1877 SAFA season
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The 1877 South Australian Football Association season was the inaugural season of the South Australian Football Association, the top-level league of Australian rules football in South Australia.
Victorian
1st premiership
Adelaide (14 goals)
| 1877 SAFA premiership season | |
|---|---|
South Adelaide premiership team | |
| Teams | 8 |
| Premiers | South Adelaide Victorian 1st premiership |
| Leading goalkicker | John Young Adelaide (14 goals) |
| Matches played | 52 (61 scheduled) |
| Highest | 650 (Round 7, Adelaide vs. South Adelaide) |
The clubs participating were Adelaide, Bankers, Kensington, Port Adelaide, South Adelaide, South Park, Victorian, Woodville.[1]
South Adelaide and Victorian would share the premiership honours as there was no grand final playoff, while the Bankers Football Club, who finished last without a win and forfeited a number of games, folded before the end of the season.[2]
Top Goalkickers for the season were:
(1) John Young (Adelaide) - 14 goals
(2) William (Billy) Dedman (South Adelaide) - 10 goals
South Australian Football Association
The newly formed South Australian Football Association decided that the playing fields for the season must be between 180 and 200 yards (165-183m) long and 120-150 yards (110-137m) wide, with pushing from behind being prohibited. For clubs to gain membership of the association, they would need to pay two guineas for the year.[3]
At a meeting on 14 May 1877 held at the Prince Alfred Hotel, the list of fixtures for the season was arranged by the match committee, and it was resolved that the Honorary Secretary advertise every Friday the matches for the following Saturday, and also that a tabulated card of the fixtures be printed for circulation.[4]
Inaugural Senior Clubs
| Club | Colours | Home Ground | Captain | Membership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide | black, red | Old Adelaide Ground (North Park Lands) | R.E.N.Twoppeny | 50 |
| Bankers | White Blue | Shared with Adelaide - Old Adelaide Ground | Mr Cotton A. Crooks |
50 |
| Kensington | Scarlet white | Kensington Oval | P.Wood | 65 |
| Port Adelaide | Magneta | Glanville Hall Estate | W. Fletcher | 85 |
| South Adelaide | Navy Blue White | South Terrace, Adelaide | G.D.Kennedy | 85 |
| South Park | Light Blue White | South Park Lands, Adelaide | J.H.Sinclair | 56 |
| Victorian | Orange Black | Montefiore Hill, North Adelaide | G.E.Downs | 76 |
| Woodville | Dark Blue | Woodville | J.R.Osborne |
Premiership Season
Round 1
| Round 1 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 12 May (2:45 pm) | Adelaide 4 | def. | Bankers 1 | Old Adelaide Ground[5] | [6][7] |
| Saturday, 12 May (3:30 pm) | Kensington 0 | def. by | Port Adelaide 3 | Kensington Oval | [6] |
| |||||
FOOTBALL. â ADELAIDES V. BANKERS will be played on the Old Adelaide Ground, near the Adelaide Bridge, Tomorrow (Saturday), May 5. Play will commence at 2.30 sharp. Adelaides in colored, Bankers in white jerseys.[9]
Teams for the first games played on 12 May were advertised on the day as follows:
Football matches will be played this afternoon between the Kensington and Port Adelaide clubs on the Kensington Oval, and Adelaide v. Bankers on the Adelaide ground, North Park Lands. A color match will also be played on the grounds of the South Park Club.
The names of the Adelaide Club players are Messrs. M. Acraman, F. A. Bleechmore, G. Butterworth, W. Cate, Canaway, W. E. Dalton, A.Fesenmeyer, H. and C. Hughes, Morgan, Poole, A. and D. C.Scott, R. N.Twopeny, Wyatt, and Jas, Jno., and E. B. Young.
The players in the match between the Port Adelaide and Kensington Clubs are:â
Port Adelaide â Messrs. E. Ede, W. Fletcher, J, S. Hawkes, W. Kelly, A. LeMessurier, J. A. Rann, H. Fletcher, J. Sidoli, A. Pickhaver, T. Wildrew, H. Dewar, T. Prideaux, F.Dewar, A. Dewar, F. A. Colman, T. Smith, D.Kettie, Et. LeMessurier, A. Wald, and Ed. LeMessurier, with W. Bennett, T. C. Neill, and W. Pyne, as emergency men.
