Matches:
Results of games played in 1891 involving Ipswich clubs and players can be found here.
Key Events:
Early 1891: W. J. Lynch moves to Dinmore from Redbank to open a new school. Lynch soon became president of Dinmore Soccer (and Cricket) Clubs, and later Bush Rats until his death in 1910.February 28: Preliminary meeting to gauge interest in new Ipswich club.
March 6: Meeting to officially form Ipswich Club
April 16: Blackstone Rovers AGM.
August 17: Meeting to create the West Moreton Junior Football association, and associated competition, both firsts for the Ipswich region.
November 7: Blackstone Rovers 1 - 0 Silkstone to win the inaugural Ipswich and West Moreton Association Cup.
When did Blackstone Rovers and Bush Rats play their first game?
Uncertains:
Was there a Dinmore Stars which never made the first round of games? Was it Dinmore II?
Ipswich FC, Silkstone (Stars), Dinmore, New Chum Bush Rats, Blackstone Rovers.
Eighteen Ninety-one. This was the year soccer in Ipswich went from ad hoc pastime to organised competition. The West Moreton Junior Soccer Association formed in August, and with it the first organised Ipswich-based competition. This paved the way for an explosion of teams over the next few years. Some were fleeting, others lasted decades. Locally important soccer families like Hudson, Duck, Bognuda, and Nunn were seen for the first time. Ipswich soccer came alive.
The creation of the club appears to have become possible due to players crossing over from Rugby and Australian rules. The latter's decline (well-documented in previous posts) possibly freed up playing stocks for soccer. When Ipswich beat Normans in April, it was noted many of the players were "new chums" to the sport rather than to Australia.
Further east, Blackstone Rovers were also in rude health, having survived the barren years of 1889 and 1890. In May they played the first known intra-city game in three years when they took on Ipswich Club. Notable among the Rovers players were their Queensland representative Tom 'Old Horse' Barker, as well as the Lindsay Brothers who had played in the region's first club Bundanba Rovers back in 1886.
In the usual congenial post-game celebrations, it is interesting to note George Shelley suggested Blackstone should join the "Union in Brisbane". Here is that Brisbane-centric sensibility. But Rovers were no strangers to playing Brisbane clubs. The previous year they played St Andrews- indeed, it was their only known game that year. Was that game played under a formal association? And why weren't they members of that association in 1891? We simply do not know.
Rovers would continue to play games against Ipswich, St Andrews and Normans during 1891, but the fabric of Ipswich soccer was slowly changing. One of the reasons was a long-term investment wsa starting to bare fruit.
In early June, journalist Tom 'Old Sport' Barker published a series of linked articles called "A Week's Ruralising", devoted to a series of long walks he did on visiting his home town of Ipswich in 1889. It was during this walk he saw his namesake Tom 'Old Horse' Barker teaching soccer skills to players in Silkstone.
Another Ipswch soccer pioneer Dave Newland later wrote of helping to form a number of short-lived teams in Silkstone during this period, as well as a couple of other teams with 'Old Horse'.
While the exact dating is sketchy, Silkstone Stars played their first known game against Blackstone Rovers 2nds on Saturday June 13 1891. The Rovers gained a one-nil win. (On the same day 'Old Horse' captained a depleted Rovers first team to a 2-0 loss against St Andrews.)
Ipswich now had three known concurrent soccer teams for the first time.
On Saturday July 4, two teams from Dinmore also took to the field. The exact participants were not recorded, but the likelihood is this was the first known game featuring Dinmore, and either Dinmore Stars aka Dinmore II, or New Chum Bush Rats.
Two weeks later there was more clarity as Dinmore squared off against Bush Rats in the earliest known game for each club. Some important names names in the early years of Ipswich soccer were first seen in this game: the Duck brothers William and George, William Jeffrey, William Caddies, and also J Bognuda, the first known participating member of a family which would become very influential in Ipswich soccer in the next three decades.
These may not have been the first games of these teams. We've speculated previously of soccer played over the previous two years which went unreported. This was born out again in a Monday July 27 match report in which Bush Rats were said to play their second game against Blackstone. Was said game was the second meeting of 1891 or of all time? Could the game have taken place in 1890? Whichever, the first meeting went unrecorded.
