The life and times of Joe Davidson: black Australian soccer star and WW1 digger

Joe Davidson (The Australian Star, 1908. Credit: Trove,
National Library of Australia)

Sydney Cricket Ground, 5 September 1908

It was one of the biggest Australian club football games in years. The final of the 1908 Gardiner Cup, the knockout competition for clubs in New South Wales, pitted the top two sides in Sydney against each other. The NSW Football Association had even secured the famous Sydney Cricket Ground for the showpiece fixture.

Wearing dirty red jerseys was Glebe, surprise winners of the First League, out to do the double. They hadn’t lost a game all year.

Their opponents, in royal blue, were Pyrmont, runners-up to Glebe in the League by one point and out for revenge. Prior to this season Pyrmont had won the League three years straight. In the Cup they were beaten finalists for the last two years.

This was the era of district football, where players lived in the area represented by their club. Pyrmont drew their players and supporters from the ranks of workers from the many industries in the area including the Colonial Sugar Refinery, the Pyrmont power station, scores of iron foundries and mills, and at the nearby wharves. With origins going back to the Scottish-influenced Pyrmont Rangers club of 1885, Pyrmont had the strongest following of any club in Sydney.

There was a chill in the air on that dull and wet September afternoon as the teams walked out onto the field. They stopped in front of the pavilion and gave three cheers to Sir Harry Rawson, the Governor of New South Wales. Although the weather had kept the attendance down, the atmosphere was super-charged by the sound of the pipers of the Scottish Rifles. According to one newspaper, by kick-off the spectators were ‘making a deuce of a row.’

Pyrmont District Football Club, winners of the Gardiner Cup, 1908.
Joe Davidson is the first on the left in the second row. (
The Australian Star, 1908. Credit: Trove, National Library of Australia)

Glebe started well, forcing an early save from the Pyrmont keeper. But the Blues settled down, thanks to some incisive attacking runs by their speedy outside right, Joe Davidson.

At the end of one of these runs, Davidson crossed to Bill Carey who slotted home to open the scoring for Pyrmont.

Shortly after, Davidson took off down the wing again. His cross found Carey who made it 2-0. Davidson was tearing the Glebe left side defence apart. He had an assist in the third goal and by half-time the match was as good as over. Davidson also set up the only goal of the second half as Pyrmont romped to a convincing 4-0 victory.

The Governor presented the Pyrmont captain, Lyons, with the Gardiner Cup amidst great applause. This was a fine moment for one of the great clubs of early Australian football.

The accolades for Davidson’s performance came from all quarters. The Arrow said, ‘No cleverer outside right play has been seen in Sydney for at least two years’, while the Sydney Sportsman told its readers, ‘the hero of the day was Pyrmont’s outside right, Davidson, whose fine line work was responsible for every one of Pyrmont’s goals.’

Clearly here was a man at the top of his game in a team at the top of its form. So who was Joe Davidson, Pyrmont’s lightning-fast right winger?

In the second half of that 1908 Gardiner Cup Final, Glebe switched their burly English centre-forward Smith to fullback to counter Davidson’s pace. Down 3-0 at the time, it was a tactical switch made far too late but did help keep the score down. When the lighter Davidson got up slowly after a heavy challenge from Smith, one of the spectators made the remark, ‘it is only a Coon that can stand a knock like that. It is marvellous that he didn’t break his neck.’

The c-word was bandied around a lot, especially by the Sydney Sportsman. That same newspaper also less crudely described him as ‘the coloured outside right of Pyrmont.’

Headline from the 1908 Gardiner Cup Final. (The Sunday Sun,
September 1908. Credit: Trove, National Library of Australia)

The Star Performer

Davidson was born in Brisbane in 1884. His mother was originally from England and his father was a seaman from Jamaica. It’s not certain when the family moved down to Sydney but by 1896 they were living in a house in Mill, Street Pyrmont, within earshot of the tugboats of Sydney Harbour.

Pyrmont boomed during Davidson’s adolescence. By the early 1900s it had became the most densely populated and industrialised suburb in Australia. Central to this growth were the miles of wharves stretching from Pyrmont around to Darling Harbour and Miller’s Point.

With a burgeoning population including many migrants, soccer became the dominant local code. Joe Davidson would have played the sport all his mates were playing. To use a contemporary example, Davidson taking up soccer in Pyrmont was as natural as Dally Messenger taking up rugby in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Pyrmont and The Hungry Mile c.1900, Joe Davidson’s stamping ground.

(Credit: City of Sydney Archives)

Davidson first appeared in footballing reports during 1903, playing for Pyrmont’s third grade team when he was 18 or 19 years old. According to the newspaper Referee: ‘The Third Grade team has some very promising players, notably Davidson and Cameron.’

