What Remains of Soccer News July 1924

Unlike our counterparts in New South Wales, very little remains of any local football publications prior to World War II. Though titles changed frequently, there seems to have constantly been a magazine or programme in Sydney since the early 1920's. Thanks to the work of Greg Stock, a fair bit of it is now available to be read in the archives on this blog.

It is a different story in Victoria. The State Library holds just the single issue of a pre-WWII soccer publication, the Soccer News from July 5, 1924.

It is not in great condition, and comes along with a photocopied version when requested from off-site storage. I didn't even open all the pages on the original, as the tape trying to hold parts together seems to have stuck some pages to each other and I didn't want to chance it.

It's is numbered 8, with no volume number. So that would be the eighth issue that season, in probably it's first, and more than likely, only year. It's the official organ of the V.A.B.F.A. (Victorian Amateur British Football Association) and the Metropolitan A.S.F.L. (Metropolitan Amateur Soccer Football League).

The Editorial Talks page is taken up with the editor wanting to teach and explain rules, which is a bit boring. Then there is a letter from Geelong, relating to the difficulties in getting teams to travel down there in those days.

The next page is a bit more interesting, with info on three "Soccer Men As I Know Them" and the Canadian tour. Page 3 has more detail on the Canadians. We then get some tables, and the expected line-ups for Australia v Canada, some Club Gossip, the Dockerty Cup draw.

The highlight is a barney between the Press Representative of the Newport club and the Soccer News editor. You see why the paper may not have lasted that long.

It is rounded out by a page of Items of Interest, which reveal a few player's names (rather than just a surname), tribunal verdicts. It's not very expansive, sadly.

Anyway I've made a PDF from the photos I took of it on my phone, and it's available here.

It's in such a state it really should have been scanned and retired, only to be shared via USB.

It's not just the lack of surviving issues that make me question it's longevity. There are no references to official publications anywhere, in fact you often see it mentioned to check newspapers for fixture details. I'm not sure the local game was big enough to sustain it's own paper/magazine at the time.

So this may have to do for now.