Episode No: 14 Title: Episode 14 1910 Season of Scandal Date Written: 27/1/21 Length Words: 9678 Date Recorded: TBD Length Time est at 125 WPM: 77 min Date Uploaded: TBD Length Time when recorded:
Intro Music
Welcome
Hello and welcome to Grand Final History. I am Kieran Magee and in this episode we go back to 1910, a season that is arguably the most controversial in the entire history of the VFL/AFL.
Committee room coups, on field violence, umpires threatened after the game and assaulted after a tribunal hearing, players charged by police and convicted in court for on field violence, a violent brawl in the Grand Final that threatened to become a riot and on top of all this, a bribery and match fixing scandal that erupted in the finals.
And the club at the centre of most of the controversy was Carlton. The old dark navy blues will be front and centre in this episode.
It will be a longer episode than normal there was just so much happening in 1910, the Season of Scandal.
Background
Outside of football the big events of 1910 were Harry Houdini visiting Australia and. conducting one of the first flights in an airplane in Australia at Diggers Rest1 in March.
In early May, King Edward VII died. The news reached Melbourne at Mid day on Saturday the 7th of May and, as reported in the Argus on the following Monday, “It was perceived by everybody as a matter of course that there would be no amusements in the city that afternoon and evening. Race goers on their way to Caulfield stopped and turned homeward, those who had engagements for Football matches at once began to cancel the engagements”3. This meant Round Two was pushed back a week. It is interesting to contemplate whose death today would lead to such a spontaneous cancellation of activity?
Also in 1910 Haley's comet was visible from earth on one of its regular visits. There were some people afraid that when the earth moved through the trail of the comet death and disaster would ensue. It might also be the only time that a comet was blamed by a VFL player when they were reported by the umpire.
1 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 In January the league was working on a system of metropolitan zones which would tie residents of each zone to specific clubs. This would stop players from being able to move from club to club. It was yet another way of dealing with the faux amateurism with mentioning the word professional. In January it was “generally approved”4 by the league according the press but this was to prove optimistic.
At a League meeting in January where the proposal was discussed the President Alex MacCracken said “I would like to see the teams levelled up some more” 5 an early example of the many efforts to equalise clubs that eventually resulted in Salary Caps and Drafts many years later.
The scheme was voted down in early February. One of the main opponents was South Melbourne’s president Henry Skinner who said the best footballers in the country should play league football if they can be secured. He also had a shot at Geelong declaring they should be in a country league not the VFL. He saw Geelong as a parasite on the league. Harsh words indeed6.
In March, South Melbourne held their AGM, which was largely a celebration of last season’s premiership. However, the Argus had published a review of the club’s balance sheet the day before that raised questions about the “expenses” that were required to get an “amateur” club onto the field. Henry Skinner was not a man to take a backward step. Invoking an “us against them” attitude that many clubs followed in subsequent years. He praised the players for their efforts despite the attacks of the press and poured scorn on the Argus article, saying the “I’m told it will be published in the Times of London tomorrow” 7
While South Melbourne were happy being premiers, up the other end of town things were going badly at Carlton. Jack Worral had stood down as coach in the middle of the previous season however, he was still the club secretary. But a core of players wanted him out of the club. Even the 1909 end of season trip to Gippsland had been an issue when 14 players signed a petition against Jack Worral joining as team manager. In February 1910 over 1,000 members gathered for an unofficial “Indignation Meeting”
There were calls for a spill of the committee including Jack Worral as secretary. Fifteen players who supported the call, including Captain coach Fred Pompey Elliot. The double irony is that committees are normally only challenged when a club has been unsuccessful for a period of time and a new faction believes it has the people to achieve success. And it cannot be forgotten that in early 1904 Jack Worral was sacked after two years in the role of Secretary and Coach by the then Carlton Committee and it was a revolt led by the players that saw that committee replaced and Worral returned as Secretary/Coach. Now 6 years later with the club having been in five of the last six grand finals and won three premierships the knives were out for Worral, this time led by the players.
In March, the situation worsened. A circular was distributed with 15 players’ signatures saying they would not play if Worrall remained at the club. Jack Worrall then wrote a letter to the Age where he let rip at the 15 players. Questioning their loyalty, implying some had stood down for the first three games of the last season looking of more money.
2 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 The AGM was on Friday 18th of Marc and the Melbourne Town Hall was too small to contain the crowd. It was described as one of the most tumultuous meetings ever held in the Town Hall.8 The President left the meeting, the lights went out for two minutes, there were moves to close the meeting and a new chairman was appointed and a new ballot was declared The votes were taken and tallied all through the night and the results declared on Saturday morning. The Reform party had won. There was a new president and new Secretary and Frank Worral was out.
The new Secretary and delegate to the league was defender and centreman Arthur Ford. A player taking up the role of Secretary and delegate, what could go wrong with that?
While there was a cohort of players that wanted Worrall gone, there were other players loyal to their old coach. The dissension meant that a number decided to leave or retire. George Mallee Johnston, Frank Silver Cain, Fred Jinks and Charlie Hammond representing 14 premierships between them, all transferred to North Melbourne in the VFA. Triple premiership player Les Beck left for Port Melbourne and skilful wingman and veteran Ted Kennedy retired at 32 taking his triple premiership experience with him. Although his decision might have been more driven by age than support of Worral as he would stay involved n the club having won a seat on the committee and, when Reform President John McInerny had to take a break due to ill health, Ted Kennedy became the acting president, a year after he stopped playing.
Carlton would be starting the season with the absence of seven star players representing 19 premierships between them and the departure of Worrall, the strongman of the club for the past seven years. How would it impact their performance?
