This email address is being protected from spambots. document.getElementById('cloakbb0b214de571d490efda32391d5e6ef9').innerHTML = ''; New captain, D. McCallum, who had replaced Horace Norman in this season, led his men off the field in protest when he failed to have the umpire changed after a bad decision. Eventually in 1883, at the first intercolonial football convention, a revised version renamed 'The Laws of the Australian Game of Football' was adopted by delegates from South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland and Victoria. The Leader of July 22 reported that 'Melbourne had a stroll in the park against juniors Williamstown on the Melbourne Ground (not the MCG). Henry Harrison, captain of Richmond (1861), Melbourne (1861 and 1863-1871), and Geelong (1862 & 1868), was the codifier of the revised rules of 1866. The Second Twenty played 11 matches of which 4 were won, 3 were lost with 4 draws. Shortty: My first memories of engagement with the Williamstown Football Club go back to the latter years of the Second World War, which would have been around 1945/46 when the VFA resumed after the recess for the war. linktr.ee/Williamstownfc. Williamstown Chronicle, May 13, 1876 - the 'Cup campaign' referred to in the article is the Junior Challenge Cup which is explained below. VFLW & VFLW Practice Match Squads Announced. The inaugural VFA premier team, Carlton, also paid a visit to The Village for the first time on August 17, drew a crowd of 5,000 to the Gardens Reserve and won by a single goal, 2-1. Buchanan captained the team for one game in September 1872 against South Yarra Seconds when the regular skipper, Horace Norman, was unavailable. Represented VFA against South Australia in 1911. One of the new 'junior' clubs that emerged was Cecil, which would soon become South Melbourne and would go on to win five VFA premierships, an effort only surpassed by Geelong during the pre-VFL era. It was not unusual for the Club to have to make up the season's programme with matches against the local rowing club, bowling club or even the soldiers from Fort Gellibrand. The identities of the two players is unknown but it is the oldest photo in the Club's collection. Official Instagram page of the Williamstown Football Club. At the completion of the season, the Cup was awarded to Williamstown, which won 10 of its 12 games with one draw to beat a team called South Park by just one point, 21 to 20, followed by South Melbourne (15 points) and Fawkner Park (13 points). PAST PLAYERS DAY TOMORROW Featuring the '93 Premiership Reunion - 25th Anniversary 12:00pm kick-off in Coccha's Marquee @ Crofts Reserve. All copies of the 1859 rules were thought to be lost, presumably destroyed, until a copy was discovered in a tin trunk at the MCG in 1980. Appealing to the central umpire was useless, that responsible functionary filling his post so unsatisfactorily that is was compulsory to relieve him of his duties, but his successor did not in the slightest degree remedy matters. More Videos; Nov 13 . ', Williamstown Chronicle, September 8, 1877. Williamstown finished fourth on the list of 'leading junior clubs' at the end of 1875, winning 5 games out of the 9 played, with 3 draws and just the one loss, in the best result in the Club's brief history. B&F winner 1963, Member of the Seagulls' 1960's Team of the Decade. The purpose of the meeting was to reconsider the 'Melbourne' rules, formalise them and to reach an agreement on them. Another local club, North Williamstown, emerged in 1879 and, although destined to be no more than a junior club, it nevertheless made its mark on local football history by fielding three teams and producing a number of senior players for Williamstown and other clubs. Amazingly, 21 goals were kicked during the season with just one major scored against the Villagers. Max Munday Games: 120 Goals: 6 Team of the Century Position: Full back Honours: Premiership player - 1954, 55, 56. He was the first vice-president of the VFA in 1877 and was president of Melbourne from 1897 to 1906. The team finished second on the ladder of 'other juniors'. Thomas Geiser: Played 101 games and kicked 31 goals between 1921 and 1926. The May 17, 1859, 'Melbourne Rules', later renamed 'Victorian Rules' following the meeting in May, 1860. They kicked a total of 13 goals, with F. Raymer leading the way with 3 majors and