Fitzroy City Press (Vic. : 1881 - 1920), Friday 18 September 1908, page 3


FITZROY FOOTBALL CLUB. SILVER JUBILEE. wf The Town Hall was the scie of a ye brilliant festival on Wednesday even- at ing, when the local- Senicr Football be Club celebrated its Sitver Jubilee y The!po'esent Committee invited all the he players, who had doraed theclub's at uniform since its inception, and oflice- ht bearers, to a dinner, which proved a particularly halppy event-. There was at a goodly number not present-sotme li have gone to that bourne from i whence nlo traveller returns--whilst ur others were so far away that at- tli tendance was impossible, as in the of case of .Jim Beggs, who is in the p back-blocks of New -South Wales. i The hall was well filled,:and several s interesting mementoes were secured in the shape of a flashlight photo, a and a numiber of the imenu cards G, -were signed by all present. si The chair was occupied at the t? outset by Vice-President Thos. Ban'is, to the President, Senator Best. arriv- al ing from the Governor-Ge::eral's dinner about 8.30. Thie Iev. Davidson, G a past player, 'in o:ed a tilessing, i and then MIr. Skik.er's staff was kept busy for an hour or so. After the b. appetising dainties ihad disappearet!,a and the solace of the fragrant weed. was the order of the evening, the i chairman briefly proposed the usual , loyal toast, which was accorded it musical honors. IMr. Billson, -..L.A., A followed with "The Fitzrov FoIo- p ball Club," coupled with the names p of President Best, ex-President Jno. MelfMahon es-Captain horrall, Ca,- i S ..tami-. Jans.; h .rp, ..iex-Secretar y r J;:II. J r Smpoýasd 1tnn .;Ieceetauyaiesttikp. ,Theeproposer dealt at some lengthl t S upon his subject eiHe stated that he was' indebted to` the bon. secretary for most Cf the inforlmation, antd re- t ferred to the great players the clubit had 'roduced, the successful efforts of offllice-bearers and~commibtee, a-l I the high piano upon which the gatr.e now stood in public estitlatio:. I Some of the players picked out tor special mention were P. G. Mrc- I Shane, J. Worrall," T. Banks, h. I aclling, W. Cleary, J. Grace, f1, Grace, P. Hiekey, and P. Trotter. d It is always difficult to draw dis, tinctions between men whose deeds Swere perhaps but indifferently rcpIorted, anw memory as a rule is not i se 'tenacious as to retain all the incidents of 25 years of football: Those quoted were unrdoubtedly slhining stars, but there were many others. Who that followed the ambhitious Fitzroy youths will ever forget the splendid marking of iHenry Rapifortf er the miraculous goals he secured-when it appeared impossible, Rapi. was :it his best. Dummy Muir was a.-tower of strength in ruck play in the early days, and as a hack player "Jockey" Pierce had few superiors. Jack Carroll was one of the quiet effective sort, only careful observers wculd 'distinguish his merit Another of the:same sort was Jack Wiseman, whilst "Jimmy" - Roles was one of the best. Ted Lindsay, "Novo" Ewing, and Jim Beggs, all more thas held their own, while S Percy lillard was another effective hut not flash player. Amongst the - - - bent -sting men of: the-elub Musgrove must ~alwaysc.bereelioned witli i for ctiv cool pplay, "always -getting his kick into good position. As a :' dodgy' player 'Cleary :was certainly '' pre-eminent, his coolness bhiig remarkable. 'Johnny Fribbs ana-Dummy Ward- were alike quick andelever, : and :Billy Callaghan. of the bustling bulldog type. Whoa Worrall' visited England- Rapiport was undoubtedly the star of -tho team, but that little S trait oi 'character of 'igetting: even'" - with the otiher tove was` his worst feature. '!Chbaner" Reynolds was one of the best full backs .Fitzroy . , has had;. and the half-back line of . Buckley, Banks and Meillichael: was very'haed to beat. Few players did : more for Fitzroy's sucnc?ss than Jim a rd Sick" Grace, -. the "little maarks" . by Melling and Cleary to Jim Grace was a feature, whilst. Jim's dnerring foot was undoubtedly a .great factor; he was one of the surest goal kick ecs -ersev?r see, and, later, on, devel:oped into one'of the finest players. WhL:. : .