Ipswich Soccer in 1886

Key Events:

January 1: Joseph Hodgson, later a publican at the Race Horse Hotel, and would donate the Hodgson Cup for the 1895 Ipswich and West Moreton season, arrives in Moreton Bay en route to Ipswich.  The Race Horse Hotel adjoined the soccer ground at the Bundanba Racecourse. 

January 11: William Bailey, original Bush Rat, arrives in Brisbane en-route to Ipswich from Bracken Hill, Yorkshire.

May 10: A meeting is held which results in the formation of Bundanba Rovers, Ipswich's first known soccer club. 

May 22: Bundanba Rovers 0 - 7 St Andrews at Bundanba Reserve (assumed)

June 1: William Routledge, a player for Dinmore, Bush Rats and Bundanba Rangers arrives in Australia. He goes onto to live and work in Dinmore then Bundanba. 


June 8: A meeting is held which results in the formation of Ipswich second club, Queenslanders.

June 26: Queenslanders 2 v 2 Bundanba Rovers at North Ipswich Reserve (also see here)

July 3: Queenslanders 1 - 11 St Andrews (also see here)

July 17 Bundanba Rovers 1 v 1 Swifts

July 24: Fowler's team 3 v 3 Cairns’ team at North Ipswich Reserve. This was an exhibition game featuring players from St Andrews, Queens Park, Rangers, Bundanba Rovers and Queenslanders. 

July 31: Bundanba Rovers 3 v 1 Queenslanders

August 14: Rangers 2 v 1 Bundanba Rovers (but see Notes below)

General Happenings:

John Routledge, future captain of Bush Rats, arrives in Australia aged 11, living at initially at Riverview. He may or not be related to William above. 

Notes:

It seems two one games are is missing from the above list of key dates.

The third annual meeting of the Anglo-Queensland Football Association in 1887 gave a breakdown of the games played by each club n the 1886 season. 

Bundanba Rovers played 6 games, with 1 win, 2 draws and a loss (goals for 7, against 19), while Queenslanders played 3 losing them all (goals for 4, against 16),. 

The above list only mentions 5 games for Rovers, and two for Queenslanders. 

If the report is correct, Rovers must have had a 6 to nil defeat, while Queenslanders suffered an 11 to 1 shellacking.

However, this mathematics presupposes the position of the Rangers v Bundanba Rovers match was for competition points. 

Soccer Mad states this game was a social match, and the Ipswich team actually made up of a combined Rovers/Queenslanders team. 

Soccer Mad's position comes from the match report of Queenslanders versus Rovers, which previews the game as a combined team playing Rangers. 

However, all known contemporary reports of the Rangers game state the club playing is Bundanba Rovers.

This report of the first Rovers n St Andrews game did hint that Queens Park would be the next opponent. 

If Soccer Man is right, there is another competitive match missing from Bundanba Rovers listings.

It should be noted the Association thanked the Observer during their meeting. That newspaper, originally from Ipswich, is not digitised on Trove, so more information may exist on microfiche, which may give the missing results, and confirms the Rangers/Rovers clash one way or another.  

Key Clubs: 

Bundanba Rovers (only season, possibly)
Players included: Waugh (capt), Glasgow, Sneddon, Dobbie, Denham, Gordon, Parker, Matthewson, J Lindsay, W Lindsay

Queenslanders (only season) - called the Blues
Players included : Thomas Hastie (capt), Ben Stephens, Jack Stephens, George Stephens, Robert Stephens, T. Tunstall, Hudson. W. H. Bemi (gk), Petiigrew, J Griffith, Lebeter, Weatherhogg

Notable People: 

James Glasgow - secretary and captain of Bundana Rovers
Hastie, possible many and various - see here.
J & W Lindsay - Rovers' players, later of various Ipswich clubs in the 1890s.
McMurtrie (Rangers) and Inglis (St Andrews) - players who later play in Ipswich.

Historical Notes: 

Regardless of the later status of Goodna as suburb of Ipswich, known recorded soccer in Ipswich started when thirteen men got together, under the auspices of Mr W. Hastie and James Glasgow, to form a club called Bundanba Rovers. Reports of the birth of Bundanba Rovers was reprinted in many of the major Brisbane newspapers. 

Twelve days played their first game against Brisbane side St Andrews. 

Only three clubs existed in Brisbane at the time, St Andrews, Rangers and Queens Park, the latter dissolving by the end of the year. 

A month later, a local rival was formed in Queenslanders, with the first Ipswich derby played in June 26, 1886. 

At this point it should be noted the start date of Ipswich soccer became slightly garbled over the decades. 

In 1912, Tom 'Old Sport' Barker hails Ipswich as the home of football in Queensland, stating the Queenlanders v Bundanba Rovers match as the introduction of the game in the now city. 

Barker was born in Ipswich, and was splendidly parochial, but was not living in his hometown in 1886, instead working in newspapers up north for much of the decade. 

But his local knowledge is still valuable. From the same article he lists some of the players, including Queenslanders captain Thos. Hastie (proving he is distinct from any W. Hastie), J. Hodgson, W. H. Bemi,. J. Griffith and finally the four brothers Stephens, listed at the time, but thanks to Barker we now know were blacksmiths. 

By 1951, the first Queenslanders v Rovers game still being regarded as the first game played in Ipswich. Writer T.G.N. quoted directly from the contemporary Queensland Times report (the second link with the game above). 

