THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL GROUND The Game's missed Opportunity in

Grounds have always been a problem for Australian Football in Sydney. They were either lacking in adequate dimensions, their acquisition was too difficult or in the early times, the financial justification for enclosed (fenced) grounds was not an option.

The sport was a 'Johnny Come Lately' into Sydney even given its failure only a handful of years before the first decade of the twentieth century,

Rugby was firmly established as the main winter code. Soccer too, whilst never really a huge influence on the Sydney sporting scene, had it's roots soundly enough entrenched within society the community.

In the years following the resurrection of the game in Sydney in 1903, there was continued pressure to play matches on enclosed grounds and later for the league to secure their own venue.

There were a number of reasons for this:

• With no fences, poor ground conditions and spectators forever encroaching onto fields made it difficult for play to proceed, particularly when crowd numbers at times, ran into thousands, suggesting too that nothing had changed in the 30 years since it’s first appearance in Sydney.

• The professionalism of the game detracted when played on a park . (as opposed to an oval

which had perimeter fencing)

• When matches were played on enclosed ground, the number of which were very limited in Sydney, the ground hirer charged a considerable percentage of the gate takings . On 11 August 1909 for example, where an estimated 4,000 spectators attended Erskineville Oval to see NSW v Sth , the Erskineville Oval Trust took 55% of the gate.

 The securing of enclosed grounds for finals, which was exacerbated in1906 when the lack of an available (enclosed) facility caused a semi final between Newtown and Balmain was postponed. Additionally, the challenge final (grand final), in 1907 had to be suspended for two weeks leading in October whilst officials could locate a suitable fenced venue.

• Commentators frequently urged the League to take more positive steps in obtaining their own ground.

It was also glaringly obvious to officials that playing on a ‘Australian Football’ owned ground meant that all proceeds from attendance charges remained with the sport. Where possible, and certainly in the latter half of the first decade of the twentieth century, the league maintained a policy of playing their finals and all representative games on enclosed grounds.

In those early days the only available enclosed grounds adequate for Australian Football were the , the Agricultural Ground (RAS Showground, Moore Park) and later Erskineville Oval and Trumper Park (Hampden Oval). Of course, the other codes too were just as keen to secure these venues and with their popularity far greater than Australian Football, the ground hirer stood to gain more profit having them using the facilities as opposed to the NSW Football League (the League).

The League held a lease on Erskineville Oval from 1910 but the two other venues provided a much larger capacity for spectators. It paid £300 ($600) for it's first tender of Erskineville to the "Trust" for the 1910 season, a huge amount of money in those days. It was planned to play all the major games on that ground for the season.

In 1907 the old Erskineville Oval, situated on four acres of land situated approximately where the public housing now stands with bounded on one side by Swanson Street and Elliott

1 THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL GROUND The Game's missed Opportunity in Sydney Avenue and reasonably adjacent to the present ground, was fenced. The money for the fencing was provided by the Metropolitan Rugby Union (pre Rugby League days) on the proviso that they be granted permission to charge admission to first grade matches. A public furore resulted with local residents demanding general access to the ground. A compromise was subsequently reached.

The League also gained use of the Agricultural Ground No. 2, (a field in the former Sydney Showground, Driver Avenue, Moore Park) however its surface was "far from perfect".

Other ground problems dogged the competition with a match between North Shore and Balmain having to be postponed after the players arrived at the venue of Birchgrove Oval only to find it being utilised by other sports.

The first game recorded as being played on Erskineville Oval was between Newtown and Balmain on 20 July 1907, the one and only for the year. The fact that this game was played after the Metropolitan Rugby Union had funded the construction of a 9 foot (2.75 metres) fence around the ground only months earlier and apparently had leased the ground for 16 matches in that season, is certainly an achievement on someone's behalf.

Wentworth Park, (Glebe) although not a venue for Australian Football at that stage, was enclosed in August 1907 with a nine foot fence through a £1200 grant from the state government. Additional ground improvements provided terrace seating for 4000 people.

All representative and special (i.e. VFL v VFL) games were played on enclosed grounds. In the vast majority of these latter matches, the visiting teams usually paid their own expenses and did not seek a percentage of the gate, as a gesture to enable the fledgling NSW Football League to become more financially established.

This situation may well have set the scene as a false income stream for the league which, as we will see, slowly diminished in the years immediately leading into World War I.