The following year Davidson was playing first grade. In a game against Balmain he ‘had numerous shots at goal, but met with hard luck.’

In 1905 Davidson was temporarily dropped to second grade but soon regained his place in the senior team where became a regular for the next five years. The first report of Davidson scoring a goal, from a header, came in a game against Granville. More goals would follow including a hat-trick against South Sydney. It was a breakout season for Davidson and to cap it off, Pyrmont won the league.

The following season, 1906, Davidson played in his first Gardiner Cup Final. Pyrmont had already won the league and were looking to do the double at the expense of Glebe. The match was played before a crowd of 7,000 paying customers (and many more sitting on the cliffs overlooking the ground) at the Epping Racecourse and was one of the biggest in the history of Australian club soccer at the time.

Pyrmont were defeated 3-2 but Davidson was given plaudits for his play. The Sunday Sun reported that ‘Davidson put in some very fine centres during the game. Nearly every match this player figures in he shows improved form.’

The 1907 season saw Pyrmont win their third premiership in a row. They won through to the Gardiner Cup Final courtesy of a Davidson goal in the semi but lost the final to Newcastle outfit Broadmeadow.

Among the singers at the end of season presentation night that year was none other than Joe Davidson.

Davidson’s off-field talents weren’t confined to his vocal cords. At the start of the 1908 season, he was on Pyrmont’s committee and was the club’s delegate to the New South Wales Football Association where he served on the football council.

On the field, Davidson registered Pyrmont’s first goal of the season. In one match report The Australian Star declared he ‘was the star performer of the afternoon. His dribbling, shooting and passing was much admired by the crowd, and he has considerably improved since last season.’

As already noted,1908 was a memorable year for Pyrmont, the disappointment of finishing second in the league being made up for with their Gardiner Cup triumph. Davidson, who had played well all season, was rewarded with selection in the Sydney Metropolitan team that defeated a representative team from Newcastle 2-1 at the Sydney Sports Ground.

In 1909 Davidson missed selection for New South Wales, but played for the Sydney Metropolitan team against Western Australia at the Sydney Showground. In the league, Pyrmont carried all before them, dropping only one point on the way to a fourth premiership in five years. They narrowly missed out on the double, losing the Gardiner Cup final 3-0 to Adamstown in a replay after the first match was drawn.

Again, Davidson had a good season. The Arrow reported ‘He was very agile and fast against Sydney, skipping nimbly over his tackler’s feet, and his centre kicks invariably put his opponents goal in danger.’ In a review of the season, George Vander wrote in the The Star: ‘Good, speedy, and clever wingmen are extremely rare in Sydney at the present time, the best being undoubtedly Allen (Sydney) and Davidson (Pyrmont).’

Joe Davidson was still one of the top players at the best club in Sydney at the end of 1909. But the hugely successful Pyrmont club was about to self-destruct, taking Davidson’s career with it.

The Western Australian team of 1909.
Davidson played against them for the Sydney Metropolitan X1.
(The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 1909.
Credit: Trove, National Library of Australia)

The Lost Years

Shortly before the start of the 1910 season, Pyrmont advised the New South Wales Football Association that they were disbanding and withdrawing from all competitions. The club had many grievances with the association, but cited in particular that the medals awarded to the Cup winners, Adamstown, were of better quality than the ones Pyrmont received for winning the league.

The Pyrmont players turned out for nearby teams but it proved difficult to break into established combinations. Davidson made one appearance in a friendly for the Balmain club but that was the extent of his football involvement for the season. It wasn’t a completely forgettable year for Davidson though - he married local girl Annie Rose in October 1910.

In 1911 a newly formed West Sydney club was cobbled together from the Pyrmont and Ultimo clubs. But this proved a disaster. Early in the season only six players, all ex-Pyrmont including Davidson, turned up for a premiership match against Granville and were thrashed 11-1. This result must have weighed heavily on the minds of such proud players. Unable to get a full strength team together, West Sydney forfeited nearly every game that year.

Davidson drops out of the picture entirely in 1912, and in 1913 plays in just the one match for Glebe where he ‘failed to exhibit any of his old time form’. Since the disbanding of the Pyrmont club, Davidson had played just four matches in four years and was out of form, his career as good as over. That couldn’t keep him away from football. In June 1914 the Arrow announced that Davidson ‘is now a knight of the whistle’ - a referee.

At the end of 1914 Davidson played in a referees exhibition game. As a match official, his greatest moment was as a linesman in the wartime 1915 Gardiner Cup Final. It was a game played in front of a big crowd including wounded returned servicemen and a draft from the Devonshire regiment.

Still as keen on the game as ever, Davidson was spotted in the crowd at the final domestic match of the 1916 season. Then, in 1917, he enlisted in the AIF.

