Australian Football

The early years of South Australian football

THE BEGINNINGS AND FORMATIVE YEARS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL 1836 to 1876

I have been inspired by Mark Pennings’ 2012 work Origins of Australian Football: Victoria’s Early History to revise and update my research, which documents the development of football in South Australia from 1836 through to 1876.

The result is a series of books in paperback or electronic formats that cover a previously unpublished era of South Australian football, which I have labelled the beginning and formative years. This vital period for football, was the time the game sprang to life, developed, as clubs formed and established the basis for South Australian football of the future. This new series provides a clear description of the people, events and circumstances that were part of the beginnings and formation of football in South Australia. To my knowledge this has not been previously attempted.

During the years 1836 to 1876, football gained the momentum that placed it in the position to launch into the 1877 to 1906 foundation era, when the establishment of the South Australian Football Association (SAFA) governed and oversaw the organisation of a recognised and highly popular game in the colony, right through to the early years of the twentieth century.

The development of the game in South Australia was unique because of its geographic isolation, although its connections from its immigrants’ football background and football activity in its colonial neighbour Victoria, both contributed to its characteristics.

What follows are some excerpts.

THE BEGINNINGS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL 1836 -1859

There is little documented newspaper evidence of the beginnings of football in South Australia, but from that which exists, a number of points about the unique nature of the colonial game clearly emerge:

There is evidence that football occurred from the earliest days of the new colony, as a recreational activity among its younger inhabitants.

The game of football was not played in any consistent or organised fashion. There was no overseeing body or club to oversee football activity.

Football was based on the features of various immigrants’ homeland games and there were no standard rules in operation in those places. This meant that any instance of the game being played in South Australia would have occurred in an informal manner, specific to the situation in which they were played.

Due to its remote geographical location, football in South Australia occurred in isolated and unique circumstances, although connections back to the country of origin of its participants and links with the Victorian colony were evident.

Footballs were available for purchase, as the colony became established and this would have contributed to increased opportunities for colonists to engage in play.

Contests between players were not played as matches with recorded results. The informal and unofficial activity was reflected with no standard scoring method or system evident.

The competitors played in everyday clothing with no special sporting attire used.

Football was sometimes featured as an activity, which was part of a broader sporting program, within the context of special colonial events. It was considered an active recreational activity, culturally endorsed as a useful and valuable part of an individual’s maintenance of a healthy lifestyle.

THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL 1860 -1876

1860 Milestone Season - The Commencement of Club Football in South Australia

Football was transformed in Adelaide in 1860 with the establishment of the Adelaide Football Club. Organised football was thus initiated and the development of the game was incredibly enhanced as football immediately adopted a strong membership, following and profile in the Adelaide community.

Newspaper reports of the matches were prevalent in the inaugural season of the Adelaide Football Club and usually made reference to the names of the high profile citizens of Adelaide, who attended the matches as spectators. The profile of the players, it seems, was of little significance, as they were rarely named or their play featured. Certainly, no descriptions of particular passages of play were described. Goalkickers were not named in any of the newspaper match reports. The only mention of a player in the actions of a game was provided when George Barclay was knocked unconscious by an opponent in the match played on May 19.

Any special or notable ability of players was not indicated and certainly the concept of best players was not included at all.

Games between the teams from within the club were decided by the scores, with no fixed time duration. The winner was generally decided as the first team to score two goals. With no specific allocation of time, matches varied widely in their duration. This meant that on some days more than one match was played, while on others, play went on for hours without a result and the match adjourned and held over for a future date, with the intention of determining the winner

Goal posts were decorated in the colours of the team defending that goal. This lead to the long standing description, which continued through the colonial years, of teams attacking their opponent’s goal. This was often referred to as its ‘citadel’.

There was no mention in the match reports of intervals in the game. This indicates to me that long kicking and the influence of the wind were not considered major determinants of play and also point to a crowded and slow moving style of play, where possession of the ball and running with the ball were more favoured.

Rules of the game were not indicated in any of the season’s match reports, but the fact that the Adelaide Football Club organised them, with a small pool of captains, indicates that matches were played with some consistent understanding of the conventions of play.

Captains were appointed for each team, at the ground, before the match commenced. There was some consistency in who undertook this role, but there were some changes evident as the first season progressed.

