Images of local footy history

[aussie80s]

A Mountain District Association footy record from 50 years ago - the 1964 Grand Final

Front cover


Senior Grand Final


Reserves Grand Final


Under 16's Grand Final

 

[aussie80s]

In 1962 The MDFA issued a Year Book at the start of the season with fixtures, history etc and for the Grand Final they issued a Souvenir Book with pictures of the 4 finallists (Gembrook - 1st premiership, Upper Ferntree Gully runners-up, Emerald 3rd and Belgrave 4th)

 

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Woori Yallock 1921

 

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Found a couple of old medallions from the Millgrove Football Club the other day which had belonged to former Millgrove player N.Beckham (I believe was Norm Beckham). Two Beckham brothers played at Millgrove in the 1920's and another 2 in the 1950's, the latter two presumably being sons of one of the earlier brothers.

Millgrove merged with Warburton in 1967.

The first was a premiers medal with Millgrove in the Upper Yarra Football Association 1922 and the second was a Most Improved medal with Millgrove 1927 (or 1921?) - not sure how a player would be most improved 5 years after having played in a premiership so was probably meant to be 1921 (a bit of research required - Warby-Millgrove may have records).

As both medals are 9ct gold they cost a bit more to get these days as the price of gold has risen in the interim period, can't imagine the YVMDFL issuing them like that nowadays.These sort of medallions are often sold as scrap gold and melted down so I thought I would salvage a bit of history. At the time medallions like these cost about 5/- (5 shillings) which is about 50c then and the equivalent of about $15 in today's terms.

 

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In 1998 the Gembrook FC changed it's name to Gembrook-Cockatoo FC to be more representative of its catchment area.

In earlier times there was actually a football club based in Cockatoo for short periods of time. This occurred in 1905, 1907 and again from 1949-1952.

The club wore a red guernsey with a white 'V', the same as Healesville, had little success and when it disbanded at the end of 1952 the remaining players predominantly joined their neighbours Emerald and Gembrook. One of the few achievements attained by the club was in their final season Malcolm Richardson tied with Monbulk's Harry Seamer for the MDFA B&F. Malcolm again won the MDFA B&F in 1953 when he had joined Emerald and in 1954 he went to VFL club Melbourne but didn't manage a senior game there.



Below are some images of a membership ticket from Cockatoo's final season in 1952.

 

[aussie80s]

A bit of history from 97 years ago, with rare photos and controversy.

In 1919 the first local newspaper started up in the Dandenong Ranges and ran for less than a year. It was known as The Mountain Tourist and until recently no known editions were thought to have survived - even the State Library has nothing. Of the few cuttings that exist there was a photo of the Ferny Creek Football Club (who wore a red and blue uniform similar to Coburg) which had been taken by noted local photographer Charles Hammond. With the Dandenongs in the background it is likely that the photo was taken at Bayswater, who were one of the competing clubs.



Recently the first known full edition of The Mountain Tourist October 3 1919 has turned up in a private collection of personal papers. In this paper there was a photo of the Emerald team.



Lockwood is Belgrave Heights and Aura is Menzies Creek nowdays.



The Mountain District Football Association had reformed in 1919 after WW1. This competition had originally formed around 1911 and previous premiers had been Belgrave (1911), Monbulk (1912), Monbulk (1913) and Monbulk (1914) before disbanding for the war although there is anecdotal evidence that the competition started in 1915 - certainly there were a couple of match results - but was wound up shortly after with no premiership being played for.

In 1910 there was a 3 team competition (Olinda, Ferny Creek and Monbulk) which was not recorded by name and may have been the origins of the Mountain District Association with either Ferny Creek or Olinda winning the flag. There were also some other mountain district competitions in existence between 1902-07 of which there is generally very little known or recorded.

A ladder was published in the Oct 3 1919 edition as follows:

The note relating to the occurrence of Monbulk having forfeited games was due to Monbulk having played an apparently unregistered player for 6 matches and they lost the points for that after Ferny Creek lodged a protest. Monbulk later disputed this and took the MDFA to the County Court and won the case which had their points re-instated and resulted in having the premiership pennant and 22 medals awarded to them as it returned the club back to the top of the ladder. Ferny Creek were so aggrieved at the outcome of the court decision that they refused to play in 1920.