From the Hungry Mile to the Sportsman’s Unit

On Joe Davidson’s enlistment papers he lists his occupation as a wharf labourer. Having lived near the waterfront at Pyrmont since at least the age of ten, it was likely he was a wharfie all his working life.

It was a tough occupation. For most of this period the work was casual and prospective workers would turn up at ‘pick-up points’ and hope to be selected by a Stevedoring company’s foreman to work on one of the ships. If not chosen they would trudge to the next pick-up point. If they missed out entirely they would go without pay. It was for this reason the whole area around the Darling Harbour waterfront was known as ‘The Hungry Mile.

            They toil and sweat in slavery, 'twould make the devil smile,

           To see the Sydney wharfies tramping down the hungry mile.

These lines from the 1930 poem The Hungry Mile by Ernest Antony evoke a period and lifestyle Joe Davidson would have known only too well.

For those lucky to find it, the work was back-breaking. They lifted heavy loads, worked long hours and had few breaks. Some of the wheat bags they hauled on their backs weighed over 150kgs. For a wharfie, injuries and even death from workplace accidents came with the territory.

In August 1917, waterside workers joined railway workers in what would become Australia’s biggest strike.

Unionists clashed with strikebreakers at picket lines at railway depots and on the wharves. Waterside workers stayed out until early October.

The strike split the community along sectarian and class lines. It came at a time when a general war weariness had set in, the 1916 conscription referendum had failed, and enlistments were down to a trickle.

To help boost recruitment, the government introduced the concept of Sportsman’s Units. Sportsmen were encouraged to enlist as a group and recruiting officers were despatched to sporting events to address crowds during breaks in play. Often the speakers were heckled by annoyed sports fans.

On 15^th October, shortly after the wharfies went back to work, Joe Davidson reported to the Darlinghurst recruitment office. Hand-written in blue ink on the front of Davidson’s enlistment papers are the words: ‘Sportsman’s Unit.’

Newspaper propaganda for the Sportsman’s Unit.
(The Barrier Miner, September 1917. Credit: Trove, National Library of Australia)

One shell every 10 seconds

In December 1917 Davidson left Sydney on the Ulysses. He passed through Egypt, Taranto in Italy, Cherbourg in France, and Southampton before arriving at an army camp in England. During training, Davidson’s leadership abilities were recognised with a promotion to acting Lance Corporal. He left England for France, joining the 18^th battalion in the front line near Ville-sur-Ancre in May 1918.

What would life have been like on the front line for Joe Davidson? On the night of the 27 May, a week after he entered the trenches, the battalion’s position came under heavy fire, mustard gas shells falling amongst the men at the rate of one every 10 seconds. A few days later nearly 2,000 artillery rounds rained down on them in the pre-dawn darkness. There were night patrols across no man’s land and machine gun and small arms fire. It was a precarious existence.

Then on 22 July Davidson reported to a field hospital with a broken wrist. It was not a battlefield wound however. On the casualty forms it was stated ‘injured accidentally - soldier not to blame.’ Could he have injured himself playing soccer behind the lines? Also picked up in x-rays was an existing leg fracture – if this was something picked up during Davidson’s soccer career then it could explain why he played so little after 1909.

The wrist injury was debilitating enough for him to be sent to an army hospital in England. From there he was repatriated to Australia, arriving back in Sydney in December 1918.

In 1920 Davidson appears in the Sydney sports press again. A journalist from the Arrow said: ‘At Wentworth Park I ran across Joe Davidson, recently returned from active service. With Pyrmont he was the fastest outside right that ever dribbled a round ball.’

The following year, the Arrow advised its readers that Davidson ‘is suffering from a fractured arm’, possibly a reference to the wrist injury he had picked up on active service.

Glebe Island Wharf No.2, July 1947

In early July 1947, a foreman from the NSW Stevedoring company entered the hold of the steamship SS Yearby, tied up alongside the Glebe Island wharf. The ship had been taking on a load of wheat and the wharfies had been working long hours getting her ready. On his night-time rounds he found a worker he described as a ‘dark man’ lying unconscious on the floor with a cut behind his ear. It was Joe Davidson. He was taken to Sydney Hospital in a bad way.

A few weeks later Davidson had made a partial recovery, enough for his doctor to suggest he could soon return to work. But on the morning of 25 July 1947, the one time lightning fast right winger was found dead at his home in Pyrmont.

A lively time of it

Joe Davidson’s football career was played during the early years of the White Australia Policy and when racial fears had surfaced during the 1908 visit of black heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson. The question comes to mind - was he subject to racial abuse from the terraces?

In Davidson’s case there is mixed evidence. During that memorable Cup Final of 1908 the Sydney Sportsman reported ‘Davidson, who is black, was getting a lively time of it from the crowd’, yet after he was flattened in a challenge by Smith, he was ‘loudly cheered’ when he got to his feet.