Coloured caps were used to differentiate between the competing teams. The northern team generally wore blue and the southern team pink. Descriptions of cap colours were used in the newspaper reports of the games.

Rivalry between the North and South teams of the club developed over the season, as the game was taken seriously and identities and supporters began to present themselves. The significance of the Adelaide Colleges in the colony was also observed as the club organised matches with Collegians, past and present, playing against other members of the club

The style of the new South Australian colonial game was vigorous and very physical, with indications of tumbles and clashes mentioned in descriptions of the matches.

1861 Adelaide continued its presence as an organizing body for football

Football in South Australia continued in 1861 affirmed as an important part of the Adelaide colonial society and consolidated by the momentum created by the formation of the Adelaide Football Club in 1860. The season was successful for the organization of football matches, although there were not as many Saturdays that featured match reports as the inaugural season.

There were three reported matches, with one based on two captains choosing teams with colours of pink and blue and two days when players were divided according to their Collegiate connections. A number of days, with scheduled matches, were impacted upon by poor weather, when play was not able to be conducted. On some days the number of players was reduced from its 1960 match participation.

The club organisation was established early in April with a club meeting. A committee was appointed and the Secretary and treasurer from the inaugural season, Mr. Thomas O’Halloran junior continued his successful organising capacities.

The 1861 season gave great promise of the next significant development of football in South Australia, that of extending the organisation of the game beyond one club. Early in May an East Adelaide Football Club submitted a request to the Adelaide Corporation for goalposts to be placed on the East Parklands. The South Australian Register newspaper report does not clarify whether this was a part of the Adelaide Football Club or a new club, but the report does indicate the possibility that football other than organised by the Adelaide Football Club was underway. I have not located any documented evidence that identifies the actions as agreed to by the Corporation were achieved or that matches were organised and played by a new East Adelaide club.

1862 Football advanced as Adelaide played another South Australian Club

An important football development took place in the colony of South Australia, when the first interclub matches were held in 1862. The Adelaide Football Club, in its third season, ventured out and played the Modbury and Tea Tree Gully Football Club.

For the first historic South Australian interclub match, Adelaide travelled to Modbury. Adelaide, where with the benefit of its experience, won the inaugural contest. In the evening, the Modbury side hosted the Adelaide players to a dinner in recognition of the significance of the event.

A return match was held on Adelaide’s ground, as the final match of a successful season. Adelaide was once more successful.

The club had a highly successful season and in addition to the development of interclub matches, featured the usual matches of north against south players and collegiate members against others.

1863 Interclub Matches Continued

The Adelaide Football Club, in its fourth season, was quite established in its administration, with the appointment of a committee at its first meeting of the year on the last day of April.

Once again Adelaide played against Modbury and Tea Tree Gully and there were three matches. The first match at Modbury was drawn, but Adelaide was able to win the next two matches, with the first at Modbury and the final match on the North Parklands ground.

The interclub matches created the opportunity for great dinner functions in the evenings.

Adelaide continued its matches between north and south members. An advent in these matches, was the fact that they were set up as an advertised challenge from the south members in the newspaper and the challenge responded to by the north members and published.

1864 Adelaide Football Club Organised Matches

The popularity and interest in football was evidenced by the elite of Adelaide continuing their attendance at Adelaide Football Club matches during the season.

The club continued to organise interclub matches against Modbury and Tea Tree Gully. For the third consecutive season, matches were played between the two clubs, with two matches. Adelaide organised matches within the club. It created a record score in its final match with Modbury when it scored seven goals to nil.

A historic innovation in football occurred with the first reference made to the fact that the play of the Adelaide Football Club members was governed by a printed set of rules. It was intended that this would prevent any points of disagreement between players and enhance the conduct of matches.

It is not clear what the rules were, but from the match reports of the season would have included

A toss of the coin before the game determined the ends of each team’s goal.

A kick off from the centre by the team that lost the toss commenced the play

A goal was scored when the ball passed unimpeded and without touching the goalposts

There were boundaries of the playing field

Blue and Pink coloured caps continued to be the method of distinguishing between the two competing teams.

The Adelaide Football Club continued with its use of ground on the North Parklands, which was also used for cricket. It was forced to change the orientation of the ground to avoid Corporation works in the form of a ditch that was created better drainage.

