The Man Behind Blackstone Rovers

Sergeant Wirt.

I first saw the name as part of a 1923 argument regarding the oldest club in Ipswich which mostly centred on the year of Dinmore Bush Rats formation.

In support of Blackstone Rovers, correspondent John Halls wrote:

“The man who introduced soccer football into the Blackstone district was Sergeant Wirt, drill instructor, of the defence force (brother of Mr. Joseph Perrett of Bundanba), now of Raby Bay, near Cleveland. and they held their meetings in the old club house at Blackstone.”

Queensland Times, June 6 1923

Knowing when a club is formed is all very well but knowing who formed the club can explain why soccer was played was in a particular area in the first place.

Wirt may be the key to unlocking the why of soccer started in Blackstone. Where did he come from? Where did he learn the game? We know he was a drill sergeant, but little else.

It was time then to do some digging.

With no success.

Serendipity, though, is a wonderful thing, as weeks later an unconnected search threw up a letter to the Queensland Times Wirt’s nephew Alf Perrett.

In 1948, Perrett wrote to the QT concerning his late uncle, “Fred WilliamWort”.

It seems John Halls, the QT's correspondent 25 years earlier, had spelt Wort’s name wrong, creating a wild goose chase.

Even if Halls got his naming correct, it might still have been a dead end. 

It seems Fred Wort didn’t play soccer under his full name.

In fact, Wort should not have played soccer at all in 1888, given he’d gotten a sick note from the military due to a wounded toe.

To hide his enthusiastic ball kicking from his commandant, Wort played under the name Fred Williams in Rover’s first ever game in 1888.

Such subterfuge did not last – as the Brisbane Courier listed a “F.W. Wort” as captaining Rovers against Bundanba Unions in July 1888.

These letters came decades after Wirt formed Blackstone, and sometimes memory and time can cloud judgement, however, earlier evidence exists.

When Wort’s wife Mary Ann Stabler died in 1909, she is unfortunately but typically erased from the details of her own funeral. The Queensland Times instead mentions the widower:

“It will be remembered Mr Wort was Sergeant-Instructor in the Ipswich district some years ago and also inaugurated the Rovers’ Football Club at Blackstone.”

Queensland Times, April 24 1909

Knowing Fred Wort's name means we can do some digging as to his background and why he introduced soccer to Blackstone. Where had he learned the game? Why was he in Blackstone?

This makes Wort possibly the most important figure in the existence of Blackstone Rovers, replacing Lewis Thomas.

Thomas, a mine owner, was important – he brought to (soccer-literate?) Welsh miners to Australia, building them a village at Blackstone complete with a church and a football ground.

Later, Thomas would go on to be a patron to Blackstone FC (Rugby League) and Ipswich and West Moreton British Football Association, but back in 1888 there is no real evidence it was he who encouraged football. 

Sure, Thomas gave a gift of a soccer ground, but this may have been in response to the enthusiasm of Wort and fellow soccer players.

So, it’s time to instead look for more on Wort, drill sergeant, skiver and soccer player. What can he tell us about soccer in Australia in the 1880s?

He can tell us he promptly took the game north to Charters Towers, and captained one of the sides in the first known match in the town.

We can be fairly sure this is F.W. Wort, because his son is born in Charters Towers the next year. Frederick junior would continue the army tradition (with this link clearly stating Frederick William Wort was his father.) 

Wort also seemed to play Rugby in Charters Towers. 

Fred William Wort would resign as sergeant-instructor in 1894 and go on to work for the Cleveland Divisional Board (ie shire council) by 1897, where he was rates collector and dairy inspector for £60 pounds a year. He is also part of the local Horticultural Society, where his fruits and vegetables won prizes and he sings at various events, including for the local cricket club.

We know this is the same Wort due again to the death of her wife, which is reported more traditionally in other newspapers. Hall's letter, which kicked-off this article, also says Wort lived in Raby Bay, near Cleveland.

There is plenty of mention of F.W. Wort over many years in his role as shire clerk. I'll leave readers who enjoy shire council doings to investigate these themselves. 

We know he re-marries as a daughter is born in 1915, and another in 1917, but his council role seems disappear from the records circa 1914.

In 1917, Wort’s son George, of the 4^th Field Ambulance writes from France, and speaks of the changing landscape with the seasons and that Rugby would soon start. Later that year, the Brisbane Courier would post a short history of George’s military career to date.

After the war, F.W. Wort would help form a Fathers’ Association, to help families of those whose son’s had gone to war. He also spent many years as a JP.

Fred William Wort died in 1932.

The Brisbane Courier gives a full obituary, tying everything together – his time in Ipswich and Charters Towers, his work for the Cleveland shire, and his formation of Blackstone Rovers.

But it is here we find out the start of his story.

Fred was born in the Isle of White in 1863, a couple of months before the rules of association football are codified.

He came to Australia in 1887, aged 24, initially living in Toowoomba before moving to Ipswich the same year.

At 25 he helps set up Blackstone Rovers, and three years later brings soccer to Charters Towers, after which his soccer days seem over, but, in Ipswich Knights, his impact on soccer in Australia lives on.