have anything to do with the game thereafter, apart from acting as a scout for new players for Newcastle United. The impact of his suspension continued in the family for my father won a Scottish Schoolboys Cup medal in 1926 but never pursued a football career. Two lives had been changed irrevocably. Much later, in 1954, the future head of the Scottish Legal System, Donald (later Lord) Cameron told a Glasgow Rangers player Willie Woodburn that his sine die suspension was illegal, it being beyond the powers of a private body to suspend a member indefinitely, where it was depriving him of his livelihood. If that was the case then, it would have been so in 1926.
Talent skipped my generation, but I often used to reflect that when my son played for local clubs in the Third Division of the Victorian league, the matches would appear on the British football pools. So the fate of millions of devotees of the soccer pools run by the likes of Littlewoods and Vernons could rest on results in games in which my son took part.
There were several more high profile match fixing scandals in British football over the years and last month a leading Rangers player was suspended for betting on football matches, including, it is alleged, some games in which he played and bet against his own team. The manager director of Accrington Stanley has admitted on his own website that he made over 200 bets on his own side, including 37 when he had backed them to lose. Remember Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh when playing for cricket for Australia against England in 1981 or Shane Warne and Mark Waugh and ‘John the bookmaker’ or Hanse Cronje in South Africa. Some of these may be regarded as small beer compared with the millions wagered in betting coups in Asia, where the sums generated allow for the suborning of players all round the world, particularly in lower leagues. But the principles involved are exactly the same.
Overnight, the VPL - a ghost-like competition haunting the fringes of Melbourne sport and whose existence the mainstream mediahas been happy to ignore - has become front page news and first-up news on the radio. Last night the commercial news channels used footage from SMTV, MFootball and the Melbourne Knights TV show to provide vision for their stories because the only thing in the MSM sokkah archive is grainy footage of wogs rioting and Archie Thompson punching corner flags.
The cancer of match-fixing and gambling has been alleged in 2nd tier Victorian soccer. The Southern Stars are the focus and who knows how far the disease has spread. It's a devastating blow for those of us who follow state league soccer and it's hard to predict where the story will take us.
One of the reasons we know so little about this stuff in a public sense is that the mainstream media has abdicated its responsibility to cover elite Victorian soccer in the Australian winter. A big shock in all of this for many casually interested sports fans might well be the revelation that there is actually a semi-professional league of decent standing operating in Victoria. If one relied on the Age and its top soccer writer Michael Lynch, one might have no idea soccer was even being played in Victoria during the winter.
So while Lynch and the Age sports desk have been asleep at the wheel a rotten culture has been flourished without comment or investigation - from a sports angle. Of course, other journalists from other desks have been beavering away. Nick McKenzie, Nino Bucci and Richard Baker and others from the Age have clearly been working very hard on the story. Indeed McKenzie and Baker are the ones who broke it.
John Silvester foreshadowed the story in February this year. In his article 'Match-fix gangs set sights on Australia' he wrote: "Police fear international match-fixing syndicates are grooming Australian sports stars as part of long-term plans to infiltrate local competitions." The only thing he got wrong there was the tense because clearly the grooming process was well underway. Yet, in keeping with the general ignorance of the VPL, Silvester's article shows how many commentators missed the point: "Organised crime experts have identified A-League soccer and Big Bash cricket as likely targets of Asian crime cartels." The article's accompanying checklist (reproduced right) just shows the extent of the failure to comprehend.
Those of us on the ground have laughed for nearly a decade now about what some of us mischievously call "dodgy-Asian-betting" whereby soccer fans have been recruited to give frequent live action and score updates of A League and VPL games to Asian betting organisations. A general weary acceptance that something is not quite right seems to infect the whole culture. An engaged soccer journalist on-the-ground would have known about this.
Silvester also raised credulity issues when he commented today that "No one could work out why the second-tier soccer side filled with internationals could play so badly." He is, as they say, 'avin a larf. No-one would accuse any of the Southern Stars players of being internationals in any sense other than the one one implied in their possession of British passports. No-one. Just no-one paying serious attention to the VPL ever considered the Stars matter in the terms suggested by Silvester.