A major innovation was a January moonlight match organized by a Football Club.

1865 Club Football Faltered in Adelaide

Football in Adelaide had a very late start with the Adelaide Football Club not scheduling its opening match until July 29.

Just two documented games were the outcome of the season for the club. This indicates a heavy reduction in the number of members and participants in matches.

A feature of the season was the addition of two new clubs; St Peter’s College and Adelaide Educational Institution. These clubs played each other with the match resulting in the first letters to the editor about a local football match.

The proposed match with regular interclub opponent Modbury and Tea Tree Gully fell through.

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1866 The Demise of the Adelaide Football Club

There was an advertised meeting for the Adelaide Football Club, but that was all as far as newspaper reports for the season. Football in Adelaide had lost its previous momentum and the game lost its high profile.

1867 Adelaide Football Club Revival

Football resumed a prominent place in Adelaide’s colonial society as a successful and popular season revived the interest and passion that had marked the arrival of organised football in 1860.

The revival of the Adelaide Football Club coincided with the spreading of organisations that engaged with football. In 1867 Military regiments participated in matches against Adelaide, with some very positive outcomes. The College and Educational Institution played matches against each other.

The first match of the season on Saturday May 11 was a match played by the Adelaide Football club against Officers and Men of Her Majesty’s 14^th regiment. Each team had 20 players and the match was played on the North Parklands starting at 3 pm. Adelaide wore blue and Regiment white. The Killiand Band played during the afternoon.

In addition to the military matches the Adelaide Football club returned to its previously successful internal matches. It revived its north against South matches. On June 18 a match was played in the evening that started at 7 pm between North and South. Thomas Edison’s experiment with electricity brought about the idea for a match played under electric lights.

The match for a Ladies Prize was played on July 6 at 2 pm between the Collegians and the other members of the club. The Collegians played in blue and the others pink.

Educational institutions added to the vibrant Adelaide football community with continued matches from 1865. The return match between Mr. Young’s and the College Football Clubs was played on Saturday afternoon August 17.

Football spread in South Australia beyond the domain of Adelaide as Mount Gambier took up organised football through the formation of a Football Club late in the season.

A fascinating feature of the formation of this club was the inclusion of its adopted documented rules. The question of the source of these rules is of great interest. They came from Melbourne rather than Adelaide. This made football in Mount Gambier different in its nature to that played in Adelaide. The Melbourne rules are known because the original handwritten copy exists, but knowledge about the original Adelaide rules drafted and agreed to at the first meeting of the club in 1860 are not certain.

The question of roped off playing fields was raised after the first Adelaide against 14^th Regiment match on May 11.

A football match was played on Saturday August 30 at 2.30pm between the Adelaide Football Club and seven officers and 13 men of the 50^th Regiment. The military band was engaged to play.

A question that arose every now and again was the injuries sustained from football and the dangers associated with the game. In 1867 the death of a youth engaged in a football match who passed away during a school match. It was a precursor to some serious debate about the sport in future years, particularly as deaths in football from England were reported.

1868 South Australian Football Clubs Emerge

Football in South Australia greatly increased in its stature during the 1868 season. Organised football clubs appeared in a number of locations in the colony and the number of interclub and club matches were far greater than ever before.

Adelaide featured the most number of interclub matches from among the highest number of clubs. The founder club Adelaide had an excellent season with a range of matches and was joined by Port Suburban, Collegians and North Adelaide.

The nature of the Collegians and North Adelaide Football Clubs are a little uncertain. The question as to whether they were part of the Adelaide Football Clubs remains unclear. There are indications either way that they were separate clubs or part of the Adelaide Football Club.

In regional South Australia football took off in Mount Gambier with enormous regularity, from the beginnings it made near the end of the 1867 season. A second club, Tradesmen brought interclub matches to the south east centre and Penola commenced club matches.

Football Club activity was reported in Gawler and Wallaroo.

On Saturday June 3 fifteen members of the Adelaide Football Club played 20 residents of Port Adelaide and suburbs at Woodville.

In June the Gawler Town Council was informed that a Gawler Football Club had been formed and that they sought permission to put up goals in the parklands.

