Article 3: FOOTBALL GENERATIONS & GUERNSEY NUMBERS
By WAFC Historian – Mark CJ Beswick
FOOTBALL GENERATIONS & GUERNSEY NUMBERS
For the past four months, I have been working on a few projects with my football database. One of these projects is jersey numbers for League Players from 1914 for West Adelaide. The other project is basic genealogy of all league players 1897-2007.
THE NUMBERS PROJECT
Recently I was asked by some West Adelaide officials if I could supply them with a list of games played by past players wearing specific Guernsey numbers. In the long term, I will be able to give very specific and accurate figures for this request but in the short term, with the help of Mr John Deer, I have compiled a list of numbers presented to players each season except for a period between 1942 & 1951 where SANFL budgets are not held by the State Library.
I hope to present this information later in the year so in 2008 when we have our jumper presentations for new recruits and existing league players, some history can be attributed with the presentation of these jerseys.
GENERATIONS PROJECT
Presently, 8,216 players from 1897-1900 & 1907 to Round 13 2007 have played league SANFL football. Of these 8216 players, 1212 have played for West Adelaide. I am still filling in the gaps from 1901-1906. (The West Adelaide player stats from Blood, Sweat & Tears is inaccurate for this period so be weary if you count those players listed in this excellent publication!)
With the Generations Project, I am linking Generations of players who have played league football. I am linking brothers, uncles, fathers, grandfathers, cousins… It’s a massive task. Presently I have completed indexing players surnames from A-K. From this section, I have come across two families with 4 generations who have played league football. These families include the Hine Family (West Torrens/Woodville) and the Edwards Family (Norwood, Central Districts & North Adelaide.)
I have also found that six brothers played football in the SAFA period.
They were Norwood’s:
Arthur, Clement, Frank, Leslie Roy, Percy and Stanley HILL. Curiously none of these players had sons which started a second generation of league footballers and I am unaware of Grandson’s which may have begun a 2nd Generation Removed dynasty.
West Adelaide has had their fair share of players who have had 2nd and even third generations of footballers from various families. I intend to look at these families in a future article when I have completed indexing the rest of the players list from L-Z.
If you would like to contribute information to the indexing of relatives of league footballers past and present for any league club, please contact me on email (mbeswick@internode.on.net) or via the admin team at our club. I am interested in learning of players who had sons, grandfathers, uncles, cousins or even step-brothers that have contributed to SANFL league football.
A COMMUNITY PROJECT
The West Adelaide Football club has had many links with community football organisations over the past century. A friend of mine, Mr Neil Stallard has been researching The “Glenelg, South & West Adelaide Football Associations Fairest and Best Player Medals.” Our own annual reports often refer to these local clubs throughout the 1950’s mentioning the premiers in this association, but they neglected to mention the winner of the association medal. Neil is trying to find out who won the 1951 B&F Association Medal and the club this unknown player would have represented. If anyone out there has the answer, can they please let me know so Neil can finalise and publish this defunct association’s honour board for this Association’s B&F Players. Who knows, maybe the winner of this medal went on to play for West Adelaide!
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