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CLUB HISTORIANS SECTION
Article -4-
By WAFC Historian – Mark CJ Beswick

1958 – 2008
“50 Years At Richmond”

For many years, the West Adelaide Football Club was desperate to find a home base to train and play league football. After much searching, the club finally came up with two suitable sites for a home base. One location was at West Beach while the other was an undeveloped plot known as Richmond Oval. Local government in 1946 acquired two deeds for the allotments that have become part of the Richmond Oval Site. The smaller block (Mrs Vera Low) faced onto Milner Street while a second larger block purchased from Mr Edward Low, stretched as far as Kingston Avenue. Mr Low was a member of West Adelaide until his Death in 1976.

On October 1 1952, a committee led by Mr J. F “Jack” Simmons (Chairman) settled on Richmond Oval. The decision to choose Richmond was due to its geographical location. Richmond was close to the GPO and in the heartland of the West Adelaide district.

After protracted negotiations with the City of West Torrens, the committee entered into an agreement with the Council to lease of the ground for 20 years. The negotiators for the development of this land included Cliff Semmler, Roy B Charles, Brian Faehse and Cliff Todd.  In return for this lease, the club at its own expense had to grade, grass and reticulate an area now known as the Richmond Oval. In addition to this, a partially erected grandstand faced east. The total cost for these works was £10,000 not including work done through volunteer labour (reticulation and seeding the sward).  Supporters, players, local businesses and officials of the club toiled for many weekends to get the oval ready for league football. Hansen and Yuncken erected the “Brian K. Faehse” grandstand and the oval was ready for training purposes in 1955.

West Torrens Mayor of 26 years Mr Steve Hamra, was instrumental in all stages of the Ovals development. Mr Hamra even loaned the club one of his firm’s trucks to develop the site. Steve was a former president and patron of both the senior and junior bodies of the WAFC and even held official capacities with the Brunswick Football Club.

In March 1955, further talks by the West Adelaide Oval Committee with the West Torrens Council occurred. The Grounds committee sought an undertaking from the Council to complete the oval and have it ready for the 1956 season. The council was not in a financial position to meet the whole burden of this request and as a result, the club had no option but to use the venue for training purposes that year.

Early in 1956, negotiations to complete the entire oval continued. After a year of meetings and persistent requests to the Council, an agreement was reached whereby the West Torrens Council agreed to the lease Richmond Oval to the WAFC Inc. for 20 years. This allowed the club to enter into an agreement with the SANFL to play football on Richmond Oval for 1958.  In return for the lease, the WAFC had to make improvements to the ground including:

• The completion of the grandstand (roofing & seating),

• Fencing off the grandstand area,

• Erecting lavatory accommodation,

• Terracing of the mound in front of the grandstand

• Erect necessary turnstiles, ticket boxes etc.

The cost of these improvements exceeded £20,000. To provide finance, the SANFL agreed to a ten-year loan for £10,000 over ten years. A second loan of a similar amount was obtained from a local trading bank while the scoreboard which was located on the North Western part of the ground, was donated by Halls Softdrinks Ltd. In return for the improvements, the Council accepted the responsibility of maintenance to the oval proper, mound construction and the necessary fencing of the whole arena.

On the 26th of April 1958, Chief Secretary Sir Lyell McEwin performed the opening ceremony for the ground. West Adelaide in front of some 16,000 spectators then went on to claim the first win on the hallowed turf by defeating its neighbour West Torrens by ten points in a wonderful contest.

By Mark Beswick
Sources for this article include –(Blood Sweat and Tears, 1958 WAFC Annual Report and The Russell Family.)

CLUB HISTORIANS SECTION
Article -3-
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!

WEST ADELAIDE PLAYERS DATABASE PROJECT
By WAFC Historian – Mark CJ Beswick
Article 2

-Background-
For the past fifteen years I have been collecting SANFL club annual reports and compiling statistics on all SANFL football clubs.  Two years ago through the agency of Mr Colin Dent, I was put in touch with two Western Australians (WAFL Historians) who introduced me to a man named Peter Anderson. Peter has developed a shareware database for Australian Rules football which he constantly improves.  This database is very comprehensive and can even be used for player genealogy.  The programme has enabled me to type in every quarter by quarter score from 1870. The database records every field Umpire, Every league player with their full name, dates and places of birth and death as well as cross referencing their careers with VFA, WAFL, TFL, AFL and Broken Hill league records.  Unfortunately many of my records are still in hard-copy and it will take me some years to transfer to this digital form.