But Frank Worral would still be involved in the game. At the League AGM in April Worrall was appointed as Coach of the umpires. It is worth noting that Carlton voted against this appointment but it was carried by an overwhelming majority.10 The AGM also decided to raise the pay of umpires. There was some discussion about the strain put upon umpires though it was noted they get paid for their services and then Mr Fayle from Richmond said the players do not get paid and there was laughter around the table.11 Everyone knew about player payments but nobody could say it.
South Melbourne also had a new coach in 1910, Their premiership Captain Coach Charles Rickets was in poor health at the start of the season and he told the players that he did not think it fair that he take the captaincy and then not play for a month or more.10 Bill “Son” Thomas would take his place as captain coach for the season. So for two years in a row the reigning premiership coach would not see out the following season. Albeit for very different reasons.
One final point before we get into the season proper that demonstrates both the unbounded optimism for the expansion of the Australian game overseas and the unvarnished racism that was common in this era.
In April there was a short article describing how the VFL has received a letter from the British embassy in Tokyo where a Mr McLean had introduced Australian Football to Tokyo that winter. It was claimed there is a probability of it becoming popular in the middle schools in Tokyo. Within the near future their could be exchanges of schools for games to promote the code further. This would seem to have been an optimistic assessment.
3 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 But the headline for the article shows how times have thankfully changed. “Australia and Japan, Little Brown men. They play our game” 12
It was the time of the widely supported White Australia Policy, as show later in the year when the Australian Football Council met and discussed options to promote the game overseas. It was moved “The Japanese having adopted the Australian game, the council notify all controlling bodies that patronage is not to be granted to matches against teams comprised wholly or partly of Asiatics.” The motion was ruled out of order The Chair pointing out this was an issue for the Federal Government and not the Football Council which was not a political body. But it does show how normalised racist attitudes were under the White Australia Policy of the time.28
On a lighter note, if you ever wondered when goal umpires started wearing white coats it was also in season 191013
The Season
The season opened on Saturday 30th of April. South Melbourne unfurled their premiership flag in front of a large crowd at the lakeside oval and had little trouble celebrating the occasion by soundly defeating Richmond. There was much interest in how Carlton would fare given their preseason turmoil and loss of so many of their premiership players. They took on Collingwood and led comfortably all day to win by more than four goals.
As disused earlier round two was delayed by a week with a last minute cancellation of games upon the news of the Kings death
Round 4 saw the Grand Final Replay with Carlton hosting South Melbourne. South had won their opening game of the season but lost the next two, Carlton despite their preseason turmoil had won three in a row, by wide margins. Although the Blues trailed at half time, they finished strongly to win by seventeen points to sit on top of the ladder leaving the Southerners adrift with one win from four games. But there was a big loss for the Blues.
Their star forward George Topping took offence when South Melbourne’s Albert Streckfuss elbowed Carlton’s Andy McDonald in the face as they competed for the ball. Topping rushed up and king hit Bert Streckfuss and knocked him out. A crowd of spectators rushed onto the oval running up to Streckfuss lying prone on the ground. There was pushing and jostling between the spectators but in the meantime Carlton’s Andy McDonald kicked Carlton’s sixth goal sealing their win. Two police officers were on the oval as well attempting to restore order.14 Multiple press articles described it as one of the most disgraceful incidents ever seen on a football field
The umpire, former Collingwood Captain Lardie Tulloch, reported Topping. The VFL were under pressure to deal with on field violence between players as well as spectators. On the same weekend an umpire had been struck after the Melbourne St Kilda game and needed the protection of police to get off the ground. A Richmond supporter that had struck Fitzroy’s Clive Morrison in the same round was fined five pounds or a month in jail. The Chief Commissioner of Police declared there was nothing to prevent the arrest of players who strike or hurt one another wilfully.15
4 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 The Investigation Committee met on the following Wednesday night at the league rooms in the Block Arcade with a large crowd of football enthusiasts gathered to hear the result. Topping admitted to striking Streckfuss but under the provocation of seeing him deliberately punch his team mate. Andy McDonald was a witness and confirmed that it was Topping who hit Streckfuss as did the two police officers who were also called as witnesses.
Streckfuss however followed the long established custom of giving vague evidence at a tribunal hearing. He claimed he did not hit McDonald and as to being struck by Topping, “He did not know whether the comet had hit the earth or what had happened.” So for the first and possibly only time, Halley’s comet made an appearance at a VFL tribunal.
Such vague evidence was never going to help George Topping, who was suspended for the remainder of 1910 and all of 1911. A clear signal from the VFL that they were going to crack down on rough play. Carlton had lost another dual premiership player on top of the exodus of Worral Loyalists at the start of the season.16
A week later both Streckfuss and Topping were before the Police court in Carlton where they were both fined ten pound or 3 months jail. The fact that players were being charged by police and convicted was a shock for all the league.
The South Carlton game still had more dramatic events to unfold. A South Melbourne player Casey Marchbank had also been reported for striking but his case was delayed when it was found the relevant witnesses had not been called to the disciplinary tribunal. The case was heard on the following Saturday after the fifth round had been played. A large crowd including supporters and team mates gathered again around the Block Arcade to hear the result of the hearing. Marchbank was suspended for the remainder of the 1910 season as part of of the league’s crackdown on rough play.
