1879 to 1902 CHALLENGE FOOTBALL
As this new phenomenon, Australian Rules Football, steadily spread through the settled areas of Victoria and South Australia, it inevitably reached the town of Strathalbyn.
On the 26th June 1879 the following notice appeared in the local newspaper “The Southern Argus”.
” FOOTBALL :- A meeting of those interested in forming a Football Club in Strathalbyn will be held in the Commercial Hotel tomorrow evening. We hope that there will be a good attendance and that a Club will be formed “.
There was a good attendance, particularly of young men of the town, and the President elect, Mr. James Gordon, declared his pleasure in announcing “A successful result with the Strathalbyn Football Club being in full pledged existence”.
The first issue then became to find a suitable level and open paddock on which to play football.
Initially Mr Richard Carruther’s paddock (the site of the present day showgrounds) was used but in 1882 the writer for the Southern Argus wrote “It is high time a piece of land was secured and converted into a recreation ground for all purposes”.
Soon after, the area being proposed for this, was bisected by the surveying of the steam train railway line to Goolwa and Victor Harbour.
In 1889 Mr. C. Sewell offered the use of his paddock at “Dunreath” for the season.
Cheriton’s paddock adjacent to the Methodist church was also utilised in the 1880’s and from 1890 to 1909.
Mr. Carruthers had purchased much of the land west of the town and in 1910 he donated part of this land to the town for showgrounds and sports field and the SFC moved to the Showgrounds in 1910.
The Strathalbyn Football Club have made the Showgrounds their home ever since but their tenure there was not totally secured until 1979 when the Strathalbyn District Council purchased the Showgrounds and established the Strathalbyn Oval Controlling Committee to manage the facility .
The club engaged in periodic challenge matches as time and opportunity presented, usually playing between six and ten matches per season.
Travel was the major difficulty and the majority of matches were played against neighbouring towns, Milang, Finniss, Murray Bridge, Meadows, Mt Barker and occasionally Point McLeay, Willunga, Kangarilla and McLaren Vale.
Strathalbyn were unbeaten in 1889 and 1890 and claimed the title of ” Premiers of the South”
During the 1890 season Strathalbyn scored a total of 31 goals 54 points to 0 goals 2 points by the opposition teams, a total domination.
A number of excellent players emerged in this era, with several progressing to play with SAFA clubs in Adelaide.
George Donnithorne played in the Norwood 1887 Premiership team, Robert Wilson played for Norwood from 1888 to 1892, Tommy Fallon played for Norwood in 1893 and 1894, A.H. Findlay played for Norwood from 1892 to 1897 and W. Adams played for Port Adelaide.
These losses substantially weakened the club and as player numbers dropped off, the club went into recess in 1897.
Mr. E. J. (Ted) Hocking took over the Captaincy of the club in 1898 and, with excellent leadership, guided the young players in the right direction.
The return of several key players in 1901 saw the club return to success, winning all games played that year and 10 out of 11 in 1902.
However, the demand for structure and regular competition had seen the establishment of the Hills Association during 1902, with Hahndorf, Meadows, Mt. Barker, Onkaparinga and Woodside clubs participating.
It was the end of the era of challenge football for the Strathalbyn Football Club as they joined the Hills Association for season 1903.
During the period of challenge football, the Strathalbyn Football Club participated in 156 matches, for 100 victories, 17 drawn matches and 39 losses.
SFC OFFICIALS 1879 to 1902
Patron President Secretary Captain Vice Captain
1879 – J.H.Gordon – J. Gordon –
1880 – – – – –
1881 – E.J.Tucker W. Donnithorne R. Hooper –
1882 – J.H.Gordon C.J. Shipway D McRae –
1883 – J.H. Gordon C.J. Shipway/ D. McRae D. Jarvis
A.E. Raggatt
1884 – J.M. McFarlane A.E. Raggatt A. Broom D. McRae
1885 – A. McRae J. Welsh D. McRae G. Donnithorne
1886 – J Richardson J. Welsh D. McRae G. Donnithorne
1887 A.H.Landseer J.L.Stirling J. Welsh J. Harley G. Donnithorne
1888 Dr. J.A. Cockburn J.H.Gordon A.C.Davis A. Foster G. Thompson
1889 Dr. J.A. Cockburn/ J.H.Gordon MLC A. Foster A. Foster A.J. Adams
A.H.Landseer MP
1890 A.H. Landseer MP C.E.Sewell A.Foster A.J. Adams R. Wilson
1891 A.H. Landseer MP C.E.Sewell J. Beaton J. Allan T.H. Fallon
1892 Dr. J.A.Cockburn/ J.L.Stirling H.G. Foster H.J. Adam R. Wilson
A.H. Landseer MP
1893 Dr. J.A. Cockburn/ J.L. Stirling J. Badenoch R.J.Thompson H.J. Adams
A.H. Landseer MP
1894 J.L.Stirling/ Dr. J.A. Cockburn/ E.H. Edgar A. Byrne E.J. Hocking
Dr. Shone A.H. Landseer MP
1895 Sir E.T. Smith Dr. J.A.Cockburn MP/ T.H. Fallon A.Byrne E.J. Hocking
A.H. Landseer MP
1896 Sir E.T. Smith Dr. J.A. Cockburn MP/ T.H.Fallon A. Byrne T.H. Fallon
A.H. Landseer MP
1897 Club in recess
1898 A.H. Landseer Dr. Shone C.H. Adams E.J. Hocking G. Scott
1899 A.H. Landseer/ J.W. Elliott C.H. Adams E.J. Hockin T.H. Fallon
C.M.R. Dumas
1900 A.H.Landseer/ J.W. Elliott R. Ansell E.A. Ward A.E. Mason
C.M.R. Dumas
1901 C.M.R. Dumas/ J.W. Elliott C.G. Wylie W.J. Adams T. Kilmartin
L. Von Doussa
1902 C.M,R. Dumas/ J.W. Elliott C.G. Wylie W.J. Adams T. Kilmartin
L. Von Doussa