T.G.N. partly trips himself up by playing up to his pun that Bundanba Rovers as a combination of the later clubs Blackstone Rovers and Bundanba Rangers (which were long part of an argument, with Bush Rats, as to which was older). Playing to the joke ignored the existence of Queenslanders as an Ipswich club, therefore equal first by the writer's own definition. But T.G.N. was also tripped up by a changing sense of geography over the decades. 

Back in 1886, Bundanda and Ipswich were seen as distinct places, though joined in a wider, nebulous Ipswich-centred West Moreton region. When the QT of 1886 said the game was the first in Ipswich, it meant literally the town, which didn't stray far from each side of the Bremer River where North Ipswich Reserve still exists. As we can see above, a game was played in Bundanba in May. At the time, Bundanba was not seen as Ipswich unlike in T.G.N's day. 

Regardless, Ipswich now had two teams, but trouble was soon on the horizon. 

The first hints came in July, when members of the three Brisbane clubs played an exhibition match at North Ipswich to attempt to grow the game in the town. A few members of Queenslanders and Rovers made up the numbers. The game was played to whip up enthusiasm for soccer in Ipswich.

Things did not go well. The goals, put up but one of the Hasties, were ripped up out of the North Ipswich turf before the game. The number of spectators were "meagre" with more interest in the neighbouring Australian rules game. This made Hastie's closing remarks on hoping for another Ipswich club to form seem rather optimistic. 

But the numbers were against the sport in SE Queensland, not just in Ipswich. 

On July 31, Queenslanders and Rovers played a rematch, but both team were weakened as Rover's Waugh, plus three members of Queenslanders were away in Brisbane playing for Rangers, who themselves were missing players. 

(It seemed as long as soccer existed in Ipswich, Brisbane clubs poached Ipswich players.)

If Rangers looked to Ipswich to prop up their numbers, Queens Park had already succumbed, folding in early July. In one game against St Andrews, they turned up with only 7 players leading to "Goalkeeper" to opine in the Courier:

"I think the time has arrived when tho Queen's Park Football Club should at once disband, and commence afresh if need be, with bona fide British Association players, who will take an interest in its affairs and always feel it their duty to support then club and not play one game to day and another style of game tomorrow. As the club is now constituted it will never prosper, but if composed of some British Association players it may have a chance. It maybe as well to state that the club in question has lost the valuable services of Mr. Inglis, their full back, who got completely disheartened at players not turning up. He adhered well to the club through its many reverses, and dsserved to be better supported."
Brisbane Courier, July 5, 1886

Replacement club Swifts struggled through to the end of the season, but were not seen again. 

On August 14, Rangers beat Bundanba Rovers 2-1. As stated in the notes to the time line above, this  was preemptively called social match, played by a combined Bundanba Rovers and Queenslanders.

It is true that Tunstall was listed as playing Rovers, despite turning out for Queenslanders earlier of the season. 

This could have meant Queenslanders had folded, with the remaining players turning out for Rovers. 

But Farquar also played for Rovers that day, despite being a Rangers player. It was not unknown for teams to borrow opposition players to make up numbers.

Also missing from the report is captain James Glasgow, with Waugh taking the armband after filling in at Rangers.

So it seems Rover themselves were struggling for players and support in Ipswich.

In the Queensland Times match report of the Rangers game, Tunstall,  is quoted as there was very little support for soccer in Ipswich.

The lengthy report in the Courier states: 

"Mr Hastie, in responding, said that the Rovers would be shortly strengthened by additions from the Old Country, and he had every hope the club next season would be a strong one."

Brisbane Courier, August 16, 1886

One interpretation for Hastie's comment could be Rovers were struggling for playing numbers, not just quality. 

In the same report, Forbes, of the departed Queens Park team, also gave his opinion of the state of soccer: 

"Messrs D. G Forbes and Tunstall also gave short speeches on behalf ot tho game, the former stating that if tho Anglo Queensland game was going to be a success in this colony, those playing it must not go meddling with other rules of football, but stick closo to their own game."

Brisbane Courier, August 16, 1886

It seems across Brisbane and Ipswich, clubs were losing players to other codes.

This would play out in the 1887 season with a reduction of clubs, but that is another story. 

In summary, not much is known about Bundanba Rovers and Queenslanders. Some names lingered, especially the Lindsays, others disappeared after 1886. The backgrounds of many the players are hard to find, unlike those who came in the 1890s. Exactly which Hastie started Bundanba Rovers is open to question, James Glasgow leaves no trace. 

Why soccer chose to start in Ipswich in 1886 is currently still a mystery, as is the background of who was behind it. 

By contrast, 1887 would be a quiet year, though intriguingly not empty. 

Who Were The Hastie(s?) and James Glasgow.

In May, 1886, the first soccer club in Ipswich was formed:

"A meeting was held at Bundanba, on Monday night last, for the purpose of forming a football club. there was fair attendance, and Mr. W. Hastie occupied the chair. It was resolved to form a club, which will play the British Association game. Mr James Glasgow was appointed secretary; and the members present were deputed to act as a general committee until officers were permanently chosen for the year., Thirteen members were enrolled at the meeting, and it Is probable that a good many well-known players at Dinmore and Blackstone will join later on. It is intended to hold practice on the Bundanba reserve, on Saturday next, the kick-off taking place at 4 o'clock. It was decided to name the club the Bundanba Rovers."
The Queensland Times, May 13, 1886

The two prominent names in the story were the chair, W. Hastie, and secretary and player James Glasgow.