On the same day, Dinmore played Silkstone, as an appetite for Ipswich football took hold. Tom 'Old Horse' Barker appears to have played for Silkstone on this day. Replacement players were fluid in this era, with players often being borrow between teams. Again, this was apparently the second game between the two clubs. Again, the first meeting went unrecorded.
Games then came regularly. Ipswich Club took on Dinmore in early August, with an Ipswich versus Brisbane representative game a week later, andmore games between Bush Rats, Blackstone, Dinmore and Silkstone in the following weeks.
A match report between Silkstone and Bush Rats helps fill in some detail. Dave Newland did play for Silkstone on August 15, as per his later reminiscences of forming Silkstone clubs, and the club was called Silkstone Stars in the match report. Newland would later formed Booval Stars.
The strong interest in the game lead to a push to form an association. What is interesting is the those involved in the game had been interested in forming such an association "for some time", which further suggests clubs like Dinmore, Silkstone and Bush Rats had been playing earlier than recorded.
Thus a meeting was held at the Workmen's Club in Dinmore. Blackstone's Tom "Old Horse" Barker chaired. Dinmore's captain William Caddies motioned the formation of an association, while Lovell, one of the longest serving local players in the room, seconded. The meeting then adjourned to Kennedy's Hotel in Booval that evening.
That night, "Old Horse" was elected secretary, publican W. Kennedy president, and Bush Rat's William Duck as treasurer. A competition was announced, comprising:
"New Chum Bush Rats to play on the Blacketone ground against Blackstone, Dinmore Stars v Silkstone at Silkstone; Dinmore a bye"
There's a lot to unpack here. Firstly there seems to be a Dinmore and a Dinmore Stars. Yet Silkstone was called Silkstone Stars in the same newspaper earlier in the month.
One explanation for Dinmore Stars could be the cap of 14 registered players a team, possibly splitting the Dinmore club in two. This is merely speculation, and, as we will soon see, not a lasting problem.
Further down the same general news column announcing the association's formation, the news was repeated again, but this time stating "that the teams in Ipswich, Blackstone, Bundanba, Dinmore and other places will make an endeavour to have this worked on a successful footing next year."
November 7: Blackstone Rovers 1 - 0 Silkstone to win the inaugural Ipswich and West Moreton Association Cup.
Known Unknowns:
When did Blackstone Rovers and Bush Rats play their first game?
Uncertains:
Was there a Dinmore Stars which never made the first round of games? Was it Dinmore II?
Key Clubs:
Notable People:
Tom 'Old Horse' Barker
Historical Notes:
Eighteen Ninety-one. This was the year soccer in Ipswich went from ad hoc pastime to organised competition. The West Moreton Junior Soccer Association formed in August, and with it the first organised Ipswich-based competition. This paved the way for an explosion of teams over the next few years. Some were fleeting, others lasted decades. Locally important soccer families like Hudson, Duck, Bognuda, and Nunn were seen for the first time. Ipswich soccer came alive.
Surprisingly, the year started with the formation of a club which took part in neither the association nor the competition.
Ipswich Club could be considered the last of the old-guard, if the sport's seven years existance in South East Queensland could have an old-guard.
It was formed across two meeting at Ham's Rooms across late February and early March. In doing so Ipswich Club became the first club to be formed in the centre of Ipswich since Queenslanders five years earlier.
The club was Brisbane-centric. The newly appointed captain George Shelley had played for St Andrews since 1887, and was part of the Queensland Representative team which returned triumphant the previous year. His family had a connection to Ipswich. Brother Sam also played for St Andrews and Queensland, but lived in Ipswich - indeed a street in the suburb of Brassall was named after Sam, the only resident at the time.
The new club's secretary T Inglis had also been a member of the St Andrews squad as far back as 1886.
At the meeting in early March to finalised the club's birth, A. H Barlow was chosen as patron, J. France as president, with A. Macfarlane, T. McNamee, J. McGill and W. M. McDonald also voted onto the committee. J. Hardy, W. Bruce and A. Reid were all involved.
Among the numbers who formed the club were Rugby and Australian rules players. With a number of new soccer players marshalled by some Brisbane players, thoughts of a local competition may not have been at the forefront of their minds.
Among the numbers who formed the club were Rugby and Australian rules players. With a number of new soccer players marshalled by some Brisbane players, thoughts of a local competition may not have been at the forefront of their minds.
The creation of the club appears to have become possible due to players crossing over from Rugby and Australian rules. The latter's decline (well-documented in previous posts) possibly freed up playing stocks for soccer. When Ipswich beat Normans in April, it was noted many of the players were "new chums" to the sport rather than to Australia.