But then more drama ensued. Umpire Lardie Tulloch burst back into the League committee rooms exclaiming that South Melbourne's Albert Franks had insulted him and kicked him on the ankle. Albert Franks who was pivotal in South’s premiership win the season before with his strong marks late in the fourth quarter, has been described as a wild woolly and frequently spiteful ruckman18. Fresh charges were laid and the Investigative Committee sat and began to hear the case. Franks denied the charges and multiple witnesses were called. A decision could not be reached on the night but the case was treated seriously and the final decision would be made the following Friday. 17
The Investigations Committee met on the Friday evening with Albert Franks being represented by George Elmslie, a member of Parliament for Albert Park, who urged that the league had no jurisdiction and the umpire should take his case to the police if he wished. The League disagreed and it was decided to instruct South Melbourne not to play Albert Franks until further notice. The penalty was eventually clarified to the end of season 1911, effectively 33 matches.19, 20
It was still early in the season and three players had already been suspended for the rest of the season and two had been convicted of criminal offices and an umpire had been assaulted at the tribunal. It was turning into a season of scandal.
5 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 As the season progressed Carlton kept winning games, by Round 14 they had only lost once, by 1 point to Essendon. Round 14 saw the blues taking on Fitzroy at home. They had trailed the Maroons most of the day but came home strongly in the fourth quarter to win the game by three points. But Arthur Ford was reported for abusive language to the umpire as they left the ground. The charge was upheld and he was suspended for one year.
Not only had Carlton lost another of its proven premiership players but Arthur Ford was Carlton’s Secretary and Delegate to the league. It was soon realised that this suspension would make him ineligible to fulfil both of these roles. To add insult to injury, under the Carlton Constitution, if a Club Secretary cannot see out his term, the role falls to the candidate who got the second highest number of votes. That would have been Frank Worral, although it is unlikely he would have been interested. Despite Carlton mounting an appeal and pointing out he fact that Ford was about to get married and the role of Secretary was his only income, the league was adamant that the suspension covered all official roles. Ernie Walton, former Blues captain, became the Acting Secretary and delegate for Carlton
The final round of the season was held on the fourth of September. Carlton was well on top having only lost two games, both to Essendon. Collingwood and Essendon were sure to make the four, what position needed to be confirmed and the fourth spot was still up for grabs with South Melbourne and Geelong in contention.
Geelong had beaten Essendon the previous week and were to play Collingwood at Victoria Park, South were at home playing Fitzroy who were well down the ladder. Essendon were playing Richmond at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground and could finish second if they won and Geelong were able to knock Collingwood off. It was going to be a tense Saturday for these clubs,
At half time in each of the three games the widest margin was 3 points but in the second half Collingwood were stronger than Geelong to win comfortably. South Melbourne pulled away from Geelong to make it into the Final Four and Essendon continued their late season slump losing by one point to Richmond to finish third on the ladder but having lost three of their last four games.
At the Junction Oval St Kilda had not won a game all season was taking on Carlton, the ladder leader who had only lost twice. But it was the Saints who were smiling at the end of the day, Perhaps the Blues had rested some players, perhaps they were a bit relaxed because they knew they had top spot and the all important right of challenge locked up or perhaps the Saints put in the supreme effort to avoid a winless season and despite not scoring in the final quarter they won 5.6 to Carlton's 2.12. Carlton did not score a goal in the second half, kicking only six behinds in the third and fourth quarter. It must just have been one of those games, surely. No reason for any one to worry about anything at all, surely.
The First Semi Final would see Collingwood playing Essendon and a week later the second semi was a replay of the 1909 Grand Final between Carlton and South who had snuck into the four in the final round of the season.
6 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 The Finals
24,000 people braved soaking rain to attend the first Semi Final at the MCG. The Adverse weather committee had decided that the conditions were not so bad as to delay the game so the match proceeded as planned. The VFA had cancelled their final so it must have been a horrible day for football. The teams had met twice in the season for one win each but clearly Collingwood were in better form. In the last month before the finals Essendon had one victory where Collingwood had won seven in a row before the finals.
In the end it was an easy win for Collingwood. Leading by 15 points at quarter time they kept going further ahead to win by 58 points 14. 11 to Essendon on 5.7. So the only team in the final four that had beaten Carlton was out.
The Second Semi Final saw the top of the ladder Carlton taking on South who had struggled during the season but won the last five games of the season to make it into the finals.
In the lead up to the game the rain fell for about 36 hours, just lifting before the game was to begin. But while the rain may have been clearing scandal was about to descend on the game.
Alex Bongo Lang arrived in the Carlton dressing rooms and looked at the side pinned up on the wall and saw that he was not playing. Arthur Ford (who was not supposed to have any official role as he was suspended and no longer the club secretary) told Bongo that he was not playing because the club knew that he had been bribed.
Bribed, paid off, taken money to play poorly. In simple words, a cheat.
But not just Alex Lang. Also out of the team were Doug Fraser and Bongo’s best mate since childhood Doug Gillespie. Gillespie and Lang had 5 premierships from seven grand finals between them, Doug Fraser had debuted this season and played well, establishing his place in the team. Ripped out of the team before the semi final on allegations of cheating. It must have been a tense and shell shocked changing rooms. Rod McGregor Carlton’s brilliant and elusive centreman declared he would stand down in protest at the treatment of the three players but was persuaded to take the field and did play the game.
This action by the Blues committee was not a last minute decision, it had been planned earlier in the week. They had even engaged former captain Jim Flynn to undertake his now almost traditional journey back from his pub in St James, in Norther Victoria to play in the Semi. Dick Harris and Bill Goddard were also bought into the team. It was not the best kept secret in the world as the Argus had already reported on Saturday morning there was a chance that Jim Flynn would be playing but it was not known who he would replace in the side. Although, given Carlton knew they were going to omit Lang, Gillespie and Fraser and that Harris, Goddard and finals specialist Jim Flynn would normally be in Carlton’s best 18 the real replacements for the three omitted players were 5 year veteran Jack Wells who had previous captained St Kilda but ended up at Carlton after breaking
7 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 an ankle in 1908 and then being caught up in internal divisions in the Saints in 1909. He had played the first 13 games of the season for the Blues but had not been selected since them. Then there were the two rookies Tom McCluskey and Archie Wilson with three games between them. Neither of whom would go onto big careers.
