South Yarra Football Club (1858–1873)

Last updated

South Yarra Football Club
Names
Club details
Founded1858–59
Dissolved1873
ColoursBlue
CompetitionUnaffiliated
Premierships Challenge Cup (1865–66)
Ground(s) Fawkner Park

The South Yarra Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra which was seminal in the formative years of the sport of Australian rules football.

Contents

Throughout the first decade of football in Melbourne, South Yarra was one of the pre-eminent clubs in the colony in prestige and performance. In 1865 and 1866, the club won the Athletic Sports Committee Challenge Cup.

Its demise played a role in the formation of the modern day St Kilda Football Club, formed in 1873.

History

The formal date of the South Yarra Football Club's establishment is unknown, with contemporary reports placing it somewhere between September 1858 (when a match was played between "thirty gentlemen resident at South Yarra, and an equal number, chiefly members of the Melbourne Cricket Club"), [1] and April 1859, when the Argus newspaper spoke of the formation of suburban clubs and mentioned the club by name, making it one of the first football clubs in Melbourne. [2] The club did not initially play under the Melbourne Football Club rules which became the basis of Australian rules football, [3] and was possibly at this time a Rugby football club. Its members, consistent with South Yarra's demographics, were chiefly upper class and white collar workers, with many of their members having played school football in the English public school system. [4]

The club played its first match against Melbourne under Melbourne rules – with one compromise that a mark could not be claimed from the kick of an opponent [5] – on 9 and 23 July 1859, losing 3–0. [6] Over the following years, the club was involved in conferences which further developed the Melbourne rules as they became widely used across the city; [7] it was the first known club believed to have played with the rule now known as push in the back, advocating strongly for its inclusion in the laws of the game.

Throughout the first decade of football in Melbourne, South Yarra was one of the pre-eminent clubs in the colony in prestige and performance. In 1865 and 1866, the club won the Athletic Sports Committee Challenge Cup, a perpetual trophy which was contested among the principal clubs and won outright by the first club to win three consecutive cup matches without defeat. In 1865, the club fell one win short of claiming the cup after losing the final match of the year against Melbourne, but in 1866, they won the opening match of the year and were unbeaten thereafter, claiming permanent ownership after five draws and two more wins. [8]

Decline and Demise

Club captain and committee member George O'Mullane, one of the best footballers of the era, died aged 24 following the 1866 season. [9]

South Yarra's off-field organisation declined after 1866: as football began to transition from a club-based pastime to a more regular system of competition, the club lost many of its best players and performances declined. [10] The club also became known for commitment issues, frequently turning up late to interclub matches. [11] Despite these issues, the club continued to be considered one of the principal senior clubs and was prominent in off-field organisation, including presenting its own Challenge Cup for competition in 1870. [12]

By 1870, the club's onfield standard was well short of the other senior clubs, and they failed to defeat a senior opponent after 1868. In 1871, the Australasian's sportswriter said of the club that "they have as good material players as any other club, but ... it is at once apparent they have never practiced together", as well as noting that the club lacked leadership and organisation. [13]

During 1872, the club split into two groups of members who trained separately at St Kilda and South Yarra, [14] which heralded the ultimate demise of the club: prior to the start of the 1873 season, the St Kilda-based members broke away to form a new club, the St Kilda Football Club, which survives today, while almost all of the prominent members based in South Yarra left for the University Football Club. [15]

The fragmented and weakened South Yarra [16] still arranged matches against the principal clubs, [17] but these were not played as the club folded in June of that year: its last competitive match was a 2–0 loss against the junior Williamstown Football Club on 31 May. [18] [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Yarra Football Club</span>

The South Yarra Football Netball Club is an Australian rules football and netball club located in the southern suburbs of Melbourne. The club participates in the Southern Football League, based in the south and south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Australian rules football</span> Aspect of history

Australian rules football began its evolution in Melbourne, Australia about 1858. The origins of Australian football before 1858 are still the subject of much debate, as there were a multitude of football games in Britain, Europe, Ireland and Australia whose rules influenced the early football games played in Melbourne.

Australian rules football was first organised in Victoria in 1859 when its rules were codified by the Melbourne Football Club.

The 1877 Victorian Football Association season was the first in which the Australian rules football competition in Victoria was run under a properly constituted administrative body. The Association was formed with the view to governing the sport via a collective body, made up of delegates representing the clubs. It was the second such body to have been formed; the South Australian National Football League having been formed just 17 days prior to the VFA.