Further east, Blackstone Rovers were also in rude health, having survived the barren years of 1889 and 1890. In May they played the first known intra-city game in three years when they took on Ipswich Club. Notable among the Rovers players were their Queensland representative Tom 'Old Horse' Barker, as well as the Lindsay Brothers who had played in the region's first club Bundanba Rovers back in 1886.
In the usual congenial post-game celebrations, it is interesting to note George Shelley suggested Blackstone should join the "Union in Brisbane". Here is that Brisbane-centric sensibility. But Rovers were no strangers to playing Brisbane clubs. The previous year they played St Andrews- indeed, it was their only known game that year. Was that game played under a formal association? And why weren't they members of that association in 1891? We simply do not know.
Rovers would continue to play games against Ipswich, St Andrews and Normans during 1891, but the fabric of Ipswich soccer was slowly changing. One of the reasons was a long-term investment wsa starting to bare fruit.
In early June, journalist Tom 'Old Sport' Barker published a series of linked articles called "A Week's Ruralising", devoted to a series of long walks he did on visiting his home town of Ipswich in 1889. It was during this walk he saw his namesake Tom 'Old Horse' Barker teaching soccer skills to players in Silkstone.
Another Ipswch soccer pioneer Dave Newland later wrote of helping to form a number of short-lived teams in Silkstone during this period, as well as a couple of other teams with 'Old Horse'.
While the exact dating is sketchy, Silkstone Stars played their first known game against Blackstone Rovers 2nds on Saturday June 13 1891. The Rovers gained a one-nil win. (On the same day 'Old Horse' captained a depleted Rovers first team to a 2-0 loss against St Andrews.)
Ipswich now had three known concurrent soccer teams for the first time.
On Saturday July 4, two teams from Dinmore also took to the field. The exact participants were not recorded, but the likelihood is this was the first known game featuring Dinmore, and either Dinmore Stars aka Dinmore II, or New Chum Bush Rats.
Two weeks later there was more clarity as Dinmore squared off against Bush Rats in the earliest known game for each club. Some important names names in the early years of Ipswich soccer were first seen in this game: the Duck brothers William and George, William Jeffrey, William Caddies, and also J Bognuda, the first known participating member of a family which would become very influential in Ipswich soccer in the next three decades.
These may not have been the first games of these teams. We've speculated previously of soccer played over the previous two years which went unreported. This was born out again in a Monday July 27 match report in which Bush Rats were said to play their second game against Blackstone. Was said game was the second meeting of 1891 or of all time? Could the game have taken place in 1890? Whichever, the first meeting went unrecorded.
On the same day, Dinmore played Silkstone, as an appetite for Ipswich football took hold. Tom 'Old Horse' Barker appears to have played for Silkstone on this day. Replacement players were fluid in this era, with players often being borrow between teams. Again, this was apparently the second game between the two clubs. Again, the first meeting went unrecorded.
Games then came regularly. Ipswich Club took on Dinmore in early August, with an Ipswich versus Brisbane representative game a week later, andmore games between Bush Rats, Blackstone, Dinmore and Silkstone in the following weeks.
A match report between Silkstone and Bush Rats helps fill in some detail. Dave Newland did play for Silkstone on August 15, as per his later reminiscences of forming Silkstone clubs, and the club was called Silkstone Stars in the match report. Newland would later formed Booval Stars.
The strong interest in the game lead to a push to form an association. What is interesting is the those involved in the game had been interested in forming such an association "for some time", which further suggests clubs like Dinmore, Silkstone and Bush Rats had been playing earlier than recorded.
Thus a meeting was held at the Workmen's Club in Dinmore. Blackstone's Tom "Old Horse" Barker chaired. Dinmore's captain William Caddies motioned the formation of an association, while Lovell, one of the longest serving local players in the room, seconded. The meeting then adjourned to Kennedy's Hotel in Booval that evening.
That night, "Old Horse" was elected secretary, publican W. Kennedy president, and Bush Rat's William Duck as treasurer. A competition was announced, comprising:
"New Chum Bush Rats to play on the Blacketone ground against Blackstone, Dinmore Stars v Silkstone at Silkstone; Dinmore a bye"
There's a lot to unpack here. Firstly there seems to be a Dinmore and a Dinmore Stars. Yet Silkstone was called Silkstone Stars in the same newspaper earlier in the month.
