Kensington Football Club

Kensington
Names
Full name	Kensington Football Club
Club details
Founded	1871 [1]
Dissolved	10 April 1886
Colours	Red and white
Competition	Interclub 1871-1876, SAFA 1877-1881 Adelaide and Suburban Assoc. 1882-1886
Premierships	Interclub 1873-1875
Ground(s)	Kensington Oval

The Kensington Football Club was one of the first Australian rules football clubs founded in South Australia and played an integral part in the game's development in the state. The early rules used in South Australia were referred to as the "Kensington Rules". Club uniform was a scarlet cap and jacket and white trousers. ^[2]
The club was one of the founding teams of the South Australian Football Association (later renamed the SANFL) in 1877.

Early Interclub Games

A game was played on Saturday 20th August 1871 between 16 members of the Old Adelaide Football Club and 20 of the Kensington Club on the grounds of the latter, situated a short distance eastward of the Marryatville Hotel. There was a large group of spectators present and the Concordia Band who had accompanied the Adelaide Club discoursed excellent music throughout the afternoon. The only goal was scored by Adelaide. ^[3]

On Saturday afternoon at 3pm, 3rd September 1871, the return match between the Adelaide (Blue) and Kensingtons (Pink) Clubs was played on the North Park Lands. A large number of visitors from city and suburbs attended, partly attracted by the fine weather and Schrader's Band. The Adelaideans, who were captained by E. W. Aldridge, had 16 players in their team, whilst the Kensingtons; under the command of E. H. Hallack, ^[4] mustered 20. After a hours play Kensington scored the first goal and it was close to 6pm (dusk) when Adelaide then scored and were declared the victors as a result of their goal in the first game. ^[5]

Kensington Oval

A meeting of the Kensington Football and Cricket Clubs was held at the Town Hall, Norwood, on Tuesday evening, 1st July 1873, to consider the advisability of amalgamating, the two Clubs for the purposes of buying, the ground forming the proposed Oval. There was a large attendance, and Mr. L. Glyde, M.P., presided. The objects of the meeting were fully discussed, and a unanimous expression of opinion given in favor of the proposed action being taken. ^[6]

At annual meeting of the Kensington Cricket, Football and Athletic Association was held at the Norwood Town Hall on Friday evening, 27th November 1874 — the Hon. L. Glyde, M.P., President, in the chair it was reported that the property of the Association consists of 20 acres in Kensington Park. Of this an Oval of five acres in the centre of the block has been carefully laid out and planted with couch grass at the small cost of £68. The grass has grown remarkably well, in most parts oompletely covering the ground ^[7]

From an area originally known as Shipsters Paddock, Kensington Oval was officially opened for play on Saturday afternnon, 10 July 1875 by the Hon. L. Glyde, the President of the Kensington Athletic Association. ^[8]

Merger with Old Adelaide Club and Resignation from SAFA (1881)

For the 1881 SAFA season it merged with Old Adelaide Football Club. The first meeting of the merged club was held on Monday 11 April 1881 at the Prince Alfred Hotel. It was decided that the colour of the club be black and scarlet guernsey, hose, and cap, and navy blue knickerbockers. ^[9]

After the first 4 games the merged side of Adelaide-Kensington had lost all their games and only had scored the one goal. Following the fourth defeat by seven goals to nil against South Park on their home ground the club held a meeting and decided to disband. ^[10]

The merged Adelaide-Kensington Football Club resigned from the Association on 1 June 1881. ^[11]

Adelaide and Suburban Football Association (1882-1886)

From 1882 the Football Club had joined the Adelaide and Suburban Football Association and continued to play football matches from the 1882 Season and also held Athletic Sports Days.

A friendly reunion match of the old Kensington and new Kensington members was held on Saturday 29 September 1883. The Old Kensington winning 8 goals to 2. ^[12]

At the 1885 Annual Meeting the secretaries of the Kensington Cricket, Football, and Athletic Association and the Norwood Club wrote, offering the association a silver cup of the value of £25 for competition among the clubs belonging to on the following terms - That it be called the Norwood and Kensington junior football challenge. ^[13]

At the 1886 Annual meeting of the Adelaide and Suburban Football Association held on Tuesday evening, 6th April 1886 at the Prince Alfred Hotel, the retirement of Kensington from the Association was announced and a new team called Kensington Parks was admitted. ^[14]

References

1. "Latest News". Evening Journal . Adelaide. 19 August 1871. p. 2 Edition: LATE EDITION. Retrieved 17 October 2015– via National Library of Australia.
2. "Topics of the Day". South Australian Advertiser. 30 April 1874.
3. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/92268630
4. "E. H. Hallack". State Library of South Australia.
5. "SOUTH AUSTRALIAN YACHT CLUB". 4 September 1871 – via Trove.
6. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/208165996
7. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/197676557
8. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/208176264
9. "Adelaide and Kensington Football Club". Adelaide Observer. 16 April 1881.
10. "Football Notes". 4 June 1881 – via Trove.
11. "South Australian Football Association". Adelaide Observer. 4 June 1881.
12. "Present Kensington V. Old Kensington". Express and Telegraph. October 1883.
13. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/208345528
14. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/160752019

External links

• AustralianFootball.com profile