1869 Adelaide Plays Football at a Number of Venues

The 1869 South Australian Football Season witnessed a number of major developments. Changes to the rules for scoring a goal altered the style of play significantly. There were indications of collaboration between clubs in developing the rules of play. Matches were played in new locations with Adelaide and Gawler coming together for football for the first time. The south east of the colony introduced the innovation of guernseys as a part of the football uniform and this was to be picked up in Adelaide in 1870.

Thursday April 8, 1869 will go into the Australian football history records as a day that changed South Australian football forever in a fundamental way. The Adelaide Football club instigated a major change to the way football was to be played in the future when it proposed at its April 8 meeting that the scoring of a goal was to be achieved by it being kicked over the crossbar instead of under. The evidence from future reports of matches in Adelaide indicates that this rule change was brought into operation.

There was an indication that there was collaboration between the clubs, because at Adelaide’s meeting, it was reported that it was thought advisable to consult the Port Suburban Club before determining finally how the game should be played. So the move towards agreed interclub rules had commenced, although it would take a number of seasons before being fully realised.

South Australian football history was created when for the first time, Adelaide travelled beyond its city location to play a match. A match was played on May 29 at Gawler between 15 members of the Gawler Football Club with Mr. J. Sandland as captain and 15 members of the Adelaide Football Club. Adelaide arrived by the midday train. The Gawler band was in attendance.

1870 The Formation of the Port Adelaide Football Club

In historical terms, the formation of the famous Port Adelaide Football Club was the headline for South Australian football in 1870, but probably most notable at the time, was the fact that the mantle of the dominant club in Adelaide, transferred for the first time, away from the Adelaide Football Club. The newly formed clubs in Adelaide; Young Australians, Woodville and Port Adelaide were the leading clubs for the season and all played major roles.

Port Adelaide had the distinction of creating the first organised football in the port of the city of Adelaide, while Young Australians achieved its aim to establish a second city football club.

Woodville was the most prolific club, because it played eight matches, while new club, Young Australians was also productive with seven matches. Port Adelaide and Adelaide both staged four matches.

New club, Young Australians brought the innovation of club colours to Adelaide matches with its uniform of blue and white.

There was a dramatic increase in the number of educational institutions involved in football matches in 1870. The Adelaide Educational Institution, which had commenced matches in 1865, returned to action, along with North Adelaide Grammar School, which had played in 1869. New institutions were Prince Alfred Weslyan College, Mr. Nesbit’s School and Gilles Street Academy. A couple of them played the Newmarket and Casuals clubs.

The Port River was the opening for new arrivals to South Australia and so began the establishment of the Port of Adelaide. Port Adelaide became the gateway for the colony and relevant trade and commerce. For those emigrating, this port was the first sight of their new home, the place where many who settled in South Australia first lived and so it was no surprise that this area became an early football location in Adelaide.

A discussion at North Parade, between John A Rann, George Henry Ireland and RWJ Leicester, in April, brought about the formation of the Port Adelaide Football Club. The three men shared a concern about the lack of social facilities in their district, and considered that the establishment of a cricket and football club was an ideal way to rectify the situation.

A significant innovation for football in South Australia was the first football club match played on the South Australian Cricket Ground, when Woodville and Young Australians staged their match on the managed turf.

1871 Adelaide Restores its Dominance and Competes with Port Adelaide

Adelaide restored its place as the number one football club in Adelaide, having been overtaken by both the Woodville and Young Australian Clubs in performances and number of games played in 1870.

The Adelaide and Port Adelaide Clubs played each other three times during the season, with the more experienced club, winners on two occasions and one match drawn.

The Woodville Football Club dramatically reduced its place in South Australian football, with the only published information about it during the season, being its meeting in April. The Young Australian Club also reduced its contests to three matches against Prince Alfred College teams, having played both Woodville and Port Adelaide in 1870. Many of the experienced Adelaide players it had the previous season did not continue and with basically a new administration and players it was significantly diminished.

A new club, Kensington brought organised football to the eastern suburbs for the first time as it played two matches against Adelaide for a draw and a loss.

The second new club in the season was the Alberton and Queenstown Club, which played a match against Adelaide and Port Adelaide.

The rules of the game were not clearly indicated except for the published item that Adelaide adopted a set of rules at its meeting. The rules of the Adelaide Football Club were indicated in match reports with the one for scoring a goal the rule stating that the ball should be kicked fairly through the goal without touching the cross bar.