Kensington â Messrs. E.Woods, J. Woods, H. Goode, W. Day, F. Day, A. Frew, T. Burton, F. G. Stanton, P. Wood, C.A. Patterson, W. Gwynne, H. Muirhead, T.Pope, H. Stanton, A. Harrison, B. Hall, A. M. Hargrave, and Moulden, with C. T. Hargrave,H. W. Hargrave, J. Thomas, and T. James, as emergency men.[10]
12 May - South Park played an internal colour match (Blue vs White) on South Park Lands.[11]
Round 2
| Round 2 | [12] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 19 May (3:15 pm) | Adelaide 3 | def. | Port Adelaide 2 | Old Adelaide Ground (crowd: 250) | [13][14] |
| Saturday, 19 May | South Park 1 | def. | Bankers 0 | South Park Lands | [13][14] |
|
Games were advertised to start at 2.30pm. The Old Adelaide Ground (Central Park) is refer to also being near the Adelaide Bridge. | |||||
Round 3
| Round 3 | [15] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 26 May (3:15 pm) | Adelaide 1 | def. | Woodville 0 | Old Adelaide Ground | [16] |
| Saturday, 26 May (3:00 pm) | Kensington 1 | def. | South Park 0 | Kensington Oval | [16] |
| Saturday, 26 May | Victorian 1 | def. | Port Adelaide 0 | Montefiore Hill | [16] |
|
Adelaide played a game at Kapunda on Thursday 24 May and returned via Train to Adelaide on Friday morning. On the Saturday 8 players had withdrawn from the team leaving them to only field 18 (including their Captain who was injured), whilst Woodville had a full team of 20. It was reported that the Ground was underwater but Woodville were still keen to play. | |||||
Round 4
| Round 4 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 2 June | Kensington 0 | def. by | South Adelaide 2 | Kensington Oval | [20] |
| Saturday, 2 June (3:00 pm) | Woodville 0 | def. by | Victorian 3 | Woodville | [20] |
| Saturday, 2 June | Adelaide 2 | def. | South Park 0 | Old Adelaide Ground | [20] |
| Saturday, 2 June | Port Adelaide 3 | def. | Bankers 0 | Glanville | [20] |
Round 5
| Round 5 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 9 June (3:15 pm) | Kensington 0 | drew with | Adelaide 0 | Kensington Oval | [21] |
| Saturday, 9 June (3:45 pm) | Woodville 0 | def. by | South Adelaide 1 * | Woodville | [22] |
| Saturday, 9 June | Victorian 2 | def. | South Park 0 | Montefiore Hill | [21] |
Port Adelaide played a colour match at Glanville [23] | |||||
Round 6
| Round 6 | [24] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 16 June | Adelaide 1 | drew with | Victorian 1 | Old Adelaide Ground | [25] |
| Saturday, 16 June | South Park 0 | def. by | Woodville 2 | South Park Lands | [25] |
| Saturday, 16 June (3:15 pm) | Port Adelaide 4 | def. | Kensington 0 | Glanville | [25][26] |
| |||||
Round 7
| Round 7 | [28] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 23 June (3:00 pm) | Adelaide 0 | def. by | South Adelaide 1 | Old Adelaide Ground (crowd: 650) | [29] |
| Saturday, 23 June (3:15 pm) | Port Adelaide 1 | drew with | Woodville 1 | Glanville | [30] |
| Saturday, 23 June | Victorian 7 | def. | Bankers 0 | Montefiore Hill | [30] |
| Saturday, 23 June (3:00 pm) | Kensington 0 | def. by | South Park 2 | Kensington Oval | [29] |
Round 8
| Round 8 | [31] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 30 June | South Adelaide 0 | drew with | Victorian 0 | South Park Lands (crowd: 650) | [32] |
| Saturday, 30 June (3:00 pm) | Port Adelaide 1 | def. | South Park 0 | Glanville | [32] |
|
Adelaide Club advertised a practice match at its home ground starting at 2.30pm [33] | |||||
Round 9
| Round 9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 7 July (3:15 pm) | Adelaide 9 | def. | Bankers 0 | Old Adelaide Ground | [34] |
| Saturday, 7 July (3:15 pm) | South Adelaide 0 | drew with | Woodville 0 | South Park Lands | [34] |
| Saturday, 7 July (3:15 pm) | Victorian 3 | def. | Kensington 0 | Montefiore Hill | [34] |
Round 10
| Round 10 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 14 July (3:00 pm) | Woodville 1 | def. by | South Park 2 | Woodville | [35] |
| Saturday, 14 July (3:15 pm) | Port Adelaide 1 | drew with | Adelaide 1 | Glanville | [36] |
| Saturday, 14 July (Time pm) | Bankers 1 | def. by | Kensington 4 | Old Adelaide Ground | [36] |
|
Colours - Bankers (Blue) - Captain Crooks. Kensington (Red) - Captain Peterwood. When the Bankers score their goal it was described in the match report as follows - The Bankers, who have been patiently waiting since the beginning of the season for a chance to open an account, now brought the ball down with a will, and Edwards with a splendid kick landed the ball through the Kensington goal amidst a hurricane of cheers. However, the first match report of the season against Adelaide it was reported that the Banker's had scored a goal in that game too. | |||||
.
