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Thursday 8 August 2019

100 years ago today 8 August 1919



Saturday August 2

V.A.B.F.A. Metropolitan League

  • Windsor 2  Albert Park 1  
  • Northumberland and Durham United 2  Spotswood 1 
  • Footscray Thistle 5  St Davids 0
  • Melbourne Thistle 0 Preston 0


The Herald

BRITISH ASSOCIATION.
First Round, Doherty Cup.—
Spotswood v. N. and D., Medlicot;
Melbourne Thistle v. Preston, M'Cully;
Albert Park v. Footscray Thistle. Butler;
St. David's v. Windsor, Downie.
All matches will begin at 3.15.


Daily Standard (Brisbane, Qld. : 1912 - 1936), Friday 8 August 1919, page 8

SOCCER.
A most interesting game will be played at Musgrave Park on Saturday, between Pineapple Hovers and Park Church, the kick-ofT being at 3.15. The Rovers are to date undefeated, but as Parks are now in full swing and have not been defeated in the second round, the game will be very close. St An drew's will meet Kangaroo Point in the early match, at 2 p.m. The team selected to play for Park Church is as follows :—Francis; Cameron, Jamieson, Blackburn, Clark, Ross, Salnsbury, Rathwell, Young, Hunter, and Had den.


Call and WA Sportsman (Perth, WA : 1918 - 1920), Friday 8 August 1919, page 2

The Late Cecil Jeffrey.
As Football Organiser. Sterling; Services to Game.
Thirteen or fourteen years ago Australian football was on the wane, and practically the whole of the schools had been won over to the soccer rules. The obvious conclusion was arrived at that if the schools and junior grades were not maintained there would soon come a time when the Australian game would be extinct. The devotees of the home code bestirred themselves to wrest back the lost territory and a battle royal ensued. 
Foremost in the struggle was the late Cecil Jeffrey, taken by the 'flu last week. It is interesting to recall his activities which are reviewed as follows in a copy of the "Fremantle Mail" of 1906: — 
"With the enthusiasm begot by a consciousness that there was some thing to fight for, the leading spirits of the Young Australia League have breathed the breath of vigorous life into their organisation. That a body existing solely to control football should have anything more elevating to strive for than the settlement of periodical club disputes seems an unusual thing to infer. But, as those who have followed the course of the League know, the germ with which the new organisation began was a desire to fortify the national winter game in the schools, where it was at the time threatened by an imported code. There was an Australian issue at stake. This drew many into the movement who would not, for the sake of sport alone, have been associated with it. There was a wish to place foremost things that were Australian, even though, so unimportant as football. It was this, which prompted Mr. C. Jeffrey and others with an inherent spirit of Australianism to throw vigor into the work of the League, which stands to day as the best organisation of its kind within the Commonwealth. Mr. Jeffrey retires to take up a long course of college training after two seasons of energetic effort, begun when the outlook seemed unpromising and numbers of others in similar positions held aloof, for at that period the cold glance of the official eye was feared. The fear which determined others was almost wholly groundless and based upon fabrication, but that made the acceptance of office none the less Commendable, for if a man fearlessly faces a pointed revolver, presumed to be charged with death-dealing cartridges, his courage is not discounted if it is afterwards discovered that the weapon was unloaded. Many duties fell to the young official to perform, and the position of the division which he practically controls stands as the best proof of their, performance. Last year — the first of the League's existence — was beset with big tasks, all of which were negotiated. This season saw the club's increase front six to fourteen, involving the management of nearly one hundred matches. In addition, there were country tours to Northam, Mundijong, and the gold-fields, all of which required, organising. The ex-scholars' section was formed, a secretary was wanted, and the subject of this sketch began the present season with the dual position of secretary both to the schools' and ex-scholars 'executives.' The football year is just closing, anda retrospective survey of its events in League circles at the port shows splendid success, all of which is associated with Mr. Jeffrey's services. To this writer the most gratifying feature of the work to which tribute is paid here is that they were impelled by a loyalty to something Australian. And that is refreshing to find in these days when so many youthful and aged Australians are faithless to the products or works of their own countrymen, and the howl of the nation-breaker falls with jarring notes on the sensitive ears of those who yearn for a self-reliant, self-respecting and united Australian people. More for a love of Australia than for any attachment to the game itself, Secretary Jeffrey worked devotedly for the League and served it with unswerving loyalty. Summed up, his two years association with the movement were years of honest, useful and enthusiastic work, the fruits of which must be of enduring value to the Australian game.

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