At a match in Newcastle in 1907 the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miner’s Advocate reported ‘J. Davidson (Pyrmont) was frequently applauded for his brilliant play.’ The fact that the soccer community was small and close-knit might have mitigated against the type of virulent racial abuse suffered by black Englishman Walter Tull while playing for Tottenham Hotspur in the same period.

Pyrmont vs Glebe, 1903, the year Davidson broke into
Pyrmont’s third grade team. (The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 1903.
Credit: Trove, National Library of Australia)

The old-timers

When a reporter spoke to Davidson at a match in Sydney in 1920, he said ‘Davidson asks me to announce that he lost his military medal and discharge, and is anxious to regain them.’ He was obviously proud of his war service. In 1941, at the age of 57, he wrote to the AIF records office requesting he be issued with a replacement set.

As a man, Joe Davidson was popular amongst his peers. In 1921 he was invited to a dinner in honour of Gardiner Cup winners from the past. Here he rubbed shoulders with men who had played in the very first soccer matches in Sydney in 1880.

In 1929, an old-time footballer by the name of Lockie Richards organised a team to play a benefit match in Corrimal. The match was in aid of Wollongong football identity “Snowy” Richards, who prior to World War 1 played for Balmain and had represented New South Wales against New Zealand. Richards contacted many of his old colleagues to take part, including the then 45 year-old Joe Davidson.

Led by the Corrimal Citizens’ Band, the players marched in procession down the town’s main street to Memorial Park.

The game finished 3-3 and was well attended, many spectators commenting on the skills of the old-time players. 

Great reminiscing was had at the function after the game. ‘The present day players had nothing over the old timers’, said one speaker. Snowy Richards captured the mood of the night when he said ‘Tonight is a reunion,’ and he hoped ‘one to be long remembered.’

In the midst of the back-slapping and tall stories it’s not hard to imagine Davidson doing some football reminiscing of his own. Perhaps he mentioned to one or two old-timers about a day at the Sydney Cricket Ground when he set up all four goals in the Cup Final and how his team was presented with the trophy by the Governor. There were many experiences Davidson could draw on: as a player, club official, referee, spectator, and matches played during his war service.

Davidson did more than just reminisce. During the evening he performed a number of songs to loud applause. His final number was Every Nation has a Flag but the Coon. It was an intriguing song choice. An overtly racist minstrel song from America dating back to 1901, it was meant to be performed by white singers. Sure Davidson was entertaining his audience but you get the feeling he was playing around with the racist trope. What ever the motivation, the performance stole the show. The Sydney Sportsman said ‘but nothing, not even the hops, went down so well as Joe Davidson’s version.’ He was both a born entertainer and fine sportsman. Whether delivering a song or whipping in a cross from the right wing, Joe’s timing was always impeccable.

Paul Nicholls

Review of 'The Game that Never Happened'

The Game That Never Happened
Ian Syson
review by Andrew McDonald (taken from Goodreads) Feb 01, 2019 

There are certain books that I believe should be kept by any Australian soccer/football fan. One is Johnny Warren's Sheilas, Wogs & Pooftahs, as is the Hay & Murray History of Australian Football, That Night from Adam Peacock and The Death and Life of Australian Soccer by Joe Gorman.
Ian Syson's The Game That Never Happened can be added to this canonical collection, and both complements and supplements much of the historical constructs and cultural observations written of in those books I have mentioned. A monograph that is erudite and argumentative, in the best historical writing tradition, this book does more to advance an understanding of the problematic circumstances of Australian soccer's 'birth' than any other title out there.

There are numerous aspects of the book that I would like to comment upon, however before I do so I must state that I have some bias as Ian has been an online amicus of mine for a few years now, and I have a high regard for what he has been doing with Australian soccer historiography outside of this book for a similar time. So feel free to take my comments with a sizeable grain of salt.

Now, onto my specific observations and comments. It is most rewarding to see Syson take the time and intellectual care to explicitly outline the purpose of his book early on, as well as the terms of reference for how soccer and the other football codes were mired in a chaotic web of opaque identities, rules and reporting in the mid to late 19th Century. Unlike the naive and superficial historical certainties offered by propagandists of Australian Rules (aka VFL/AFL) Ian Syson has taken great care to reinstate the confusion that surely existed in the early years of football sports in Australia, with their lack of uniform codification.

It is also important to recognise that Syson has taken some care to discuss early in his monograph that the sources he relies on for the emerging years of Soccer, Australian Rules and the two Rugby codes are problematic due to issues such as vague reporting, bias and lack of illustrations. The author has made excellent use of the newspapers that were reporting on football games played across Australia in the period 1860-1890 yet he has the academic sensibilities to make critical observations on the issues these media sources have as 'definitive' historical documents.

