A new reason not to play soccer, from 1905

The Murrurundi Times and Liverpool Plains Gazette in 1905 found a reason to object to soccer that I have not seen before. It dilutes the strength of the other codes!
Sure it uses the old 'foreign money', 'poaching schoolboys', 'forcing the game on us' arguments, but this represents a new angle.

Once again I wish to protest against the attempt that is being made to force the 'Soccer' game down our throats. The endeavor has been a strenuous one, and what with the introduction of star Victorian teams to show us the trick, must cost the enthusiasts who are at the back of it no small amount of money. Even in our public schools there is a vigorous canvass to wean the youngsters from Rugby and run them on to the sister game. The idea is that in the next generation 'Soccer' will be the only game.That may be all right for the next generation, but it is hard on the present one. We were always a soft snap for any Rugby team that cared to come from any other country for the purpose of taking our scalps. But now that half of our best men are playing the other game we are not able to put a decent team in the field.The result is that both games are ruined. The Rugby play this season is not worth mentioning.

NPLVIC Round 24 and 22

NPL ROUND 24

• Bentleigh Greens SC 1 Oakleigh Cannons FC 4(HT 1-3)
• Pascoe Vale SC 0 Dandenong Thunder SC 0(HT 0-0)
• Green Gully SC 1 Port Melbourne Sharks SC 2(HT 0-0)
• Ballarat Red Devils SC 1 Werribee City FC 2(HT 0-0)
• Hume City FC 0 Heidelberg United SC 2(HT 0-0)
• Melbourne Knights FC 3 Goulburn Valley Suns FC 0(HT 3-0)  

NPL1 ROUND 22 

• Springvale White Eagles FC 2 FC Bendigo 1(HT 0-1)
• Dandenong City SC 0 Avondale Heights SC 2(HT 0-1)
• North Geelong Warriors FC 2 Whittlesea Ranges FC 0(HT 1-0) 
• Brunswick City SC 1 St Albans Saints SC 2(HT 0-1)
• Box Hill United SC 2 Sunshine George Cross SC 2 (HT 1-0)  

SHORT TABLES

NPL 

Pos Team                    P   W L D  F  A  GD PTS     

1   South Melbourne FC      23 19 2 2 51 18  33 59      
2   Oakleigh Cannons FC     23 17 2 4 57 16  41 55      

.......
   
11  Dandenong Thunder SC    24 7 12 5 27 4  -17 26      
12  Werribee City FC        24 8 14 2 28 49 -21 26      
13  Ballarat Red Devils SC  22 6 14 2 37 48 -11 20      
14  Goulburn Valley Suns FC 23 2 17 4 22 61 -39 10      


NPL1

Pos Team                  P  W  L D  F  A  GD PTS     

1   Avondale Heights SC   22 16 3 3 43 21  22 51      
2   North Geelong W FC    21 14 6 1 49 25  24 43      
3   St Albans Saints SC   22 13 5 4 40 25  15 40      

.......

10  Kingston City FC      21 8 11 2 42 38  4  26      
11  Springvale WE FC      22 7 12 3 40 52 -12 24      
12  FC Bendigo            21 5 12 4 33 46 -13 19      
13  Whittlesea Ranges FC  22 5 13 4 30 53 -23 19      
14  Brunswick City SC     22 3 18 1 24 79 -55 10      

Daniel Orbach, rising football media star?

Daniel Orbach, a year 12 student in Melbourne, has put together this short documentary video about the perception of soccer in the media and society generally. Technically it is excellent with great editing and very high quality footage. It moves from interview to interview in a smooth fashion without ever having to adopt a controlling narrative voice. The interviewees and footage used are allowed to tell the whole story.

The doco is probably not hard enough on the wannabee hool culture that still infects the game. But it does historicise the problems pretty well. (I would say that given that I am one of the interviewees!).

Have a look at the video and comment below if you see fit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2BR8cupkPk

10,000 people at the footy, July 1875

One thing that has always puzzled me is the assertion that high scoring leads to excitement and the popularity of a sport. This is an argument used against soccer (in which the average goals-per-game total is around 3). In Melbourne, high scoring is put forward as an explanation for the immense popularity of Australian rules football.

Yet, when we look back at the origins of the game we see a confusing fact. The scoring in the first 20 years or so of Australian rules tended to be similar to the scores in English Association football of the time. Indeed, it is possibly the case that more goals were scored in English football matches in the 1870s than there were in Australian rules matches around the same period.

This article, published in the Queenslander 31 July 1875, makes it clear that Victorian rules was a very popular code of football. The reported game between Melbourne and Carlton attracted a crowd of 10,000. Yet it resulted in the narrowest of 1-0 victories to Carlton. This fact did little to deter the writer from predicting 20,000 at the next week's game.

The principal football match of the season ; between the two crack clubs of the colony— Melbourne and Carlton—which I alluded to in my last as about to take place, resulted in a splendid game. There were about 10,000 persons present, who evinced the greatest degree of excitement in the struggle. The only goal obtained during the afternoon was kicked by Carlton in the first twenty minutes' play, and though this gave that club the victory, the Melbourne men had by far the best of the fight. The return match comes off next Saturday on the Melbourne ground, when there is bound to be 20,000 persons present. The Melbourne men have been hard at work practising since their defeat, and they are confident they will turn the tables on the victors in the next match.