Pinning down this pair has proven difficult. If their identities could be confirmed, we may understand why soccer started in Ipswich in 1886. 

The problem with Hastie is he may be one of three Hasties involved in Ipswich soccer that year. 

In June 1886, Queenslanders, Ipswich's second club, was formed. The captain of the team was named Hastie. Could this be the mysterious W. Hastie? 

Not so, according to journalist Tom 'Old Sport' Barker in 1910, who stated the Queenslanders' captain was T. Hastie. 

(The newspaper man has not always proven to be the most reliable writer in matters historical, given he named several different start dates for Dinmore Bush Rats over the years. Neither was he living in Ipswich in 1886, only returning to the city in 1890. The 'T' could also be a typo, not unknown in the era's newspapers.) 

A search for a T. Hardie has proven fruitless. 

In July, a scratch match between members of Brisbane club Queens Park, St Andrews and Rangers, plus a handful of Bundanba Rovers and Queenslanders' players was played at North Ipswich Reserve. Two teams were selected by captains Fowler and Cairns. 

The match report stated Mr W.A. Hardie acted as umpire for Fowler's team. Was this the same W. Hardie which helped form Rovers? 

Part of our confusion stems from there being both a W. Hastie and W.A. Hastie in Ipswich at the time, both involved in the building trade. Both men arrived in Ipswich in the early years of Queensland soccer.

William Hastie was born in Gedborough, Scotland, around 1850, and arrived in Ipswich in 1883 as a joiner. He would go on to be the chairman of the Brassall Shire Council (today's northern suburbs of Ipswich), and later an alderman of Ipswich City Council. His obituary makes no mention of soccer, but neither does the name W. Hastie appear in the newspaper stories about Ipswich soccer after 1886. He died in 1932, an era where local obits praised past sporting abilities. His was empty of athletic achievements.

William Alexander Hastie was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1854, and also arrived in Ipswich in 1883. He was a carpenter, contractor, and foreman. He also rowed, and ran a coffee shop (which may have been the famous Hams Room, where many club meetings took place). 

W. A. Hastie would leave Ipswich in 1893 to become one of the early residents of Mareeba, where he lived until he died. There is no mention of a Hastie hastening soccer in Mareeba, where the first game is though to have been played in 1895. His obit praises his musical ability. 

One or both Hastie may have been involved with Ipswich soccer in 1886 - it depends on how careful the Queensland Times differentiated between the two men in their stories. 

Alternatively, but not helpfully, W. Hastie may be someone else completely different. 

The last we hear of any Hastie was in in August 1886, when one states that Rovers were hoping for reinforcements , and that the club would be a strong next season.  

Instead, they seemingly disappeared.

James Glasgow was captain of Bundanba Rovers, as well as secretary. 

Yet, we know nothing about him. 

He starts a soccer club, plays some games, and disappears. 

The last we hear of him is via the newly formed Thistle club in 1887: 

"It was carried that the secretary write to Mr. Glasgow, of the Bundanba Rovers, asking him if that club mean to take tho field this season, if so, what date could they conveniently play a match with this club."
Brisbane Courier, June 7, 1887

Can it be Glasgow had already left Rovers, if not Ipswich, and the letter was not received? 

Could it be neither Rovers nor Queenslanders had the numbers to play?

Regardless, there are no known recorded senior soccer games in Ipswich in 1887. (We'll come back to kids' games another time.)

Searching for Glasgow, not surprisingly, finds a lot of noise - soccer in that city, plus many Jameses from Glasgow. 

The main J. Glasgow of the era mentioned in Queensland newspapers was one regularly listed as transitioning trains at Wallangarra coming to and from NSW. (Privacy in 1888, what privacy?)

There is seemingly no known Glasgows playing football in Queensland after 1886. 

Soccer seemingly died in Ipswich in 1887. The Queenslanders had already mentioned their players were being poached by a Brisbane club a year earlier. They only played 3 games. With the unknown Hastie hoping for reinforcements for Rovers, it seems playing stock were too low to maintain teams to add to their 6 games in 1886.

Alternatively, any 1887 games may have remained localised and deemed not worthy of mentioning in newspapers.

Neither Hastie not Glasgow are mentioned regarding soccer again. It seems these two (or more) men who had been strongly involved in setting up soccer in Ipswich disappeared from the game, and without them the it flagged until 1888.

Knowing more about Hastie(s) and Glasgow may give an insight into how soccer came to Ipswich, and a more general understanding of how the game initially spread in Australia in the 1880s and 90s. 

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.

Hobart 1870: Final Thoughts and Conclusions

My aim over the previous posts has been to establish whether a game of soccer was played in Hobart in May 1870, and explore the circumstances surrounding the game. I am confident High School and the 18^th Regiment were playing soccer under the 1863 FA Rules, as refereed by the recently arrived Cambridge graduate T.D. Warner.

This would mean Hobart becomes the location of Australia’s earliest confirmed soccer game, which occurred five years before the next confirmed game, played at Woogaroo Asylum in Goodna, near Ipswich.

That said, there were other games in Melbourne and Sydney around 1869 and 1870 where hints exist as being soccer but without final conclusive proof. Hopefully further evidence can appear on Trove or elsewhere which can clarify these games. I don’t expect the High School game to forever be the earliest confirmed game of soccer in Australia.

I’d like to finish with some final thoughts and theories to stimulate further research into our game and early soccer in Australia.

“The General Game”

The rules printed in the Tasmanian Times were modifiers of “the general game”.