I am also 100% on board with the polemical position that Syson takes regarding his study of Australian Soccer's "pre-history". The emphasis on the hegemonic influences that have been exerted against the code in this country is readily justified by the author's research and resultant historical conclusions. His main discourse, focused on Soccer's battle for social, cultural, political and national identity in Victoria, follows through on this argument and delivers important judgements on how precarious Soccer's position was due to such antagonistic forces exerted by the Victorian code's proponents. There are also some major insights offered through such an analysis by considering the past prevailing paradigms that were tantamount to xenophobia, or an aversion to anything that didn't fit into the emerging national mythology. Syson has provided significant and undeniable historical proof for the cultural cringe that has dogged Australian Soccer for decades, including times long before the advent of the non-Anglo migrants from the 1950s onwards.

There are plenty of other positive aspects of the book I'd like to cite. For example, the role of British teachers in the propagation of Soccer in Western Australia is a great nugget in the rich seam of mining Soccer's past in that state (and one that perhaps offers more elsewhere in Australia, with teachers in public schools instructing children in the sport or playing it at institutes of higher learning). Syson does well to pull apart the skeins of confusion over where the first organised games of Soccer were played in this country, then does a similar job surveying the later emergence of the code in regional Australia.

The chapter on Australian Soccer and World War One is a seminal work in itself, and Syson is to be commended on not just re-configuring the history of sport and the 'digger' so that the round ball game is given far more respect than previously accorded, but also by making the telling point that a good portion of our ANZAC mythos has been warped by forgetting not just Soccer, but the migrant origins of so many members of the AIF. Syson has done what any good historian should do; he has taken apart received or sanctioned 'truths' and deconstructed them thanks to a combination of credible research and cogent arguments.

I could go on enumerating more and specific examples of the worthiness of Syson's historical work, however I shan't go further regarding his use of evidence and examples to support his arguments. I will however commend him on his prose; it is almost always clear, concise and highly readable. There are occasions when he plays with some very enjoyable metaphors and allusions, which reflect upon his skills in his 'daytime' job as a lecturer in literary studies. For all the academic rigour applied to the monograph, Syson has not let academic jargon impede the book's clarity.

Before I close I must say that this is not a perfect book, and whilst it has some sins these are more from omission than commission. Firstly, the lack of a detailed and considered study of the early years of Soccer in New South Wales and the code's relationship with both Rugby Union and Rugby League is rather glaring. To be fair to the author, Syson states categorically that he uses Victoria and Australian Rules as the key points of reference for his study of anti-Soccer antagonism. This is due to the extreme strength and volatility of this resistance, hence Syson examining an in extremis situation. Perhaps the relationship between the two Rugby codes and Soccer does not serve as well in this context. Or perhaps it just comes down to space, time and available sources.

A minor quibble, and one that reflects more on my own priorities than those of others who would read this book, or on Syson himself, is the lack of consideration for military and naval influences on the growth of Soccer in 19th & early 20th Century Australia. There are mentions made of some games between Royal Navy ships' crews and Australian teams, and of course the WW1 experience is well documented. However I am curious to see if these forces are more than just ephemeral historical influences on Australian Soccer. Also, and this is a subjunctive issue to that of military forces and Australian Soccer, is the phenomenon of interned 'enemy' Aliens in WW1 and their preference for the code. Perhaps this could be an area for consideration in an expanded edition of Syson's book, or a separate journal article.

In closing, I have no hesitations in recommending 'The Game That Never Happened' to any and every Australian Soccer/Football fan, and by extension anyone who wants to try and comprehend how this nation has historically created its identity (more often than not by marginalising and 'forgetting' those that don't fit the 'approved' narrative). Ian Syson has written the most effective history of Soccer's troubled birth in this country and shown with great effect that aside from the code's own efforts at self-immolation (which occur with frustrating regularity) what we see today from the 'sokkah haters' is not just a recent invention; it goes bone deep in so many of our compatriots and the nation we live in together.

The Game That Never Happened is about to happen

What follows is some information on my book. It is about to be published at long last.


The Game That Never Happened:
The Vanishing History of Soccer in Australia
ISBN 9780994601933
Ian Syson
Category Football (Soccer, Association football)
Pages 192
Published 01/08/2018
Binding P/B
$ARP $29.95
ISBN 9780994601933

The Game That Never Happened finishes where many other histories of Australian soccer have barely even started. It begins in the mid-nineteenth century and concludes between the two world wars, when the game suffers from a massive and perhaps crippling collapse. Australian soccer’s prehistory and early history are vital but forgotten stories. If we are ever to domesticate what is still seen as a foreign game by many important historiographical, cultural and media narratives, this story needs to be told. The lie is that soccer is the game that never happened in Australia. That lie needs to be demolished.