In fact initially in the early 1900s, and soon after federation, interstate clubs almost lined up to visit Sydney as an opportunity for their club and players to visit 's largest city and the birthplace of the nation with nationalism and patriotism beginning to build in the minds of some Australians at that time.

Each year the league would receive a bevy of letters from various interstate clubs, not all in capital cities, seeking patronage for their tour.

In June 1908 South Australian Club Norwood visited Sydney and besides donating an expensive premiership shield, then valued at £40 ($80) paid their own way and also left the gate takings which accounted for an estimated 5,000 spectators.

A much more interesting fact of their trip was that league officials could not find an enclosed venue for the match and it was only with the good grace and acquiescence of the Metropolitan Rugby Union which moved their main match from the Sydney Cricket Ground to allow the Norwood game to proceed.

The league's annual report of April 1909 highlights the fact that 1908 was the most difficult year for grounds "We have always had this very serious trouble with us and 1908 was the worst in our history....." and so the pressure continued to build both within the administration and with others for the league to seek, preferably, it's own enclosed ground.

The question is then that could such an enterprising venture of the purchase of a ground by an amateur sporting organisation in Sydney, merely seven years old, have some justification and was not a wild whim of some over enthusiastic patrons of the game. After all, none of the other codes, apart from cricket, had made any such move.

It was Hugh Dixson's energy and commitment that saw the Western Australian Football Association (WAFA) established in 1885. Dixson changed his name to Denison and was later

2 THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL GROUND The Game's missed Opportunity in Sydney to become Sir Hugh Denison and was widely recognized as the father of Western Australian football. (history of football in WA).

He had business interests in Adelaide and was a member of the South Australian Parliament before moving to Sydney in 1908. (History of the Carclew Castle - Adelaide)

There, he continued his business interests as proprietor of the Sydney Sun and later Melbourne Sun Pictorial, cigarette companies and the Macquarie Broadcasting company. Dennison died in 1940.

He was however elected patron of the league in 1911.

As competition for enclosed grounds increased in Sydney, particularly with the introduction of the professional game of Rugby League in 1908, pressured built for the league to do something to provide some professionalism to their code. The trouble was that there were very few such grounds available, if any, in the near Sydney area which could satisfy the wants of Australian Football.

In September, Glebe was upgraded being 'beautified' and fenced with a pavilion to be constructed so fenced facilities were beginning to be developed.

The first Rosebery Racecourse was one of many racing venues in and around Sydney. It was owned by John Wren, a Victorian racing and gambling entrepreneur who had a string of racecourses throughout Australia. He was a strong Collingwood supporter.

Wren had decided to dispose of Rosebery Racecourse which was situated on 12½ acres at North Botany or contemporarily, Mascot (it is geographically in the boundaries of the suburb of Alexandria), on the north west corner of Botany and Gardeners Roads where factories are now located.

A replacement racecourse, also to be known as Rosebery Racecourse was under construction in Gardeners Road, further towards Kingsford which was eventually demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Eastlakes Shopping Centre and home units.

Several other racecourses also served the immediate area. Ascot at Lauriston Park where Kingsford Smith Airport is now located, Victoria Park in Joynton Avenue Zetland, on which the Leyland vehicle manufacturing plant was situated and but now supports many up market apartments, Kensington Pony Track where the University of NSW in Anzac Parade now stands and of course, Randwick Racecourse.

The North Botany (the original name for Mascot) site was first recorded as a venue for Australian Football in 1906 when Association or second grade games were played there.

It would appear that this area at North Botany, quoted as only 10 acres, was purchased by the League between the 1910-11 seasons with Denison almost certainly going guarantor for the cost of £1,945 ($3,890) reported in the Sydney Morning Herald of 10 April 1911 however a further figure of £9,000 ($18,000) in the Daily Telegraph of 3 December 1913 seems more realistic. The ground was known as the Australian Football Ground (AFG).

Concern was shown regarding the future of interstate visits from Victoria into Sydney because of trouble regarding the payment of VFL players and the alleged professionalism in the game. The possibility of the resultant income (from such matches) being discontinued then threw some disquiet over the ground’s viability.

In 1911, the league president, A E Nash spoke as vice president at the Aust Football Council Executive Meeting about the progress of the game in NSW which he said "was the only state in the Commonwealth in which the Australian Football Body possesses its own ground".