The MDFA nearly didn't proceed in 1920 as Bayswater also disbanded and just prior to the season starting Belgrave did likewise due to a lack of players. It was fortunate that Gembrook reformed as in 1920 only Monbulk, Emerald and Gembrook competed with Monbulk again winning the premiership.


The 1920 Monbulk team

With football struggling in the Dandenong Ranges at the end of 1920 it was to be the new newspaper which replaced The Mountain Tourist that reignited the competition. The Mountaineer started up in late 1920 (and only ran for a little over a year) and was the chief supporter of the revitalised competition in 1921, so much so that the competition changed its name to the Mountaineer F.A. for that season. Monbulk defeated Ferntree Gully in the Grand Final to claim their sixth successive premiership after the two sides had been level in the H&A series.

They must have had some interesting tussles if the following report made it all the way to Tasmania.



Local newspapers didn't last long and in 1922 the Ferntree Gully Pilot ran for a year and covered the local footy in which Ferntree Gully defeated Ferny Creek for the premiership.


Ferntree Gully FC 1922 premiers

In 1923 Monbulk bounced back to win another flag.

Fern Tree Gully News October 13 1923

Ferny Creek finally ended their run of near misses by claiming the premiership in 1924 after which the MDFA disbanded and the remaining clubs joined the Scoresby District FA in 1925.



The former MDFA clubs gradually started to struggle and disband due to an inability to travel with a full team to Glen Waverley and East Burwood amongst the various localities. Eventually in 1930 the MDFA was reformed to service the local district.

 

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Some early photos of the Upwey footy ground circa 1930's - early 1950's, possibly before the Upwey-Tecoma FC had been formed. The Upwey-Tecoma Bowls club started in 1928 and can be seen in both photos. One of the postcards shows a cricket pitch which would date it after 1931/32 when the Upwey CC formed. The other postcard shows some very rudimentary goalposts located at what is now the tennis courts. The original oval had goals running east-west but with the tennis courts being constructed around 1955 the ground became the current north-south alignment and a large portion was dug out of the hill. Both the postcards would be pre-1955 with the Rose series one being circa 1950 and the Valentine's one circa late 30's.



The same view today, although a bit obscured by trees, shows the tennis courts are now located where the eastern goals were on the original oval.


The footy ground in the late 1950's after it was re-done to accommodate the tennis courts and hasn't changed much for the last 60 years.

 

[aussie80s]

Many items of of historical club memorabilia exist for the AFL Yarra Ranges clubs from photos to medallions and almost always were produced by the club concerned or the governing body at the time.

Very few items were ever produced commercially by companies for promotional purposes.

One rare case where this occurred was around 1930 when the Standard Cigarettes company issued badges for VFL, VFA and Tasmanian clubs but also produced badges for Victorian country teams. Less than 50 of these badges are known to exist in entirety and not even all the VFL clubs have been sighted.

Only 10 country team badges have ever been seen - South Ballarat, South Bendigo, (Ballarat) Imperials, Rainbow, Wangaratta, Wycheproof, Maldon, Lilydale, Queenscliff and Talbot. The interesting badge out of this lot is Lilydale as they competed in the Yarra Valley Associations from 1890 to 1964 and are the most successful district club ever, claiming 19 premierships in that time.

As the badge is so unusual and rare (being the only known example) I decided to buy it. It would be interesting to know how many other clubs were done.



Some other badges from this series thanks to http://aussierulescollectables.com.au/ :

 

[aussie80s]

How did teams come up with their club mascots?

Some seemed to slowly evolve while others were directly chosen by the club on a basis of popular consensus.

While the methods varied it was almost always the club involved that chose their own name. Almost always, because there is a club in the AFL Yarra Ranges competition that actually had their name chosen by another club.

In 1960 Monbulk, who were then in the Mountain District Association, played a practice match against nearby Wandin, from the Yarra Valley League. As with most MDFA clubs, Monbulk's secretary at the time, Bob Scott, contributed a weekly column on club happenings "Hawk Pickings" in the Free Press (signing off as Hawk Eye).

