The Puzzle of 1915

When I started researching the history of organised football in Melbourne, it quickly became apparent that I was attempting to complete a jigsaw puzzle in which some of the pieces were missing. Sure, some were hidden, and could be found by having another look under the couch. It was the ones long since swallowed up by the vacuum cleaner that are gone for good which mean it may be a case of completing the puzzle as best you can and hoping it still looks reasonable.

The 1915 season was one with crucial pieces missing, at least in terms of the Second Division standings. The First Division was covered well enough by the media of the day, especially the multi-sport newspaper The Winner. Division One, split into Section A and Section B, had final, completed league tables published. With most scorers listed, it appears Kilty of Northumberland and Durham United who top scored in Section A with 11 goals. In Section B it was Forbes of Burns who led the way with 6 goals, which may be short-changing him as there is one game in which they scored they goals which are unaccredited.

Division Two, which contained some reserves ("A") teams of Division One clubs, was less well covered. It's only by checking Friday evening editions of The Herald and the reports from "Spectator" that we can get some clarity. They contained fixtures and refereeing appointments for the next day's games, as well as the previous week's results. Being nearly a week after the games were played, it is safe to assume if a result was not listed the game was not played. It's an assumption you can't make with results published on a Saturday evening or even a Monday in an era before telecommunications as we know them today were not commonplace. "Spectator" was clearly a nom de plume of a V.A.B.F.A. official, also including information about and from council meetings.

A few weeks after Windsor defeated Brunswick United 2- on May 29, "Spectator" noted the game would have to be replayed after a protest was upheld over Windsor fielding an ineligible man. It's these notes that become more vital as the number of players enlisting for military service in World War I continued to rise. On July 30th he informed Cambrian United and Northumberland and Durham United A were abandoning their remaining fixtures because they had run out of players. On August 13th he announced Sandringham and Brunswick United were also forced to do the same.

It has allowed me to compile a disorderly looking table. Season summaries announced that Spotswood A were Second Division Champions, and the table agrees which is good. All that remains now is how to deal with the abandoned fixtures, once what they were is figured out (the abandoned games were not listed in the Friday night fixtures). It is not stated how they were handled, but with Sandringham being in Division One we can see theirs were dealt with as forfeits, which at the time saw their opponents being awarded the two points and goal difference being unaltered. Maybe I will just leave them as they lie, which is as shown below (click on image to enlarge):

I'm Not A Racist, But....

During the week an item on the FFA Cup website heralded the arrival of a new club called Shamrock Rovers Darwin. Quite how this club formed by Irish backpackers conforms within the FFA's National Club Identity Policy (NCIP) rules is quite bewildering. Unless you accept that the FFA is selective in how it applies it own rules, that is.

Is incorporating the entire name of a club from overseas a loophole which other clubs can utilise? Is it possible to see the return of South Melbourne Hellas Verona, St Albans Dinamo Zagreb or Richmond Alemannia Aachen?

It comes just a week after the controversial NCIP was again called into question during the A-League's "Erase Racism" round, as covered in this piece by Anthony Colangelo on The New Daily. So does the FFA merely pay lip service to eradicating racism? Does it perpetuate racism with the NCIP? If the NCIP is not racist, is the selective manner in which it is enforced racist?

How do you defend something like the NCIP and the whitewashing of Australian football?


I'm not racist, but for the game to appeal to all we can't have ethnically-aligned clubs.

I'm not racist, but British and Irish cultures are part of Australia's culture, not like these other ethnic groups.

I'm not racist, but ethnic football clubs held the game back for years and need to be eradicated.

I'm not racist, but names like O'Neill, Buckley and Gallop can take the game further than people with names who sound like they run fish and chip shops and milk bars..

I'm not racist, I loved the diverse fan groups at the Asian Cup. But they need to assimilate properly to be a part of Australian football.


Is it racist?

The 1935 Dockerty Cup Final

Whilst listening to some items that Radio Sport National posted on Soundcloud to mark the 90th anniversary of their original incarnation 3UZ, I recalled coming across mentions of radio football broadcasts whilst searching the Trove archives.

A search soon revealed that radio station 3AR covered the 1935 Dockerty Cup Final from Olympic Park. Commentary came in between coverage of races at Moonee Valley that were called by Jim Carroll.