I would like to propose “the general game” was Rugby. My reasoning based on considering who was the intended audience of the article. I think the audience wasn’t purely the general Hobart sporting public, but the 18^th Regiment.

Both the 18^th and 14^th Regiments, posted in New Zealand at the same time, seem far more conversant with Rugby than any non-carrying football code which may have been played in the UK before the early 1860s.

I propose the rules printed in the Tasmanian Times were written out to explain the home club rules of football to the 18^th Regiment to ensure both sides were playing the same game on that Saturday afternoon. These rule modifiers may have been sent to the garrison and the newspaper.

We know Hobart teams didn’t play under a unified code in this era, and players tended to get rather annoyed if their opposition pulled out obscure rules halfway through a game.

The other hint “the general game” was Rugby is the modifier explicitly banning throwing. Throwing was already banned under the 1866 Melbourne Rules. If Melbourne Rules was “the general game” there would be no need to mention it in the rules printed in the newspaper.

1869

Did the arrival of T.D. Warner introduce soccer to Hobart, or strengthen an existing soccer sensibility?

 In Inglis and Warner, High School had two recently arrivals from Cambridge in leadership roles, either of which could have seen the school adopt soccer.

This leads to two considerations regarding the 1869 Hobart football season.

The year 1869 is the least documented year of Tasmanian football in Trove. A few games in Launceston, but with their oval ball we know they were leaning towards Melbourne Rules. There is no mention of what was going on in Hobart at all.

What if some Hobart teams were already playing soccer in 1869? What if Inglis bought the FA Rules to Hobart in 1868? If soccer was already partially established, this would explain why the High School insisted the Army Rugbyites learn new rules.

Men Versus Boys

There is another possibility – that High School played Rugby in 1868 – that is this was their general game. If High School played Rugby, why the need to print the rules at all? Why not play Rugby against the military.

That said, if High School did play Rugby, would you really want your boys up against the fighting men of the 18^th, especially if the visitors had a fearsome reputation?  Maybe you want to play a code where physical bulk may not make so much of a difference. 

Maybe you adopt soccer for the game?

Questions

There are many questions which, if answers could be uncovered, would give us a clearer picture as to why soccer was played in Hobart in 1870, and possibly why it faltered.

Are there any surviving records from the 18th Regiment or High School detailing information about this match?

Why did the Tasmanian Times republish the piece from the Standard?

Who was Drop-Kick?

Did a meeting ever take place to formalise the rules, as suggested by Drop-Kick, for the 1870 season?

Were all the games in Hobart, 1870, played under the same rules?

Did T.D. Warner play football at Trinity Hall?

Did Inglis play soccer at Trinity College?

Were McMahon’s Cricket and Sports Manual or certain Cassell’s publications available in Hobart around the turn of the decade?

Under what rules was Hobart football played in 1869?

Some of these questions may never be answered, but with new material appearing on Trove all the time, more of this story may appear soon.

Or maybe an earlier game somewhere else in Australia will be uncovered.

Coda

On the 13^th of May, 1871, exactly a year after Drop-Kick called for unified rules, The Mercury reported a meeting of the Break O Day cricket club to form a football team. Their first match was against High School. The reports into their game included the words “spills” and “scrimmage”. 

Clearly this was not soccer. That experiment, such as it was, was over for the time being.

What happened in the next few years is hard to guess, though it seems clubs played under a variety of rules, often decided ahead of the game.

Perhaps the most vivid voice from this period is our mysterious Drop-kick. The mononymous writer, if the same individual, managed to secure a regular column which ran in the Tribune.

Drop-Kick is very useful for modern day researchers. He has opinions. He praises teams. He chides teams.  He annoys people. 

What, for instance, to make about this game between Richmond and City where running with the ball, tripping and hacking were banned?  It is through Drop-Kick we have additional evidence rules continued to be often arranged game-by-game.

The best place to go next in the story of Tasmanian soccer is Ian Syson, whose work on this decade has already been acknowledged. One of the quotes he discovered was the remembrances of one W.H. Cundy in September 1931, who claimed football in Tasmania in the 1870s:

 “consisted of Soccer, Rugby and a cross between the two games known as the Tasmanian game.” Mercury, September 22, 1931

This gives further weight to the 1870 game being soccer, and for the code to linger in Tasmania prior to game’s confirmed return to Hobart in 1879.

By 1879, T.D. Warner was undertaking his priestly duties in West Maitland. Inglis had died. The 18^th Regiment was in Afghanistan. High School’s days were number, closing in 1884.  Drop-Kick had been silent since 1877.

A new generation had taken over, but that is (as told by Syson) another story.

Acknowledgements

I’d like to thank the various members of #SokkahHistoryTwitter including Ian Syson, Paul Hunt, Paul Mavroudis, Peter Eady, Paul Nicholls, Mark Boric and Troy Chandler for answering questions, offering encouragement, feedback and or just creating an inclusive environment for someone new to start exploring the history or Australian soccer. . 

I’d like to also thank the many who have tagged and edited Trove articles, many who had no interest in soccer, but made the articles easy to search.

Lastly, thanks also to the National Library in regard to my Cassell’s enquiry.

Part 1: Introduction - Australia's Earliest Known Soccer Game?
Part 2: The Rules of the Game
Part 3: When Did The FA Rules Reach Australia?
Part 4: Game Day
Part 5: The Military Men and the "Upmire"
Part 6: Final Thought and Conclusions

The Military Men and the “Upmire”

Let’s Try These Rules…

In late May 1870, High School and the 18^th Regiment of the British Army played a game of soccer. 