You might have expected South to have an easy win given the turmoil in the Carlton side but if 1910 had shown anything it was that the Blues had a strong resilient core that had seen them win all but three games despite the players lost at the start of the year and the suspensions to Ford and Topping during the season. They were not about to collapse just because there was one more controversy on top of everything else that had happened.
When the teams ran onto the ground the cheers were loud and according to Kickero the crowd was supporting the Blues committee decision to omit the three accused players. It was a fast game. South avoided the mistake of the previous year’s first final and played the ball rather than the man. This was how they had won the grand final and it seemed to be working for them again this year. South had the lead at quarter time even though the Blues were kicking with the wind. Maybe the turmoil in the rooms before the game had distracted the Blues early in the match. Carlton then looked like they were dominating in the second quarter but their kicking was letting them down, while South took full advantage of their opportunities. At half time the scoreline was South 5.2 32 versus the inaccurate Blues on 2.11 23.
The third quarter was the best of the match Carlton kept the game moving quickly but more importantly got their kicking boots on to score 3.2 to South’s 2.3 so at the final change their was only a 4 point advantage to South Melbourne,
The first 10 minutes of the last quarter were all Carlton but again their inaccuracy meant they did not get full reward for their efforts, only scoring four behinds to tie the game. And then South got two quick goals against the run of the play to build their lead again.
But Carlton would push back again with Gotz goaling to put them six points down with their supporters cheering them on for one more effort. But it was to be the Red and White team’s day with South’s rover Fred Carpenter scoring the last goal of the day and ensuring the final margin was two goals. South on 10.5.65 to Carlton on 6.17.53
Follower in the Age thought South were lucky to win but did acknowledge that bad kicking is bad football so perhaps it was Carlton that had themselves to blame.
So the next game would be effectively a preliminary final between Collingwood and South with the winner to play Carlton in the Grand Final thanks to the Blues having the Right of Challenge. But the fall out of the bribery accusations was just beginning and would dominate their next two weeks before the Grand Final was played. Carlton had been the minor premiers but were now dealing with major problems.
There will be a lot to cover as the scandal unfolded so let me summarise how it was dealt with and then we can get into the detail. Also remember that this was a time before radio, television, social media and even telephones were limited. So this story played out in Newspaper articles, letters to the editor (perhaps the social media of the day), word of mouth and gossip and people attending hearings or waiting outside venues as hearings went late into the night so they could be the first to find out what had happened.
8 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 The first stage would be an interview given by Alex Lang printed in the Argus on the Monday, the only time we hear his version of events along with an initial statement by Acting Secretary Ernie Walton. Then there was the Carlton Committee investigation on Monday and Tuesday Evening.
The League met for the first time on the issue the following Friday, the day before the preliminary final with inquiries to be held on Saturday evening and then Monday through to Friday night before the Grand Final a fortnight after the momentous Semi Final.
There was a lot happening with Carlton and many of their players and they still had a Grand Final to play.
Let’s look at how it unfolded in detail, and I will try to be brief.
Alex Bongo Lang gave an interview to the Argus published on the Monday after the Semi final loss to South Melbourne. He claimed he had been approached by a man in the street and offered 10 pounds to “run a bye” in the game against South. Within 10 minutes he had given the money to mate to back Carlton with a local bookie and figured he would turn the tables on the people looking to undermine the game. He said he never intended not to push himself in the game. “I would not know how to do it” Lang declared that Gillespie knew nothing of the payment. They had been friends since childhood and thought this was the reason he was blamed. As for Doug Fraser Bongo said that he believed Fraser had been approached but not taken any money,. So while Gillespie was totally innocent in this account, Doug Fraser was at least aware of the incident.
In articles published that week which seem to be quoting Ernie Walton, Carlton’s acting secretary a more complex picture involving more players was beginning to emerge that did not align with Alex Lang’s version of events.
In this version it was a player, Jack Bacquie, that told the club he had been approached with a 60 pound bribe by a shopkeeper, also known as bookie, if he could get three other players to play dead. The club got the Bacquie to gather more information and mounted surveillance on the bookmakers shop to see which other players were involved. On the Thursday before the game Bacquie returned to the betting shop with a trainer The bookie (aka shopkeeper) asked if Doug Fraser was in the deal when told yes he said “That makes four”. When Bacquie left the bookmakers they ran into Alex Lang and Doug Fraser
Doug Fraser was also seen to have entered the bookies on Friday morning Other articles also said Jim Marchbank have been offered 100 pounds if he could get two others to “run a bye” He refused to have anything to do with it.
There was criticism of Carlton for not taking this information to the league and or the police. But there was also praise for Carlton taking three players out of the semi final which could have cost them the game. Perhaps a cynical person would note that they still had the right of challenge up their sleeve. Would they have taken the same action if losing the game put them out of the finals? Obviously there were many calls for an enquiry.
9 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 Carlton met on the Monday evening and Tuesday evening. The result of this was that Doug Gillespie was cleared along with club trainer Edward McInerny who had also been caught up in the accusations of match fixing. But Alex Lang and Doug Faser would not play until further notice. But that was all that was revealed by Carlton. There was a lack of transparency about the whole affair and the public were not satisfied. The pressure continued to build on the VFL to do something,
And the issue not yet answered. who was offering the money?