I note that Michael Lynch said something similar about Silvester's argument in his piece today, a belated attempt to bring his audience up to speed on the VPL. For Lynch "Crowds at VPL games are small – sometimes only a couple of hundred people – and interest desultory." The standard is also ordinary, apparently:
It is a competition made up of players who have, for the most part, fallen short of what is required to play at professional level in most well funded national leagues: the wannabe, might-have-been and never-will-be alongside the odd former big name who is now in the evening of his career and playing either for fun or a final contract at a level well below the heights he might have once scaled.
Well I beg to differ. In a bums-on-seats sense it's more popular than the VFL and Lynch sells the quality a little short. The reality is that Lynch, by virtue of his failure to attend anything but a mere handful of games, is not qualified to comment on either.
Lynch is, unfortunately, the best of a bad bunch on a sports desk that is simply unable and/or unwilling to understand the place soccer has in Victorian culture. More than 50,000 people play soccer every week in Victoria yet our mainstream media fails to acknowledge even by scant reference their commitment and passion except when the occasional scandal of violence or corruption erupts. The Age, for example, can't even be bothered regularly to publish the weekend classified results listing on a Monday morning. Last night it took me three minutes to get this up. (It's a question of will and commitment.)
Scandals will arise in all sports because sports ultimately reflect the wider society. Unfortunately when soccer scandals erupt in Victoria the media has little ability to make sense of what is occurring because it has little comprehension of the culture about which it is trying to make sense.
Men's Victorian Premier League : ROUND 21: Bentleigh Greens 4 Green Gully Cavaliers 1(HT: 2-0) , Richmond 0 Southern Stars 0(HT: 0-0) , Dandenong Thunder 0 Port Melbourne Sharks 2(HT: 0-2) , South Melbourne 1 Northcote City 1(HT: 0-0) , Hume City 1 Melbourne Knights 2(HT: 0-0) , Oakleigh Cannons 1 Pascoe Vale 2(HT: 1-2)
Men's Victorian Premier League Under 21s: ROUND 21: Bentleigh Greens 1 Green Gully Cavaliers 1(HT: 0-0) , Richmond 6 Southern Stars 0(HT: 0-0) , South Melbourne 0 Northcote City 2(HT: 0-0)
Women's Premier League : ROUND 21: Casey Comets FC 4 Ashburton Womens SC 0(HT: 1-0) , Bundoora United FC 2 Sandringham SC 3 (S. Catley 1, C. Parton 1, E. Gleadell 1)(HT: 0-1) , Heidelberg United SC 3 Cairnlea FC 0(HT: 3-0) , South Melbourne Womens FC 1 Box Hill United SC 2(HT: 1-1) , EAP 3 Preston Lions FC 0(HT: 2-0) , Altona City SC 0 FC Bulleen Lions 3(HT: 0-0)
Women's Premier League Reserves: ROUND 21: Casey Comets FC 3 Ashburton Womens SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Bundoora United FC 1 Sandringham SC 3 (R. Burke 2, I. Tait 1)(HT: 0-0) , Heidelberg United SC 3 Cairnlea FC 0(HT: 0-0) , South Melbourne Womens FC 3 Box Hill United SC 0(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 1: ROUND 21: North Geelong Warriors SC 2 Heidelberg United SC 1(HT: 0-1) , Box Hill United SC 1 Werribee City FC 1(HT: 0-1)
Men's State League 1 Under 21s: ROUND 21: Box Hill United SC 3 Werribee City FC 2(HT: 0-0) , North Geelong Warriors SC 3 Heidelberg United SC 2(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 2 North-West: ROUND 21: La Trobe University SC 3 (L. Lavalle 2, N. Vissaris 1) Westgate FC 4(HT: 2-0) , Brunswick City SC 0 Moreland City SC 1(HT: 0-1) , Whittlesea Ranges FC 0 Avondale Heights SC 2(HT: 0-0) , Ballarat Red Devils SC 0 Sydenham Park SC 4(HT: 0-3) , Altona East Phoenix SC 2 Keilor Park SC 2 (S. Sacco 2)(HT: 0-0) , Preston Lions FC 2 Fitzroy City SC 3(HT: 1-1) , Brunswick City SC Avondale Heights SC (HT: 0-0) (Washed Out)