J. Rees 2. This year also saw the demise of South Yarra, which finally disbanded after several mediocre seasons. One of the draws was with a strong junior team from Hotham, while they defeated East Melbourne Seconds (twice), South Yarra Seconds and Southern. Its home ground was where the current Williamstown High School now is. R. Murray was leading goalscorer with a total of 7, with J.Rees, Will Outen and P. Conroy kicking 2 goals each and H. Haslam, John Kilgour and J.K. Ogilvie Smith each scoring one major. var addy_text98c4d7b017a5593e90d954012576f9fc = 'admin' + '@' + 'williamstownfc' + '.' + 'com' + '.' + 'au';document.getElementById('cloak98c4d7b017a5593e90d954012576f9fc').innerHTML += '
'+addy_text98c4d7b017a5593e90d954012576f9fc+'<\/a>'; 2015 Williamstown Footbal Club - Site design by AdTorque Edge. Wills committed suicide on May 2, 1880, aged just 44. Williamstown played 15 matches in 1879, winning 4, losing 8 and drawing 3. The Melbourne Herald reported on July 5, 1865, that the Williamstown Council granted the football club approval to use Market Reserve for the 1865 season. This statue has been located in the Gardens since 1891, following Clark's death at sea in 1888. A half back flanker and regular VFL representative. There was also an issue of players simply failing to turn up for games. A solid defender who joined the club from Collingwood. Posts. The return match against Wesley College was at Fawkner Park on August 26 with Wesley winning one goal to none (refer report below). The Second Twenty had a more successful season, playing 9 matches of which five were won, two lost with two draws. The Official Facebook page of the Williamstown Football Club. Military Wiki. In 1874, the Club played 12 matches, six of which were won, three were lost and three drawn. It was decided at a meeting of junior clubs held at Hansen's Hotel on Bourke Street in April of 1876, that the winner of the Junior Challenge Cup, to be contested by Fawkner, Sandridge Alma, St Kilda Alma, South Park, South Melbourne, Windsor and Williamstown, would be decided by the awarding of points for wins (2 points) and draws (1 point), a system that would beeventually adopted by the VFA in the late 1880's. In the Williamstown Chronicle of 19 July 1879, in respect of the game played the previous weekend on 12 July against Sandridge (later renamed Port Melbourne), it was reported that 'the Sandridge team were accompanied by a great many supporters, the greater portion of them belonging to that objectionable class termed larrikins who encroached upon the playing ground thereby greatly impeding the game. The captain of the Second Twenty for 1880 was C. Hernan with C. Percy vice-captain. The 1886 Victorian Football Association season was the 10th season of the Australian rules football competition. It was the third premiership in the club's history, and the first out of a sequence of three consecutive premierships won from 1888 to 1890. Captain, John Wigmore, Hunter and Sutton were best for 'Town, while future president of Williamstown, the local MLA for 17 years and founder of the Williamstown Advertiser, Alfred Thomas Clark, represented the Customs team. To view premiership teams click www.williamstown.com.au/premiership-photos. This email address is being protected from spambots. addy98c4d7b017a5593e90d954012576f9fc = addy98c4d7b017a5593e90d954012576f9fc + 'williamstownfc' + '.' + 'com' + '.' + 'au'; It was in this season that cricket clubs began courting football clubs to share their grounds and football thus began the transition from free public parks to enclosed grounds and admission fees, a move which financed improvements to the grounds and facilities and secured the future of cricket clubs. Watch this highlight video of the Williamstown (WV) football team in its game Recap: Williamstown vs. Clay-Battelle 2022 on Nov 12, 2022. On a more positive note, it was reported that 'the number of members obtained during the season reached the large number of 109, which is the largest number yet obtained since the formation of the club'. Captain and back pocket player in the 1907 premiership win over West Melbourne. Furthermore, in the Williamstown Chronicle of Saturday, 16 June, 1860, (see below) Williamstown Alliance invited interested locals to meet at their ground, Market Reserve, for football practice. Brunswick and West Melbourne