Round 11
| Round 11 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 21 July (3:15 pm) | South Adelaide 3 | def. | Port Adelaide 0 | South Tce, South Adelaide Ground | [37] |
| Saturday, 21 July | Kensington 3 | def. by | Woodville 8 | Kensington Oval | [37] |
| Saturday, 21 July (3:15 pm) | Adelaide 2 | def. | South Park 1 | Old Adelaide Ground | [37] |
| Saturday, 21 July (3:00 pm) | Victorian 5 | def. | Bankers 1 | Montefiore Hill | [37] |
|
Colours - Victorian orange and black, Bankers blue and white | |||||
Round 12
| Round 12 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 28 July (3:30 pm) | Adelaide 2 | def. | Woodville 0 | Old Adelaide Ground (crowd: 500) | [38] |
| Saturday, 28 July (3:10 pm) | Port Adelaide 2 | def. | Victorian 1 | Glanville | [39] |
| Saturday, 28 July (3:30 pm) | South Adelaide 7 | def. | Kensington 0 | South Tce, South Adelaide Ground | [39] |
| Saturday, 28 July (3:00 pm) | South Park 3 | def. | Bankers 0 | South Park Lands | [40] |
| |||||
Round 13
| Round 13 | [41] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 4 August (3:00 pm) | Victorian 2 | def. | Adelaide 0 | Montefiore Hill | [42] |
| Saturday, 4 August (3:20 pm) | Port Adelaide 0 | def. by | South Adelaide 1 | Glanville (crowd: 500) | [42] |
| Saturday, 4 August | South Park 1 | drew with | Kensington 1 | South Park Lands | [43] |
Round 14
| Round 14 | [44] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 11 August (3:00 pm) | Woodville 0 | def. by | South Park 5 | Woodville | |
| Saturday, 11 August (3:00 pm) | Adelaide 6 | def. | Kensington 2 | Old Adelaide Ground | [45] |
| |||||
Round 15
| Round 15 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 25 August (3:15 pm) | Victorian 2 | v | Woodville 0 | Montefiore Hill | |
| Saturday, 25 August | South Park 0 | def. by | South Adelaide 4 | South Park Lands | [47] |
|
The Victorians were short of two of their players â Messrs. Barry and Kingsford â while the Woodvilles, besides being; greatly weakened by the retirement of their late captain and several first-class men, were playing with seven of their second twenty.[48] | |||||
Round 16
| Round 16 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 1 September (3:15 pm) | South Adelaide 2 | def. | Adelaide 0 | South Park Lands (crowd: 400) | [49] |
| Saturday, 1 September | Port Adelaide 2 | def. | South Park 1 | Glanville | [50] |
| Saturday, 1 September | Woodville 3 | def. | Kensington 0 | Woodville | [50] |
|
Captains, Woodville Messrs. Warren and Kensington P. Wood. | |||||
Round 17
| Round 17 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 8 September | South Adelaide 1 | def. | South Park 0 | South Park Lands (crowd: 500) | [51] |
| Saturday, 8 September (3:45 pm) | Kensington 1 | v | Victorian 2 | Kensington Oval | [51] |
|
Woodvilles v. Ports. A match between these Clubs was arranged to take place at Woodville on Saturday, 8 September ; but the Woodvilles were unable to raise a team, so the match was postponed until Saturday, 15 September, when the Ports were again disappointed by the Woodvilles not turning out.[52] | |||||
Round 18
| Round 18 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 15 September | South Park 0 | drew with | Victorian 0 | South Park Lands | [53] |
| |||||
Round 19 (Postponed)
FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION MATCHES for SATURDAY, 22 September.[57]
At Montefiore â Victorian v. South Adelaide.
At South Parkâ Port v. South Park
Football. â Two Association matches are announced for today one between the Port Adelaide and South Park Clubs on the ground of the latter, and the other between the Victorian and South Adelaide Clubs at Montefiore Hill. The latter match will decide the question of the championship of the season, and will, it is to be hoped, be largely attended, as a hat is to be passed round at half-time for the benefit of the sufferers by the Indian famine.[58]
In consequence of the inclement weather on Saturday, 22 September, the football matches which were to have been played between the South Adelaide and Victorian Clubs and the Port Adelaide and South Park Clubs were postponed.[59]
Round 19
| Round 19 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 29 September (3:30 pm) | South Park 1 | def. by | Port Adelaide 3 | South Park Lands | [60] |
| Saturday, 29 September (3:15 pm) | Victorian 1 | def. | South Adelaide 0 | Montefiore Hill | [61] |
|
The duties of field-umpire were most efficiently and impartially performed by Mr. J.R. Osborne (ex Woodville Captain). At one time a quarrel nearly arose, but it was promptly put down by the captains. Messrs. Giffen and Smart were goal-umpires. | |||||
Earlier in the season the teams played a scoreless drew at South's home ground. Victorians had only lost one game which was against Port Adelaide. South Adelaide was clearly the best club in the competition during the course of the season being undefeated, but an inexplicable and very costly lapse in form in the final game of the season, together with one devastating error by the goalkeeper in this vital final match, saw it lose to Victorian which gave the two clubs an equal record of only losing one game.