The book is published by Sports and Editorial Services Australia 

and is distributed by Dennis Jones and Associates  

phone:  +61 3 9762 9100 email: theoffice@dennisjones.com.au

Seriously?

Simon Hill put this up on Facebook and I have decided to put it here in case someone with any brains decides to delete it forever. No idea who put the release out but it is cringe of the highest order. Maybe it's a parody . . . 

News Release

Sydney, June 7, 2018 – It’s officially fling season, with millions of Australians ready to put their first loved sport on hold for a passionate, short love affair with the greatest sport of all, Football (soccer).

Cricket legend Damien Fleming, Rugby champion Wendell Sailor and current Aussie Rules hero Luke Hodge will help FIFA World Cup major sponsor, Hyundai, flip some of the country’s most iconic swimming, AFL and NRL venues, into official match screening venues for key Socceroos games.

Our sport-loving nation holds its affection mostly for Rugby League and Aussie Rules, which are also our two biggest sporting codes during the winter. However, patriotism will soon kick in and Australians will get behind the Socceroos in the world’s most widely viewed sporting event.

Australia’s fling rate with FIFA World Cup is on the rise with 40% more Australians tuning in for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil compared to 2010. The number of flings is expected to increase again this year.

Some of our greatest heroes, whilst reluctant to admit football is a better sport than their own codes, agree the FIFA World Cup’s fling appeal is its sheer scale, with 32 countries battling it in out the finals after two years of qualifiers among more than 210 nations.

Damien Fleming, former Australian cricketer and commentator, highlighted the one thing the FIFA World Cup has over Cricket:
“What makes the FIFA World Cup such great fling material is the opportunity it gives to so many people and nations around the world, which creates an exciting event for people to get behind. Cricket has a world cup next year and only 10 teams are competing in that, which I think is too small!”

Rugby legend Wendell Sailor is one of the 56% of Football fans who are also fans of Rugby League. He happily conceded there is one other thing Football has over NRL

“The one thing better than my code is the penalty shoot outs and sudden death. You can’t beat that. You’re literally sitting on the edge of your seat!”

Launching 'The Pearl' by John Harms

State of Origin in Melbourne jogged this in my memory. It's the launch speech I made for John Harms' The Pearl, his bio of Steve Renouf, at the North Fitzroy Arms in 2005. People might be interested in how much I characterise myself as a rugby league supporter. I was certainly surprised. I'll ponder more about this.

John invited me to speak today possibly because I’m one of the few people he knows in Melbourne who cares passionately about both Rugby League and writing. We’re possibly a rare breed anywhere. But definitely so in Melbourne.

Coming to Melbourne after living most of my life in Queensland was a great move for me. I could go on about the positives: but there was one great negative: the absence of Rugby league – whether live, on television and radio, in the print media. My main winter sporting interest was relegated from pre-eminence to the bottom of the pile. Even when I lived in New Zealand in the early 80s I had been able to keep in better contact with the fortunes of my team, St George than I was able to in Melbourne in 1994.

As a result I’ve lost a little contact with Rugby League. I occasionally go to watch Melbourne Storm but I feel as if I’m watching something alien to what I loved about the game in the 70s, 80s and early 90s.

Hopefully, this helps to explain why I read John’s book in one day. A couple of months back I was off work sick and received John’s book in the morning mail. I finished it that night.

I’m a sponge for writing about Rugby League – especially when it’s well-written and thoughtful with a good sense of the game’s history.

But it was more than just the Rugby League content that kept me riveted. There are at least four things I admire about this book.

1. John Harms is a bloody good writer. He writes with a lightness of touch and a clarity that is truly enviable. He’s funny. He’s not afraid to be child-like and vulnerable in the way he expresses himself either.

A few weeks ago he had a terrific piece the Age about two contradictory aspects of Australian Rules Football.

I had footy in me, but not in the way the tough kids had it in them. Theirs was Clockwork Orange football, whereas mine was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

But I think the most admirable quality of his writing in this book is his creation of a mood or a tone that captures the Brisbane I remember to a tee – an atmosphere of brightness and freshness undercut by a deep inferiority complex and ideas of persecution. In relation to sport this became a brash confidence never quite confident enough to spill over into arrogance. When we win we win because it’s only right.

2. This book is the story of a great player’s life told well. John has done the research; he’s become acquainted with Steve and his family and has revealed a life that is interesting in itself. He has also revealed a character who seems unclear about his role in life after football – especially his role in Aboriginal politics.