The administration of the clubs’ affairs all required new hands, as the previous officials did not continue. Adelaide and Young Australians both constructed new organising committees. Adelaide had the services of HF Jackson with a committee of G Dale, E Dalton and AE Harrison. Young Australians new structure was conducted byW. E. Dalton, with a Committee of S H. Goode, W. A. Hughes, W. G. Nash, and W. H. Young.

The Port Adelaide area had a population of 5 300, according to the census, to provide the resources for the football club in its second season and new club Alberton and Queenstown.

The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) was formed on May 31 to control cricket in South Australia. Of future significance to football was the establishment of the Adelaide oval ground

1872 A Triumvirate of Adelaide Clubs Consolidate

The strength of football in Adelaide was carried by the City club of Adelaide, the eastern village club of Kensington and the Port of Adelaide by the Port Adelaide Football Club.

The Adelaide Football Club was once again the strongest of all clubs, with a highly creditable four wins and two draws from its six interclub matches. The club had a sound administration and was in a good financial position.

The club played ten matches during the season with six interclub matches and four club matches. It played Port Adelaide three times for two wins and a draw and new club Kensington three times for two wins and a draw. It played one club match of North against South and two matches of Collegians against Non Collegians.

Port Adelaide played four matches in its third season. It played one club match and three interclub matches against Adelaide for one draw and two losses.

In its second season, Kensington played five matches, two club matches and three interclub matches against Adelaide with the result of a draw and two losses.

A disappointment of the season was the demise of the Union Football Club (formerly Young Australian Football Club), which experienced a huge contraction from 1870, when it burst full of activity and promise onto the South Australian football scene and together with Woodville took football supremacy away from Adelaide

Key players during the season were Adelaide’s club captains for interclub matches, Strickland Kingston, John Fergusson, CP Perkins and Aldridge. A key player for Port Adelaide was its interclub match captain, Middleton. Kensington had the benefit of the experienced Alexander Crooks, who captained the club team in its interclub matches.

Football clubs were initiated in the townships of Willunga and Aldinga. It was of great significance to the development of football in South Australia, because it created organised matches for the southern region in relatively close vicinity to Adelaide.

Reference was made in the Clare newspaper the Northern Argus as to the existence of two football clubs in Kapunda.

Football in the South East region of the colony continued with the Mount Gambier Football Club in its sixth season. It played Penola twice for a win and a loss. A third club Millicent was formed in the region.

SD Mansell was a key player for the Mount Gambier club as the captain for both matches with Penola. AF Laurie and JG Smith were long standing players. For Penola, key players were D Packard and George Plunkett, the captains in the matches. The club had the benefit of plenty of experienced players J Bowden, J Brett, James and John Davidson, D McKay, McLean, Riddoch, J and W Sharam and Wilson.

1873 Disputes between Different Clubs’ Rules

With the hindsight of history the 1873 South Australian Football Season can be seen as a first attempt and stepping stone towards a stronger amalgamation of clubs and consistency of a common set of playing rules, which came in the following seasons. In the immediate instance, however, this endeavour had dire consequences. The dispute which emerged from the attempt to build a common set of rules across the clubs, resulted in the Adelaide Football Club playing no matches for the remainder of the season from May. The Adelaide Football Club, with such a long standing and strong tradition as the leading football Club in Adelaide and Kensington, the newish eastern suburban club, could not agree and confirm amendments to the rules made at the conference.

Football in Adelaide had previously been played with the Old Adelaide and Kensington sets of rules. The Kensington Football Club was the instigator of the proposed conference on the rules of play. The move was made towards common rules across the three major clubs on May 10, when three delegates from each club met at the Prince Alfred Hotel to draw up a standard code for the game.

Bayfield Moulden from the Kensington Football Club was the man responsible for taking the lead in this, as the proposer of the motion at the initial club meeting of the year on April 26.

In 1876 it was reported that the rules of the Old Adelaide Football Club were in force two years ago. This would indicate that 1873 was played with these rules.

At the conference Mr. Charles Cameron Kingston from the Adelaide Football Club was voted to the chair. The rules were discussed and a code similar to that of the English Football Association was discussed. At the meeting it was resolved that the rules as drafted, would be submitted by the delegates to their clubs and if no alteration was made, then the rules would be printed.