Men's State League 2 North-West Reserves: ROUND 21: La Trobe University SC 5 (O. Mora-Huertas 1, S. Beesley 1, C. Clark 1, C. Fakos 1, A. Faust 1) Westgate FC 4(HT: 0-0) , Brunswick City SC 1 (P. Marra 1) Moreland City SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Whittlesea Ranges FC 6 Avondale Heights SC 1(HT: 2-1) , Ballarat Red Devils SC 3 Sydenham Park SC 2(HT: 1-1) , Altona East Phoenix SC 0 Keilor Park SC 1 (M. Mohamed 1)(HT: 0-0) , Preston Lions FC 1 Fitzroy City SC 4(HT: 0-0) , Brunswick City SC Avondale Heights SC (HT: 0-0) (Washed Out)
Men's State League 2 South-East: ROUND 21: Springvale White Eagles FC 1 Dandenong City SC 0(HT: 1-0) , Doveton SC 0 Kingston City FC 5(HT: 0-2) , Morwell Pegasus SC 7 South Springvale SC 3(HT: 2-2) , Noble Park United FC 2 Langwarrin SC 3(HT: 2-0) , Diamond Valley United SC 1 Mornington SC 0(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 2 South-East Reserves: ROUND 21: Springvale White Eagles FC 0 Dandenong City SC 4(HT: 0-0) , Doveton SC 1 Kingston City FC 5(HT: 0-0) , Morwell Pegasus SC 2 South Springvale SC 3(HT: 0-0) , Noble Park United FC 3 Langwarrin SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Diamond Valley United SC 2 Mornington SC 2(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 3 North-West: ROUND 23: Moreland United SC 0 Sunbury United FC 2 (S. Ocallaghan 1, M. Creswick 1)(HT: 0-1) , Geelong SC 0 North Sunshine Eagles SC 3(HT: 0-1) ROUND 21: Yarraville FC Seniors 0 Westvale SC 0(HT: 0-0) , North Sunshine Eagles SC 4 Altona City SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Hume United FC 0 Sunbury United FC 1(HT: 0-1) , Banyule City SC 1 Geelong SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Melbourne University SC 2 (A. King 1, W. Osborn 1) Moreland United SC 2(HT: 1-1) , Cairnlea FC 1 Sporting Whittlesea FC 0(HT: 0-0) , North Sunshine Eagles SC Moreland United SC (HT: 0-0) (Washed Out)
Men's State League 3 North-West Reserves: ROUND 24: Moreland United SC 0 Sunbury United FC (Reserves) 2 (M. Hales 2)(HT: 0-1) , Geelong SC 1 (N. Di Blasi 1) North Sunshine Eagles SC 5(HT: 0-0) ROUND 21: Yarraville FC Reserves 2 Westvale SC 1(HT: 0-0) , North Sunshine Eagles SC 2 Altona City SC 3(HT: 0-0) , Hume United FC 1 Sunbury United FC (Reserves) 4(HT: 0-0) , Banyule City SC 2 Geelong SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Melbourne University SC 3 Moreland United SC 3(HT: 0-0) , Cairnlea FC 3 Sporting Whittlesea FC 0(HT: 0-0) , North Sunshine Eagles SC Moreland United SC (HT: 0-0) (Washed Out)
Men's State League 3 South-East: ROUND 21: Nunawading City FC 14 Springvale City SC 0(HT: 8-0) , Frankston Pines FC 3 Beaumaris SC 4(HT: 1-3) , Old Scotch SC 0 Doncaster Rovers SC 2(HT: 0-1) , Peninsula Strikers Senior FC 0 Berwick City SC 1 (D. Ventieri 1)(HT: 0-1) , Heatherton United SC 3 Warragul United SC 1(HT: 1-0) , North Caulfield Senior FC 2 Casey Comets FC 2(HT: 1-1)
Men's State League 3 South-East Reserves: ROUND 21: Springvale City SC Berwick City SC (HT: 0-0) (Washed Out) , Nunawading City FC 5 Springvale City SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Frankston Pines FC 2 Beaumaris SC 0(HT: 2-0) , Old Scotch SC 2 Doncaster Rovers SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Peninsula Strikers Senior FC 2 (J. Wrobel 1, M. Wilson 1) Berwick City SC 2(HT: 1-1) , Heatherton United SC 2 Warragul United SC 1(HT: 0-0) , North Caulfield Senior FC 5 Casey Comets FC 2(HT: 4-2)