In one of these columns Bob referred to Wandin as the 'Bulldogs' due to their colours being the same as Footscray. Wandin were not known as the Bulldogs but they liked the name and adopted it the following week. Bob was also responsible for naming Monbulk as The Hawks in 1958 when they had been known as The Maroons previously due to their colours being maroon and gold. He chose Hawks simply as their guernsey was similar to Hawthorn's at the time.

This week at Wandin sees another clash between the Hawks and Bulldogs, two teams that derived their mascots from the same person.

Below are the reports printed in the Free Press in April 1960 which led to the Bulldogs finding their mascot.

 

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Emerald opened their new club rooms at Avonsleigh earlier this year.

In 1965 they were equally happy with their new rooms opening which was on their old ground in Emerald that is now only used by the juniors.

 

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Action from the 1965 MDFA GF at Monbulk. Gembrook narrowly defeated Upper Ferntree Gully for the premiership.

 

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In 1965, the last year of the MDFA, the Free Press ran a series of team photos, some of which had colour added at the printing stage.
Here are the 7 MDFA sides of 1965: Olinda, Gembrook, Upwey-Tecoma, Belgrave, Emerald, Monbulk and Upper Ferntree Gully

 

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Ferny Creek United FC c1912

Belgrave FC 1925

Ferny Creek FC undated inscribed "compliments of Ferny Creek FC Burbank photo"

Belgrave FC 1920's

Belgrave FC 1920's

unidentified mountain district team

Upwey-Tecoma membership ticket 1946

 

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When Monbulk and Belgrave met in 1911 they both had their photos taken at the same time by the same photographer.

1911 Monbulk team with Bluey Robinson putting a hat on an unsuspecting mascot dog


1911 Belgrave team - Premiers MDFA. Umpire Wright posed in both photos


When Olinda and Monbulk met in 1912 they also both had their photos taken together at the same game.

Monbulk 1912 team - MDFA Premiers. Captain Bluey Robinson is holding a football with "Monbulk football club" painted on it


Olinda 1912 team, umpire J.O'Donohue posed in both photos. Player with the ball (painted Olinda FC) likely to be their captain.

 

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The MDFA produced a Football Record during the 1950's up until 1958. It was then discontinued until starting up again in 1964.

In 1962 it was decided to produce a Year Book and a Souvenir book (see earlier post).

In 1963 it was decided not to produce the Year book so with no Football Record at the games The Free Press decided to place team lists in for the Finals. Emery Rhys-Jones of Monbulk is the father of David Rhys-Jones


A Footy Record was produced when the YVMDFL (it was known as MDYVFL in 1966-67) was first in existence in the late 60's, here is an example of the 1967 GF issue (Upwey and Woori were wearing different guernseys to avoid a colour clash):


I don't know whether a Footy Record was produced right through the 70's and 80's (I have copies from 1981 and 1983 but I don't recall seeing them when I played in 1986 and 1989 and it seemed that only club newsletters were produced such as Tiger Topics (Upwey) and Hawk Talk (Monbulk).

 

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I have come across a massive batch of around 400+ photos which are all negatives from around 1981. They seem to feature Emerald very heavily so were probably taken by a club photographer. I have only converted about 50 at this stage as it takes a little while converting negative film to positive digital images via a scanner.

Here is an example:

Emerald v Fairpark at Emerald 1981 (the old ground, now the junior ground, in town)


Emerald v Silvan at Warburton 1981 finals. Emerald coach and full back Dennis Colee with ball


Emerald v Silvan 1981 finals at Warburton showing the scoreboard where it was formerly on the forward flank near the entrance. I think it was moved when the social rooms were built near there. Behind the scoreboard on the left is the old Warburton Cricket Club rooms.


Emerald v Thornton 1981 finals at Warburton - a fair few cars.


Emerald v Thornton 1981 finals at Warburton showing the area where the social rooms are now located. The aboriginal player in the photo is Ernie Dingo who later became famous as an entertainer.


Emerald v Thornton 1981 finals at Warburton - sizing up the opposition.


Emerald v Kinglake (I think) U17's 1981 final at Warburton. Apart from those bloody concrete goalposts the top goals haven't changed much at all.

