Sporting Life's All-Australians

The following piece owes a great deal to George Cotsanis, who is behind the brilliant My World Is Round Facebook page. It began when he went through the memorabilia collection of Moreland legend Eric Heath and discovered a trophy for "All-Australian Selection" in 1952. An accompanying letter revealed the monthly sporting magazine Sporting Life selected a team. He then embarked on a  search of the Sporting Life archives at the MCC Library and uncovered the full set of All-Australian squads for all the football codes between 1947 and 1955.

You will note some years merely had the player's state mentioned, some years would also feature their club. I've since researched all the current clubs of the selected players, as well as expanding on the custom of the time of simply using an initial and surname by uncovering all the christian names of the squads.

The selector shows a heavy bias towards New South Wales. In the inaugural 1947 squad the only interstate player is Queensland's Bob Lawrie, who played for Leichhardt-Annandale in the NSW competition that year. He would be selected a further four times upon his return to Queensland. There also seems to be a bias against the great Reg Date, selected just twice.

The full list is:

1947

Norman Conquest (North Shore/NSW), Joe Marston (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW), Cec Drummond (Metters/NSW), Dave Coote (Adamstown/NSW), Bob Lawrie (Leichhardt-Annandale/QLD), Kevin O'Neill (Cessnock/NSW), Charlie Stewart (Lysaghts/NSW), Jim Cunningham (Wollongong-Bulli/NSW), Reg Date (Canterbury-Bankstown/NSW), Ron Hughes (Metters/NSW), Ray Marshall (Granville/NSW)

1948

Ken Hough (Drummoyne/NSW), Joe Marston (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW), Cec Drummond (Metters/NSW), Bob Bignall (Corrimal/NSW), Dave Coote (Adamstown/NSW), Robert Murray (Canterbury-Bankstown/NSW), Ernie Kemp (Lake Macquarie/NSW), Allan Johns (Adamstown/NSW), Frank Parsons (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW), Ron Hughes (Canterbury-Bankstown/NSW), Wally Cansick (Thistle/QLD).

1949

Jim Jenkins (Woonona/NSW), Joe Marston (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW), Cec Drummond (Drummoyne/NSW), Bob Lawrie (Bundamba Rovers/QLD), Bill Wilson (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW), Bob Bignall (Corrimal/NSW), George Sanders (Granville/NSW), Allan Johns (Adamstown/NSW), Gordon Nunn (St Helens/QLD), Jock McMahon (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW), Alec Barr (Brighton/VIC).

1950

Norman Conquest (Metters-Canterbury/NSW), Kevin O'Neill (Cessnock/NSW), Cec Drummond (Drummoyne/NSW), Bob Lawrie (Bundamba Rovers/QLD), Tom Jack (Brighton/VIC), Bob Young (Granville/NSW), Eric Hulme (Granville/NSW), Allan Johns (Adamstown/NSW), Gordon Nunn (St Helens/QLD), Frank Parsons (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW), Harry Robertson (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW).

1951

Ron Lord (Auburn/NSW), Doug Wendt (Adamstown/NSW), Kevin O'Neill (Cessnock/NSW), Bob Bignall (Corrimal/NSW), Norm Rowlands (Granville/NSW), Bob Lawrie (Bundamba Rovers/QLD), Jock McMahon (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW), Eric Hulme (Granville/NSW), Sammy North (Mayfield United/NSW), Frank Parsons (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW), Harry Robertson (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW).

1952

Bill Mahoney (Adamstown/NSW), Eric Heath (Moreland/VIC), Frento Mouchka (Hakoah/VIC), Bob Bignall (Corrimal/NSW), Kevin O'Neill (Cessnock/NSW), Angus Drennan (Sunshine United/VIC), Charlie Stewart (Woonona/NSW), Reg Date (Wallsend/NSW), Gordon Nunn (Corinthians/QLD), Jock Cummings (Port Adelaide/SA), Malcolm Wild (Corinthians/QLD).

1953

Bill Henderson (Granville/NSW), Cliff Almond (Cessnock/NSW), Doug Wendt (Auburn/NSW), Bob Lawrie (Bulimba/QLD), Pat Clarke (Hakoah/VIC), Kevin O'Neill (Cessnock/NSW), Charlie Stewart (Woonona/NSW), Jack Lennard (Mayfield United/NSW), Alan Garside (Granville/NSW), Malcolm Wild (Corinthians/QLD), Harry Robertson (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW).

1954

Bill Henderson (Granville/NSW), Jack Mather (Adelaide Juventus/SA), Kevin O'Neill (Cessnock/NSW), Ron Adair (Maccabeans/WA), Tom Jack (Hakoah/VIC), Bob Young (Corrimal/NSW), Charlie Stewart (Woonona/NSW), Harry Rice (Hakoah/VIC), Ken Learmonth (Corrimal/NSW), Malcolm Wild (Eastern Suburbs/QLD), Harry Robertson (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW).