-Current Project-
Presently I am working towards a specific West Adelaide Players and Officials database.  In my spare time, I am toiling through more than seven newspapers for the 1897-1919 eras addressing many anomalies in the Blood, Sweat & Tears Publication. This is a slow process but a necessary one. Unfortunately, not every West Adelaide side was published during this era and club minutes and player sheets for this period are no longer available.  It is hoped that some day a member of the public may come forward with some old documents which have been passed down through generations. I hold on to hope that a “white-knight” may come forward with some tattered old log-books, annual reports or minutes as was the case for South Adelaide some years ago.
 
Another project is collecting the dates of birth, death and FULL names of every SANFL player with a particular emphasis as Club Historian on West Adelaide’s list. I have roughly 70% of West Adelaide players’ full names and birthdates from 1907. There remain however, quite few players which I have very little detail on and any help from the public would be welcome.  Some of these players require a Christian name and others a middle name, date of birth or death. (Please see one such list at the bottom of this report).

In time we would like to recognise contributors and members of the public who donate memorabilia to the West Adelaide Football Club for a prospective club museum. In the meantime, we will continue to collect, log and recognise the name and dates of contributors for this future project.

-MISSING CHRISTIAN NAMES OF WAFC PLAYERS 1907-1954-

There are many other players we have A first name and then an initial that I am interested in finding as well.

I also log information such as Grandfather, sons of,  Uncles of…  Any family SANFL links.

Any HELP will be greatly appreciated -  By remembering these men, we honour their contributions to SA Football.

-How You Can Help/Share History & Make Contact-
If you are a family member, ancestor or are in procession of any information which may link back to any SANFL club or player (u17’s-League), especially, I would love the opportunity to converse with you and improve my historical records using any information you can offer. Every bit of information ultimately completes more pieces of the greater jigsaw puzzle of SA Football History. 

-CONTACTING US-
My email address is: mbeswick@internode.on.net or alternatively write to the West Adelaide football club c/o Club Historian. Please leave a forwarding contact number so I can make contact with you.

-THANKS-
I would like to acknowledge people who have helped over the past ten years with the database project.  Many of these people are historians from others clubs or football leagues.  My apologies if I have left anyone off this list.

Mr D. Phillips (CEO WAFC) for bestowing the official title of WAFC Historian
Mr C. Casey (SANFL)
Mr C. Dent  (SANFL Hall Of Fame Researcher)
Mr J. Storer  (Woodville/Torrens and Eagles Historian)
Mr R. Laidlaw (CDFC Historian and Jornalist)
Mr P. Cornwall  (Journalist Adelaide Advertiser)
Mr D.S O’Hara (NAFC Historian)
Mr J Deer  (Photo-Collector of SA Football)
*Mr IT Everett RIP (SA Football Historian for over 35 years)
Mr C. Lane  (NFC Historian)
Mr J. Lysikatos (Sturt Historian)
Mr N. Stallard (Southern Football League Historian)
Mr S. Davies (WAFL Historian)
Mr G. Wardell-Johnson (WAFL Historian)
Mr G. “Bushy” Burke -  (BHILL Historian)
Mr C. Bridges (York Peninsula Historian)
Mr J.Althorp (SAFC Historian)
Mr H. McLaren  (Journalist)
And many others….

The Club

WHEN WAS WEST ADELAIDE FOUNDED? - 1887 or 1891/92

There has been an age old debate within West Adelaide about our clubs birthday.  Were we formed in 1887 or 1891/2? 

 

As a football historian, I have found the exact birthdates of both West Torrens (Natives) and North Adelaide (Medindie) using a multitude of SA Papers from the 19th Century. But when it comes to our club, I have failed to find an exact date of birth.  It was common in the 19th Century for communities and delegates to advertise that they were forming a new sporting club or identity. It was also common practise to read brief articles pertaining to a clubs annual report in the early summer months recounting the performances and finances of the entity prior to a forthcoming season. I am yet to find a newspaper or magazine article from the 1889-1893 era that narrows down our clubs formation. I can however confidently say that we were most likely formed between 1891 and 1892 as a junior side because of articles written some years later which I will share with you shortly.