That year's Cup Final was one of the all-time classics, and a re-match of a titanic struggle from the previous year. In 1934 the Final saw Caledonians and Hakoah draw 4-4, before the Scots took the trophy with a 3-2 victory in the Replay. This denied Hakaoh a League and Cup double.

The states preeminent sides would meet in the Final again a year later. Once again Hakoah were the League Champions, with Caledonians having finished Runner's-Up. Caledonians has preceded Hakoah as League Champions in taking the 1933 title. As usual there would be no shortage of goals, with Hakoah claiming the double with a thrilling 4-3 triumph (as covered here in The Argus).

Despite taking an early lead, Hakoah had to come from 2-1 down at the interval. They fell further behind after the resumption, before a burst of three goals in twenty minutes capped a remarkable comeback in front of a crowd estimated as 2,000 people.

The Hakoah team was one of the strongest sides seen in Victoria to that point in history. Aku Roth, Frank McIver, Alec Forrest, Alf Mackey and Johnnie Orr would all represent Australia at some stage.

The 1935 season saw Frank McIver top the goalscoring charts for the third year in succession, with a whopping 45 goals. Ten of those came in a 17-1 crushing of Melbourne Thistle in June. He was still a prolific scorer ten years later, netting five goals in a game at Como Park for Prahran A as they defeated R.A.A.F. Laverton 12-0 in April 1945. With records sketchy at best during World War II, it still appears certain he was leading scorer again in 1942 and 1943. He would become Secretary of the Latrobe Valley Association, and when coaching at Moorabbin City in the early 1950's would still turn out for the reserve team if they were short of players.

Club captain Aku Roth was also still going strong a decade later, playing for the Hakoah-Moreland combine which came into being during World War II. P.Lewis had emerged to prominence in the great Naval Depot side of the late 1920's. Alec Forrest had been the league's top goalscorer in 1930 for St Kilda before his move to Hakoah. Forrest, McIver and Alf Mackey all played in the Victorian team which defeated India 4-2 at the M.C.G. in 1938, McIver notching a brace and Forrest also getting on the scoresheet.

The Caledonian side was nearly as illustrious, many of whom would form the nucleus of the mighty Nobels team of 1939-40. The Weirs, Youngs and Grays were all prominent in representative games, along with H.Beats and J.Paulsen.

The 1935 Dockerty Cup Final was certainly the pinnacle in the battle between two dominant and highly decorated club teams that had taken Victorian football to a new level.

A Quick Look at the 2015 FFV Board Elections

FFV Board Elections are upon us, and I thought it would be interesting to have a look at those nominated and their candidate statements as found on the FFV website.

Now it is very easy to say the right thing, a different thing altogether to identify problems and propose solutions. Throw in enough buzzwords , make sure everyone knows you are thinking of the women and children, and you can say a lot without making any sort of statement at all.

One of the things I would hope not to see is delving into New Football/Old Soccer rhetoric. Issues within the game need to be looked at on their own merits.

I would like to see an improvement in the relationship between the FFV and clubs. It always pains me when people claim clubs put their interests ahead of the game. There can be no doubt that the biggest self-interest group in football are junior parents. The numbers do not lie.

Before I make a few comments on the various statements, I will state what I know about the candidates.

There are two candidates for the position of President.

The first is Jeff Doyle.

I know the name from his playing days in the 1980's though I wouldn't be able to point him out in a team photo.

He's obviously proven to be very successful in business, and not being overly involved in the game since his playing career ended makes him a "cleanskin". Following some turbulent times, that can be seen as desirable. Countering that is that he was nominated by the current board, so there may be a link there to say he may be as much about maintaining the status quo than providing any revolutionary change in direction.

I would like to hear more about the issues he sees with the game in regional and country Victoria. Was he happy with the process in how NPL teams for those areas were implemented or would he have done things differently.

The second candidate for President is Kimon Taliadoros.

I watched Kimon as a player in the NSL and for the Socceroos, and know of his previous involvement on the FFV Board. I follow him on Twitter, he does not follow me.

There are things in his statement that appeal strongly to me. He talks about the game's lifeblood being the goodwill of what can be summarised as "stakeholders" and realises that this goodwill has been tested and needs attention. He appears to have involved himself in many facets of the game.

Jason Charles is the first of four candidates on the ballot for a position on the board.

Cannot say I knew anything about him until reading his statement.