It seems to me that a grievous historical error is made when the relatively high-scoring games of today or the recent historical past are used as an explanation of why footy became so popular. It was something else: the tussle; the opportunity to gather in support of your local team; the spectacle of violent contact—maybe all of these and more. One thing it was most definitely not was the game's reputedly high-scoring nature.

NPL results and tables Rounds 22 and 20

NPL

ROUND 20

• Bentleigh Greens SC 2 South Melbourne FC 1(HT: 0-0)  

ROUND 22

• Port Melbourne Sharks SC 0 Melbourne Knights FC 1 (S. Andrijasevic 1)(HT: 0-0)
• Green Gully SC 0 Hume City FC 1(HT: 0-1)
• Heidelberg United SC 2 Bentleigh Greens SC 2(HT: 0-0)
• Ballarat Red Devils SC 0 Dandenong Thunder SC 1(HT: 0-0)
• Goulburn Valley Suns FC 1 Northcote City FC 3(HT: 1-2)
• Oakleigh Cannons FC 3 Pascoe Vale SC 0(HT: 1-0) 

NPL1

ROUND 20

• Richmond SC Seniors  0 Avondale Heights SC 1(HT: 0-1)
• Springvale White Eagles FC 2 FC Bulleen Lions 2(HT: 1-1)
• Dandenong City SC 4 FC Bendigo 1(HT: 0-0)
• North Geelong Warriors FC 2 Sunshine George Cross SC 1(HT: 0-0)
• Brunswick City SC 3 Moreland Zebras FC 2(HT: 2-0)
• St Albans Saints SC 3 Whittlesea Ranges FC 0(HT: 1-0)
• Box Hill United SC 1 Kingston City FC 0(HT: 0-0) 

TABLES

NPL

Pos Team                                    P       W       L       D       F       A       GD      PTS    

1   South Melbourne FC               21      17      2       2       46      18      28      53     

2   Oakleigh Cannons FC              21      15      2       4       52      15      37      49     

3   Heidelberg United SC              22      11      4       7       53      31      22      40     

4   Bentleigh Greens SC                21      11      5       5       40      27      13      38     

5   Hume City FC                          21      11      9       1       28      27      1       34     

6   Northcote City FC                   22      8       8       6       35      36      -1      30     

7   Green Gully SC                        22      8       11      3       38      43      -5      27     

8   Melbourne Knights FC             21      8       11      2       31      31      0       26     

9   Pascoe Vale SC                       21      7       9       5       23      31      -8      26     

10  Dandenong Thunder SC          22      7       11      4       27      43      -16     25     

11  Port Melbourne Sharks SC      22      6       11      5       29      39      -10     23     

12  Werribee City FC                    21      7       12      2       26      43      -17     23     

13  Ballarat Red Devils SC             20      5       13      2       35      46      -11     17     

14  Goulburn Valley Suns FC         21      2       15      4       22      55      -33     10     

NPL1

Pos Team                                    P       W       L       D       F       A       GD      PTS    

1   Avondale Heights SC               20      15      2       3       41      18      23      48     

2   North Geelong Warriors FC     19      12      6       1       44      25      19      37     

3   Box Hill United SC                   20      11      6       3       37      18      19      36     

4   St Albans Saints SC                  20      11      5       4       36      24      12      34     

5   FC Bulleen Lions                       20      9       6       5       47      36      11      32      

6   Richmond SC Seniors                19      10      7       2       43      34      9       32     

7   Moreland Zebras FC                 19      9       8       2       34      28      6       29     

8   Dandenong City SC                   20      8       7       5       38      35      3       29     

9   Sunshine George Cross SC        20      7       9       4       31      44      -13     25     

10  Kingston City FC                      20      7       11      2       38      37      1       23     

11  Springvale White Eagles FC      20      6       11      3       37      47      -10     21     

12  FC Bendigo                              19      5       11      3       31      43      -12     18     

13  Whittlesea Ranges FC               20      4       12      4       26      48      -22     16     

14  Brunswick City SC                    20      3       16      1       23      69      -46     10      

NPLVIC Round 21/20/19

NPL

ROUND 20

• Pascoe Vale SC 0 Werribee City FC 2(HT: 0-1)
• Dandenong Thunder SC 1 Northcote City FC 1(HT: 1-1)
• Port Melbourne Sharks SC 3 Ballarat Red Devils SC 1(HT: 0-0)
• Green Gully SC 1 Heidelberg United SC 1(HT: 0-1)

ROUND 21

• Pascoe Vale SC 0 South Melbourne FC 3(HT: 0-1)
• Green Gully SC 2 Ballarat Red Devils SC 1(HT: 1-0)
• Bentleigh Greens SC 2 Goulburn Valley Suns FC 2(HT: 2-0)
• Werribee City FC 2 Dandenong Thunder SC 1(HT: 0-0)
• Northcote City FC 1 Oakleigh Cannons FC 3(HT: 1-1)
• Melbourne Knights FC 0 Heidelberg United SC 2(HT: 0-0)
• Hume City FC 2 Port Melbourne Sharks SC 1(HT: 1-0

NPL1

ROUND 19

• Whittlesea Ranges FC 1 Moreland Zebras FC 2(HT: 1-0)
• Avondale Heights SC 2 St Albans Saints SC 2(HT: 1-1)
• Sunshine George Cross SC 0 Richmond SC Seniors  6(HT: 0-3)
• Springvale White Eagles FC 4 Brunswick City SC 2 (M. Tancevski 1, S. Mazzolini 1)(HT: 1-2)
• FC Bendigo 0 North Geelong Warriors FC 2(HT: 0-1)