were also on the field by 1865, whereas Geelong almost disbanded in this year due to lack of interest and numbers. A notable change to the game occurred in 1879 when behinds were registered for the first time although they still weren't counted in the result and the winner was still the side that kicked the most goals. The win was against South Yarra, while the draws were against an Albert Park 15, Essendon, Abbotsford and St. Kilda. Amazingly, 21 goals were kicked during the season with just one major scored against the Villagers. There was also a return match at Gardens (Fearon) Reserve against St Kilda on July 19 which was won two goals to NIL but, as the Williamstown Chronicle of July 26 reported, the Saints 'had a very weak team, several of their best players not turning up.' Richmond disappeared in 1862 while St Kilda disbanded in 1863 due to insufficient numbers to field a side but re-emerged in 1873. He was a Williamstown resident for 45 years and was president of both the Williamstown Cricket Club and Baseball Club when he passed away suddenly on December 22 1909, aged 62. See what Nick Rutley is doing for the group. Litchfield was at home when kicking the ball either left or right foot and he often puzzled his opponents when they thought they had him in a corner by the dexterity in which he would get rid of the leather.'. Buchanan' referred to in the article is John Buchanan, who would later die by drowning along with five colleagues in the Spotswood sewerage tunnel disaster on Good Friday, 1895, aged 38. William J. Hammersley (a sports journalist), James B. Thompson (an Argus journalist and secretary of the Melbourne FC), Thomas H.Smith (headmaster of Scotch College) and Tom W. Wills, as well as J. Sewell (Melbourne FC treasurer), Alex Bruce and T. Butterworth. The only other win for the season was over Hotham United. The invitation to participate in formulating rule changes for season 1860 would not have been extended to the Williamstown Club if it did not exist or was not regarded as a bona-fide team by the Melbourne Football Club, which called the meeting. He played one further season in 1884 when Williamstown obtained senior status. Thompson was also a long-serving member of the Williamstown Cricket Club, and was its secretary in 1888 when he drew up the agreement by which the football club finally agreed to utilise the present cricket ground for all their home games after the merger with South Williamstown. The playing on both sides was very spirited, and, even though the Williamstonians exerted themselves most manfully, they were unable to get a goal, the superior playing of the East Melbourne team getting them two goals'. Under the coaching of Jack Reynolds in three . There were a number of meetings of interested clubs before the Victorian Football Association (VFA) was formed on May 7, 1877, to promote and extend football throughout the colony and to facilitate inter-colonial contests, but this did not bring about the administrative reforms that were expected, eg secretaries of senior clubs refused to relinquish their right to draw up the season's programme as they were of the view that this was a 'club matter'. What we now call Australian Rules football was played in Victoria and the other colonies from the 1840's, but in 1858 it came into greater prominence when some cricketers, football enthusiasts and schoolboys played a number of scratch matches on the Richmond Paddock in Melbourne. Williamstown had an indifferent season but did manage to play a game against Melbourne which was lost, 2.0 to 0.1. Sprint Hall: Played 105 games and kicked 8 goals between 1897 and 1906. The South Yarra and St Kilda clubs (not connected to the current AFL entity) were soon formed, and occasional teams representing East Melbourne, Albert Park, Emerald Hill (South Melbourne), Prahran and University also appeared. Mr W.J. It was reported in the Williamstown Chronicle of April 20, 1878, following the annual meeting in respect of the 1877 season, held at the Mechanics Institute on April 17, that'on a great many occasions not more than 10 of the team chosen put in an appearance, the average for the season being about 15 per match'. Home Ground Williamstown Cricket Ground. Power and B. James), Royal Park (J.E. The team finished 10th out of 17 junior teams. Tom Wills umpired the game, which had no marked