Jim Phelan, a person of immense integrity within game in the first three decades of the century, the inaugural and long serving secretary of Newtown FC and later Secretary of the

3 THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL GROUND The Game's missed Opportunity in Sydney League and after whom the league's best and fairest medal is named, wrote a number of articles late in his life which were printed in the league's weekly programme, The Football Record:

In this year one of the most significant advances of Australian Football in NSW took place, albeit for a short time. The NSWFL being duly apprised of a scheme to purchase the old Rosebery Racecourse vested full control of its finances and other incidental auxiliary powers in the hands of a selected body of men whose work and love for the game was beyond question and reproach. Styled "The League Trustees", the body consisted of H.R. Denison (later Sir Hugh), H.C. Harte, A.E. Nash, J.J. O'Meara, L.A. and Otto Balhausen and J.J. Jagelman, all prominent men in the business and commercial world of Sydney.

Then, as now, the carping critic, both inside and outside the league was to be found attributing unworthy motives such as business considerations to one, or other, of that fine body of men who's vision, enterprise and courage stands forth as the finest example in connection with the game in this or any other state of the Commonwealth.

So as to give full effect to my opinion, which time has strengthened rather than lessened, I shall have to introduce a personal touch by stating that I was, at that period, and for many subsequent years, the writer for the game to the "Referee" (a weekly) and "Sunday Times" newspapers and though I voiced opinions both through the papers mentioned, and at League meetings, disagreeing with the early lavish expenditure on the ground by the Trustees, the cardinal fact remained that each respected the other's views as in the interests of the game and we became, in anything, firmer friends.

The purchase of the ground, on the boundaries of the Mascot, Waterloo and Alexandria municipalities (Botany and Gardeners Road), consisted of close upon 12 acres was effected at a cost of roughly one hundred and eighty pounds per acre.

Within a very brief space of time it's valuation had risen to over four hundred pounds per acre. Meanwhile the Trustees had opened negotiations for the purchase of the land from the football area covering the whole of the frontage to Botany Road, with the idea of building shops and dwelling houses thereon.

Unfortunately a settlement as to terms was not reached. What a glorious vista had the scheme reached fruition.

Let any reader of this brief article visualise the position today (written in 1938) of the ownership of a beautiful ground within easy access to any of the present league clubs, North Shore excepted. So I turn with a sigh from vision to reality.

Considering in those days that travel was mostly vide public transport, the football public travelling to the new ground had ample. An electric tram, with duplicated line, operated from Circular Quay as well as Central Railway Station along Botany Road to Botany as well as from Kingsford along Gardeners Road, intersecting at Botany Road. (These two roads were boundaries of the complex).

4 THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL GROUND The Game's missed Opportunity in Sydney Of course the football ground itself had to be surveyed and this was carried our by Cyril Hughes, a leading player with the South Sydney Club and an army surveyor who was originally from Tasmanian.

Critics, and some might suggest supporters and officials from the Newtown Club, were keen that Erskineville Oval not be lost to the code so eventually in 1911 that ground was also secured for the league for that season with all important fixtures to be played there. The new ground at North Botany was not expected to be fully ready for use until 1912.

The League only made a profit of ₤170 ($340) from Erskineville Oval in 1911. This was the only ground which they controlled.

Although admired and considered headquarters of the league prior to the introduction of the AFG, Erskineville Oval was considered "on the small side for a proper exposition of the game ... although admirably situated to serve the present wants of the league". (J E Phelan was,at the time, a correspondent for the SM Herald and most likely wrote that quote on 25 February 1914).

Not all were happy with the league's decision to purchase the ground at Rosebery and designate it as it's headquarters. After all it was a long way from the city when there were nearer grounds like Hampden (Trumper Park) and Erskineville Ovals. The journalist from the Sydney Morning Herald wrote a diatribe about the situation with the headline "Freehold v Leasehold". In it he questioned the wisdom of the purchase, asked what was to become of Erskineville Oval however suggested that the Railway Commissioners (then controllers of trams) extend the two penny section to Gardeners Road to make the trip more economical for commuters to the ground.

Others from the press praised the move, and went on to eulogize the virtues of the ground and its facilities.

It seemed everyone was happy that Erskineville Oval was retained by the league for the 1912 season, the Herald noting "it is a wise step and will be particularly gratifying to the members of the Newtown Football Club who have largely benefited through the league holding the ground".

