The Footballers' Alphabet
1898 poem
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The Footballers' Alphabet was published on Saturday 23 July 1898 in the Melbourne weekly newspaper The Leader.
| "The Footballers' Alphabet" | |
|---|---|
| by "Follower" | |
| First published in | The Leader |
| Country | Australia |
| Publication date | 23 July 1898 |
The poem, which had been written by its influential (Australian Rules) football correspondent, "Follower",[1] delivered a brief comment on a number of the most prominent Australian Rules footballers playing in Melbourne in 1898, the second year of the VFL competition, presented in the alphabetical order of their family names.[2]
Given the poem's subject and its novelty, it was very popular, and it was republished in a number of different newspapers, including The Age,[3] and The Ovens and Murray Advertiser.[4]
A pastiche of the poem, centred on the players of the Sunbury Football Club in the Yorke Peninsula, was published in 1920,[5] and another, centred on the players in the Adelaide (SAFL) competition, was published in 1925.[6]
The Poem
- A stands for Anderson, hard to beat back,
- Likewise for Adamson, also a crack;
- B stands for Barry, who's clever and strong,
- And Brockwell, who plays on the wing for Geelong;
- C is for Condon, the Collingwood flyer,
- And Conway, who's earnest and always a trier;
- D for young Dando and Dowdell (sic) – both smart;
- E stands for Elder (kicks straight as a dart);[7]
- F — "Toby" Barton and Reid will go down,[8]
- Before "Tracker" Forbes will fade out of renown;
- G is for Gavan (sic), who never says die,
- And for Gilligan too, who can mark very high;
- H stands for Hogan, a better mark still,
- Also for Howson, who puts on no frill;
- I stands for Ingram[9] – from Brunswick he came –
- J for Jackson and James, who are dabs at the game;
- K for Gus Kearney, both brilliant and smart,
- As fresh at the end as he was at the start;
- L stands for Lewis, a "centre" of fame;
- M for M'Ginis, the boss of the game;
- N stands for Noonan, who roves for Fitzroy;
- O for O'Dea (sic), who's a broth of a boy;
- P is for Pleass, unsurpassed in the ruck,
- And Proudfoot, renowned for his coolness and pluck;
- Q stands for Quilligan[10] (plays with "Old Dick");[11]
- R is for Robinson, clever and quick;
- S —stand aside, please, and let me proclaim,
- That Stuckey's the best captain playing the game;
- It's a fact I believe, though I think we must own,
- Fitzroy, for hard graft, has a daisy in Sloan;
- T stands for South's clever back player, Trimm (sic)
- (They made no mistake when they got hold of him).
- U stands for Upton,[12] a crack of the past;
- V is for Vautin, who's dodgy and fast;
- W for Wardill, a marvellous stayer;
- X the x-ception, that can't claim a player;
- Y stands for Young – the Geelong one, I mean,
- A greater high marker there never was seen;
- Z for old Zox, who at all football dinners,
- You'll find in white waistcoat proposing "The Winners".
- A stands for Anderson, hard to beat back,