-Wio .that saw it will ever forget O"r-il that'grlhd'' game-vs, the' Melhourne !' ground when 'hb idcked the goals, and ::"j,?::then, going back, w6jind up a bril": :: -:liantly contested game with a run blaft the~lengtli of--the ground. round th sestandc-wlg, The firstY premiiere

ship to Fitr-oy'saw' Banks in com- C uand;, rater too ianxious 'to do hLim- ti self- justice, but at this' time. Bill) C C!eary wasin his prime, 'and Slick 1l brace::just fulfilling tine promise of m greatness :loaned for by' supporters: wi ae ne vll rei ieiber the beautiful tn aark asid kick at the'sta.nd goal on P the South Melbourne round :vhiehli tr Mlick executed; an?dgave Fitzroy the C] prenmiership. Jim, who all through hi had plaed a grand gamne; badly et wanted-the lick,. but the youngster N stoed firm, and how the older sts- ti gers: innmrritel:y 'strengthened the ci hall-back line of dclence.' Jerry ai Dialier 'was a iine lung i-ck and ci mark, whilst Jack Elliott wascs eer"y a inch a goer front start to finish. to A\nctlier player who only let himself bi go occasionally was Jim lcRaille: h. We well remember two ineidents con- el nected- with white knickers. In Wor- Cr rall's first season he -was ' ehgaged" playing cricket with Soith..when- the ni last. football game against South t was billed. The football match took hr place on the outside ground in the It Albert Park. Worrall w-as pressed w unte'the game; and,."-as usual, was si .iie bLtethiin;;of.;dll,;,stars:; is,-, c I fancy George Icron-'kicked the oinl' goal. The other ineident was against Essendon at Rant Melbourne, ri when Rapipcrt put up one of his di very best games. As a centre man ri anl full back there has been few F better than Gco. Moriarty ; in his I1 younger days it wa's woiderful hows 1i he could 'get up. Stan. Reid was II another of the quiet elieotiv'e sort-lie unlrortunately. lost his life in S. Africa. The present secretary was at first playedl forward, hut it was like trying to force a square peg into a round hlIc, and it was not until placed on the half-back line that Con. Hickey had any certainty of mnintaining his position. As a player Tomni Banks, on occasion, s pas most brilliant, and alter his first. a season the brilliant days \were i: the ascendant.. The Caiserons were amongst tlhe star perfornlers of thec first team, when Abe Shierwoo;l's P shrill treble couid-he heard all over thelm field. Tom Burke haild .a penchant for aerial lights, trot was no good t at goal kicking: in fact, for many years prior to the advent of Jim Griace, Fitzroy had, lew reliable goal I kickers. After Woriall, Neddy Carews was about the best. A couple of bright meteors were "Sloppy" Clift I and Jim Hogg, but the latter never alppeared to put enough vim into the game; had lie possessed a tenth nart of Rapiport's go he would have keen a good player for his team. Absolutely: one of the most solid players for Fitzroy was Alex. Sloan. Flashbess was not his forte, hard, stubborn play fromn start- to finish -alsays at his best when the odds wero agailnst'- him. As a, follower Slehnanshtdendse'.iriu perl6ee endAeikh the responsibility: of captaiinship he took up a position on the hall-back line. Hie never made the mistake ol thinking lie could 'play the whole team; convertcd play was one of his strong points. Ben Nathan was a follower of the bulldog type, whilst Sonny Coleman, Iferbert Morrison, Ben Page, Paddy Gleeson (who often received srule of the