The outcome of the meeting did not have a unified outcome however as The South Australian Advertiser Saturday 17 May 1873p 1 Advertising indicated, that in the Kensington’s club view, Adelaide had changed the rules that had been agreed to at the meeting and as a consequence, refused to support the initial scratch match involving all three clubs, to implement the agreed rules. No other documentation from the season indicated what the agreed rules were or the changes that Adelaide subsequently made.

The most disastrous outcome of the meeting was that the Adelaide Football Club ceased playing matches after this attempt to construct a uniform code of rules had failed.

An indication about an aspect of the rules that may have been the basis of the dispute comes from newspaper reference reporting Adelaide’s opening match of the season when it stated We understand that it is proposed to play under revised rules, and to adopt what is known in England as the "Off" and "On" game, and that at a conference between the City and Suburban Clubs it will be sought to carry a resolution affirming the desirableness of introducing rules regulating the game.”

The Kensington rules used a crossbar in the goal which the ball had to pass over and under a rope for a goal to be scored. Players who were tackled could hold the ball until it was forced from their grasp. This gave the game a physical edge over the rules in vogue in Melbourne, where players had to drop the ball immediately when tackled. In his Port Adelaide History book John Wood stated “There were variations between the different rule sets in terms of things like whether or not a player running with the ball had to bounce it, whether, and under what circumstances, a mark could be claimed, and even what a team needed to do in order to score a goal. For the Port Adelaide players, this entailed a continual process of adaptation as well as considerable confusion.”

With the demise of the Adelaide Football Club, it was left to Port Adelaide and Kensington to play interclub matches. Kensington proved itself to be the most successful club in Adelaide during the season. The first did not occur until July 5 at Glanville, where Kensington won after a severe struggle. The game was carried on under peculiar circumstances as neither side understood the rules clearly. The only 'goal' of the game, kicked by Kensington, had struck the cross bar on its way through the goals.

In 1873 Port Adelaide played three games against Kensington. It lost two and won its first game on August 23.

1874 Massive Increase in Interclub Matches

The 1874 season brought about a massive increase in the number of interclub matches in Adelaide. There was a number of new clubs that entered into a range of interclub matches against an increased number of opposing clubs.

Reports from 1876 indicate that the game was played using Kensington Rules for this season.

The Kensington Football Club continued as the dominant football Club in Adelaide for the second consecutive season. It played three matches against Port Adelaide for two wins and a draw. It played Willunga twice for a win and a loss and had a draw with Gawler.

Port Adelaide had its most productive season to that time. It played the most games it had ever played in a season up from three interclub games in 1873, to six interclub matches against no fewer than three opponents. Its results in interclub games were not very successful, with a draw and two losses against Kensington and a loss to Gawler. The Second Twenty of the club defeated Victorian on both occasions.

The Gawler Football Club achieved its best results to that time, during the 1874 season. It achieved a draw against the best club in Adelaide, the Kensington Club and defeated the other main club, Port Adelaide.

Willunga performed very well in interclub matches against the most powerful Club in Adelaide, the Kensington Football Club. It played two matches and squared the ledger with one win and one loss.

A huge disappointment of the season was that the Adelaide Football Club was not an active participant in the football season, It showed great promise that the issues of 1873 and the rules conference was behind it at the commencement of the season. At season start it had more than 40 members, the status of His Excellency Governor Musgrave in the office of President.Its Club meeting on May 6 established a very sound administration. On the following weekend the club played a colour match using its traditional pink and blue colours, but then there was no further reported activity for the whole season and certainly the club did not participate in any interclub matches.

The Victorian Club played its first recorded matches during the season. It lost twice to a second Port Adelaide team. It drew with Prince Alfred College and had wins over East Terrace and Young’s Club.

The East Terrace Football Club made a name for itself as the only new club in Adelaide for the 1874 season. Its documented games were just one, a loss to the Victorian Football Club.

Prince Alfred College played four matches for the season. It played against St Peter’s College for a loss, Victorian Club for a draw and two matches against Adelaide Educational Institution for two draws.

St Peter’s College played a match against Prince Alfred College for a win and there was an advertised one against Kensington with no documented outcome.