One explanation for Dinmore Stars could be the cap of 14 registered players a team, possibly splitting the Dinmore club in two. This is merely speculation, and, as we will soon see, not a lasting problem.
Further down the same general news column announcing the association's formation, the news was repeated again, but this time stating "that the teams in Ipswich, Blackstone, Bundanba, Dinmore and other places will make an endeavour to have this worked on a successful footing next year."
Yet there were no clubs in Ipswich or Bundamba in the new competition.
Had it joined, Ipswich Club would have been the most westerly team in the new association. There is no explanation for their omission, except to note the club would not be in existence in 1892 and may have been in decline.
Then there was Bundanba. There had been no known team in Bundanba since at least 1889, and that was only in a combined game with Blackstone players.
Had it joined, Ipswich Club would have been the most westerly team in the new association. There is no explanation for their omission, except to note the club would not be in existence in 1892 and may have been in decline.
Then there was Bundanba. There had been no known team in Bundanba since at least 1889, and that was only in a combined game with Blackstone players.
Of course, this list of places in the Ipswich region could be an announcement of possible teams joining the competition in 1892. We shall see if this came about in the next post.
In the first round of the knock-out Association Cup,h Silkstone beat Dinmore II (aka Second Dinmore, aka Dinmore Stars).
Bush Rats hosted Blackstone Rovers in the other game, with the visitors securing a 2-0 win.
Dinmore, meanwhile, who had the bye, hosted Ipswich Club and gained a 5-0 win. The home side included a Nunn, a Hudson, and the aforementioned J Bognuda, all surnames which would become important in the next two decades.
The results for the remaining rounds can be seen here. As teams were knocked out of the Association Cup, they continued to play friendlies.
Ipswich FC's, having beaten Silkstone in a friendly, closed their season with a game against St Andrews. An unrecorded dispute saw Ipswich refuse to play, so St Andrews kicked off, tapped the ball in and were awarded the win. Ipswich protested, and then protested against the Brisbane association. This was their last ever game, though a club of the same name would appear in 1893.
The final of the West Moreton Association Cup was delayed after Dinmore won a protest at Blackstone fielding an ineligible player after losing in early September. Blackstone won the replay and took in Silkstone in the final on November 7. Blackstone would win the inaugural Ipswich competition by a goal to nil.
The match report from a Dinmore correspondent strangely credits Blackstone twice with a "try", before finally recording a goal. There is no mention of tries in other match reports this season. The question is whether the correspondent was unfamiliar with soccer or whether the rules were modified in Ipswich. Regardless, J. Lovell, captain of Blackstone Rovers, lifted the first ever Ipswich and West Moreton trophy.
In 1891 Ipswich soccer came of age. The following year it would only get bigger.
In the first round of the knock-out Association Cup,h Silkstone beat Dinmore II (aka Second Dinmore, aka Dinmore Stars).
Bush Rats hosted Blackstone Rovers in the other game, with the visitors securing a 2-0 win.
Dinmore, meanwhile, who had the bye, hosted Ipswich Club and gained a 5-0 win. The home side included a Nunn, a Hudson, and the aforementioned J Bognuda, all surnames which would become important in the next two decades.
The results for the remaining rounds can be seen here. As teams were knocked out of the Association Cup, they continued to play friendlies.
Ipswich FC's, having beaten Silkstone in a friendly, closed their season with a game against St Andrews. An unrecorded dispute saw Ipswich refuse to play, so St Andrews kicked off, tapped the ball in and were awarded the win. Ipswich protested, and then protested against the Brisbane association. This was their last ever game, though a club of the same name would appear in 1893.
The final of the West Moreton Association Cup was delayed after Dinmore won a protest at Blackstone fielding an ineligible player after losing in early September. Blackstone won the replay and took in Silkstone in the final on November 7. Blackstone would win the inaugural Ipswich competition by a goal to nil.
The match report from a Dinmore correspondent strangely credits Blackstone twice with a "try", before finally recording a goal. There is no mention of tries in other match reports this season. The question is whether the correspondent was unfamiliar with soccer or whether the rules were modified in Ipswich. Regardless, J. Lovell, captain of Blackstone Rovers, lifted the first ever Ipswich and West Moreton trophy.
In 1891 Ipswich soccer came of age. The following year it would only get bigger.