Men's State League 4 North: ROUND 21: Whittlesea United SC 1 Lalor United FC 2(HT: 0-0) , Plenty Valley Lions FC 2 Old Carey SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Collingwood City FC 3 Northern Falcons SC 3(HT: 1-2) , Heidelberg Stars SC 2 (A. Ofosu 2) Upfield SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Northern Roosters FC 5 Darebin United SC 2(HT: 2-0)
Men's State League 4 North Reserves: ROUND 21: Whittlesea United SC 1 Lalor United FC 2(HT: 0-0) , Plenty Valley Lions FC 0 Old Carey SC 4(HT: 0-0) , Collingwood City FC 1 Northern Falcons SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Heidelberg Stars SC 2 Upfield SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Northern Roosters FC 3 Darebin United SC 2(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 4 West : ROUND 21: Maribyrnong Greens SC 3 Brunswick Zebras FC 2(HT: 0-0) , Corio SC 4 (Y. Mantzaridis 1, V. Stojanovic 1, G. Grigg 1, T. Madzikanda 1) Essendon Royals SC 1(HT: 3-0) , Williamstown SC 2 FC Strathmore 1(HT: 1-0) , Hoppers Crossing SC 3 (L. Mcdermott 2, K. Sherzai 1) Bell Park SC 2(HT: 2-0) , Essendon United FC 2 Surf Coast FC 0(HT: 0-0) , Geelong Rangers SC 2 (R. Clayson 1, A. Ingham 1) Western Eagles SC 1(HT: 1-1)
Men's State League 4 West Reserves: ROUND 21: Maribyrnong Greens SC 2 Brunswick Zebras FC 2(HT: 0-0) , Corio SC 2 (A. Luczo 1, A. Vuksa 1) Essendon Royals SC 0(HT: 2-0) , Williamstown SC 2 FC Strathmore 3(HT: 0-0) , Hoppers Crossing SC 0 Bell Park SC 2(HT: 0-1) , Essendon United FC 1 Surf Coast FC 2(HT: 0-0) , Geelong Rangers SC 1 (H. Marsden 1) Western Eagles SC 3(HT: 0-0) , Brunswick Zebras FC Western Eagles SC (HT: 0-0) (Washed Out) ROUND 22: Essendon United FC Essendon Royals SC (HT: 0-0) (Washed Out)
Men's State League 4 South: ROUND 21: Caulfield United Cobras SC 5 Skye United FC 1(HT: 1-0) , Sandringham SC 2 (C. Neales 1, C. Mccaffrey 1) Seaford United SC 1 (D. Greening 1)(HT: 2-1) , Old Brighton Grammarians SC 0 Elwood City SC 2(HT: 0-2) , Bayside Argonauts FC 6 Hampton Park United Sparrows FC 0(HT: 3-0) , Keysborough SC 1 Endeavour United SC 1(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 4 South Reserves: ROUND 21: Old Brighton Grammarians SC 5 (C. Gantonas 3, M. Kurek 1, A. Walker 1) South Yarra SC 6(HT: 1-4) , Caulfield United Cobras SC 5 Skye United FC 0(HT: 2-0) , Sandringham SC 1 (B. Rosenberg 1) Seaford United SC 3 (G. Wright 2, A. Roberts 1)(HT: 0-0) , Old Brighton Grammarians SC 0 Elwood City SC 3(HT: 0-0) , Bayside Argonauts FC 4 (J. Dimitropoulos 2, T. Boyd 1, J. Perry 1) Hampton Park United Sparrows FC 0(HT: 2-0) , Keysborough SC 0 Endeavour United SC 5(HT: 0-2)
Men's State League 4 East: ROUND 21: Monbulk Rangers SC 1 (P. O'Loughlin 1) Riversdale SC 2 (K. Crnic 2)(HT: 0-1) , Knox City FC 2 Old Melburnians SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Rowville Eagles SC 1 (N. Salamandic 1) Old Camberwell Grammarians SC 1(HT: 0-1) , Brandon Park SC 1 (M. Avram 1) Ashburton United SC 1 (A. Ciavarella 1)(HT: 0-0) , Waverley Wanderers SC 2 Monash University SC 1 (N. Burris 1)(HT: 1-0) , Croydon City Arrows SC 0 Mooroolbark Senior SC 3 (A. Doughty 1, B. Adams 1, L. Killen 1)(HT: 0-1) Men's State League 4 East Reserves: ROUND 21: Monbulk Rangers SC 2 (K. Storey 1, D. Hayton 1) Riversdale SC 1 (B. Loveless 1)(HT: 1-1) , Knox City FC 4 Old Melburnians SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Rowville Eagles SC 0 Old Camberwell Grammarians SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Brandon Park SC 1 (D. Sutera 1) Ashburton United SC 3(HT: 1-0) , Waverley Wanderers