The 1879 Victorian Football Association season was the third season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Geelong Football Club. It was the club's second VFA premiership, and the second in a sequence of three consecutive premierships won from 1878 to 1880; for the second consecutive season, Geelong was unbeaten during the year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1888 VFA season</span>

The 1888 Victorian Football Association season was the 12th season of the Australian rules football competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1899 VFA season</span>

The 1899 Victorian Football Association season was the 23rd season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Footscray Football Club; it was the second premiership in the club's history, and the second in a sequence of three premierships won consecutively from 1898 to 1900.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cordner–Eggleston Cup</span>

The Cordner–Eggleston Cup is a retrospective award commemorating the historic school football rivalry between Melbourne Grammar School and the Scotch College which has been contested since 1858. Competition between these schools is believed to have been pivotal in the establishment of Australian rules football.

The Challenge Cup was the name of several football trophies contested in Melbourne, Australia, during the 1860s and 1870s under the Melbourne Football Club rules and the Victorian rules.

Thomas Howard Fellows was an English rower and an Australian politician and Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria.

The 1876 Victorian football season was an Australian rules football competition played during the winter of 1876. The season consisted of matches between metropolitan and provincial football clubs in the colony of Victoria. The premier metropolitan club was Melbourne, and the premier provincial club was Barwon.

The 1874 Victorian football season was an Australian rules football competition played during the winter of 1874. The season consisted of matches between metropolitan and provincial football clubs in the colony of Victoria. The premier was Carlton.

The 1873 Victorian football season was an Australian rules football competition played during the winter of 1873. The season consisted of matches between metropolitan and provincial football clubs in the colony of Victoria. The premier club was Carlton.

The 1870 Victorian football season was an Australian rules football competition played during the winter of 1870, consisting of matches between metropolitan football clubs in Melbourne in the colony of Victoria. The premier club was Melbourne.

Albert Park Football Club was a 19th-century Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Albert Park. The club was one of main first-rate senior football clubs during the unaffiliated era of Victorian football.

The 1871 Victorian football season was an Australian rules football competition played during the winter of 1871. The season consisted of matches between football clubs in the colony of Victoria. The Carlton Football Club was the premier club for the season.

Richard Wilson Wardill was an Australian cricketer who played in ten first-class cricket matches, eight of which were for Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George O'Mullane</span> Australian sportsman

George Jeremiah Patrick O'Mullane was an Australian cricketer and Australian rules footballer. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, O'Mullane was a standout cricketer from an early age, and came to be regarded as his colony's premier wicket-keeper. During the winter months, he excelled as a footballer in the nascent Australian game, receiving praise for his courage and strength.

Hobson's Bay Railway Football Club was a short-lived 19th-century Australian rules football club. Active between 1867 and 1870, the club was notable for being among the five clubs to contest the first season of senior premiership football in Victoria.

References

  1. ↑ "ODDS AND ENDS". Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918). 27 September 1858. p. 3. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  2. ↑ "Football". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 18 April 1859. p. 5.
  3. ↑ "Monday, June 13, 1859". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 13 June 1859. p. 4.
  4. ↑ Sean Fagan. "Were the South Yarras of 1858 a Rugby club?" . Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "Untitled". The Argus. 7 July 1859. p. 4.
  6. ↑ "Untitled". The Argus. 25 July 1859. p. 4-5.
  7. ↑ "The evolution of the rules" (PDF). The Yorker. Melbourne Cricket Club. 2009. p. 18. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  8. ↑ "Treasures of the National Sports Museum" (PDF). The Yorker. Melbourne Cricket Club. 2009. p. 27. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  9. ↑ Weston, James (2008). The Australian Game of Football: Since 1858. Geoff Slattery Publishing. p. 325. ISBN   978-0-9803466-6-4.
  10. ↑ Ivanhoe (3 October 1868). "The Past Season". The Australasian. p. 427.
  11. ↑ Free Kick (9 May 1868). "Football – the Coming Season". The Leader. p. 11.
  12. ↑ "The South Yarra Presentation Challenge Cup". The Australasian. Vol. VIII, no. 216. Melbourne, VIC. 21 May 1870. p. 652.
  13. ↑ Fair Play (28 October 1871). "Retrospect of the season". The Australasian. Vol. XI, no. 291. Melbourne, VIC. p. 557.
  14. ↑ Fair Play (12 October 1872). "Review of the season". The Australasian. Vol. XIII, no. 341. Melbourne, VIC. p. 460.
  15. ↑ St Kilda and University would field a combined team in 1875 due to a lack of players, with most of the team's roster being formerly from South Yarra.
  16. ↑ "Football". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 22 March 1873. p. 5.
  17. ↑ "ATHLETIC SPORTS". Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946). 14 June 1873. p. 12. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  18. ↑ Fairplay (1 November 1875). "Football – review of the season". The Australasian. Melbourne, VIC. p. 555.
  19. ↑ "Football". Leader. 7 June 1873. p. 11.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.