VFA TEAM WILLIAMSTOWN PLAYS IN WOLLONGONG
Would you think that the VFA premiers would play in Wollongong?
Well in October 1949, Williamstown who this year celebrate their 150th anniversary and who then only a week before had won their 5th VFA premiership before a record crowd of 40,000 when they defeated Oakleigh, 10.5 (65) to 8.14 (62), played a game at Wollongong Showground.
The tour of Wollongong had been planned for some time in an effort to promote the code in the city and surrounds. Their attendance was arranged with local officials under the impression that they had secured as opposition, the likely Sydney premiers, Newtown, to play a combined Williamstown/Illawarra combination in an exhibition match at the Wollongong Showground on Saturday 8 October. The proceeds of the game was to go to the Illawarra Ambulance. All ambulance services in NSW then were locally and mostly volunteer funded.
At the time, Newtown were the gun side in Sydney.They had won the 1945-48 flags and went on to win the premiership again in 1949-50, giving them six successive titles.They suffered only one defeat in 1949 so would have been perfect opponents for the VFA premiers.Only a week before they defeated the Eastern Suburbs club by one point to annex the premiership at the Sydney Showground, Moore Park.
However a bombshell hit organisers early on the Saturday morning when Illawarra FC official, Bob Watkins, received a telegram from the NSW AFL Secretary, Ken Ferguson advising that Newtown would not be making the trip so a last minute re-arrangement of teams had to be rapidly made. And these were the days of limited phones.
Mr Ferguson blamed the Newtown club entirely for their lack of attendance. He said they had previously agreed to the encounter some six weeks previous however the Newtown club delegate had informed his club secretary of the match only a matter of days before the game but it took until Saturday before they announced their decision not to participate! In anyone’s book, this was a major stuff-up.
Quite understandably, Wollongong officials were furious with Newtown's non-attendance and in terms which only part of could be reported here said that
"it was inexcusable and not only disheartening to Illawarra officials but would give the visiting team a very poor impression on the conduct of the code in this state."
In all sixty three had made the trip to Wollongong, including 24 players and, it was reported, a further sixty club supporters would have also travelled with the group if accommodation could have been found. The entire contingent stayed at the now closed Headlands Hotel, Austinmer, a village well north of Wollongong itself.
They had travelled by rail from Melbourne to Moss Vale where they changed trains to journey across country through Robertson on the now 'freight-only' and special excursion train track.This line is one of the most scenic in New South Wales, and for the first 20after leaving Unanderra (heading west) has an almost continuous grade 1 in 30, at the same time, providing spectacular view over the Illawarra coastline.
The Seagulls were coached by Gordon Ogden and captained by football superstar, Ron Todd, who had crossed to Williamstown from Collingwood in 1940 under very acrimonious circumstances.As a result Todd was banned from further participation in the VFL.
The 'NSW' or the combined side for Sunday’s game was made up of about nine Sydney players, all of whom had represented the state. The rest come from the local club including, dual Phelan Medalist of 1949 & 50 seasons, Ken Gilbert, who worked as an engineer at the BHP Port Kembla steel mills. Illawarra were then in their first of two years in the Sydney competition.
Fortunately a set of Eastern Suburbs jumpers had been sent with Ray Millington (a current member of the History Society – now 81 who went onto play with Fitzroy) to enable two teams to take the field.The weather for the match was atrocious and it bucketed down on the soft sandy Showground surface.was not surprising that the Illawarra-Williamstown combination won the game 12.10 (82) to the composite team's 11.10 (76). 1949 was one of wettest years on record.
Goalkicking idol, Ron Todd, who had booted 999 goals in senior football to that date, could only manage four for his side while the goalkickers for the combined side were Jim Cracknell (Sydney FC) 3, Ted Butcher (South Sydney FC) 3, Ray Millington (Eastern Suburbs) 3, Jack Armstrong (South Sydney) & Peter Wilhelm (Illawarra FC) 1 each.
Last Modified on 11/05/2014 09:40