We know this because The Tasmanian Times printed the rules of the match in the newspaper the day before. 

The game was played in an environment where clubs were not playing to unified rules, leading to calls for one set to be adopted by all. It is possible the rules printed in the Tasmanian Times were an attempt to answer this call.

Our next question is who was most likely to have decided to play the game under the rules of the Football Association?

Today we will look at those in and around the game. Were any of the participants likely to have rocked up with a knowledge of and will to play soccer?

The 18^th Regiment

The 18^th Regiment had arrived in New Zealand to join the wars against the Maori in 1863, before the rules of association football were codified.

The 18^th subsequently became the last regiment to leave New Zealand, in February 1870, when they were sent to Australia as a staging post for the return to the UK.

On arrival in Australia, the 18^th Regiment was split amongst the colonies where they soon immersed themselves in social engagement and playing sport. 

In terms of football, the 18^th Regiment came into Australia with a strong footballing reputation:

“On Saturday next the Melbourne Club play a match with the 18th Royal Irish, who have brought with them from New Zealand the reputation of being expert football players. It is said that on one occasion the regiment were challenged to play a match by a number of civilians in New Zealand, but that when they entered the field they presented such a formidable appearance that their opponents beat a hasty retreat.”

The Argus, May 23, 1870

On the same afternoon as their fellow soldiers were losing to High School, another section of the 18^th Regiment were soundly trounced 4 nil against Melbourne Football Club.

Overall the press was not impressed with the military’s skill, with one the writer questioning the soldiers’ tactics:

“The military no doubt lost the match, by playing en masse, instead of spreading over the ground as is the practice of the Melbourne men, and in this particular they follow the example of their predecessors in the 14th Regiment.”

Leader, June 4, 1870

Another match report was more scathing, highlighting the same issues found in the game on the other side of Bass Strait:

“It was evident up to this time that the soldiers, though they played with great energy and determination, were not as familiar with the game as people had been led to expect, scarcely seeming to be aware of the advantage of a "mark," and making few efforts to obtain one.”

The Argus, May 30, 1870

It was clear the 18^th Regiment were not familiar with either association football, or those precursor football forms which gave rise to Melbourne Rules.

But there was one football code in which at least one member of the 18^th Regiment gave a good account of himself.

In early August Sydney University played Walleroo under rugby rules. In the subsequent match report, it was noted:

“Three or four touch-downs took place, in which Lieutenant Jackson, of the 18th, was specially conspicuous.”

Evening News, August 5, 1870.

Wallaroo had seen Jackson, and other members of the 18^th Regiment (plus the Navy) in action two months earlier when the rugby club played the combined forces, in what was described as a fair match.

It seems the 18^th Regiment was familiar with Rugby-style football, which seemingly precludes them as the reason their game against High School was played under association rules.

The 18^th were not the only recent members of the British Army in Australia. The 18^th replaced the 14^th Regiment, who had already started the journey home from New Zealand.

We already know the 14^th played Rugby, thanks once again to that article the Fremantle's The Herald:

“As the Game of "Foot Ball" is becoming a favorite amusement since the advent of the 14th Regt. we have been earnestly requested to publish the Rules of the Game. The following are from CASSELL'S Out Door Games.”

The Herald (Fremantle) October 17 1868.

The rules as published are Rugby, as for example, the following rule shows:

“9. A player shall be entitled to run with the ball towards his adversaries' goal if he makes a fair catch, or catches the ball on the first bound”

The Herald (Fremantle), as  October 17, 1868

We can rule out the British Army in introducing soccer to Hobart in 1870. They were too Rugby, which did them in good stead in Sydney, but not elsewhere in Australia.

For a likely culprit, we must instead look towards the scholars.

Centre of Learning

When we talk of High School in 1870, we aren’t talking about Hobart High School. That government secondary school was started in 1913 and kept the name until the mid-1960s. It is now called Hobart College.

Instead, our High School was first conceived in 1847 with the following fundamental regulations:

1st. "That the Holy Scriptures shall be read in the school."

2nd. "That, to preserve the catholicity of the institution, this rule shall not be enforced in the case of any pupil whose parent or guardian may object to it."

3rd. " That the inculcation of the peculiar tenets of any religious denomination shall be scrupulously avoided, as foreign to the design of the institution.''

The Courier (Hobart) September 1847.

It was a non-conformist religious school

The newspapers first mention football in relation to High School in 1866. A match against the Town Club is advertised in The Mercury on the 18th of August 1866.

A year later they kick-off again against Hutchins School, another private school in Hobart. Further games are mentioned over the next few years. Again, because of the reticence of the Tasmanian press in describing the play, we do not know under which rules these games were played.

But something changed in May 1870 which required explicit rules of soccer to be published, a couple of weeks after the school was asking around for games.  

That change might have been a new arrival, someone who arrived in Hobart around the same time as the 18^th. Someone who took up a leadership position in High School, and was subsequently involved in the soccer match.

For there in the advertisement for the 1870 match is:

“Upmire. T. O. Warner.”

Cox, Upmire and Reverend

Yes, it says Upmire.

And if you allow such typo gets through editing, maybe you will also confuse a pen-written capital D for a capital O.

Now while for all we know T. O. Warner may have been the local football-refereeing butcher, the game was played a few months after the Launceston Examiner reported the following:

“Mr. T. D. Warner, of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, has been appointed English master at the High School; Hobart Town in the place of at Mr.Richards, resigned.”