Young’s Football Club played three matches for the season, for a draw and losses. It lost one match against the Victorian Club and two against Prince Alfred College for a draw and a loss.

Key players for the season were Kensington’s captains for the interclub matches Harry Perry, Frank Perry and Alexander Crooks. Port Adelaide’s J Rann captained the club in two matches against Kensington. F Ireland was a captain in a club match during the season. Victorian had captains AE Barry and George Downs. The key player for Gawler was F Harris the captain for the match with Kensington. CC Oldham was the most significant player for the Willunga club as the captain for both matches.

A noticeable innovation in the season was the use of club uniforms employed by Kensington and Port Adelaide.

With the increased participation and interest in the game, football continued its popularity and a number of advertisements for football products featured in Adelaide newspapers.

Interclub football was introduced to the Adelaide Hills when the Mount Barker Football played an interclub match against Hahndorf for a one goal to nil win.

In the south east region of the colony the Penola Football Club had a frustrating season as it attempted without success to organise interclub matches. It took the measure of advertising a challenge across the south east district for a match without response. The Mount Gambier Football Club did not play any documented matches during the season. Information about the club was confined to a call for a meeting in June.

In the mid north region of South Australia The Inchiquin Football Club in Clare, according to a report in The South Australian Advertiser, was strong with plenty of members and a good turn out of players for its matches. Reports of a football club in Auburn appeared in the Northern Argus during the season.

Football was active on the Yorke Peninsula. The Wallaroo Football Club played a match against Moonta. New club Maitland played two club matches during its season.

The Kensington oval had been established in November 1873 with a twenty acre site that had been graded and planted with couch grass. Two hundred trees were planted under the supervision of the curator of the Botanical gardens.

Port Adelaide and Kensington played three games with Kensington winners twice and Port once.

When Kensington played Gawler at Kensington oval the admission for adults and horses and carriages was sixpence.

1875 Formation of the South Adelaide Football Club

The long term historical view of the 1875 South Australian football season would likely be that it was significant for the formation of the South Adelaide Football Club, but at the time the season was much more significant for the developing interclub competition, which reached unprecedented levels.

There were more clubs than ever and 12 clubs in and around Adelaide played interclub matches during the season. The clubs were Kensington, Port Adelaide, Woodville, Adelaide, Willunga, Victorian, South Adelaide, St Peter’s College, Prince Alfred College, Gawler, Kapunda and Aldinga.

The newspapers made no indication of the relationship between the clubs in terms of their relative strengths and certainly there was no report of which may have been the best club over the course of the season. Kensington played no fewer than six other clubs and had arguably the best record. The unusual record of Willunga was that it played just three matches but won all of them, including two wins over Kensington. Drawing comparisons through devices such as premiership ladders was not a part of the football reporting of the time.

Woodville made a strong return to the Adelaide football scene and played five other clubs. Port Adelaide and Victorian played four other clubs and in a great traditional feature of the season, Adelaide, the first football club for many seasons in Adelaide, returned to interclub matches against three other clubs.

Gawler, Willunga and Saint Peter’s College played two other clubs while new club South Adelaide, Prince Alfred College, Kapunda and Aldinga played one other club.

Reports from 1876 indicate that for 1875 the Kensington rules were now in general use. “The regulations generally known as the Kensington rules had during the last two seasons in which they had been adopted only provoked continual disputes when matches were engaged in.”

The Victorian club had George Downs as Honorary secretary. EP Meredith was the honorary secretary of the Kensington club.

The Victorian club played a match against St. Peters College on Saturday May 30.

The Kensington oval was formally opened by the Hon. L. Glyde, the President of the Football Club on Saturday July 10 at 3 pm with a football match against the Adelaide Football Club. Admission was 6d. Carriages were 6d per occupant. Entrance was from the southern entrance of the oval. Members were admitted free. Some 600 people attended. The captain for Kensington in red was A. Crooks and HY Sparks was the captain of the Blue Adelaide team. There were 22 players on each team. Adelaide had a heavier team, but Kensington was more skilful. H. Sholl for the reds secured a free kick in front of goals and scored. At 5 pm the match was stopped with only the one goal to Kensington.

