1911 revisited: Round 11
Round 11, 1st July, 1911
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A long time after 1911, a young Bob Dylan sang “when you got nothin’ you got nothin’ to lose”, as a young man would.
There’s no evidence Bob had ever heard of Collingwood when he wrote that line, but it explains much of the motivation behind the founding of the Collingwood Football Club, and the impetus driving the distinctive blend of fanaticism and parochialism that has never really left it – for good or ill – in subsequent years.
The Collingwood club was born of the pressing need for "a suburb crippled from birth", "afflicted with a deserved inferiority complex", which was "heightened by the scorn of neighbouring suburbs and the Melbourne press" to "seek vindication of their habitat and vengeance against their neighbours".
Topography and social circumstance had conspired against Collingwood at the beginning. From "the Eastern Hills at Smith Street, a sharp slope descends eastward till it reaches Wellington St". From there, the land to the east "extends in a remarkably level manner to the Yarra river". This is the Collingwood Flat, which was "preordained as a slum" from birth.
The Flat was the product of rampant and rapacious capitalism in mid-19th century Melbourne. Though incorporated as Melbourne's third municipality in 1854, Collingwood was outside the governance of the Melbourne Corporation. It remained "unfettered by even minimal building regulations" until 1874, making it a "speculator’s dream".
Tiny lots fit only for shanties were subdivided according to the limits of land developers’ greed. "Noxious industries proliferated because of impoverishment, lack of regulations and the proximity of the Yarra" to act as a drain. Natural drainage from the west "regularly inundated it and seeped into dwellings erected there", and the impervious clay soils left pools of stagnant water proliferating for most of the year. But land and rent was (understandably) cheap, so impoverished people flocked to the area.
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In such circumstances many will succumb while others aspire. A young resident of the Flat called Wren might gaze up at the cliffs which housed the wealthy just across the river, imagining how he would one day join them. Likewise did the Collingwood community seek to rise.
Founded in 1892 from the remnants of the Britannia football club and the Capulet cricket team, Collingwood football club became a focal point for those aspirations. Based from the beginning at Victoria Park, the club had won a VFA premiership by 1896, then joined the breakaway VFL competition. The 1896 flag cemented the relationship between club and locality. Those with “nothin’ to lose” now at least had a team to be proud of.
Before the club adopted the Magpie as it’s symbol it had been known (unofficially) as ‘the Purloiners’, but their primary interest was in conquest. As such, their inspiration came more from the discipline and unity of the Roman Legions than the playing fields of Eton or Rugby. Outsiders might also suggest they added rather too many of the Spartans’ social inclinations to the mix.
In this sense the rise of the Collingwood club is representative of the broader movement of working class people into sporting pursuits, and the resultant clashes of attitude and outlook that have been apparent as we have looked at this season. People with fewer social options saw little point other than to play hard. Leave it to those who could afford it to treat their sport as a lark.
That was the perspective of many players and fans. But when it comes to football in the Melbourne cultural context, many levels are always interacting at once. Those who ran Collingwood were usually of the professional classes, and the club rarely missed an opportunity to use favourable people of influence to pursue its aims. The club also benefited the commercial interests of Smith Street, amongst others. It was as apparent in 1911 (or 1892) as it is today that standing in a football club gives you standing in the broader community. It can be a very useful platform for wider agendas. Collingwood has been like every other football club in that respect.
It is often the case that disadvantaged people look past the wider causes of their disadvantage to focus on those in plain view. For Collingwood, Fitzroy fitted the role of "a bordering suburb one notch higher on the totem pole" which considered itself better. Relations with Fitzroy were "hostile from the beginning". From up on the hill, Fitzroy’s sewerage and storm water flowed eastward across the Flat. Many in Collingwood took this as a civic affront. The slow (over 40 years) enclosure of the Reilly Street Drain to the Yarra only served to worsen the sporadic inundation and inflame local sensibilities.
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When Fitzroy got a senior football team, Collingwood had to have one too. When the Maroons proved themselves the early power of the VFL, the Black and White had to match them.
In this era, no game between Collingwood and Fitzroy was without subtext. And few passed without incident.
So none of the faithful who flocked to Victoria Park for round 11 were shocked to see a fight break out in the second quarter. When the melee cleared, Collingwood’s star full forward Dick Lee (right) faced the only report charge of his 230-game career, owing to his rather obvious ‘attempt’ to strike Maroon Bill Walker, who had successfully raised the ire of many a Magpie that day.
Walter Henry ‘Dick’ Lee was the first of an illustrious line of champion Collingwood full forwards. Son of club co-founder (and longstanding trainer) Wal Lee, Dick was as local as they come. Though only 175cm tall he could fly with the best or take a turn in defence if needs be. Over 17 seasons he kicked a (remarkable for the time) 707 goals and led the lead goal kicking table outright a record eight times. In 1910 he’d been crowned Champion of the Colony, but 1911 was proving a major personal letdown.