SC 0 Monash University SC 5 (R. Gill 1, N. Gardner 1, E. Tasker 1, S. Woff 1, M. Kenyi 1)(HT: 0-3) , Croydon City Arrows SC 0 Mooroolbark Senior SC 2 (L. House 1, D. Shields 1)(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 5 North: ROUND 21: Mitchell Rangers SC 2 West Preston SC 2(HT: 0-0) , Bundoora United FC 9 Oak Park SC 0(HT: 4-0) , Meadow Park Eagles SC 1 Parkville Panthers FC 2 (A. Elmi 1, A. Mohamud 1)(HT: 0-2) , Light United SC 1 Watsonia Heights FC 1(HT: 0-1) , Northern United SC 1 Heidelberg Eagles SC 7(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 5 North Reserves: ROUND 21: Meadow Park Eagles SC 1 Mill Park SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Mitchell Rangers SC 1 West Preston SC 3(HT: 0-0) , Bundoora United FC 9 Oak Park SC 0(HT: 0-0) , Meadow Park Eagles SC 1 Parkville Panthers FC 1(HT: 0-0) , Light United SC 2 Watsonia Heights FC 1(HT: 2-0) , Northern United SC 3 Heidelberg Eagles SC 7(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 5 West: ROUND 24: Melbourne Tornado SC 0 Melton Phoenix FC 5(HT: 0-3) ROUND 21: Spring Hills FC 2 (N. Georgopoulos 1, A. Soumbassis 1) Melbourne Tornado SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Keilor Wolves SC 0 Greenvale United SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Lara SC 2 (K. Moore 1, B. Houston 1) Melbourne Lions SC 3(HT: 0-0) , Altona North SC 3 Melton Phoenix FC 3 (C. Briggs 2, C. Velasquez 1)(HT: 2-1) , Sebastopol Vikings SC 3 Sunshine Heights Western Tigers FC 0(HT: 0-0) , Melbourne City FC 2 Point Cook FC 4 (J. Spiteri 2, D. Tiatto 1, L. Etiennette 1)(HT: 2-2) , Brimbank Stallions FC 5 Truganina Hornets S. SC 0(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 5 West Reserves: ROUND 24: Melbourne Tornado SC 0 Melton Phoenix FC 4(HT: 0-0) ROUND 21: Spring Hills FC 0 Melbourne Tornado SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Keilor Wolves SC 3 Greenvale United SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Lara SC 3 (N. Maxwell 1, N. Tyrrell 1, P. Volpe 1) Melbourne Lions SC 2(HT: 0-0) , Altona North SC 2 Melton Phoenix FC 5 (J. Borg 3, Z. Busuttil 1, M. Clarke 1)(HT: 0-2) , Sebastopol Vikings SC 3 Sunshine Heights Western Tigers FC 0(HT: 0-0) , Brimbank Stallions FC 3 Truganina Hornets R. SC 1(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 5 South: ROUND 21: White Star Dandenong SC 0 Noble Park SC 5(HT: 0-2) , St Kilda SC 4 Baxter SC 2 (V. Porto 2)(HT: 3-2) , Prahran City Football Club 1 Lyndale United SC 4(HT: 1-3) , Harrisfield Hurricanes SC 0 Sandown Lions FC 3(HT: 0-0) , Endeavour Hills SC 0 Old Mentonians SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Parkmore SC 0 White Star Dandenong SC 1(HT: 0-0)
Men's State League 5 South Reserves: ROUND 21: White Star Dandenong SC 0 Noble Park SC 5(HT: 0-0) , St Kilda SC 4 Baxter SC 0(HT: 3-0) , Prahran City Football Club 1 Lyndale United SC 7(HT: 1-2) , Harrisfield Hurricanes SC 0 Sandown Lions FC 3(HT: 0-0) , Endeavour Hills SC 2 Old Mentonians SC 2(HT: 0-0) , Parkmore SC 2 White Star Dandenong SC 4(HT: 1-2)
Men's State League 5 East: ROUND 21: Ringwood City FC 0 Eltham Redbacks FC 3 (A. Nai 3)(HT: 0-1) , Mazenod United FC 5 Old Xaverians SC 1(HT: 4-0) , Whitehorse United SC 1 (T. Coghill 1) University of Melbourne SC 1(HT: 0-0) , Glen Waverley SC 1 Old Ivanhoe Grammarians SC 1(HT: 0-1)
Women's State League 1: SEMI FINALS: Boroondara Eagles FC 3 (L. Barrett 3) Doncaster Rovers SC 1(HT: 2-1)
One more example of the thing that doesn't happen: violence between AFL supporters, this time after the Carlton v Richmond Final.-- has inspired me to update this piece. Enjoy, or not.