1955

Bill Henderson (Granville/NSW), Cliff Almond (Cessnock/NSW), Bill Wilson (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW), Eric Duff (Balgownie/NSW), Joe Marston (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW), Cliff Sander (St Helens/QLD), Frank Laughran (Moreland/VIC), Syd Thomas (Hakoah/VIC), Don Hodgson (Victoria Colts/VIC), Jock McMahon (Leichhardt-Annandale/NSW), Ray Neal (Canterbury/NSW).

Most All-Australian Selections:

6: Kevin O'Neill

5: Bob Lawrie

4: Cec Drummond, Harry Robertson, Joe Marston, Charlie Stewart, Bob Bignall, 

3: Allan Johns, Frank Parsons, Gordon Nunn, Jock McMahon, Malcolm Wild, Bill Henderson

Most Selections by Club:

17: Leichhardt-Annandale

10: Granville

8: Cessnock

7: Adamstown

6: Corrimal

5: Hakaoh (Melbourne)

Selections by State:

72: New South Wales

13: Queensland

11: Victoria

2: South Australia

1: Western Australia

The Forgotten Grand Finals

Many hours of looking at the online archives of The Age and The Argus have left me closer to insanity than usual and neglecting the blog for the longest time in it's brief history.

I guess most casual observers of the local game may know that the VPL switched from a first past the post Championship to a Finals series in 1992, with North Geelong taking the first Grand Final 4-1 after extra time against Brunswick Juventus. Despite the old First Division, and then from 1958, the old State League awarding the Championship to the side the headed the ladder at the conclusion of the season, there had been "Grand Finals" prior to 1992.

In 1915 the fledgling League was contested in two Sections rather than Divisions. In the Semi-Finals, Albert Park (top of Section A) defeated St Kilda (runner's-up in Section B) 4-0. Section B leaders Thistle got past Section A runner's-up Northumberland and Durham United 3-2. Thistle claimed the Championship of Victoria by triumphing 1-0 over Albert Park at Middle Park, Brown being the scorer.

With the disruption caused by the First World War, soccer in Melbourne went into recess as most players enlisted to serve their King and Country. When organised football got back underway in 1919, there were only enough teams for one division, but in 1920 the two section set-up was back in use. The first Grand Final between Northumberland and Durham United and St Kilda was drawn 1-1, leading to a replay in which N&D (a much needed abbreviation) claimed the title with a 2-0 win.

The competition then went back to the traditional divisional structure, but again a Grand Final of sorts was required in 1923. This time it was because deciding the Championship on goal difference or goal average was considered inadequate, so St Kilda and Footscray Thistle, locked on 20 points each faced each other in a Championship Play-Off. The two sides still took a bit of separating, the first encounter ending in a 2-2 draw. The replay was also drawn, this time without any goals, before St Kilda finally took the honours 2-1 in the second replay, making it a double by winning the Dockerty Cup 1-0 over Preston as well.

There was upheaval in the administration of the game in 1927, with a "District" competition set up by the new Melbourne Soccer Football Association. Some older clubs were cast aside and played in their own competition, which was not covered by the major papers.

In 1928 the District League was divided into North and South Sections, again requiring a Grand Final to determine the Championship of Victoria. Naval Depot, playing out of Crib Point, went undefeated in the Southern Section, and Footscray also failed to taste defeat in the Northern Section. The Grand Final at the Motordome saw the Navy men take the honours 2-1 with goals from Crowe and Lewis. P.Lewis would go on to represent Victoria and play for Brunswick and Hakoah before his death on May 26th, 1936.

The District set-up was abandoned in 1929, as was the use of sections in the top league. They say war is hell, and it certainly was for local football in the latter part of World War Two. The league continued to shrink, back to a single division for much of the hostilities. In 1945 the teams played each other once, before the second phase saw the top five play each other once again, the bottom five doing likewise.

By 1947, it was back to the two sections top division concept, this time with ten teams each. It turned into a farce, as the difference between some clubs was vast. Sunshine United hammered Heidelberg Rangers 21-0, South Melbourne United won 13-0 at Woodlands, the R.A.F. beat Olympic 12-1, Moreland crushed Woodlands 15-2 and Park Rangers defeated the same hapless Woodsmen 18-1 amongst the many uneven contests which resulted in numerous double figure scores. Angus Drennan netted 8 goals in the above mentioned romp by Sunshine United. The Grand Final was also a high scoring affair, with Sunshine United getting up 6-2 against Moreland at Olympic Park.

The debacle saw a permanent return to the traditional divisional league structure from 1948. So there were Grand Finals before 1992, but I've yet to ascertain enough information from match reports to see if we can declare retrospective Jimmy Rooney Medal winners.