On the Thursday the Argus raised questions about two other matches that were the subject of allegations with no action taken by the league. The matches in question were the South Melbourne Fitzroy game, in the last round of the season and South Melbourne versus Melbourne, in the third last round. The Argus on Friday had an article that gave a detailed description of multiple Fitzroy players being approached by “Someone” from South Melbourne, maybe not a player or official though, offering bribes. The Fitzroy players said they knocked the offer back.21
People might notice that there is one common element in the three matches being investigated, one team that featured in all three. Would South Melbourne become a focus point of the league’s investigation?
The VFL delegates met that Friday and agreed to begin an investigation on Saturday night after the preliminary final had been played.
Oh by the way, there was the small matter of a preliminary final to get through. Normally the primary focus in the lead up to a grand final, it was being overwhelmed by the attention on the match fixing allegations that had started with Carlton but were now beginning to draw attention to other suspicious matches.
43,000 people rolled up to the MCG to see Collingwood take on South Melbourne.
Collingwood’s captain George Angus told his players to play the ball and keep well in front of their opponents and they should win. In South’s rooms their captain coach Bill Thomas told his boys to do their best and the ever present South President Henry Skinner told the players to keep the pace fast and keep the enemy always on the move. Play the ball, keep the game open and always look for the red and white.
It was an even first half of the game with good play by both teams. South had looked the stronger team early on but the Magpies came back into the game late in the second quarter. Collingwood’s accuracy in front of goals giving them the advantage as both teams had a similar number of scoring shots. At half time the scoreboard read Collingwood 4.3.27 to South 3.5 23. The third quarter was another even affair with each team scoring a goal and Collingwood were just five points in front, it seemed that the stage was set for another cliff hanger. Would the reigning premiers who had just made the finals continue their late season rush to a grand final replay or would the Magpies keep their narrow lead.
10 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 As it turned out it was Collingwood who got their system going and kicked 3 quick goals completely rattling the southerners. Despite picking up a couple of late goals to add some respectability to the score it would be Collingwood who would proceed to the Grand Final22. South Melbourne, the team whose name had been mentioned in connection to bribery in multiple games was out of the running. But what would be revealed by the league’s inquiries?
On Saturday Night the league delegates gathered at their rooms at the Block Arcade to begin a detailed investigation into the extraordinary issue of bribery that had all of Melbourne talking.
Carlton’s Acting secretary Ernie Walton was the first witness and he outlined the story of players being approached and the Carlton Committee organising to put the bookmakers under surveillance which resulted in Lang, Gillespie and Fraser being stood down before the second semi final.
After this evidence the question of allowing the press to witness proceedings became a critical issues. Henry Skinner South’s president said that as his name had been mentioned the press should hear all. And that if any allegations were printed people would have to prove it, Henry Skinner had bought his own shorthand man to record all of what was said. This was in addition to the official Shorthand recorder appointed by the league. In an era before tape recorders and other recording devices, people skilled at shorthand was the only option for getting a transcript of what was being said.
Henry Skinner denied any connection with the bribery affair and was adamant that he would protect his reputation in the courts.
The Chair of the meeting identified that there were two options, hold the meeting in the open with the press and witnesses would need to be aware they could be held to account, taken to court for anything they said, which would limit what witnesses would be prepared to say, or hod the session in private without the press,.
The press left the room as the league considered the issue.
The next scheduled session of the inquiry was on Monday. This was supposed to be when Fitzroy and Melbourne players would be quizzed about their recent games against South Melbourne and the bribery allegations that had circulated around Melbourne since.
But first there were legal issues to address.
The league had got legal advice from a Mr Schutt, likely to be William Schutt who played for Essendon in the VFA days between 1889 and 1895, and had become a barrister in 1892 and would eventually become a judge in the supreme court in 1919
There was debate about whether his advice should be given privately or in front of the press, It was resolved that the press could attend while the league received its legal advice.
In short the league had the right to conduct and enquiry and if people thought evidence provided was defamatory the league was not at risk but the witnesses who gave the
11 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 evidence could be sued. And any newspaper that published such evidence could also be sued. If anyone other then the League delegates were present the protection against legal liability would be lost.
In effect if people were afraid of giving evidence in public then the inquiry may be completely flawed. But if the evidence was all private, if there was no transparency, would people have confidence that justice had been delivered, that the cancer of bribery had been addressed.
Mr Henry Skinner said that he had similar advice from two eminent barristers.
The League decided to hold the inquiry in private.
When the possibility of litigation was mentioned one person in the audience is reported to have said “Footballers have got a good deal out of the game it is about time the poor lawyers had a cut out of the big gates”23 I think it is fair to say that lawyers have done alright out of the game over the years.
It is worth noting that the only delegate who bought their own shorthand writer to the first session of the inquiry and the only person that shared that they had independent legal advice on the consequences of holding such in inquiry in private or public was South Melbourne's President, Henry Skinner. Draw your own conclusions.
Sadly, despite the presence of shorthand writers no detailed records of what was discussed in these private hearings has been found in the league archives. There is just the newspaper reports which obviously had to consider the risk of legal proceedings and the eventual results of the hearings. Interestingly the reporting of the affair seems to have been more open to mentioning names and details the further the newspaper was from Melbourne. Perhaps in those less connected times the risk of a legal case was calibrated by the distance from the people involved?
Further investigations were held on Tuesday and Wednesday night with Fitzroy and Melbourne players interviewed on Wednesday. The league did agree to share a transcript of the evidence relating to the Melbourne and Fitzroy games against South to be shared with the press. Perhaps it was only the Carlton bribery allegations that were considered sensitive.
