John Sandilands (Jack) was born in 1854, his brother William in 1856, the oldest two boys in a family of 13 born in Scotland to Benoni Nimmo Sandilands and wife Sarah, they migrated to Melbourne around 1859 and settled in South Melbourne where a street is now named after them.
Benoni was a solicitor in partnership with fellow Scot Robert Anderson between 1863 and 1876 and was a South Melbourne Councillor between 1867 and 1877, being Mayor in 1868-69.
Details can be sketchy because of time and the methods of reporting but it is reported both boys played football for Albert Park, St Kilda, Melbourne and South Melbourne at different stages in a time where chopping and changing clubs was completely acceptable even within a season.
Albert Park player Jack Sandilands joined Geelong in 1878 as vice-captain and ‘coach’, and with new fitness regimens (including additional gym work) the team began to develop an innovative style of systematic teamwork.
It also attracted a host of brilliant players and quickly captured its first VFA premiership in that same year and again in 1879.
In 1879, the boys had moved to Wellington, New Zealand which was not unusual as thousands of Australian gold miners had moved to New Zealand following a series of gold rushes in the country.
It was very much at that stage tied to Victoria through the flows of people, knowledge of mining techniques and associated business.
Will Sandilands formed a football team with himself as Captain called the Reform Football club which played under the Victorian Rules and the club had its first training session on the 9th of April 1879 at the (now) historic Basin Reserve in Wellington.
At some point, the Reform football club proposed to play a match under electric lights at the Basin Reserve and the game was set down for the Friday, May 31st, 1879.
Up until this point only one football (soccer) match had ever been played under electric light anywhere in the world and that was in Sheffield England at Brammal lane between teams from Sheffield and that game was 14th October 1878.
This game would be the second night football match ever by electric light, the first in the southern hemisphere, the first for Australian football, beating by some months the first night game at the MCG which was between East Melbourne Artillery and Collingwood Rifles and oddly this game would be outside the country that the code was developed in.
After several false starts, a good steady light was obtained at about 8pm, and the respective teams were photographed, it is not clear from my research who actually won the game but roughly 40 pounds was raised and donated to the local asylum.
In 1879 a football match by electric light was a momentous occasion for its time and the major players deserve kudos for having the foresight to organise it, what is even more historic is this game was a game of Australian football in New Zealand. These are the sort of historic moments that the AFL should be highlighting and paying more attention to.
Jack Sandilands did not play in the game as he went back to Melbourne to play football, his passage paid for by Geelong FC, but was back playing with his brother at the Reform club by October of the same year, by 1881 he had moved to Adelaide and was captain-coach of Port Adelaide FC.
At different stages the brothers were opposing captains when teams were drawn from the Reform club and at least one other brother played, Will stayed in Wellington and in 1882 Mr W A Sandilands who was formally known in Melbourne as a prominent member of the Melbourne Football Club passed his final examination as a solicitor for the Supreme Court of New Zealand.
Even in 1905 Will was still involved in the game and was President of a club in Wellington playing under the rules of Australian football while at least one of his sons (Ben) played whom also later served for New Zealand during the Boer war.
William Sandilands passed away after a cycling accident in 1910 and his historic house and property is still owned by his descendants.
Ozman
Guest
All the 8 breakaway clubs have pre VFL histories. I once got a letter from Carlton and on the top was a list of premierships. It had the 7 Pre VFL ones including the disputed 1869 premiership. I believe the Christchurch club in NZ was originally an Australian Football Club. From the marvellous Blueseum web site with every Carlton game since 1864 and 40K plus images (www.blueseum.org) 1879 May 04 FOOTBALL NEW ZEALAND "It will be seen from the following, clipped from the Evening News,Wellington, New Zealand, and dated 20th March, that our old friends Sandilands* and Page, formerly of the Melbourne club, are endeavouring to introduce the Victorian rules in New Zealand: 'A meeting of footballers was held at the Princess hotel for the purposes of forming a club to play under the Victorian rules. A club was formed and called the Reform Football Club. Thirty-three members were enrolled." Captain; W. Sandilands, vice captain & secretary G. Page. "From private letters I learn that a game has been played, and was a great success." (Weekly Times p4) .*Sandilands was to be the centre of controversy between Melbourne and Carlton in a match on September 27 this season. The Reform Football Club (formed March 27 wikipedia) was the first team to play under electric light in the Southern Hemisphere, see May 30. The Reform Football Club (Wellington) presented a gold locket to "Mr. H. F. Smith the Government Electrican, in recognition of his services of the recent display of electric light on the Basin Reserve." The inscription says; "Presented to H. F. Smith, Esq, for kind assistance rendered to the Reform Football Club (Victoria rules), Wellington, 30th May. 1879." (Papers Past (NZ) Evening Post, June 07 (p2) 1879)
User
Roar Rookie
Great article mate, have a feeling you may have a few other gems you could bring us in other articles.