We are led to believe that violence in Australian rules crowds is unusual and random. Violent incidents are not seen to represent a significant or consistent pattern of behaviour. Even if this is largely true today then we still need to account for the fact that violent behaviour has occurred consistently for well over 100 years in Australian rules football crowds at the elite levels and below. From revolvers being fired by policemen frightened of unruly crowds to bashings on a collective or individual scale, footy crowd violence is infrequent but not as rare as some would have it.
June 1924. While not typical, this is not a unique event.
The following is from 1948, reported in, of all places, the Charters Towers paper, The Northern Miner: It suggests a rising tide of crowd violence in Melbourne at the time.
FootballViolence
Brawls in Melbourne
MELBOURNE, May 15.
Three brawls occurred during a football match between Port Melbourne and Williamstown at Port Melbourne today. Foot and mounted police escorted the umpire from the ground after the match. Two of the brawls. were between players, and one between spectators.
Just before the interval rough play developed into a free-for-all, involving nearly half the players. Trainers and a boundary umpire broke it up, while the remaining players continued the game. Another ugly scene followed a collision between two players. An umpire intervened.At the same time, some of the spectators began to fight They were quelled by police. Other examples of violence at Melbournefootball in the past month have been:
On April 17, detectives were bashed by a mob of 200 outside South Melbourne Cricket Ground.
On April 24, police with batons, and a mounted constable, had to intervene to break up a brawl which developed in the outer ground during the last minutes of the Carlton-Fitzroy Victorian Football League game.
On May 1. after Preston had beaten Prahran at the Australian Rules Association match at Prahran, police with batons had to protect Umpire J. Egan from 300 angry Prahran barrackers.
Oh for youtube in the 1920s and 1940s! Indeed, the youtube era has allowed us to see some fairly ugly moments up close. The brawl below is from a pre-season cup game at Docklands in 2009.
To be fair the police in this clip seem utterly incompetent, understaffed and unable to nip the escalating brawl in the bud.
This one from 2011 is more contained, being between two Hawthorn fans at Subiaco.
Ian Warren suggested nearly 20 years ago in 'Violence in Sport - The Australian context' that violence was a constant in Australian rules crowds even id the determinants of that violence changed over time.
In the first half of the Twentieth century it was often connected with fans taking umbrage at perceived player violence against other players.
Participant violence in Australian Rules persisted, but declined dramatically during this period [1940-1982]. In the years during and after the War several games were characterised by recurring violence among players which led to minor intrusions onto the arena by spectators.
Warren argued that there are historical phases of violence in footy crowds which map onto social developments. Since 1940 the tendency to mass violence has been effectively mitigated:
an increased and more systematic police presence at football venues meant that the nature of crowd disorder was mainly confined to minor incidents amongst the crowd itself.
The majority of on field instances were sporadic in nature and occurred with far less frequency than in previous times. Data collection is incomplete for this period, but it appears that of the 12,000 VFL and VFA games played during this time, only 10 were characterised by major participant and spectator disorder. Most of these occurred in a series of violent matches in 1945, where the VFL final series in particular saw a number of deliberate assaults being committed by players which "disgusted" members of the crowd (Argus, 1 October 1945).
