Apparently Sydney and Melbourne are playing for the 50 millionth time this season. I only bring this to your attention because I want to have a cheap internet attack on various groups. I don't think there's any real point that I'm trying to make, and if I am, it's as poorly as per usual. Mike Cockerill's article. The relevant part is below.
On the field, it's often been a war. Off the field, things can get even more heated. In cyberspace, and in open space, the fans bait each other incessantly. Sometimes they even hit each other. Pubs in Sydney, and in Melbourne, have borne the brunt. The long arm of the law usually gathers in the culprits. After a few hours in a paddy van, they're out and proud, their brief incarceration claimed as a badge of honour.
This is the way of football the world over. This is the character which defines the A-League's biggest rivalry. There was a time when Football Federation Australia tried to dampen down the fires. Heavy-handed security. Seating arrangements changed. CCTV cameras installed. It didn't work. It was never going to work. Now they have come to realise the emotion driven by the clubs, the players, and the fans, is a strength, not a weakness.
Competition between Australia and Canada got off to a flying start in 1924. The visiting Canadians played 6 Tests against Australia and 1 game against an Australian selection as well as a number of regional games. The Tests averaged an attendance of 8000, neither abysmal nor impressive. More impressive was the 20,000 that turned up to see NSW beat Canada 5-2.
By defeating, the strong team that represented Australia in the fifth test match at Adelaide, Canada has drawn level with Australia, and now divides the honours, each side having won two games, while the other one was a draw.
The results are as follows:
First test, at Brisbane, Australia won 3-2
Second test, at Sydney, Canada won 1-0
Third test, at Sydney, Australia won 4-1
Fourth test, at Newcastle, drawn, no score.
Fifth test, at Adelaide, Canada won 4-1
Action from Victoria v Canada at Fitzroy Cricket Ground, Wednesday 16 July 1924. The game was a 1-1 draw.
Remarkably, as the Courier reported, the goals for and against were even at 8 a-piece. This provided a reason for a further Test. Perhaps typically, this game was given to Sydney.
It will be seen that neither side even has an advantage in the matter of the goal average," for each has scored eight goals. This is a remarkable position and probably unprecedented in the history of sport.
The controlling authorities have now determined to stage a sixth test match to determine who will gain the "ashes" for the first series of international contests between Australia and Canada, and Sydney has been chosen as the venue.
The all-important match will, take place on Saturday, July 26th, and the Soccer authorities have made application for the Show Ground for that match.
Ozfootball shows that the deciding Test was won 1-0 by Australia.
Players and officials of the Canadian soccer team. The team played South Australia on 9 July 1924 winning 2-0 and Australia on 12 July 1924 winning 4-1. Back row L-R: R. (Dickie) Stobbart (Nanaimo), William (Bill) Linning (Lethbridge Veterans United), Leslie Ford (Regina Thistles), William Sanford (Montreal Blue Bonnets), George Forrest (Toronto Ulster United), Jack Armstrong (Vancouver St. Andrews). Middle row L-R: M. McLean (Calgary), H. Noseworthy (Montreal), Fred Dierden (Toronto Willys-Overland), Jim Wilson (Edmonton Royals), J. Hood (Brandon), Fred Bowman (Saskatoon Radials). Front row L-R: Robert (Bob) Harley, captain, (Winnipeg United Weston), James Adam manager (Victoria B.C.) Lord Mayor of Adelaide C.R.J. Glover, T. Thompson, president South Australian B.F. Association, W. Bellis (Adelaide South Australia).
Of course another (and perhaps more fundamental) reason a further Test was desirable was because the series had lost over £1100 and this was a chance to recoup some of those losses.
It was to be a long, long time before Australia met Canada again. In 1993, with World Cup qualification at stake, each country won 2-1 at home in a two-legged fixture before Mark Schwarzer pulled off his first set of penalty heroics for the country.
Unfortunately we were to be knocked out in the end by a 1-goal defeat over two legs at the hands of Argentina.
Then there was last night/this morning (depending on your location). Australia won 3-0, luckily according to some. Nine games. Five wins; three losses; one draw. Fifteen goals for; eleven against. It's a sparse tradition.
It is interesting that in the 89 years since the two nations met, the total number of games between them has not yet reached ten, even after playing 6 times in 1924. It says something about the changes over time in Australian soccer that at stages we have been very keen to play against teams from the Commonwealth -- we have a very rich history of games against New Zealand and South Africa. Yet today our focus is on qualifying the World Cup and to a lesser extent the Olympics so our opposition is chosen for strategic and not sentimental reasons. Our removal from the Oceania Confederation has sadly minimised the frequency of games against New Zealand, our most passionate contest.
1908 was the year of resurgence. Led by Harry Dockerty, the game came out of its slumbers in a series of meetings and practice matches ready for the upsurge in 1909. The British Association Football League of Victoria was formed in late July. By September 152 players has joined the association and usually 6 teams were able to be formed for practice games.
Saturday 25 July
Practice Matches at Middle Park (60 players involved at the first players gathering of the British Association Football League of Victoria)
Saturday 1 August
Practice Match 1 at Middle Park Practice Match 2 at Middle Park
Saturday 8 August
Practice Match 1 at Middle Park Practice Match 2 at Middle Park
Saturday 15 August
Victoria 6 SS Persic 1 at Middle Park B v C at Middle ParkD v E at Middle Park
Saturday 22 August
League def Kerr's Eleven at Middle Park Practice Match 1 at Middle ParkPractice Match 2 at Middle Park These games were advertised as follows 'League v. Dunlop Rubber Co., "A." v. Kerr's Eleven, and "C." v. "D.'
Monday 31 August
Victoria 4 HMS Powerful 1 at Richmond Cricket Ground
Saturday 5 September
Practice Match 1 at Middle ParkPractice Match 2 at Middle Park
Saturday 12 September
Scotland 3 England 0 at Middle Park Practice Match 1 at Middle ParkPractice Match 2 at Middle Park
Saturday 26 September
St. Kilda v. Albert park at Middle Park Carlton United v. Fitzroy at Middle Park Prahran v. South Melbourne at Middle Park
Saturday 3 October
Exhibition game "between two of the association's best elevens" at North Melbourne Cricket Ground (curtain-raiser for VJA football final)
The only games recorded in Victoria in 1902 are in Bendigo. The local English Association formed two teams, the As (playing in Cambridge and Oxford blues) and Bs (initially white then changing to Chocolate and Gold). The games lasted 75 or 80 minutes (including half time) and were played on a Wednesday, usually as a curtain raiser for the local Australian rules competition. The games below may not be a full list. I suspect one or two have been missed.
Wednesday 21 May
Ashley's team (A) 2 Hartley's team (B) 0 at Sydenham Gardens, Bendigo
Wednesday 28 May
Ashley's team (A) 1 Hartley's team (B) 0 at West Bendigo