I was interested in his views on the effectiveness of the Junior Standing Committee. I share his concerns about the cost of junior participation and the FFV's wage bill. Questioning if the FFV is really in tune with who it services and represents also resonates with me.

Nicholas Tsiaras is another candidate for the board.

I follow Nicholas on Twitter, and he follows me. We are familiar with each others as posters on Soccer-Forum.net and I have met him two or three times at games.

Expresses many of the same concerns raised by Jason Charles, only a little more vigorously. Nominated by Zone Representatives, not the current Board, there is no doubt he is strong candidate for those advocating a change in the way the game is run.

The third candidate for the board is Tal Karp.

I know her name as a player and as previously having had roles at the FFV.

Her statement reveals broad football experience and very solid credentials. I would like to know more about the "particular concerns of stakeholders" she refers to as part of the greater understanding of the FFV's legal issues she gained in her previous roles and how she would address those concerns.

The final candidate on the ballot is Tony Ising.

I follow Tony on Twitter, and he follows me. We are familiar with each other as posters on three or four internet football forums. We have played in around half a dozen social kickabouts together, and I dined with him in a large group at the 2009 A-League Grand Final.

An important point in Tony's statement is:

Our game’s development is as much about attracting referees, assistant referees, club marshalls, coaches, club administrators and armies of volunteers as it is about developing elite players.

I would like to hear his ideas on how to go about addressing this issue and a bit more detail in how he would implement his vision.


Below are past posts relating to FFV issues:

http://melbournesoccer.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/anyone-for-surfing.html

http://melbournesoccer.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/the-sad-state.html

http://melbournesoccer.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/transparency-or-lack-thereof.html

http://melbournesoccer.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/still-big-swindle.html

http://melbournesoccer.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/the-great-football-swindle.html

Provisional League Cup Finals

Like the Federation/Metropolitan/State League Cup, the Provisional League Cup also ceased to exist after the 2003 edition. Dominated late on by Brunswick City, other illustrious names to have won the Cup include Westvale, Pascoe Vale, North Geelong, Frankston Pines and Werribee City.

There was a Provisional League Cup in 1954, but there was not always a Provisional League until the early 1970's. In the 1950's if there was an influx of new teams there would be a Provisional League until they were absorbed into the Metropolitan League system. A boom in the 1960's saw the District Leagues established in the latter part of the decade. There was no promotion or relegation between the Metropolitan and District Leagues. In the early 1970's the Provisional League was re-introduced. It ranked above the District League and had promotion available to the Metropolitan League.

It is possible there were some years the Cup was played for between 1955 and 1976. Since then there are three years I have yet to find the score of the Final (1988. 1990 and 1992).