The league agreed that the rumours relating to payments being offered for the Melbourne South Melbourne game were unfounded.
It was also decided that the Fitzroy players had been offered trivial amounts of money by persons unknown and that the Fitzroy players should be commended for their actions. i.e. all the evidence was that they ignored the offers.
The Inquiry rested on the Thursday
The league then met for three hours on Friday, Grand Final Eve, to hear final evidence from Carlton’s Jim Marchbank consider what decisions to make about innocence, guilt and penalties to be applied. At 11.30 it was announced that Albert Lang and Doug Fraser had been found guilty of conduct not conducive to the best interests of the game of
12 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 football and suspended for five years. Doug Gillespie and the trainer Ed McInerny were exonerated from all blame. Jim Marchbank had not attended the hearing so a decision was made to reconvene the following evening, after the Grand Final.
In the minutes of the meeting the following resolution was also recorded
“It was agreed unanimously that the League expresses regret at the mention of Mr Henry Skinner’s name in connection with the matters enquired into and further expresses its highest confidence in Mr Skinner’s integrity as a citizen and member of the body”
So nothing to do with the well known entrepreneur and South Melbourne President at all. Or was it an attempt to head off any potential litigation?
Two young players, Albert Lang at 22, and Doug Fraser at 23 would carry the penalty for one of the biggest scandals in league history. Accepting bribes to help lose a final. But no action against the person or persons who paid the money. No action yet against the bookmakers who stood to benefit. No sharing of the evidence that the league used to make this decision about the Carlton players. No action by the league to open up to honest professionalism which might have provided enough incentive to ignore attempts at bribery.
Perhaps the example of two players having their careers effectively ended might stand as a warning against future temptation but it seems to me that those who paid the money got away scott free.
The Grand Final
Attention now turned to the other small matter that had to be completed. A Grand Final. As people read the Saturday morning papers to get the news on which players had been cleared or suspended, they also looked at the match previews and got ready to see who would be premiers in 1910 Would Carlton be able to shake off the scandal that had rocked the club and return to their dominant form that had them finish clear on top of the ladder or would Collingwood continue their winning streak which now extended to nine straight games.
The umpire for the game was again Jack Elder officiating in his third grand final
Carlton would once again be led by their captain coach Fred Elliot
Collingwood was lead by George Angus, a Boer War veteran who did not start his VFL career in 1902 until he was 27. A member of the Magpies back to back premiership teams in 1902 and 03, he became captain coach in 1910. He was not the quickest player but he knew how to read the game which served him well as coach. His son played for Collingwood in 1928 and a grandson Geoff Angus played for Hawthorn in the 1970’s,
13 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 including their Hawthorn premiership in 1971. Another of the Grandfather Grandson premiership families
The curtain raiser was between the Melbourne Public Schools playing a Sydney Schoolboys team. Sydney won by 4 points.
There were three Dutch naval vessels visiting Melbourne and some of the sailors and officers would be attending the Grand Final24. Perhaps they would also be inspired by the Australian game and take it back to Europe with them.
The crowd was a record 42,500. The previous weeks had been full of off field drama but the football supporters of Melbourne and Victoria had packed themselves into the MCG to see who would be premiers.
The league might have been hoping for a good game that would focus people’s attention away from scandal and back onto the finer points of the game. This hope would be unfulfilled.
Carlton's had defeated the Magpies twice in the season by about five goals each time but much had changed since that last home and away encounter. Collingwood was taking an unchanged team into the game, the Blues welcomed back the cleared Doug Gillespie returned to the team replacing veteran Jim Flynn.
From the starting bounce the game was a hard, fast and strenuous contest. Umpire Jack Elder would later recall that tempers were like tinder with an atmosphere of sullen hostility amongst the players.25 The Blues got the ball forward first and opened the scoring with a point. Collingwood cleared the ball with a series of passes and George Angus used a fine drop kick to open Collingwood’s account with a goal. The game was described as hot and close and in the excitement no one gave a thought to the consequences. Towards the end of the quarter Collingwood had a rush of success and were able to pick up three goals in succession. At quarter time the Magpies had opened up a handy lead. 4.3 to Carlton on 1.2.
Clearly Collingwood’s skipper George Angus thought it was enough of a lead because in the second quarter he moved to a completely defensive set of tactics. Much to the dismay of many observers. One described it as a winning team playing a losing team’s game. Even Dick Lee, the leading goal kicker spent time down in the back line,. Not quite sure on how to play in such a strange position. His inexperience resulted in a free to Carlton’s small forward Vin Gardner who got their only goal for the quarter
One of Collingwood's few moves forward did result in a goal to Paddy Gilchrist. Meanwhile Carlton were wasting their opportunities, Perhaps it was due to the additional pressure of the Collingwood players flooding their backline but the Blues just could not kick accurately.
Collingwood had some injury worries when young first year player Joe Scadden went up for a mark and came down heavily getting a “wrench across his loins”. He was carried off and the doctors he was suffering from a contusion of the kidney. Clearly a serious injury. However bravely, or foolishly, he came back onto the ground and tried to do his best for the team. He had played every game for the season but this was to be the last match of
14 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 his short career. Then Collingwood's ruckman David Ryan injured his elbow and was practically of no further use in the game. The Magpies were in front on the scoreboard but were losing players to injuries, giving Carlton an advantage in effective and fit players.
The half time score had Collingwood 15 points up 5.3 to Carlton’s 2.6.
According to Observer in the Argus the second half was not as exciting, skilful nor as good tempered as the first half.
Evening things up in the injured players stakes Carlton’s centreman Rod McGregor had injured his leg and hobbled down to the Blues forward line,.