Since the end of the war, isolated examples aside, footy violence has lost its sense of mass and/or collective disorder. Policing and crowd control methods as well as new social attitudes have tended to eliminate the possibility of older form of collective violent action. When violence does occur. the periodic, observed brutality has been of the short, sharp and isolated kind in the main - though when the lights went off at VFL Park in the mid-1990s the spectre of mass, anarchic disorder seemed clearly to be haunting the culture.
Interestingly, the commentators (the usual suspects) seem perhaps a little pleased that the punters could behave in such an anarchic manner. Perhaps this pleasure over a bit of large scale disobedience is a nostalgic hankering for the golden days of large scale brawls and riots at the footy.
Yet footy fans don't need the cover of darkness to reveal their nastier elements. Only a few years earlier, poor police preparation had been a significant factor in a particularly violent encounter between Collingwood and Essendon during which at least 20 "mini-brawls" erupted around the ground. A police spokesman referred to earlier violent games during the season but suggested that this was by far the worst.
Police 'not Ready For Footy Brawls' Sue Hewitt 26 July 1992 Sunday Age
POLICE yesterday admitted they were unprepared for the brawls at Friday night's Collingwood-Essendon game that led to 180 people being evicted from the MCG and 11 arrests.
The police field commander, Senior Sergeant John Fraser, said yesterday that it was the worst violence he had seen at a match this year. He said he would be seeking to double police strength at MCG matches and would discuss with his superiors further restrictions on alcohol sold at the ground.
Fighting inside the ground started at 6.30 when four to five people brawled behind the eastern goals. Four police were injured. Police reported several other incidents, including a fight in the Keith Miller bar in the Great Southern Stand where, it was alleged, a broken glass was used.
More than 88,000 fans, the biggest crowd for a home-and-away game this season, watched Collingwood defeat Essendon by 22 points.
Senior Sergeant Fraser said there were times when he feared for the safety of the public and police. Twenty "mini-brawls'' erupted around the ground in areas normally trouble-free.
Seventy police were on duty to control a crowd that had been estimated would reach 70,000. They were unprepared for the 88,000 turnout, he said.
Senior Sergeant Fraser said there had been a few fights at the Collingwood-Carlton centennial match and at the first night game between North Melbourne and Carlton on 10 April, but Friday night's violence was worse.
The Opposition spokesman on police matters, Mr Pat McNamara, yesterday blamed a statewide police shortage for the problems.
The conclusion we can reach is that it is patently untrue that that Australian Rules Football is conducted in an atmosphere of universal, good-natured tolerance. Historically, footy crowds were as capable of unruliness, disruption and discontent as any other sports crowd.
The following examples are from recent crowd trouble in AFL, with one from South Australian local footy. When footy commentators reject the idea of violence at the footy they are in effect ignoring the pattern and significance of such moments of thuggery. But the ultimate truth is I suspect that many don't really have any problem with what is happening because these examples are 'appropriate' expressions of limited and controllable passion.
1) The following image is of a man who was bashed in the lift at the St Kilda-Richmond match at Etihad stadium in June 2012. It's the kind of image that points to the existence of behaviour that many footy commentators refuse to acknowledge. The fact that it happened in a lift speaks unintentionally of the invisibility of footy violence.
2) The following image is of a Carlton supporter who was bashed by Collingwood supporters outside the MCG in April 2011. The victim had admonished a group of men who were abusing some older spectators and was "brutally attacked from behind leaving him with extensive injuries including a broken jaw, several smashed teeth and temporary blindness in his right eye."
4) Collingwood supporters are unfairly characterised by many as being 'feral' and unruly. This video footage is from a game at the MCG when some Collingwood supporters turned on each other suggests that occasionally that reputation may have been justly earned.
Yet none of that which goes before should take away from the fact that there are a hell of a lot of footy spectators who don't cause trouble, 10s of thousands in fact. And it would be a mistake to tar all footy supporters with the brush of their game's thuggish moments. Is it too much to ask that that kind of consideration be extended to other sports and activities?
Anyone keen to trace the long history of such behaviour might like to follow the links below to the National Library of Australia's digital newspaper collection. It's only a fraction of what is available (from such relatively minor examples as egg throwing and intense verbal abuse through to police and umpire bashing, large supporter brawls and the use of firearms) and the collection stops in the mid 1950s, but it makes interesting reading while demolishing the idea that footy crowds have rarely been violent.
