Hobart Football 1877-1879

Notes taken Monday 24 May 2010 at State library of Tasmania.

These are the notes I took and a table I drew up after visiting the library. I think that I recorded nearly all of the football games reported on in Hobart in the 1877–79 period.

Newspapers in Hobart (not incl Mercury) during that time
1877–79 Tasmanian Tribune, Tasmanian Mail
1879 Evening Star

I went through and listed all the games of football I could find in the randomly chosen Tasmanian Mail (a weekly published on Saturday). I also noted any peculiar or interesting information. The list is not completely thorough and the holding needs revisiting.

Tasmanian Mail (nb reports are on matches played the previous Saturday – unless noted otherwise)

Date of article	Date of game	Page	Game	Code (if indicated)	Score	Notes
4 Aug 1877		18	New Town v High School		1-0
1 Sep 1877		19	New Town v High School		0-10
1 Sep 1877		19	Richmond v City		0-0	‘It is only fair to say that they [City] were at a great disadvantage in having to make the great concession to their opponents of not “running with the ball.”’ [Richmond at this time play a non-running game.]
8 Sep 1877		18	Junior High v Hutchins School		17-0	Played previous Wednesday. Supposed to be U14 but HS had a number of over age players
8 Sep 1877		18	City School v City Club juniors		2-4	Football seems to peter out in September
11 May 1878		18	City FC scratch match			Played at Sandy Bay. Several goals kicked.
18 May 1878		17	City v City School			Poor turnout
1 June 1878		18				Report on the death of an English footballer in England.
8 June 1878		18	City snr v City Jr		5-1	11 v 16
15 Jun 1878		18	City v High School		5-0	First game of season
15 Jun 1878		18				Report on England v Scotland FA match – notable because of the way the description of the game differs from the local description.
22 June 1878		17	City v Collegiate School		7-1	Supplemented by a long piece on football controversy in Adelaide.
29 June 1878		19	City v Richmond		2-1	‘The Richmond team were evidently placed at a disadvantage by the novelty of the mark rule of which they made acquaintance for the first time.’ [We can conclude from this that Richmond play a non-running, non-marking game at this time – or that their mark is from another code]
20 July  1878		18	Lawyers & Merchants v Civil Servants & Bankers	Refs to “little marking” and drop kicking.	3-1	Played at Mr Butler’s Ground. Wales v Scotland FA report supplements.
20 July 1878		18				Report on England v Scotland FA match
27 July 1878		18	City School v New Town		2-0
27 July 1878		18	High school 3rd form v High School 2nd form		4-2	12 v 25
10 Aug 1878		17	City jr v Hutchins School	Refs to “carrying”	3-2	On Butler’s ground
17 Aug 1878		17	City v High School		3-1	“City v Richmond to be played this day.”
24 Aug 1878		17	Richmond v City	Playing the mark	0-1	By ‘Old Harrovian’. Announces games to come: City jr v Hutchins Aug 25 Fancy Costume match Sep 7
31 Aug 1878		18	Hutchins v City jr		2-0
31 Aug 1878		18	Richmond Jr v Tea Tree		7-0
31 Aug 1878		18	Launceston v Horton College		1-0	Played in Ross: “The first football match that has ever been played in the township.”
7 Sep 1878		18	City jr v Hutchins School		4-2
14 Sep 1878		17	Civil Servants & Bankers v Lawyers & Merchants		2-0
14 Sep 1878		17	Richmond v Oatlands		0-1
21 Sep 1878		17	New Town v City School		2-0
21 Sep 1878		17	Costume football match
Mercury 28 April 1879		2		Soccer +		City Club “The committee recommended the adoption of a fresh code of playing rules, as the present code entirely prevented the club from meeting any foreign team, recommending those of the English Football Association, with the addition of the drop kick. Captain Boddam was appointed captain!!
10 May 1879		19				City Club receives a request from Hotham to play in Tasmania. “Such an attention . . . from Victoria will demonstrate the necessity for the formation of an Association, uniformity of rules . . . The article suggests that rancour exits between the Hobart clubs formed. The Cricketers’ Football Club at their May 5 meeting adopted the English Association Rules. The vote was 10-9! Boddam and seconder preferred Rugby but realised the rules were too ‘complex’. [suggesting their motives are imperialist]. They were derisory in relation to Victorian Rules. New Town FC adopted VR with some modifications [indeed!]
17 May 1879		18				Railway Club adopts VR – but confusions reigns Railway, City – VR New Town – modified VR Cricketers – EAR
24 May 1879		19	New Town v High School		1-1	Opening game of season. Also – Mercury Club emerges. Reference to “Locomotives” [ahh Locomotiv Glenorchy – if only!]