Launceston Examiner January 29, 1870

We know a lot about Thomas Davenport Warner: rower, teacher, sports administrator, priest and father-in-law to a premier.

We have knowledge of Warner because before Tasmania he went to Cambridge University, and afterwards, he became an Anglican clergyman.

As a Reverend, Warner become a newspaper-worthy figure within the communities he tended.

But the outline of his life can be found in two big books, one each from the two big institutions to which he was associated.

The “Alumni cantabrigienses” come with the subtitle: “a biographical list of all known students, graduates and holders of office at the University of Cambridge, from the earliest times to 1900”.

Warner’s entry was partially cribbed from “Crockford’s Clerical Directory”, a regularly updated publication listing the whereabouts of each member of the Anglican clergy.

Warner’s Alumni biography ends with the ominous line “disappears from Crockford in 1940”, a fact explained by Warner having died four years earlier.

Warner was born in 1848 in New York, though whether this was in Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, or the United States is not clarified. Warner grew up in Australia, where he attended Church of England Grammar in Melbourne. He matriculated to Trinity in Easter 1867, where he stayed until moving to Tasmania in 1870.

By 1874, Warner was being ordained in Brisbane, before embarking on a nomadic journey as a priest in Roma, Maitland, Cassilis and Toowoomba, a decade back in England, and a final return to Australia during the Great War.

Behind him, Warner left plenty of newsprint regarding the numerous marriages, funerals, general socialising and close involvement in each community in which he lived.

Warner’s Cambridge biography does not mention his time teaching in Hobart’s High and City Schools, but the trail of newspaper articles can be pieced together to confirm this fact.

When he died, Warner received a lengthy, (if erroneous) obituary, while his wife Emma Eugenie McDowall, (but normally referred to as Mrs T.D Warner), earned her own detailed obit in 1940 and was praised for her philanthropy.

Their daughter Mary was married to Queensland Premier Arthur Moore. It seems the Warner family was both an extremely noteworthy family, and an eminently trackable one.

But we are interested in Warner’s sporting interest, and there is plenty of evidence of this too.

The first results for most searches of T.D. Warner in our period is the 1868 Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge. The “Alumni cantabrigienses” states Warner was a “Rowing ‘blue’ (cox), 1868”.

What the biography does not explain is Warner was the first non-British rower to compete for Cambridge.

Nor the fact they lost.

That said, if Cambridge had their way, Warner would not have even raced. 

In February 1868, team member John Bourke died after accidentally shooting himself. Cambridge offered to pull out of the race, but Oxford wasn’t having any of it. Cambridge raced, Oxford won, and Warner’s name became etched in sporting history.

We know he continued to row on arrival in Tasmania. In 1870  Warner agreed to be the coxswain for a Hobart crew which was being planned to travel to Sydney for the famous Balmain Regatta, though they seemed to have cancelled the trip late in the piece. We also know he was a rowing coach in Hobart.

Warner was also heavily involved in cricket, becoming the secretary and treasurer of the Wellington Cricket Club.

He continued his interest in sports administration years later, in the 1890s, when he became president of Pirate R.F.C union club in Toowoomba, and vice-president of the Toowoomba Rugby Union.

Perhaps Warner’s most widely reported sporting association was one in his day job as a clergyman, a tragic story coincidentally linking rowing and rugby.

In 1888, the British Football Team arrived in Australia for a series of games. However, on a visit to Maitland, team captain B. L. Seddon drowned in the Hunter River whilst rowing.

The funeral was presided over by the local reverend, T. D. Warner. Later Warner gave a detailed speech to the acceptance of an engraved tablet funded by a memorial fund set up by the NSW Rugby fraternity in Seddon’s memory.

To have been referee of the game against the 18^th Regiment fits Warner’s keen interest in sport.

That Warner came from Cambridge, a hotbed of soccer in England at the time also increased the likelihood he was exposed to the sport during student days.

The Cambridge University Association Football Club started (or rather re-organised themselves) in 1866, just before Warner arrived. We have no proof Warner played soccer at Cambridge, but the game was available to experience.

Did Warner convince High School to play soccer? We don’t know.

Alternatively, the rules may have already been known in Tasmania, but it took the arrival of T.D. Warner, as one of the Masters of High School, for someone in a position of influence to organise a game. 

For The Sake Of Completeness…

Warner was the Third Master of High School. All three masters came from Cambridge.

The First Master was Rev. R. D. Powlett Harris, who apparently went to Trinity College. I’ve searched “Alumni cantabrigienses” and cannot find him, but he was well established at High School by 1860, before the FA drew up their rules.  

The second master was Earnest Ingle of Trinity College (and not Trinity Hall as some advertisement stated.) Ingle is mentioned in “Alumni cantabrigienses”, though there is nothing in there of interest.

Inglis arrived in High School in 1868. His remaining life would be sadly short.  Ingle would marry the daughter of the first Master, found Melbourne’s Kew School , and die of typhoid in 1875.

Like Warner, Inglis was in Cambridge as soccer was taking over, and may have had an influence over the game in Hobart in 1870. Again, we simply don’t know.

Where’s the Trophy?

We cannot prove Warner or Inglis introduced soccer into Hobart in 1870, but we do know Warner refereed the match.

This makes Warner the first known soccer referee in Australia.

So anyone looking at giving a name to a refereeing award might be in luck. The T.D. Warner Award for Excellence in Whistle-blowing perhaps?