Before I share these articles, perhaps you as a reader might hold the key which could unlock this and other mysteries lost in time. As club historian, I am trying to replenish our clubs annual reports, team photographs, minutes, statistical records and collections.  Unfortunately West Adelaide was one of the last clubs to find a home ground to store important documents pertaining to player and club history. Often club secretaries and board-members were in charge of storing minutes and important documents, pictures and trophies. As time passed by, so has our hold on these valuable documents and artefacts. Club annual reports tell us the deaths of past players, playing lists for seasons past, new life-members as well as recounting important events for a season.  If you know the whereabouts of the following annual reports which neither the club or state library holds, the WAFC would love to obtain a photocopy or original of the following annual reports  (1907, 1920, 1922, 1923, [1924 Balance Sheet], 1930 and 1931.) If you can help, please email, write or phone the West Adelaide Football Club and I will get back to you.

Back to our clubs foundation

Recently the discovery of the 1911 annual report has put beyond doubt that the current West Adelaide Football club was NOT founded in 1887.  Our 1911 annual report states…

“It is appropriate that whilst we are recording the glorious victories of 1911, we are celebrating the Twentieth Birthday of our Club.  Just 20 years ago our old friend Mr J McCabe (who throughout this long period has held office on the Committee of Management), was the principal factor in starting this club, and he had with him as Secretary Mr R. Mander, who piloted the Club through its first season.  Our sincerest thanks are due to these two gentlemen who remain staunch supporters.”

Furthermore, I recently found in my records at home, a copy of a magazine titled, “The Official Souvenir of THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL CARNIVAL 1911” with articles by the founder of Football  Mr H. C. A. Harrison.  On page 26, a history of West Adelaide is given.  The article reads,

“Originally formed about 1890, chiefly through the instrumentality of John McCabe, the club (West Adelaide) won the 1895 premiership in the City and Suburban Association, and in the following year, on the introduction of the Electorate System, joined the Senior Association.”

We do know that in 1892, West Adelaide wore red and white and their home ground was opposite Annesley College in the South Parklands. (This was formerly known as Way College and Methodist Ladies College).  In the second year of the clubs playing existence (1893), West Adelaide transferred its home ground to the West Parklands.

Adelaide City Council records confirm that the WAFC club wore a Red & White strip when it won the 1895 premiership in the City and Suburban Association with ten wins, one loss and a draw. West Adelaide went back-to-back winning the 1896 premiership and was recognised as the best side outside of the senior association.

On Wednesday March 31 of 1897, West Adelaide formally wrote to the S.A.F.A seeking admission to League football. This was duly granted on April 12 and hence the original programme circulated for the 1897 season was amended to six teams eliminating the weekly bye. West Adelaide had to change its colours from Magenta and White as it would have clashed with Port Adelaide and North Adelaide. The committee then decided to adopt the colours from the defunct Adelaide Football Club - Red and Black.

Unfortunately for West Adelaide and our historical record keeping, both Mr John Charles McCabe and Mr Reubner Milton Lavis Mander  (co-founders of this proud club) passed away in 1933. As our historian, I would like to think and hope that their passing has not taken with them, our only chance of unearthing the true birth date our mighty club – Hence the importance of finding lost annual reports.

Some points of interest –

Our club turned 25 in 1916/17 (WW1 – No Annual Report Printed) –
Our club turned 50 in 1941/42 (WW2 – Merged with Glenelg)

It seems history was against us when we celebrated major birthday milestones!

SO WHO WERE THE 1887 WAFC?

In 1887, a group of West Torrens players (Not the West Torrens Club which merged with Woodville in 1990) created a West Adelaide Football Club.  On April 5, 1887 the association voted to admit this newly formed West Adelaide as its newest member. The colours of this team were red, white and blue. The club won one game in 1887, drew two and lost the rest. After the conclusion of the 1887 season the club retired from the SAFL and played in parkland competitions. It is believed that this club ultimately disbanded during the 1888 season but evidence supporting this is yet to be found.

Article – Mark C.J Beswick   (WAFC Historian)

As we are currently working on our Website to update our Club History, an already available history of our Club can be seen at www.fullpointsfooty.net/ and we are grateful to the administrator of that site for his co-operation and agreement for us to use information on that site in the future.

Premierships

• 1908 Premiers and Champions of Australia

• 1909 Premiers

• 1911 Premiers and Champions of Australia

• 1912 Premiers

• 1927 Premiers

• 1947 Premiers

• 1961 Premiers

• 1983 Premiers