Adelaide played two matches against Port Adelaide on the Adelaide ground. In the second game the match was governed by Port Adelaide’s rules. Several infringements took place one that resulted in the city players forfeiting the chance to play the ball out from their own quarters, while their opponents claimed that they were allowed a free kick for a breach of the rules.

In 1875 Port Adelaide played seven games, winning three, losing one and drawing three.

1876 South Australian Football Gains Great Momentum

In 1876 the game of football in South Australia developed incredible support while in its formative years. Years of experimentation had produced marvellous entertainment in this young and unique sporting code.

In Adelaide no less than eight clubs played matches against each other and matches were also played with three nearby clubs; Willunga, Kapunda and Gawler.

School clubs in Adelaide increased to five with St Peters College, Prince Alfred College, Adelaide Educational Institution, North Adelaide Grammar and Glenelg Grammar, all playing matches.

Regional Football in the colony was on the increase, with the south east continuing as the second main venue for football. Four clubs played matches; Mount Gambier, new club Young Australian, Penola and Naracoorte.

The Mid North had Caltowie, Yangga, Laura and Port Pirie.

How the clubs compared with each other in any kind of order, was a topic in the newspaper during the season when Woodville issued its Challenge to clubs for a match. Letters to the newspapers indicated their writers’ views of the ratings of relative club.

There were no published reports about the final status of the clubs in relation to each other, presumably because there was no system to do so.

There remained a division amongst the leading clubs in Adelaide about the development of the rules, with the Kensington rules supported by Port Adelaide, Victorian and Willunga while the Adelaide, Victorian, South Adelaide and Woodville clubs also made decisions about the rules.

During the season the Adelaide connected clubs made another set of rule changes, which removed the distinctive goalposts and the restriction on the distance that players were allowed to run with the ball.

A revealing letter about the nature of football in South Australia, was published in the Register newspaper in July, which indicated that moves towards an Association of Clubs was underway. It had some commentary about the nature of the game played in South Australia as a unique Australian Football, following neither of the paths of the development of Rugby and soccer as had been constructed in England.

The rules featured more prominently than ever before when matches of the 1876 season were reported. This indicates that the development and changes made were having a marked impact on the game. In 1876 the rules of the game of football were in dramatic change.

Newspaper reports indicated that the popularity with spectators was with the Old Adelaide rules. There was a fair bit of criticism of the Kensington Rules and its impact on play during the season.

A meeting to devise a uniform code of rules on Thursday July 20 was notable for the absence of the Kensington and Port Adelaide Clubs. This was commented on in the report where it was stated that the Kensington Football Club was the one who initiated the proposal for adopting a uniform code of rules.At the meeting Charles Kingston made some derogatory remarks about the state of the game under Kensington Rules. The basis for the new set of rules came from a consideration of the Victorian Rules as proposed by Charles Kingston because of their similarity to the Old Adelaide Rules.

The divisions between the two groups of clubs was indicated in the report of the meeting of delegates from the Kensington Rules faction in its meeting on August 11 to discuss the draft code sent out by the Kensington Football Club early in the season with complete disregard for the code developed in July by the Adelaide Rules clubs’ sector.

The historic first intercolonial club match originated in the south east region of the colony with Penola venturing across the border to Dergholm, Victoria where it won very convincingly by three goals to nil.

In a unique situation for football in Adelaide a novel match was played at Woodville on Saturday May 13 between the Woodville Football Club and captains and officers of ships in Port Adelaide.

Summary

The excerpts provided here indicate my description of South Australian football 1836 to 1876 that presents the game in such a manner, as to reveal its lively, passionate and vital contribution to the developing South Australian colonial experience. Just as importantly, I hope these publications indicate the remarkable achievements of the events that transpired to build the future game.

The use of South Australian newspaper references is the key to my research and its products. I have styled and formatted the books consistent with the presentation of my already published 1877 to 1906 season reports. There is an introduction, which provides a description of the main features and events of the season. A profile of the participating club(s) after 1860, provides information about the meetings, officials and major events of the season. All matches of the season are presented in chronological order and include descriptions of the play, as documented in newspaper reports, together with a summary. Club records for the season are presented in a table format, which provides match by match details, including players, scores, venue, date and teams. Finally, I have included a description for each known player for the season, with their notable events and circumstances.

Trevor's South Australian Football research is available on the Lulu self publishing website. Click here  for full details.