Part 1: Introduction - Australia's Earliest Known Soccer Game?
Part 2: The Rules of the Game
Part 3: When Did The FA Rules Reach Australia?
Part 4: Game Day
Part 5: The Military Men and the "Upmire"
Part 6: Final Thought and Conclusions

Hobart 1870: Game Day

The State Of Play

On March 25, 1867, the pseudonymous Dropkick wrote to the Launceston’s Cornwall Chronical calling for a meeting to form a football club which would play under an agreed set of rules chosen or adapted from those of an existing public school code.

Dropkick’s request was in reaction to the lack of uniformity of rules between different clubs.

 “Particular attention should be paid to establishing a code of laws for the guidance of players, as everyone plays in the way in which he has been taught, and, of course, there is great confusion, as there are such a number of ways of playing the game.”

The Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston) March 27, 1867

Dropkick’s concern was not without merit. 

When Mr A. Swan’s Eleven played fourteen from the Hutchin’s School in 1866, a goal was overturned due to a rule the eleven were unaware existed.

There is no evidence Dropkick’s call to arms saw any change in the way football was run in Tasmania. 

However, a couple of weeks later the existing Launceston club, which had formed in 1866, agreed to play under a slightly modified version of the rules used by the Melbourne club. That said, there were no reports of any other clubs following suit.

Further south, at least two clubs already existed in Hobart. New Town formed in 1864, while Hobart Town Foot Ball Club commenced in 1866.

On formation, Hobart Town went so far as to draft formal rules under which the club would play, though the newspapers of the time did not describe them.

Over the next two years, football continued in Hobart with games taking place between New Town, Hobart Town, “the military”, and both High and Hutchin’s Schools. These games featured varying numbers of participants and complete lack of description of the play.

In short, we don't know what game they were playing.

This Mess Where In

Have a look at this link.

It’s the rulebook of New Town and Hobart Town Football Clubs, and it’s a bit of a hodgepodge. 

There’s a bit of Melbourne Rules, with the run and bounce. There’s a bit of post-1866 soccer (or maybe Cambridge Rules) with having to score under the tape which went between the posts. There’s the rule about no projecting nails in the boots which is ripped word from Rugby or FA Rules.

But sorry Rugbyites, no throwing is allowed.

We cannot date these rules. Paul Hunt’s best guess is 1877. But their existence suggests the mess football was in during the 1860s to 1880.

Once again I defer to Ian Syson who has already written about the chaos of rules in Tasmania during this time.

Suffice it to say in the period from Drop-kick’s call to arms to New Town and Hobart Town’s hodgepodge rulebook, there seemed to be several attempts to adopt set football rules in Tasmania without much success, with soccer, Rugby and Melbourne Rules all tried, adapted and discarded.

One such attempt to adopt soccer may have occurred in 1870. We first hear about it when a syndicated article from London's Standard newspaper caused the return of the mysterious Drop-Kick to again pick up a pen.

In May 1870, The Tasmanian Times ran with the headline:

“FOOTBALL REFORM”

At the heart of the lengthy piece was an argument calling for the unification of football laws, but more specifically the writer advocated soccer over Rugby, with the full abolition of handling.

“Already signs of a reformation have appeared, the Wanderers and Civil Service Clubs taking the lead in proposing the total abolition of handling under any pretence whatever. Such a rule is necessary for the salvation of legitimate football, and before the commencement of the 1870-71 season it is to be hoped its adoption under the association code will be universal, so as once more to put football on its legs, and to make it a recreation within the tastes of growing up beings whose yearnings for a romping game, however strong, require at least some protection from the undignified hacking and scragging which the legitimate Rugby code permits and many other clubs tolerate.”

The Tasmanian Times, syndicating Standard, May 11 1870.

A few days later, as seen in my last post, The Geelong Advertiser reported that handling had been abolished by the FA. The Standard article may have been part of the preceding public debate over the change of rules.

The Standard article seems not to have been syndicated anywhere else around Australia. Neither, as we’ve seen, was it the first article to appear in Australian newspapers calling for the adoption of the code.

(Here, again, I’ll guide you to Ian Syson’s ‘The Game That Never Happened’, or his preceding article “Waiting for Association football: incipient soccer in Australia, 1850–1880” which covers soccer advocacy in Australia since 1867.)

We can only imagine the editorial reasoning to reprinting the Standard’s piece in the Tasmanian Times and can but speculate whether this was an act of soccer advocacy in and of itself. 

The Standard article quickly attracted the attention of the, or possibly a different Drop-kick. 

“DEAR SIR.—Your remarks as to football in a recent issue, copied from the Standard, has induced me to write to you on the subject. Now that the season has commenced, would it not be advisable to have a meeting of the secretaries of the different local foot-ball clubs, and determine upon a set of rules by which all matches here would he played, and to arrange a list of matches to be played this season.

Yours truly,

Hobart Town,

May 12,1870.

DROP-KICK.”

The Tasmanian Times, May 13 1870

I have not uncovered any evidence such a meeting ever happened, but within a fortnight of Drop-Kick’s latter came the announcement of the High School game against the 18^th Regiment game, under the rules printed in The Tasmanian Times.

We do not know if the printing of the High School’s rules was a reaction to Drop-Kick, part of a larger piece of coordinated soccer advocacy, or merely coincidental?