Aligee
Roar Rookie
Yer cheers, i have a few stories, just need the motivation to get them out, the goldfields of WA and its associated footy history does interest me as does Broken Hill. I honestly think the Sandilands brothers should be considered for the AFL hall of fame, what may have started as an idea over a beer and a bit of fun really has quite a bit of historical context about it, AFAIK the soccer game in Sheffield England was organised by a power company looking for new clients and marketing it's product, a bit different to the Wellington game. AFAIK the next football match under lights in NZ was a soccer game some 20 further years down the track.
Aligee
Roar Rookie
I must admit i assumed that as well, that somewhere along the line he was Italian, i was thinking Italian team of the century, the 19th century :)
Gyfox
Roar Rookie
I am currently in Christchurch, NZ. Whilst walking around Hagley Park I was pleasantly surprised to come across an oval with AFL goal-posts
Cat
Roar Guru
The AFL has a crazy way of acknowledging or conveniently forgetting history. The Melbourne Football Club is 160 years old but only 122 years worth of records 'count'.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
This is a great article Aligee and would be a fascinating series for others to join in on based on the heading...little vignettes of the stories behind our game.
Aransan
Roar Rookie
When I first saw the names Benoni and Nimmo I wondered if they were Italian. However Wikipedia tells us: "Benoni or Ben Oni, meaning son of my sorrow, or pain, original name of Benjamin." It can be a Norse name and of course the Vikings had a strong connection with Scotland. Nimmo is an old Scottish/Irish surname.
Lroy
Guest
''But who would know that ‘Nipper” Truscott,Dean Kemp,Stephen Michael,(or Eddy Betts) played in the league?'' Not me!! Nice Post. You could probably add West Coast Eagles Premiership hero Dom Sheed to that list, he played for Mines Roves as well. I found that on Wikipedia ;-)
Aligee
Roar Rookie
Yes, i would say at the time it was considered crazy by any standards, but in reality set the scene for what we take for granted without a second thought, even local clubs have fantastic lighting for training.
Aligee
Roar Rookie
Thanks for the reply - the Goldfields in WA has a great footy pedigree and history to match, what i can tell you about about the Electric Lighting that was unfortunately left out of the article is this ... FOOTBALL MATCH BY THE ELECTRIC LIGHT. “The announcement that a Football Match, under the auspices of the Reform Clubs, would be played on the Basin Reserve by the electric light last night drew together a large concourse of spectators. There were about 2000, probably, in the Reserve itself, and the road around the enclosure was thronged with people, who somewhat shabbily wished to view the game without paying. Messrs. Proudfoot, of Dunedin, kindly lent for the occasion two of Siemens Brottiers Dynamo-Electric Light, each having an illuminating power equivalent to 8000 sperm candies.”
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Nice account Aligee, I was vaguely aware of this game, but didn't realise it's importance in sporting history. Some might say that it was appropriate they were raising money for the local asylum, given the whole story is a little bit insane looking at it nearly 140 years on. Obviously it will always be a minor sport in NZ, but it's good to see some of the developments in the game there. Only the other day, the New Zealand Kahu youth girls defeated Port Adelaide womens indigenous academy 6.3 (39) to 4.4 (28). In the near future, I can see the NZ womens team being able to match it with Ireland, Canada, the US and Great Britain.
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
Thanks for the article Aligee. I agree that the AFL has to look at the history of the game in every state. Mines Rovers in the Goldfields is 120 years old and provided Essendon with Hugh Gavin as captain in 1904 and as part of the Hannans league had a seat and full voting rights on the Australian National Football Council until 1919 . But who would know that 'Nipper" Truscott,Dean Kemp,Stephen Michael,(or Eddy Betts) played in the league? Do you know if the lighting at the Basin Reserve was from a generator at the ground or from the town supply? Australians took all sorts of things overseas with them. Thinking about sport played outside their country of origin reminded me that the first international cricket match was in 1844 between the US and Canada. And there was $100 000 bet on the game...