3. It’s a book that recognises the importance of Aboriginality in Australian sport and society. The book charts the changes in attitudes of the media and sports administrators to Aboriginal sportsmen over the past two decades. John reminds of the disgrace of the treatment of Eddie Gilbert and how much things have changed. But he also demonstrates how far there is to go on this issue. Steve’s wife Elissa makes this contradictory defence of her parents’ attitude towards Steve. “It was just because he was an Aboriginal bloke. They weren’t prejudiced or anything, they just didn’t want their daughter to be going out with an Aboriginal.”

John’s contrast between Anthony Mundine and Steve’s attitude towards Aboriginal politics is a highlight of the book.

4. The book has some great Rugby League writing in it. A passage on p194 is particularly memorable. But perhaps the moment that convinced me how good this writing is is his description of Steve’s try in the 1992 Grand Final on p 124.

Reading this I was gripped and transported and willing Renouf over the line. For a St George supporter, that’s something akin to treachery, though I’d prefer to see it as reconciliation.

Finally, I am pleased to say that John Harms has outed himself with this book. Outed himself as a passionate Rugby League fan. He couldn’t have written this book if he wasn’t.

When John first came to Melbourne a couple of years ago I thought in a more cynical moment (just what we need: a Queenslander spruiking for AFL). Reading this book has made me realise that John is much more than this. While he clearly is a lover of AFL and his perennially underperforming team he is more than this; he is a sportswriter of the highest order.

If you haven’t read John yet, buy a copy of this book and find out why. If you have read him you won’t need me to convince you.

In Search of Jock Murray

Paul Nicholls

As so often happens, this tale, about footballer “Jock” Murray, came about while I was searching for something else. It was just a snippet in a newspaper that caught my eye. About a sportsman whose life was cut tragically short. Soon I felt compelled to follow the lead.

My search for Jock Murray reveals as much about community and family as it does about football. I hope this story can do some justice to the memory of Jock, who played for the St George club in Sydney in the 1920s.

John Percival Carr Murray, was born in Roslin, Scotland, in either 1896 or 1897. The family emigrated to Australia just before the outbreak of the first world war and settled in the southern Sydney suburb of Hurstville.

Like many Scottish migrants, the Murrays brought with them a love of football.

Jock first made an impression at his junior club, Balmain Thistle. In 1920 he joined Dulwich Hill, playing as a fullback. In a game against St George he came on as an injury reserve and scored two goals. The victory must have been made all the sweeter since his younger brother Bob was playing for the opposition. Dulwich Hill went on to win the Charity Cup that season.

The following year, Jock and Bob turned out for Hurstville United. With Jock at centre-forward and Bob on the wing, they terrorised opposition defences. Jock scored in almost every match including four in one game against Arncliffe.

In a cup tie against Balmain Gladstone, the brothers were unstoppable. One reporter said, “He (Jock) was responsible for the whole of the three goals on Saturday. Bob, his brother, played with his usual dash, and by his accurate centres, helped Jock to finalise on two occasions.”

Hurstville won the 1921 Metropolitan junior premiership and the club considered amalgamating with St George in an attempt to push for First League status. Jock was a vocal supporter of the idea but the amalgamation didn’t happen and he joined the Balmain Gladstone club who had been promoted to the First League for the 1922 season.

It was Jock’s first taste of top flight football in Sydney. He went back to his old position of fullback but the competition was a step up in class. Although he did score in a game against Granville, Jock often found himself on the reserves bench.

The following year Jock moved to his local district club, St George, who were currently playing in the third tier of Sydney football.

St George was a great family and community club with its share of colourful characters. The half-back line consisted of three Chiswell brothers and the two fullbacks were Smarts. Describing George Smart, a reporter said, in the picturesque language of the day, “he has the physique of Jack Dempsey and kicks like a Gallipoli mule.”

St George won the competition with an unbeaten record and were promoted to the First Division second grade – effectively the second tier league.

In the 1924 season Jock had a great year for St George. He showed his versatility in one match when he substituted for the goalkeeper who came off with an injury. In another game he scored from the penalty spot. He was a hard working fullback who, “defended like a trojan.”

At club functions, Jock was the life of the party. He always had the MC duties and arranged the music and the dances. He was said to be the most popular player at the club.

A reorganisation of club football meant that St George would play in the First League in 1925. Jock was back in the top tier of Sydney football.

This time Jock would be a regular. Things got even better for the Murray family when Jock’s wife gave birth to their second child just as the football season commenced.

A Sydney football scene from the 1920s. Sydney Mail 26 May 1926, p. 21.

On 22 August 1925, St George played Canterbury at the Canterbury sports ground.

Jock had a good game and almost made the score sheet. According to a match report, “Hayes, when close to goal, gave Murray a capital opportunity but Bailey ran out and saved.”

During the match Jock slipped and fell and split open his finger. The wound was cleaned up and he continued playing.

On the Monday, Jock was persuaded to see a doctor who inserted three stitches in his finger.