That said, five paragraphs above Drop-Kick’s letter in The Tasmanian Times was the following observation:

“FOOTBALL.—Now that the season has commenced we understand that the High School football club is open to play any other of the school clubs a match at football on any Saturday afternoon that may be chosen on the lower ground.”

The Tasmanian Times, May 13, 1870

On the same day Drop-Kick was arguing for set rules, High School was calling for games.

At the end of May, the High School's rules were published in the Tasmanian Times. Drop-Kick might have been pleased.

And a day after the publication of the rules, High School and the 18^th Regiment played soccer.

Match Summaries

High School and the 18^th Regiment played two games over May and June 1870.

The first game ended as a 1-0 win to High School, which was reported in The Tasmanian Times the following Monday:

“FOOT BALL. - The match, which was announced in our issue of Friday last, between twenty of the High School Club, and twenty of H.M. 18th Regiment (Royal Irish) was played on Saturday last in the Domain. The game commenced at half- past two o'clock, and after an hour's hard play resulted in a goal in favour of the High School, kicked by E, Hughes. The play on both sides was very good, and on the High School side those especially deserving notice were Messrs Perry, Nairn, O. Thomas, J. Stansfield, and C. Ford. The soldiers played a good game, but were in decidedly a disadvantageous position from not knowing the rules of the game well. A return match is to be played on Thursday next at two o'clock p.m., and on Saturday the High School meet the New Town Club, fifteen a side.”

The Tasmanian Times, May 30 1870

Unfortunately for us, newspaper’s in Tasmania in this era regularly reported football games by listing the participants, praising individuals, giving kick-off times but few other details: good news for modern-day genealogists but of limited use for our purposes.

It is most likely the game was played by the rules as published given only a day had elapsed, but a further hint this was the case was given in the report on the rematch which took place a couple of weeks later.

“FOOT BALL.—A match at Foot Ball was played yesterday afternoon on the Domain ground between the High School and some of the 18th Regiment, which resulted in a drawn match, a dispute having arisen as to a goal claimed by the 18th Regiment, but not allowed, owing to the ball having been thrown, and not kicked. The High School will meet the New Town Club on Saturday next.”

The Tasmanian Times, June 10 1870.

The throw clearly went against the published rules regarding handling and throwing, though it is not made clear whether the incident referred to the way the ball passed through the posts or was in relation to the lead-up play.

What is clear from both match reports is the 18^th Regiment’s unfamiliarity with the rules of association football, which we will return to in the next post.

But first, there was more football to play.

The 1870 Season

The two games between High School and the 18^th Regiment were but two games played in Hobart’s 1870 football season.

The season seems to have unfolded thus:

May 28: High School 1 (E. Hughes) v 18^th Regiment 0

June 4: High School v New Town (score unknown)

June 9: High School 2 (E. Wright, T. Crisp) v Mr Pike’s School 0

 June 9: High School 0 v 18^th Regiment 0

June 18: New Town v Military (18^th Regiment?) (score unknown)

June 25: New Town 0 v Military 0 (18^th Regiment?)

July 30: High School v New Town (score unknown)

There may have been other games, which The Mercury sniffed as unimportant. 

Were all these games soccer?

Were Drop-Kick’s hopes realised and all clubs played by the same unifying rules.

Again, the newspaper reports lacked the required description of play to answer this question.

But Paul Hunt has found one clue.

On July 14, The Mercury reported:

“Two football matches have been played during the month between the Now Town Club and the Military, but the game seems to be regarded with less favour than cricket, and there is wanting spirit, enthusiasm, and emulation to make it become general amongst Hobart Town athletes. The games that have been played this season have been well contested, and unattended, as, is too frequently the case when equal parties meet in a football contest, with serious accidents.”

The Mercury July 14, 1870

Could the phrase “to make it more general amongst Hobart Town athletes” imply a specific set of football rules?

Could the fact the games were “unattended” imply a waning interest of a specific version of the football – the association rules published on the 27^th of May.

The season kicked off with High School calling for challengers. Did they request all games be played under their rules?

Until further evidence appears, either on Trove or elsewhere, we do not know, but neither can we rule it out. 

It also does not help the Hobart newspapers make limited mentions of football at all in 1869, and nothing about specific games. This could imply it is football in general which was on the nose compared to cricket and had been for some time.

If soccer was taken up in 1870, we know it was quickly dropped.

In 1871 Tasmanian newspapers finally described games enough to have some idea as to what was going on. The words “spills” and “scrimmage” appear for the first time in local match reports. No discontent with the state of play seems evident.

All this gives the impression Hobart’s football community experimented with association football for the 1870 season and it didn’t catch on.  Twelve months later, they tried something different.

It should be quickly noted Launceston Football Club was still going strong in 1870. We do not know if they continued playing modified Melbourne Rules. 

Soccer was played in Hobart in 1870 by High School and the 18th Regiment, and possibly by every team that season. What may be his the first soccer game in Australia may also be the first season of soccer in Australia.

Regardless of what sort of football was generally played in 1870, the season was curtailed by the weather. And soccer slept for the moment at least.

Who?

Drop-Kick may have called for unified rules, but who may have encouraged decided a football game would be played under the FA Rules in Hobart in 1870?

In the next post, we’ll look at the participants to see if we can find clues as to why High School and the 18^th Regiment played soccer.

Part 1: Introduction - Australia's Earliest Known Soccer Game?
Part 2: The Rules of the Game
Part 3: When Did The FA Rules Reach Australia?
Part 4: Game Day
Part 5: The Military Men and the "Upmire"
Part 6: Final Thought and Conclusions