boundary line and the goals were approximately a mile apart. Wardill), Carlton (T.P. Games record holder:Ben Jolley 217 (2008-2018), Goals record holder: Ron Todd 672 (1940-1949), Most premierships as coach: Wally Carter 3 (1954-55-56), Longest-serving coach: Gerry Callahan 202 games (1958-67, 118 wins, 81 losses, 3 draws), Longest-serving captain: 6 seasons, Gerry Callahan (1954-59) and Ben Jolley (2012-17), Most premierships as player: 5 Gerry Callahan, Ray Smith & John Ramsay (1954-55-56-58-59), 4 Johnny Martin & Frank Sims(1954-55-56-58)Bob Jones,Jack Evans & Eric Bietzel(1955-56-58-59)Len Kent (1954-56-58-59), 3 Jack Curran, Max Munday, Sid Wookey, Reg Fisher & Alby Linton(1954-55-56) Neil Whittaker (1954-55-58) Colin Wilcox (1939-45-49), Longest-serving president: Trevor Monti 17 years (1999-2015), Norm Goss Medallists: Tony Pastore 1986, Barry Round 1990, Adrian Fletcher 2003, Michael Gibbons 2015, J.J. Liston Trophy winners: Charlie Stanbridge (1933*), Fred Brooks (1935**), Neville Huggins (1936** and 1937*), Arthur Cutting (1938* and 1939**), Des Fothergill (1941*), Johnny Martin (1956), Barry Round (1987), Brett McTaggart (1988), Saade Ghazi (1989), Paul Dooley (1996) and Michael Gibbons (2016 and 2018). They provide training for girls, and there are various three-day football camps throughout the year. 'The Footballer' commented that 'St Kilda, having won on its own ground, sent a ridiculous team to The Vliiage, and there bit the dust for her stupidity.' The premiership was won by the South Melbourne Football Club. document.getElementById('cloak411e8c6229cee0e943110ba503223fef').innerHTML = ''; Since 1886 our Club has enjoyed senior success winning 15 premierships. The following 51 players, officials and volunteers were announced as the inaugural inductees tthe Williamstown Football Club Hall of Fame. The first ground used by Williamstown was the Market Reserve, opposite St Mary's Catholic Church, and bounded by Cecil, Cole and Hanmer Streets. 1887 . See what Nick Rutley is doing for the group. document.getElementById('cloak98c4d7b017a5593e90d954012576f9fc').innerHTML = ''; addy411e8c6229cee0e943110ba503223fef = addy411e8c6229cee0e943110ba503223fef + 'williamstownfc' + '.' + 'com' + '.' + 'au'; Another local club, North Williamstown, emerged in 1879 and, although destined to be no more than a junior club, it nevertheless made its mark on local football history by fielding three teams and producing a number of senior players for Williamstown and other clubs. Charles George 'Charlie' Outen, pictured here in 1914 aged in his 50's, played for Williamstown from 1874 until 1877 and played all those years with his brother, Will. By 1875, there were 96 Australian Rules football clubs in Melbourne and its suburbs and 42 clubs in regional areas. #ProudlyWilliamstown. So, although there is documented proof that a Williamstown team existed in 1860, there appeared to be a period of inactivity which was not uncommon in those early days of our game, where clubs would form one year, go into recess the next and then reappear again at a later stage. The identities of the two players is unknown but it is the oldest photo in the Club's collection. After Carlton's Jim Williams kicked the opening goal, Rigall, who had agreed to play for Williamstown as an emergency, broke his leg after being thrown into the picket fence by Carlton's Frank Hillsden and the game was abandoned. var addybb0b214de571d490efda32391d5e6ef9 = 'admin' + '@'; Players Profile VFL. The Parade Hotel on Wellington Parade, East Melbourne, where the original Melbourne rules were drawn up in May 1859 when it was run by Jerry Bryant. By 1870, there were only four major clubs: Melbourne, Carlton, Albert Park and South Yarra with about two-dozen junior clubs playing in Melbourne's parks at the beginning of the decade. Jack Litchfield then became secretary in 1874 and 1875. Wills also captained Melbourne in a game against St Kilda on July 7, while Harrison also played for Melbourne against Geelong later in the year. J.K. Ogilvie Smith and R. Murray both kicked 3 goals. TRAILBLAZERS: 1864 - 1900. Leading goalkicker was again vice-captain, P. Conroy, with 6, with half of these coming in the Heidelberg match, followed by Jack Litchfield with 4, J. Goble 3, and W. Senior, C. Cardwell, A. Fowler, J. Jamieson, E.G. A listing of players to have played with Williamstown in the Victorian Football League . 