Summary of matches Metro vs Country
Thursday 24 May (Public Holiday)
Adelaide, 4 goals, beat Kapunda, 2 at Kapunda (An oval ball was used).[17]
Woodville, 1 goal, beat Gawler, 0 at Gawler.[18]
Woodville Team - Woodville team :âJ. R. Osborne, C.Formby, A. Formby, F. Terrell, C. Doran, J.Atkins, W. Terrell, Kauffmann, S. McPherson, Bennett, Reeves, Dennis, A. Quin, T. Letchford, J. Clark, Jones, A. Young, J. Darby, Nash,
T. Bickers, H. Page, and A. Terrell. [63]
Wednesday 21 June (Public Holiday) - Adelaide, 1 goal tied Gawler, 1. Crowd 450 at Gawler[64]
Monday 6 August Adelaide (colours Red and Black), 3 goals, beat Kapunda (Colour Blue), 2 at South Adelaide's Ground[65]
Summary of other Matches
Monday 6 August South Australians, 3 goals, beat Victorians, 1. Played at Exhibition Ground. (Crowd 500 + 200 non paying)
Intercolonial Association Matches
The proposed inaugural inter-colonial match between Associations was cancelled because the venue owners Melbourne University refused to allow admission fees to be charged. The match was then proposed to be moved to the Civil Service Cricket Ground, located at Flinders Park (near the current site of Rod Laver Arena). However, a suitable date could not be agreed upon as the SAFA wanted July 14 and the VFA July 21 therefore the match was cancelled. [66]
Saturday 11 August Melbourne Football Club, 1 goal defeated Victorian, 0. Crowd: 2000 at Exhibition Grounds, Adelaide[67]
Monday 13 August Melbourne Football Club, 5 goals defeated South Australian Combined Team, 0. Crowd: 1000 at Exhibition Grounds, Adelaide[68]
The combined team comprised players selected from the following local Clubs:
Victorians, G. Downs (Captain of the South Australian combatants), C. Warren, H.Barry, Knill, Kingsford, W. Lanjmey, H. Allen, and J. Sharp;
Ports, T. Smith, A. LeMessurier, Fletcher, W. Frideaux, and Tysack;
Woodvilles, T. Beeves, Letchford, G. Giffen, Aitken, and J. R. Osborne;
South Parks, J. M. Sinclair and Cresswell.
Saturday 18 August - St Kilda Football Club, 5 goals, defeated Adelaide, 2. Crowd 3500 at Adelaide Oval
Monday 20 August - St Kilda Football Club. 7 goals, defeated South Australians, 2 at Adelaide Oval.
Ladder
Victorian finished the season with eight more goals but a slightly inferior record than South Adelaide, but one should consider that Victorian played the Bankers twice whereas South Adelaide did not (their only scheduled match, in Round 6, was a forfeit when the Bankers could only muster 13 players). Further, while Adelaide finished with one more win than the other two clubs, they played 17 games to 13 and 14 respectively.
It was declared South Adelaide and Victorian would be deemed joint Champion Club (premiers).[60] which was also acknowledged by South Adelaide at their Annual Dinner on evening of Tuesday 2 October.[69]
| ||||||||||||
| TEAM | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | PTS | Adj Pts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Adelaide (P) | 13 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 1 | 22 | 28.77 | |||
| 1 | Victorian (P) | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 30 | 5 | 23 | 27.93 | |||
| 3 | Adelaide | 17 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 31 | 13 | 25 | 25.00 | |||
| 4 | Port Adelaide | 15 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 13 | 20 | 22.67 | |||
| 5 | Woodville | 16 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 18 | 12 | 12.75 | |||
| 6 | South Park | 17 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 16 | 23 | 12 | 12.00 | |||
| 7 | Kensington | 15 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 43 | 8 | 9.07 | |||
| 8 | Bankers | 15 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 36 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Adj Pts = Points adjusted for match ratio, (P) = Premiers | [60] | |||||||||||
Note: Woodville were ranked above South Park on head-to-head record (2-1).
It was reported at the end of the season that Bankers had forfeited 6 out of their 15 games. (Adelaide, Port Adelaide, South Adelaide, Kensington 1 each, and Woodville 2)
Top 4 Head to Head Results
Closing Matches
Victorian Football Club closed their season on Saturday 13th October with a Ladies Bag Match played below Montefiore Hill. [70]
