More to footy than we knew

by LES EVERETT

THE best histories of Australian rules football clarify information about the great indigenous game, they enlighten us and remind us of the part played by the game in our social fabric.

Very few truly break new ground.

Careful research, a bit of luck and a keen eye combined to enable WA historian and writer John Williamson to add a whole new element to the history of the game.

His book Football's Forgotten Tour tells the story of a tour of Australia in 1888 by a team of English, Scots and Welsh rugby players. The team played 34 Rugby games and 19 games of Australian rules.

Williamson's research was sparked by a happy accident - a mention of Essendon football club in a Rugby Union book.

The discovery of a diary by one of the tourists opened the door wider and led to the discovery of the extensive newspaper coverage of the games.

The tourists obviously knew how to play the Australian game. Williamson says he was astounded to learn the British team actually defeated Port Adelaide by a goal at Adelaide Oval on July 10, 1888. They also beat a Ballarat team which included in its line up David "Dolly" Christie who was later to co-found the East Fremantle football club and be inducted into the AFL hall of fame.

While mysteries remain about the extent to which the Australian game was played in Britain, there are strong links with Edinburgh University where many Australians went to complete studies in medicine in particular.

Colin Campbell and Gus Kearney, who were members of Essendon's first premiership team in 1897, are two examples of top flight footballers who studied at Edinburgh.

Another point in favour of the tourists was that Rugby was different in the 1880s with more drop kicking and therefore the codes were a little closer in form than the modern versions.

Williamson said he feels the tour represents a missed opportunity for the internationalisation of Australian rules.

"Rugby and soccer weren't that old then and with a bit of luck Australian football could have taken off," he said, "I think this tour shows there's more to the history of Australian rules than we knew about."

Football's Forgotten Tour: The story of the British Australian rules venture of 1888 by John Williamson is available in book shops.

5 February 2004

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