But the Canterbury Sports Ground had until a few years before been a market garden. The nutrients from fertilisers such as animal manure made the soil good not only for growing cabbages and carrots, but also for bacteria.

The wound became infected. The following Sunday he was admitted to the Coast Hospital suffering from tetanus. By Friday, Jock Murray was dead.

It was a massive shock to Sydney’s football community. Over 200 mourners turned up at the graveside at Woronora cemetery. Football officials, players of rival clubs as well as supporters and players from the district attended, such as the Chiswells and the Smarts. And of course, Bob, Jock’s younger brother, great mate and occasional strike partner was there.

The death was felt throughout the St George district. A wreath was presented by the Hurstville United Rugby League club. JJ Cahill, the local member of state parliament attended the funeral as did Clarrie Tye, the vice-captain of the St George Rugby League team.

Also at the graveside was Jock’s shattered wife, holding onto their two children; a two-year old and a four month old baby.

What a sad old day that must have been. It appears that Jock Murray, the grafting, hard-working footballer for the St George club touched many hearts. He was just 28 when he died.

Well laddie, my search is over. In some small way I’d like to think I’ve found you.

Look how far we’ve come

Greg Downes

As reports of the Matildas’ historic victories over the USA, Japan and Brazil at the recent inaugural Tournament of Nations began to trickle home, I joined the many well-wishers in congratulating them. I did the contemporary thing and got on social media. I immediately tweeted “look how far we’ve come.”

As Australian women’s soccer starts to receive the media attention it deserves, I have begun to think more about this phrase. It seems to sum up the journey women’s soccer has taken.
Record attendances, television viewers and online supporters caused me to reflect on my time researching the history of women’s football in Australia, particularly the role of the pioneers in the development of their game. I followed my tweet with another, ‘the pioneers of the women’s game are cheering’.

Warwick Daily News 26 September 1921, page 5.
Sourced from Trove nla.gov.au

Australian women’s football can be traced back over a century. They played informal games during WWI, the Great Depression and WWII. Organised games were reported in NSW and QLD during the early 1900s; in 1921 a Gabba crowd of 10,000 witnessed a game between North and South Brisbane. Yet it wasn’t until the 1970s that women’s football took on a more structured form. This was the decade in which women’s football began to take a foothold worldwide. During this period the Matildas took their name. 

Australia entered its first international competition in 1978 at the World Women’s Invitational Tournament in Taiwan. The first international women’s competition to be officially recognised took place in October 1979 when New Zealand agreed to compete over three tests for the Trans-Tasman Trophy in Sydney and Brisbane.

Now, some 39 years later, the Matildas are celebrating a long and proud history in international football, in FIFA Women’s World Cups and Olympic games. Yet, until the recent flurry of attention, women have played with little fanfare. A near total lack of media attention did not help. Australian Sports Commission (ASC) identified this as one of the contributing factors to the difficulties faced by all sportswomen in their fight for equality.

How times change.

The Matildas returned to Australia in September to face Brazil in two international friendly games held in NSW. Both events sold out with crowds of 31,000 collectively. The Matildas won both games and are now on a winning streak of seven games. They have attained a world FIFA ranking of 5th.

Sam Kerr celebrates her recent goal against Brazil. Courtesy Foxsports

Unprecedented media attention is now focused on the Matildas. They are being heralded by some as the nation’s top sporting team. How did this happen? Matildas’ coach Alen Stajcic believes the victories over Brazil were a watershed moment. Perhaps the victories mark the day the Matildas officially became mainstream. Ambitious talk of winning next year’s Asian Cup, a World Cup victory and staging the 2022 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia seems no longer a pipe dream. Women’s sport seems to be the flavour of the month. Cricket Australia and the AFL are promoting their women’s competitions and negotiating much deserved salaries.

With so much media attention, it is easy to forget about the Australian history of the game. The success of the current Matildas has provided the pioneers with an opportunity to celebrate their untold achievements. It was great to see a group of past Matildas on the field at the half time break of the Newcastle game being applauded by the large crowd. Social media was once more full of congratulations, this time including the rejoicing of past players at functions after the game. Old teammates and friends celebrated both the latest Matildas victory and also the role they played in the development of the game.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) and the Victorian Government recently announced that Victoria is next on the list to host an international series involving the Matildas. In the coming week the Matildas will play two matches against arch-rival China with games planned for Melbourne and Geelong.

This will provide another opportunity for the Victorian pioneers, and there are many, to get behind the Matildas and to bask in the joys of victory knowing that they have all played an important part in the development of women’s football in this country.

Greg Downes' main area of research interest is in  the history of women’s soccer in Australia.
He was awarded his PhD by Victoria University (2016) for his thesis on the
'oral history of women’s football in Australia’.