The second half had only been underway for a short time when Collingwood’s Percy Wilson a rover/forward pocket was also injured and could provide little value for the rest of the game.
Despite Collingwood's lack of fit players and a focus on defensive tactics their skill and talent did provide the opportunity for some break through moments, Dick Lee was able to pick up the ball on the run and sore their sixth goal and shortly afterwards Collingwood's Richard Daykin put them comfortably ahead with a seventh goal.
Collingwood was controlling the game and keeping the ball in their forward line but in an effort that might have kept the Blue’s supporters faith alive Jim Marchbank received a free kick from a long way out. Despite the game having been hard going for nearly three quarters he took his time, stepped up and scored a much needed long distance goal.
However any hopes raised must have been dashed when Dick Lee using the intuition and anticipation possessed by champion players in any era, intercepted a pass from a Carlton player and kicked Collingwood further ahead with their eighth goal.
But the Blues had not been the champion team of this era for nothing, and they were going to keep on pushing forward whenever they could. A series of passes got the ball to the injured McGreggor and he scored Carlton’s fourth goal.
The Three quarter time score saw leading 8.5 to 4.9.
The Blues would need to score four goals in the last quarter and hold Collingwood to none but it would have been a brave man who would write them off completely.
Given this season of scandal, with umpires being assaulted after games and at tribunals, after the turmoil at clubs with committees being sacked, after the bribery scandal that was still reverberating around the country, surely, with one quarter to go the Grand Final could finish with people focusing on the game, celebrating the winners and commiserating with the losers, surely nothing else could happen in one quarter of football.
Surely.
The fourth quarter started with a couple of points to Collingwood. The Carlton supporters were urging their men on, the Collingwood barrackers making as much noise for their
15 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 team. Collingwood had the lead but it was tense and passions were aroused.
At about the 10 minute mark there was a disputed marking contest on the wing between Carlton's Jack Bacquie and Collingwood’s Tom Baxter. They began fighting, punches being thrown freely. The crowds noise was intense. Collingwood’s Jack Shorten was next on the scene punching Bacquie in an attempt to protect or support his teammate The Blue’s Percy Sheehan jumped into the fray and was punching Shorten. More players were joining in, a free fight was taking place in the middle of the MCG. Matters quickly got worse when attendants from both sides left the boundary line to join in the fight or to separate players. Police raced out to the centre of the ground in an attempt to restore order, the crowd were growing restive, then about thirty spectators jumped the fence creating all the elements necessary for a riot to break out with with over enraged 40,000 spectators crowded into the MCG.
It had only taken a few seconds to get to this point, if it went on for much longer who knew what would happen.
The umpire blew his whistle, blew it with all his might, and then a flash of inspiration, Umpire Jack Elder grabbed the ball and bounced it. Players looked over and realised there was a game to be won. Police were able to drive the spectators off the ground. The brawl had taken a moment to start and now in just another moment the players and supporters focused their attention back on the game. Many observers and Umpire Elder were convinced that a full blown riot had been narrowly averted.
The ball was raced down the Blues forward line and Rod McGreggor scored a much needed goal for Carlton, cutting their deficit to 15 points.
But the Magpies had lead all day and were not to be denied. Their wingman Percy Gibbs roosted the ball forward and it surprised all by dribbling through the goals. It was the sealer and the Collingwood had the game. Carlton’s Jack Wells reduced the margin again by picking the ball up out of the pack and snapping another goal but it was too late to change the result. The bell went to end the season and Collingwood were premiers by 14 points. 9.7. 61 to Carlton on 6.11. 47.
Dick Lee showed that he was a champion of the era by scoring four goals in a grand final winning effort. Carlton were clearly playing under extraordinary pressure with the distraction of the Bribery scandal occupying the club in the two weeks leading up to Grand Final day and that may have been a factor in the scragging and fighting that occurred on the day.
Both captains spoke to the Herald after the Game. Collingwood’s George Angus said “We are entitled to the feeling of satisfaction apart from that inspired by having won the premiership we have beaten the side that won the first round (ie Finished on top of the ladder) Had Carlton won they would have fully deserved it. Nobody could feel more sorry for them in their troubles than I have” Such sympathy between Collingwood and Carlton would dry up in the years to come. The violent grand final is often noted as the beginning of the intense rivalry between these clubs that has continued for over 100 seasons, regardless of where they are on the ladder.
Fred Pompey Elliot, speaking form the Carlton rooms after having lost his second Grand
16 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 Final as captain coach said “ I am satisfied with our performance this season. Had certain circumstances not have arisen within the past few weeks I am satisfied we would have won the premiership. I must congratulate Collingwood on their performance. Ten weeks ago I did not think they had a chance. They played well today, “
Fred Elliot also announced his retirement after the game. After 11 years with the club the last two as Captain Coach he was bowing out 27
But before everyone could go home after the game or head off to celebrate or commiserate there was one final hearing the league had to hold regarding the Bribery scandal.
Jim Marchbank, Carlton's veteran ruckman and centre half forward had been offered one hundred pounds to play stiff before the Semi Final against South Melbourne. He had immediately informed the Carlton committee and did not mention any names in relation to the affair. He had been best on ground in the Semi final and one of the better players in the Grand Final so there was no suspicion that fell upon him. The league decided that given there was no further information that no further action would be required. This part of the inquiries was over in 10 minutes.
Four players were reported flowing the last quarter fight, Bacquie for assaulting Baxter, Baxter fro assaulting Bacquie, Shorten for hitting Bacquie and Sheehan fro retaliating against Shorten. These were the incidents that started the brawl so I am assuming the umpire held them especially responsible.