knocks'intended for Rapt.) Joe Delahuntly aod Jack IIughes all did yeoman service for the maroon and blue. Tommy Leydin left most of his best games with Carlton, hut what a grand stamp of a fair sportsman hlie wasn. Joe Kerrigan and Buck Kelly were; two useful players; the former wasevergreen, and even now,' after 25 years, Joe would step into the breach. Charlie Cock. andi Jack Strahan were something after the style'; of tark Shea; rather too quick for the ball. fHowie'er, the latter, like Eddie Droiran, McKaay, hick Grace, Dan Moriarity and others have proved that the lessons they learned at Fitzroy were not sown on unprofitable ground, and against their parent club have. hclped to win matches for their new love. Billy SicSpeeri and Chris. Kiernan are another pair -of the cool clever players that .have made Fitzroy famous. The latter was undoubtedly one of the most reliable goal-kickers, and would have been eminently 'useful during the I pst seasen. Bert Sharpe, with more energy, might have been a champion player. ,Tom'Beacham is 'still with u s He .is: rapidly,: becoming a veteras as a' entri" player;'and in this and :other -positionshashlield his o-wn Swith ?he'best of' his'di?y: Jim Sharp;, aas captain; 'has niot'played in his 7old brilliant style; he undoubtedly has been ' one -of the best'of Fitz-, proy's players. Two of fie -stars of the first' magnitude were Pat Hickey Iand Percy. Trotter,- . both absolutely fair players with. totally different styles, and,, with Mink .Grace, .have e been dubbed "champion.'". The firstsamed` simply brushed aside all opI position ;: he was a "poinrt to point'.' player, and his method wasn to go y straight "as a._canaon ball from half. d back to the opponent's goal he did it well.. Trotter, on the other hand, d had '.a wonderful turn of: sped ;at .s the i'thal-b'e' ' appeared to"'0? go; two 'yards Oc the' other : player's -ohe, e aiid his accuract- in pulntiegr "goals .g was. phenomenal Bendigo Basles "f0r r; his 'inches: is cu of-'the bust ieatde r- a maroon jersey. Ernie Jeukins.is -I another who took all the hard knoc?s s. without flinching, and amongst the re present players milne and Walkec in are the mainstays. . id Good management inu any club' i cI-essential to success, and the Footinbtall Club is fortunate In having. a id.suecossli of good executlve ·offigers.. r ^·tarwig~ wIth 1, H, Simpsson-' usu

Chas.. Showers. -as secretary .. _and, tlcsurcr, there( followed "' C;- :.S. Cock and Jno. woirall, then W: H..'i: lianks, kcame treaisurer,, and remained "Icr many years when the club'wAs at its lowest ebl, I-Ic has '".,Iollowedl n thoe. paly. days 6by .W. Parki; Alex. Sloan,.- nd the-:present 'treasurer, P. Descrimes Afte Chati e Cock cameo C. f?:.Ilickey as hen. secretarY, and he hasn remained evena since,- now s'outl d,7 years. Naturally, during that oipng period; he Ihas 'been subject to much .criti-" mism,; 'at present :sonime: supporters'l arc irnclined to lay upon his. shoulderis' all of any blame they consider attachable to the pdsitioni of the teant. To the cabiassed there can be no two opinions. Mr. .Hickey has at all times worked lihad fer.his club ; he, like others, has madle mistakes in judgment-all'-mcn il.'' `-An interestiig 'episode of the. dinner was the re-presentation to' Cap-tain Banks lby Mr. Hicey of thb ball used in the final natch in 1895. It was apparently lust as good as whren played with, and had been lost since' uresented by 1w r.Aitken at" the.' ciosof tk't memorable .o proposed were 'iTrh`;,Cty Fathiers, ' by '?r. Park;, responded to by the Mlayb?r; "Iciidred Clubs," by Mr.. Thos. Banks, responded to by President Knuckey, F.C.C.; "The League," by iMr. A. Millis, was replied to byi Mr. Stricklans ; and ',Thi Press,"/ by I_.r. Iickey, hrought the-hfunction to a-. close. -