2003 Chelsea 1 (Filipovic) Moreland United 0

2002 Sydenham Park 9 (B.Trcpcevski4, Jovevski2, Pzeski2, Trajkovski)
Collingwood City 0

2001 Brunswick City 0 Clayton 0
        Brunswick City won 4-1 on penalties

2000 Brunswick City 4 (Kyriopoulos2, Minichello, Vouloumanos) Endeavour Hills 3 (Moothoo2, Filies)

1999 Endeavour United 4 Sydenham Park 1

1998 Brunswick City 3 Lyndale United 1

1997 Croxton Park 3 (Basic, Becirervic, Fermic) Templestowe Eagles 0

1996 Springvale Condors 3 (L.Trejo, Leficura, Aranda) South Yarra 2 (McCann, Weston)
        After extra-time

1995 Keysborough 4 (Dantas3, Duarte) North Glenroy 2 (Tokoglu, Tavolaro)

1994 Old Scotch 2 (Robb2) Brunswick City 2 (Arestis2)
        Old Scotch won 4-1 on penalties

1993 South Wantirna 2 Westvale 1

1992 East Richmond

1991 Westvale 3 South Springvale 0
        After extra-time

1990 Brandon Park

1989 Prahran 1 Forest Hill 0

1988 Ascot St.Marks

1987 Ardeer 3 South Yarra 0

1986 Seaford United 4 Cranbourne 0

1985 Pascoe Vale 3 Williamstown 1

1984 Seaford United 3 (Bryden, Gardiner2) Boronia 1 (Fisher)

1983 Mordialloc-Clarinda 3 Springvale United 2 (Kaim2)

1982 Rosanna 2 Holland Park 1

1981 North Geelong 2 Yarraville 1

1980 Sunbury United 2 (Little, Campbell) Melton 1 (Davies)

1979 Nunawading City 3 (Torelli2, O.G.) Geelong 2 (Pagett, Robertson)

1978 Frankston Pines 3 Nunawading City 2

1977 Werribee City 3 (Mantello, Collins, McNeil) Frankston Pines 2 (Kerr, Malcolm)

1954 B.W.R. 3 South Yarra 1
        After extra-time

The Cup of Changing Names

Among the changing landscape of the Victorian Soccer Federation assuming control of the game from the Victorian Amateur Soccer Football Association was the inauguration of the Federation Cup in 1962. It was introduced to provide a Cup competition for clubs left out of the Dockerty Cup, which was scaled back to the twelve State League teams and the top two teams from Division One North and Division One South in an increasingly crowded schedule.

The first edition was won by Coburg United, who took the trophy in a replay following an initial draw with Sunshine City. Coburg retained the Cup the next year, this time defeating Makedonia.

The results between 1964 and 1968 are still to be uncovered. Whilst the top of the pyramid was well covered in the media, the lower reaches did not always get their results published. I have searched at the end of seasons and come up with nothing, but have yet to check if any Cups were contested in the pre-season. It is important to note the Dockerty Cup was expanded back to it's traditional format in 1964, so it is possible the Federation Cup was discontinued.

It is known that it was back in action by 1969, when Altona City triumphed over Springvale City after extra time. By 1972 Altona City had claimed the Cup for the third time. They would be joined as multiple winners in the 1970's by Albion Rovers.

In 1979 the Cup seems to have been replaced by the Winfield Cup, a name which would only last a year before being altered to the Metropolitan League Cup. Another name change would follow when the Metropolitan League became the Victorian League in 1985. The most confusing change would come in 1991 when the State League was re-branded as the Victorian Premier League. The Victorian League was in turn renamed the State League, meaning the new State League Cup carried the same name as the competition usually contested as an end of season finals series between the top four teams in the old State League.

Preston Makedonia were thumping 9-0 winners over Sunshine City in the 1973 Final, going on to win again in 1975 and then again in 1995 as Preston Lions. Box Hill dominated in the early 1980's with Lalor United multiple winners in the 1990's before the Cup was discontinued in 1996. It was revived for four editions from 2000 before the drought of 2004 finally killed it off.

Famous Cup heroics include a sixteen year old goalkeeper Jeff Olver taking Albion Rovers to success in 1976 on his way to becoming a Socceroo. Melbourne (Hungaria) had a last great hurrah as a club winning in 1985. Many winners from the 1980's were clubs on their way to stints in the VSL/VPL.

The full list of known Cup Final results is:

2003 Sunshine George Cross 0 Cranbourne Comets 0
Sunshine George Cross won 5-4 on penalties

2002 Westvale 4 (Goutzioulis2, Squillacioti, Gacovski) Springvale White Eagles 2 (Diaco, Styczen)

2001 Westgate 1 (Delic) Cranbourne Comets 0

2000 Stonnington City 2 (Tyrikos, Georgoulis) Sunshine Georgies 1 (Hynds) aet

1996 Preston Lions 4 (Chiodo, Burlak, Tasevski, Emsovski) North Coburg United 1 (Saglam)

1995 Lalor United 5 (Ujgunovski2, Drogriski, Filipovski, Taseski) Essendon Brunswick Royals 1 (Kolar)

1994 South Springvale 1 (Asimakidis) South Dandenong 0

1993 Lalor United (Tasevski2) Box Hill 0

1992 Werribee City 2 (Cidoni, Grillo) Doncaster Rovers 0

1991 Frankston Pines 1 (Johnstone) North Geelong 1 (A.Cervinski)
Frankston Pines won 5-3 on penalties    

1990 Springvale City 2 (Carroll, Kenny) Port Melbourne 1 (T.Rizopoulos)

1989 Western Suburbs 2 (Beattie 2) Eltham/Diamond Valley United 1 (Coyle)

1988 Westgate 1 (Andriotis) Mooroolbark 0

1987 Albion Rovers 1 Bell Park 0

1986 Clifton Hill 1 (Gillan) Hawthorn 1 (Katsogiannis)
Clifton Hill won 4-3 on penalties

1985 Melbourne 2 (Heery, P.Bannon) Keilor Austria 2 (Beller, Santos) aet
Melbourne won 4-2 on penalties

1984 North Dandenong 2 (O'Halloran, McCombe) Sunbury United 2 (Magnano, O.G.) aet
North Dandenong won 4-2 on penalties

1983 Knox City 2 (Lesbirel, Gerrish) Nunawading City 1 (Mullet)

1982 Box Hill 5 (S.Patterson2, Taylor2, Priestly) Dandenong City 1 (Donnelly)

1981 Box Hill 3 (Taylor2, S.Patterson) Polonia 1 (Marshall) aet

1980 Doveton 5 (McDonald2, Quin2, Irvine) Moreland 2 (Lenders, Constantinou)

1979 Collingwood City 3 (G.Batticiotto, G.Bozikas, J.Nicolaides) Keilor Austria 1 (R.Bellar)

1978 Croydon 4 (Lowrey2, M.Brown, Murphy) Moreland 0

1977 Waverley City 2 (Stocca, P.Whitehurst) Melbourne 1 (P.Mihalj)

1976 Albion Rovers 4 (S.Tribuzio2, B.Rae, G.Bentley) Springvale City 1 (J.Gollan)

1975 Preston Makedonia 2 Dandenong City 1

1974 Albion Rovers 2 (Clarke, Pryde) Frankston City 1 (Adams)

1973 Preston Makedonia 9 (Reid4, Temelkovski, Hayward, Jancev2, O.G.)
Sunshine City 0

1972 Altona City 3 Prahran Slava 0

1971 Altona City

1970 Yallourn 1 Frankston 0

1969 Altona City 3 Springvale City 1 aet

1968

1967

1966

1965

1964

1963 Coburg United 4 (Healey2, Loughran, Malcolm) Makedonia 2 (Kuhn, Zemunik)

1962 Coburg United 1 (Young) Sunshine City 1 (Oliver)
        Coburg United 3 (Earley3) Sunshine City 2 (McNeil2)

Resolving Resolution Of The Statistical History

I'm not one for making New Year's Resolutions, but after three trips to the State Library Victoria over the holidays to chip away at compiling the statistical history of competitive Victorian football I am making it a mission to have it as completed as possible by the end of the year.

Since regular, organised, league football began in 1909 I have 44 years in which all the relevant data I consider important is complete. What do I consider important? Final league tables for all the senior divisions. The names of the champions in the Reserves, District and Amateur Leagues below them. Line-ups and goalscorer details for State Grand Finals and Dockerty Cup Finals. The results of all other senior and reserves Cup finals. The results of any play-off matches for promotion/relegation between leagues. The names of all League Best and Fairest Award winners. Top goalscorers for the senior leagues. On that last one, with most goalscorers not listed in many early years and no tallies published, I allow seasons prior to the 1960's that have all other information but leading scorers to be classed as complete.

This leaves 57 years where information is still incomplete.

Some of these could be wiped out as impossible to find and moved into the complete column. For instance all 1955 is lacking is the name of one of the goalscorers in The Sun Cup Final. I still hold out hope of finding a match report that list it, but can assure you it wasn't in The Sun.

1910, 1913, 1919, 1921, 1924, 1942, 1943, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1958, 1959, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1970, 1973 and 1990 are all years where Dockerty Cup Final and Final Replays need more details regarding team line-ups.

Early Grand Finals/Play-Offs used on odd occasions in 1920 and 1923 also lack line-up details.

The modern age, which should really be online somewhere, but sadly isn't, sees years like 2000, 2002 and 2003 missing the names of the reserves league champions across all divisions. 2002 is also the one year without the winners of the State and Provisional League Best and Fairest Awards.

Funds have been allocated in this financial year for Trove to digitise The Sporting Globe up until 1954. If that is up and running in the latter half of the year it will help in finding results to make some incomplete league tables in the period at least more respectable.

In most cases I have now gone through the major papers (The Age, The Sun, The Herald, The Argus) in looking for information. I've tried Il Globo for Dockerty Cup Final details in years involving Juventus. I looked through some Jewish newspapers to see if there was any information about Hakaoh in the Second World War years when the major papers cut down coverage to a paragraph but they had more important things on their minds. I will now need to try more local suburban papers.

So if anyone out there knows of anyone with a collection of old soccer papers or records that I could have a look at, please get in touch.