Like many Magpie stars, Lee was below his best this day, and Collingwood was lucky to only trail by one point at three-quarter time. As late as the final 10 minutes a Lee miss put the Pies one point up, but Maroon goals to Percy Parratt and Bruce Campbell gave them the local boasting rights, and an 11-point win which saw them replace Collingwood in the top four.
To add to Collingwood laments, Lee was suspended for four weeks at the tribunal.
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Campbell (left) kicked four goals in this game, making him an unlikely candidate for match winner. He’d played the first three rounds of the season for Carlton (the last against Fitzroy) before the Blues ‘rejected’ him for reasons unspecified. Playing only the second half of the season for Fitzroy, he would head the Maroons’ 1911 goal kicking tally.
While local honour was disputed at Victoria Park, South Melbourne faced a crucial clash with Carlton at the Lake Oval. 25,000 were "roused to a high pitch of excitement" as second hosted third in a high standard game that benefitted from the best playing conditions in several weeks.
Little separated the two sides for the first three quarters and it came down to South Melbourne taking their chances the best, winning 12.8 to 9.11. Bruce Sloss starred for the Bloods kicking two goals and, to Observer’s eye, "seemed to be all legs and wings at times, but his skill, not less than his pertinacity, were warmly praised". South’s star forward pairing of Fred Carpenter (four goals) and Len Mortimer (three) also "featured conspicuously". For the Blues, Viv Valentine again showed "he is the discovery of the season", whilst Vin Gardiner shone with a five-goal haul.
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Essendon hosted Richmond at East Melbourne, with the Tigers fielding their best team for weeks with the return of Mahoney, Bowden and Macguire. Coming off successive losses, the top team found themselves jumped as Richmond kicked four first-quarter goals. Thereafter they took control of general play, but were hindered in taking significant scoreboard advantage by their inaccuracy, and an injury to star half forward Paddy Shea. Shea "fractured a finger so badly the bone was protruding". "In spite of this he bound it up and continued".
After finally establishing a lead, the Same Olds had to withstand a fast finish from Richmond and would have been relieved of the 10-point win. Alan Belcher gave sterling service "following and defending" as well as kicking two goals, as did Percy Ogden and Ernie Cameron. Vic ‘Flipper’ Thorp starred in defence for the Tigers, showing in his 29th game the qualities he would reveal over an eventual 263 games for Richmond as their star full back.
Melbourne hosted Geelong in front of a modest crowd of 4,224 at the MCG. The game became a shootout between rival forwards, Fuchsia Harry Brereton kicking five goals and the Pivot’s Percy Martini scoring four. After an even three quarters, Melbourne surprised by running out 12-point winners. It was another away loss for Geelong when they had started favourites, and a costly one as well. Victory would have had them snapping at Collingwood’s heels as they faced them in the following round, with memories of their win at Victoria Park still fresh.
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The game at the Junction Oval produced the round’s only blowout, but this time St Kilda were the winning side as they thumped University by 10 goals to climb off the bottom. The game was a disaster for the struggling Students, with three significant player injuries leaving the field open for St Kilda to romp home against an undermanned opponent. Stan Martin and Dave Cumming (left) both injured their ankles, rendering them "useless" even though they limped on. The cruellest blow, however, saw star forward Bert Hartkopf "severely wrench the cartilage behind the knee" and be carried off. It was the end of his season.
Amidst the student gloom, St Kilda celebrated a potential new star. Debutant Ernie Sellars, described as a ‘diminutive goal sneak’, kicked a season-high seven goals in the rout. From local club Grosvenor (in Balaclava), Sellars would kick an impressive 117 goals in only 47 games, before he became another Saint that got away, departing for East Perth at the end of 1913.
With finer weather came the return of the goals, leaving the leading goal kickers table after 11 rounds as follows:
28 - Mortimer (SM)
21 - Gardiner (Car)
19 - Baxter (Coll), Carpenter (SM) 19, Hartkopf (Uni), Bert Armstrong (Ess)
Round 11, 1911 results
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Round 11, 1911 ladder
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For further 1911 season details, click here.
This is an updated version of an article that first appeared on the www.footyalmanac.com.au website.
Footnotes
Sources:
- Kill For Collingwood: Richard Stremski
- Collingwood At Victoria Park: Glenn McFarlane & Michael Roberts
- The Argus
- AFL Tables
- Encyclopedia of AFL/VFL Footballers: Russell Holmesby & Jim Main
- Football's Black Book: Jim Main
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