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1903: When the football codes collided

3rd August, 2015
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1903, September 2). The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), p. 602. Retrieved August 2, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page16809501
Roar Guru
3rd August, 2015
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“Gentleman, raise your glasses, as I propose a toast,” the murmur from the assembled diners died away, ”to association football!” loud cheers greeted this remark.

The speaker continued, “for although we like other games, ours is the real football.”

“Hear, hear” then huge applause broke out from the diners. After the toast, Fred Barlow, president of the Granville football association, resumed his chair. This dinner, for players and committee members of the Granville club, took place in May 1903, on the eve of the most anticipated football season in memory.

The “hear, hears” had echoed across numerous Sydney pubs over the past few weeks.

Within those dark wood-panelled rooms, thick with the acrid blue smoke from dozens of cigars, football men were gathering. Over the familiar clack of billiard balls, the soft thunk of darts, and perhaps to the accompaniment of an inebriated patron playing an out of tune piano, brand new football clubs were being formed.

The sense of excitement in the air was due to the dramatic decision of local football authorities to create a brand new district competition.

Old clubs were tossed aside as part of a new era in the sport of association football. By splitting the football map of Sydney into districts and dividing football talent more evenly, it was hoped that a closer, more inclusive competition would revive a code that had been in the doldrums. It is not dissimilar to the arguments used when the A-League was created just over a century later.

There was a rush to form new clubs. The Balmain district club was founded at a meeting at the Balmain Town Hall on the 27th February; Rozelle at Keogh’s Merton Estate Hotel on 27th February; Pyrmont at the Duke of Edinburgh hotel on March second, Ultimo was founded at the Bristol Arms Hotel on 11th March; Glebe at Glee’s Hotel in late March. South Sydney, East Sydney and the Navy also formed clubs and together with Fred Barlow’s Granville, a brand spanking new nine-team competition was ready to go.

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Harlequin HotelHarlequin Hotel, formerly the Duke of Edinburgh (Photo: Paul Nicholls)

As a move to reinvigorate the local game it couldn’t have been more timely. The year 1903 would prove to be a momentous one for the sport of rugby and that year would also see the introduction of a third football code.

After years in the wilderness, Australian Rules football enthusiasts had banded together and re-introduced the sport in Sydney. An eleven team local competition was due to commence and they were about to receive a massive boost.

The VFL would help the fledgling new league by playing a premiership match in Sydney. The game, between high-flyers Fitzroy and Collingwood, was to have all costs borne by the VFL and all profits to the local association.

Rugby was not sitting back idly. They had organised for a tour by the powerful New Zealand team, which would include the first ever Australia vs All-Blacks Test Match.

In this turbulent footballing year there was bound to be some cross-code rivalry. The Balmain Australian Football club proudly announced that they had recruited well from rugby and Soccer.

Scouts from both rugby and Australian Football turned up at Granville soccer club looking for talent. They were promptly turned away by Mr Barlow.

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The NSW Australian football authorities were indignant that the Metropolitan Rugby Union scheduled two matches at venues close to the Sydney Cricket Ground on the same day as the VFL game.

The Metropolitan Rugby Union relented and moved one of their matches, however they conveniently didn’t move the match of the day between Easts and Sydney University which went ahead in front of 10,000 people at the Agricultural Ground right next door.

The VFL match was a success with a crowd of around 18,000 turning out, although it was reported with some glee that a number of spectators on the SCG hill spent most of the afternoon leaning over the fence watching the rugby game!

Amazingly, another VFL premiership game, between Carlton and Geelong, was played in Sydney that year.

Finally on the 30th May, the first round of matches of the brand new district association football competition got underway with good crowds turning out at all the venues. The NSW Football Association had done well to secure the use of local grounds.

Balmain played at Birchgrove Oval by the harbour, Pyrmont and Ultimo would play at Wentworth Park, smack bang in the middle of the two districts. Rozelle’s ground at Easton Park would become notorious for its rowdy spectators.

On the 15th August 1903 rugby played its trump card. In what was to be the first ever Australia versus All-Blacks Test, a crowd of over 30,000 turned out at the Sydney Cricket Ground to witness the New Zealanders crush the home side 22-3.

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The New Zealand tour was a stunning success. Their game against NSW also drew over 30,000 spectators, a figure on a par with VFL grand finals at the time. Any history of Australian rugby, or rugby league for that matter, would do well to at least acknowledge the 1903 All-Blacks.

At the same time as the Australian Rugby side was being hammered, Glebe belted Granville 7-1 in the semi-final of what was to be another innovation in that memorable year of association football. Rather than being decided as a knockout challenge cup, the Gardiner Cup would be played between the top four clubs in the League.

It was essentially a playoff system, again with parallels to the future A-League.

On the afternoon of Saturday, 29th August 1903, at the Forest Lodge sports ground, the Pyrmont and Glebe football teams posed for a photo before the start of the Gardiner Cup final. At 3:35pm C Timms for Pyrmont kicked-off.

The Pyrmont team t The Pyrmont team that won the 1903 Gardiner Cup (1903, September 2. The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser NSW : 1871 – 1912, p. 602. Retrieved August 2, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page16809501)

The underdog Glebe, playing in maroon, scored in the fourth minute and a few minutes later had the ball in the back of the net again but it was ruled offside.

Pymont, in blue, soon equalised before taking a 2-1 lead. Glebe fought back and by half-time the scores were locked 2-2. In an exciting second half, Pyrmont proved too strong, running out winners by the score of 4 goals to 2.

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Of course we could only imagine what a game like this would look like. Not so! It turns out that there were photos of that day, two of which accompany this article.

So was the district competition final a success? The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the match was “witnessed by a large crowd of spectators.” The Referee noted “2,000 spectators being present.” The Sydney Sportsman recorded that “the spectators at Forest Lodge must have numbered 3,000 people.”

Interestingly the Sydney Sportsman went on to say, “as many again were congregated on the rocks surrounding the ground.” So it is plausible that there may have been as many as 6,000 people watching the game that day.

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For a code without a marquee game such as a VFL premiership match or an international Test match, the district club competition hadn’t done too badly. Unfortunately, the golden age of Sydney district football died along with numerous players in the killing fields of Flanders in 1916.

Had a strong, stable district competition survived or had already been in existence by 1903 could the future of association football turned out differently?

Perhaps the words uttered by committee member Tom Harrison at the 1903 Granville dinner may yet prove prophetic: “Had they done years ago what they are doing now – that is, making district football – the game would be the leading winter sport in Australia.”

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