10K followers. Club Captain in 1903 and 1904 was lured to Footscray and led that club to the 1908 premiership. Games were played against senior teams South Melbourne at Albert Park on May 3, losing 2.24 to 0.1, at St Kilda on June 7, losing 3 goals to nil, and at the MCG on July 26, losing to Melbourne, 4.32 to 0.2. Dec 19, 2022. The Challenge Cup and the Junior Challenge Cup were discontinued with the formation of the first controlling body, the VFA. Another brother, Jack, played in 1880. Riggall had also played for Royal Park in 1865 and Carlton in 1866. In total, 5 games were played in the 1871 season, 2 of which were won and 3 lost. A total of 16 goals were kicked by the Villagers against 1 kicked by the opposition. The Williamstown Football Club is looking to acknowledge the service of these past players. Furthermore, the publication entitled 'The Footballer' of 1875 noted that 'at the beginning of 1864, football, which had been growing in favour, received additional impetus from the advent of Emerald Hill, Royal Park and Carlton. North Melbourne Kangaroos Past Players Lidge's Lounge. Monday-Friday: 9am to 5pm; Satuday: 10am to 2pm. Captained the Club in 1911 and 1915 also. var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; St Kilda amalgamated with University in late June of 1875 when it became unable to field a team. It will the club's men's team's 127th season as a member of the Australian Football League, and the second under senior coach Michael Voss; and it will be the club's women's team's eighth season contesting the AFL Women's.The club will also field its men's reserves team in the Victorian . Trevor Monti wrote the first official summary of the Kelly trial which was published in 1981 and he has maintained an intense interest in the bushranger ever since. 10 of 'Town's goals (plus 40 behinds) came in a match at Heidelberg on May 24 when the local team failed to score in the most decisive score and victory ever posted by the Villagers to that point in time (see report above). Riggall had also played for Royal Park in 1865. It was reported in the Australasian on August 2 that 'Melbourne scored four goals against juniors Williamstown on July 26 but should have had many more . but the Williamstown goal umpire, due to some ocular defect, reduced the number of goals awarded as compared with those kicked to about half'. The heaters will also be cranks in the clubrooms & the bar. 'Town kicked 4 goals and had 9 goals scored against them. He was also the tide officer at Customs and lived and worked in Williamstown in 1853. The new ground was a vast improvement and was looked on by the new administration of President Cr John Jobson and Duncan McLeod, returning as secretary, as a big step towards gaining senior status. Williamstown's original colours were black and yellow. var addy411e8c6229cee0e943110ba503223fef = 'admin' + '@'; Associated clubs Williamstown Reserves; Williamstown WFC. Windsor disbanded by the end of June and the remnants were amalgamated with St Kilda Alma, which in turn also withdrew from the competition by mid-July. In 1888, the dispute was settled and two football clubs amalgamated; and, through an organisational affiliation with the cricket club the Williamstown Cricket . The Melbourne Football Club was re-formed on May 14, 1859, at the Parade Hotel, East Melbourne, (later named the MCG Hotel) after a scratch match against South Yarra on Richmond Paddock (now known as Yarra Park). Footscray Bulldogs, Williamstown 38 minutes ago #157 You can't blow the whistle and then call advantage when everyone stops. He came ashore each day to work on construction of the sea walls and later on the artillery bunkers adjacent to the cricket ground. Mix w/players & coaches from VFLW & VFL. Captain and back pocket player in the 1907 premiership win over West Melbourne. Charlie passed away on November 20, 1929, aged 73. John Ramsay Games: 125 Goals: 6 Team of the . Bryant also provided the ball that was used in the early games of football that were played on the Richmond Paddock from 1858 onwards. The new competition included seven clubs with senior status (Melbourne, Carlton, Hotham, Albert Park, St Kilda, Geelong and Barwon) and many junior teams, but only the senior teams qualified for the VFA premiership, which was taken out by Carlton.