31 May 1879		19	New Town v Cricketers	modified VR spherical ball	5-1	“hybred character of the New Town game, which while allowing handling the ball, prohibits it being carried so that a player catching the ball, must stand positively to be knocked down by an opponent charging him, for if he moves a yard to dodge him, a “free kick” is the penalty”.  The writer is scathing about the rules which he sees as a mockery of the Victorian game. City Club “maintain their in cognito” and play a scratch match.
31 May 1879		19	Hich School v Railway		1-1
7 June 1879		19	New Town v City	Oval ball	2-2	Clashed on rules
7 June 1879		19	City jr v City School		3-0	Railway scratch.
14 June 1879		19	Railway v City		1-0
14 June 1879		19	Cricketers v New Town	Soccer	0-0	“Morriss for the New Town causing special amusement by playing the ball with his head.” The writer complains of the ‘absurdity’ of the keeper being allowed to throw the ball.
21 June 1879		19	City v High School		1-3
21 June 1879			New Town v Hutchins		1-2	8 v 9
21 June 1879			Mercury Juniors v Battery Point Public School		2-0
21 June 1879		19	Oatlands v N Richmond	CNA	0-2
21 June 1879		19				Report on the first meeting of the Association on June 12 – where VR are adopted with one or two exceptions – one of which is a crossbar over which the ball must pass. The writer argues that Tasmanian Rules has emerged – a “hodge podge of the Rugby Union, English, and Victorian Rules”. The executive decided after the meeting to add the crossbar! Accusations of the committee being a “Star Chamber”
28 June 1879		19	Cricketers v Railway	Cross bar uniform	1-0
28 June 1879			City v New Town		1-0
28 June 1879			Battery Point PS  v Mercury Juniors		2-1
5 July 1879		19	New Town v Cricketers		4-1	Boddam scored for the cricketers. Notice that Launceston will play Richmond in mid July.
12 July 1879		19	Railway v City		1-2
12 July 1879			Cricketers v Richmond		0-0
12 July 1879			Longford v Launceston		1-4
19 July 1879		19	City v Cricketers		0-1	Unclear whether the ball is a “sphere” or an “oval”
19 July 1879			Railway v New Town		1-1
19 July 1879			Richmond v Launceston		1-0
26 July  1879		18	Cricketers v Railway		1-2
26 July  1879			New Town v City		1-1	New Town may have won. The report is contradictory.
2 Aug 1879		19	Yachy Club v Rowing Club	“new rules”	0-1
2 Aug 1879			City jr v Railway jr		3-0
2 Aug 1879			New Town jr v Hutchins School		1-2
9 Aug 1879		18	Hutchins School v High School		12-0
9 Aug 1879			City jr v City School		0-0
9 Aug 1879			Oatlands v City		1-2
16 Aug 1879		18	Richmond v City		1-2
16 Aug 1879			Railway v High School		2-1
16 Aug 1879			Mercury jr v Battery Point		2-2
23 Aug 1879		18	Railway v Launceston		0-0
23 Aug 1879			High School v City		0-2
23 Aug 1879			Hutchins School v City jr		3-0
23 Aug 1879			Mercury v Trinity Scholars		2-1
30 Aug 1879		19	Cricketers v Railway		5-1	Notice of New Norfolk v Railway Aug 30 Hutchins v Ross (????) Sep 6
30 Aug 1879			New Town v City		2-2
30 Aug 1879			Mercury jr v Tribune jr		2-0
6 Sep 1879		17	New Norfolk v Railway		0-10
13 Sep 1879		19	New Town v Railway		4-0
13 Sep 1879			City v Oatland		1-0
13 Sep 1879			Horton v Hutchins		2-2	Played in Ross
20 Sep 1879		19	Launceston v Cricketers 13th		0-2	Notice of end-of-season game, Tasmanians v All-Comers on 27th.
20 Sep 1879			Launceston v Richmond 12th		0-2
27 Sep 1879		19	High School v City		1-0
27 Sep 1879			Horton v Ross School		14-0
4 Oct 1879		19	Tasmanians v All-Comers		3-0	4000 present at Battery Ground. Tas won. Notice of a game, Longford v All-Comers. [note to self that entire report is worth copying – can’t quite remember why – perhaps that it summarised the year and layed out plans for the future]
11 Oct 1879		20	Railway v All comers		4-1
Mercury, 29 September 1879		3				[This is noted as a summary to the three years previous] Mr. GIBLIN proposed the toast of the evening, "Success to the Tasmanian Football Association." (Loud and prolonged cheers.) There was not the least doubt that the game of football had taken such a hold of the young men of Hobart Town that season such as none of them could remember before. (Hear, hear.) It was a grand winter game. Many of them loved cricket with an intense love, but in our climate cricket could not be played all the year round, and there was no game to be compared to the manly old English game of football. (Cheers.) [I’m struck that even after all the shenanigans that they see themselves as playing an English game.]
May 15 1880		19	Railway v High School		1-6
May 22 1880		19	Cricketers v City		1-0	Cricketers captained by George Bailey!!
May 22 1880		19	New Norfolk v Railway		0-1