The Investigation Committee for the league met on Wednesday night. The players denied all charges and if their evidence had been accepted hardly anyone hit anybody and they were not the ones who started it and there was nothing to see here and even if there was they couldn't remember what had happened. The League gave much more weight to the evidence of the umpire and boundary umpire which basically matched what had been reported in all the newspapers. Bacquie and Baxter were suspended for the entire 1911 season and Shorten and Sheehan were suspended until the half way mark of the 1912 season. The Chair of the committee was scathing of the players evidence and behaviour hoped they would use the time out of the game to reconsider their behaviour.
In a normal season that would have been the end of the matter. There had been a shocking fight that nearly incited a riot, the key players had been reported and given severe penalties that punished the guilty and set an example to other players with the hope this would improve the game.
But 1910 was not a normal season. Collingwood’s ruck/forward Richard Daykin wrote a letter to the chair of the VFL saying Tom Baxter had been wrongly accused.
So a month later at the next meeting of the league the VFL made the decision to reopen the case. So the Investigation Committee met again and they were told, with straight faces that Richard Daykin, a red head had been the guilty man, throwing all the punches that poor old dark haired Tom Baxter had been falsely accused of. Despite the fact that multiple newspaper reports, a field umpire and a boundary umpire had identified Tom Baxter as the guilty party and not his best mate Daykin, For reasons that have not been explained the League accepted that Daykin was being honest and noble in coming
17 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 forward and that it had been the umpires who had mistaken identities, an honest mistake, so cleared Baxter to play the following season and suspended Daykin for all of 1911. Did anyone tell the league that Dakin and Baxter had been mates for years, did anyone tell the league that Daykin was leaving VFL and Victoria to live in Western Australia in 1911 so any penalty was meaningless? Did anyone in the league think that maybe they had been duped?
I am sure that Bacquie, Sheehan and Shorten who all had to server 12-18 month suspensions wished they had a mate who would stand up for them like Daykin had for Baxter, but perhaps all their mates planned to play in the next season.
The regular Premiership of Australia Game was held on the 15th of October in Adelaide. Port Adelaide had an easy win over a Collingwood team that only had 9 of its premiership team playing and only 8,000 people attended the Adelaide Oval. Final Scores Port Adelaide 15.20 to Collingwood 7.9. Port Adelaide were now premiers of Australia.
It will be interesting to see if this traditional post season game is maintained in the years ahead.
On a positive note to end the year. While we have seen the VFL talk about how well the game was going overseas and the potential for international expansion, it is worth noting the New York Times published an article with the headline Australian Game of Football is the Best on October 23.
Major Peixotto had led his San Francisco Boys Club home after their tour down under in 1909. He wrote major articles in the New York Times and the Washington Post in 1910 signing the praises of the Australian game and pointing out its superiority to American Football. Sadly the rest of the United states did not show the same enthusiasm as the Major and the expansion of Australian Rules football is stil a work in progress.
Season Review & Conclusion It had been a season unlike any other but in a way the issues of previous years were pointing in this direction. The VFL was very popular in Melbourne. Significant sums of money were flowing into clubs and supporters wanted their club to be successful. This created pressure to get the best players. Maintaining an officially Amateur requirement meant that players were payed in secret and financial affairs of clubs were murky to say the least. Gambling on football was popular and readily accessible. And on field play had been allowed to become more violent with a lack of support for umpires when players were reported. Some severe penalties for players in 1910 may see a turning of that trend but until the payment of players was open and club finances were allowed to represent reality money and gambling would be an issue.
Carlton had been at the centre of affairs and although it did not win the premiership its efforts at maintaining a top level performance despite loosing many of it players deserves respect. And Collingwood had the honour of the premiership. Would they be able to keep
18 of 19 1910 Season of Scandal.odt 16/05/19 it in 1911.
And one final recommendation for your reading list. “On the Take” by Tony Joel and Matthew Turner, which provides a detailed review of Carlton and the bribery scandal and related issues. A terrific insight into this era of football and a wonderful resource for this podcast.
References Create list of resources used for script 1. https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/such-was-life/houdini-flies-in-diggers-rest/ 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VII 3. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10854985?searchTerm=football%20League 4. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10826648?searchTerm=football%20League 5. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/196077016?searchTerm=football%20League 6. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10832644?searchTerm=football%20League 7. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10840097?searchTerm=football%20League 8. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10843104?searchTerm=football%20Carlton 9. On The Take 10. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10849657?searchTerm=football%20league 11. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/242095240?searchTerm=football%20league 12 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/242070773?searchTerm=football%20league 13.https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10854782?searchTerm=football%20league 14. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/184299209?searchTerm=football%20league 15. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/149152874?searchTerm=football %20league 16. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/184308384?searchTerm=football%20league 17. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10861722?searchTerm=football%20league 18. Encyclopedia of Leage Footballers. Main & Holmsby 19. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10863375?searchTerm=football%20league 20. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/184303210 21. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10463300?searchTerm=football%20league 22. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/191342806?searchTerm=football%20league 23. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/241967697?searchTerm=football %20league# 24. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/179918064?browse=ndp%3Abrowse %2Ftitle%2FA%2Ftitle%2F809%2F1910%2F10%2F01%2Fpage %2F18561359%2Farticle%2F179918064 25. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/189124022?searchTerm=football %20premiership%20umpire%20elder 26. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/179911262?searchTerm=football%20league 27. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/241986994?browse=ndp%3Abrowse %2Ftitle%2FH%2Ftitle%2F1190%2F1910%2F10%2F03%2Fpage %2F26269208%2Farticle%2F241986994 28. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/218523083?searchTerm=football%20league 29.New York Times, October 23, 1910 pg C6
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