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

A Missing Folklore

It's not that Australia doesn't have a rich football history, it's just that it is poorly documented. 

Part of that comes from living in the shadow of more popular codes. Some of it is because of the various political schisms over the years. For instance, when the breakaway ethnic clubs established the State Federations, scant regard was given to the records of the bodies they had superseded. More recently there is a tendency to be ashamed of our history, wanting to lock it away in the attic like The Simpsons did with Bart's evil twin Hugo.

In the pre-internet age, reading about football was pretty limited. There were weekly newspapers covering local competitions with overseas results, and Shoot! magazine which would arrive on our shores three months after original publication. Second hand bookshops were a good source of British books about the game, many of which followed a similar structure.

Most football fans will know a bit about the history of the clubs they follow, the great eras and players. In Britain, this extends to a larger folklore of the game that is still maintained by followers of the modern game. The staples of this are repeated in the many guides and histories of football contained in those books. 

There is the White Horse Cup Final, Bert Trautmann going from German prisoner of war to winning the Cup Final for Manchester City playing with a broken neck and the tragedy of the Munich Air Disaster. The name of Sir Stanley Mathews, the Wizard of the Dribble, lives on generations long beyond anyone who actually saw him play. Enormous goalkeeper William "Fatty" Foulke, Dixie Dean's amazing goalscoring, Herbert Chapman's great Arsenal side, the Tottenham Hostpur double winning team, Real Madrid dominating the early years of the European Cup and Ferenc Puskas destroying England at Wembley are known by all. 

Beyond Joe Marston playing in the F.A.Cup Final for Preston North End and the 1974 Socceroos, Australian football folklore is almost non-existent. Throw in three random names and Reg Date and ask a fan to name the Australian football legend, are you likely to find more than 25% of them getting the answer right? I'd highly doubt it. Can any name a single Australian footballer from pre-WWII? 

It's a sad situation, sadder still if it is never improved upon because of a need to dishonour the past in order to make the present seem greater.