 

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How Ferny Creek won and then lost the 1932 premiership in bizarre circumstances. Boronia FC, who formed in 1932, were awarded the premiership after a successful protest and then by forfeit when Ferny Creek were unable to make the rematch.



The Age Nov 4 1932


The Argus Nov 9 1932

Ferny Creek competed for one last season in 1933 when they finished 3rd behind Boronia and Silvan but did produce the MDFA B&F player



The Boronia FC formed in 1932 and joined the MDFA where they were the MDFA premiers in 1932 and 1933. In the late 1920s they had been part of the Bayswater-Boronia FC.
In 1934 Boronia merged with Bayswater to form the Boronia-Bayswater FC and competed in the Ringwood District Football Association where they were runner-up to Ringwood, losing the Grand Final (Ringwood 12.18.90 d Boronia-Bayswater 9.6.60).
In 1935 Boronia chose to stand alone and again competed in the RDFA, which had changed its name to Ringwood District FL. However, after just 3 games, the club withdrew and disbanded for the rest of the season.
In 1936 the MDFA became the Belgrave District Football League for one season and Boronia reformed and returned to the competition to claim the 1936 flag.

 

[gelder01]

Love your work aussie80s.
Fascinating to see the old photo's and articles and get some history of formation of leagues and local clubs.
Appreciate the effort you put in, keep it up!

 

[Joe Mama]

The last photo with Emerald in 1981 was against Yea, as they wore Gold with a black Yoke at the time. Kinglake folded after the 1980 season in the former Panton Hill League & didn't reappear until 1990, when they reformed in the YVMDFL, rejoining Panton Hill, who joined in 1988, after the Panton Hill F.L folded in 1987.

 

[aussie80s]

Flashback to 1976

From 1974 until 1977 the YVMDFL was divided into 3 Divisions with a combination of Senior and Reserves teams playing in 2nd and 3rd Divisions. The Monbulk, Woori, Upwey, Belgrave and Warburton Reserves were actually playing against the South Belgrave, Emerald, Wandin and Marysville Seniors and a Division above the Silvan and Powelltown Seniors.

Here are the final ladders from the H&A series that year


Drama prior to the Grand Final being played at Gembrook


1st Division Grand Final Woori Yallock v Belgrave


2nd Division Grand Final South Belgrave v Emerald

 

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In 2019 Berwick join the expanded AFL Yarra Ranges/Outer East.

They could have joined the Mountain District Football Association 72 years ago when they were invited in 1946. Berwick decided to stay in the Dandenong District F.A.

In 1946 2 newly formed clubs had already joined - Upwey-Tecoma and South Belgrave-Kalora Park - and the MDFA was looking at admitting more.

The following is part of an article in the Dandenong Journal February 27 1946.

 

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[Doona2]

Seriously has become one of my favourite threads on this entire website

I love this stuff, to all contributors thanks a heap for sharing

 

[aussie80s]

In the mid-late 1980s there was no Footy Record in the YVMDFL, at least as far as I can remember. Clubs provided their own newsletter style publications to keep their supporters informed.

Here are some of the ones that were available.

 

[MortlockWatcher]

The MDFA produced a Football Record during the 1950's up until 1958. It was then discontinued until starting up again in 1964.

In 1962 it was decided to produce a Year Book and a Souvenir book (see earlier post).

In 1963 it was decided not to produce the Year book so with no Football Record at the games The Free Press decided to place team lists in for the Finals. Emery Rhys-Jones of Monbulk is the father of David Rhys-Jones
View attachment 404350


I don't know whether a Footy Record was produced right through the 70's and 80's (I have copies from 1981 and 1983 but I don't recall seeing them when I played in 1986 and 1989 and it seemed that only club newsletters were produced such as Tiger Topics (Upwey) and Hawk Talk (Monbulk).

There were only Records for the finals in the late-80s. I am pretty sure that they were being produced in 1994 and am pretty certain that Tara Press (current printers of the Grapevine) were doing them even back then. In 1994, I picked up a couple of Records from the house of the then YVMDFL secretary for my collection and he even ran through the process of how they were produced with me - maybe he was hoping that I would get involved. (This was back in the days when the secretary used to do them - and people would have scoffed at the idea of having a full-time media staff member for a local footy league).