The following comments were made at the opening of the AFG prior to the first game on 20 April 1912, "The land is situated at Alexandria and provides a playing area of the full size, 200 yards by 150 yards; there is also a very neat and commodious grand stand, with dressing rooms, baths and refreshment rooms. It is the largest freehold titled ground in the state.”

It was proposed to initiate a local competition in the South Sydney area to take advantage of the ground. Mr W Prince, caretaker – of the ground, umpire and official of the South Sydney Club undertook to coach the youths.

To the accompaniment of much cheering from the enthusiasts, the NSW Premier, Mr J.S.T. McGowan laid the foundation stone on Saturday 3 February 1912, for the pavilion to be erected at the ground. The fences were up, the oval was being levelled with sides sloped for the 'thousands of sightseers’ (spectators). He made an appropriate speech.

NSWFL President, A.E. Nash, a supreme optimist, said that a second enclosed ground had been secured and a third would be under control shortly. The Aust Football Ground became available to the league mainly through the efforts of H.R. Denison. It was of 10.5 acres. Football to occupy it for winter with other sports for the remainder. The trustees had decided that the ground shall be open free of charge to the schoolboys of the metropolitan district as the organisation is to run in conjunction with the Public Schools Athletic Association. Boys training under the Federal defence scheme will also have the use of the ground in dry weather and the lower part of the pavilion on rainy days Donations, including £100 ($200) from Mr Denison were announced.

When the VFL informed the league that they were unable to send a team to take part in the opening of the new ground on 20 April 1912, the trustees decided that 1911 grand finalists, East

5 THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL GROUND The Game's missed Opportunity in Sydney Sydney v Sydney would be the first game played there. Not all delegates of the league were in agreement with this decision, one suggesting that the carnival eighteen (the NSW Representative Team which competed in the 1911 All States Carnival in Adelaide) be opposed by the next best and so it went on.

There was a suggestion of an arbor day at the ground where people could plant a tree which would carry a tablet bearing their name on condition that the person so desiring the honour paid the expenses of the planting. This suggestion was accepted with much glee.

Mr J J Jagelman (a trustee and solicitor and supporter of the game) unfurled the Australian Flag and Mr A E Nash bounced the ball to start the game. During half time Mr Nash on behalf of the trustees, presented Mr Sheey with a cheque for fifty pounds in recognition of his services in the superintending of the work of laying out the grounds. In reply Mr Sheehy announced his intention of spending the money in the advancement of the game of Australian Football.

It was, without question, a grand time of euphoria for Australian Football in Sydney.

However attendances fell below expectation at the opening of the ground however the uncertainty of the weather was blamed and the fact that and interstate game was not scheduled as the opening match.

The league offered Sturt (South Australian Club) & East FC games during the season however they did not increase any inducement through a share of the gate for them to come to Sydney, other than that normally then offered to Melbourne Clubs. This then leads to speculation that interstate clubs no longer left their share of the gate with the league in support of the game.

Some delegates consider such a stance with clubs for Western Australian Clubs "unwise" because of the distance they had to travel and expenses incurred. The trustees contended that they had to face a big responsibility in financing the new ground. This was admitted but it was also indisputable that even if the trustees granted 50% of the takings to East Fremantle the balance of the proceeds which would pass into the hands of the trustees, would be larger than the returns from a (Sydney) club fixture which, so contended the writer in the Sydney Morning Herald, “which must fill the bill if the Western Australian team excludes Sydney from its eastern tour.”

Patrons were reminded that the Kalgoorlie team received special terms in 1911 however because of the responsibility of financing the new ground the trustees were unwilling to offer a more reasonable financial agreement.

Everything was moving along so well when in 1913, the league lost the rights to Erskineville Oval after three continuous years at the ground. The NSW Rugby League tendered and won the rights meaning that unless the league could secure an additional enclosed ground they would be forced to play one game on Moore Park (cnr Cleveland and South Dowling Streets) - an unenclosed ground.

At the time the large expanse of Moore Park, adjacent to the Sydney Cricket Ground provided between 20-30 football grounds in winter, mostly rugby.

1912 saw a huge increase in gate takings to £691.0.0 ($1,382) overall which was an exceptional increase on the 1909 figure of £195.0.0 ($390). The league promoted the idea of the acquisition of its own ground at Nth Botany as the major reason for the increase in gate takings.

The ground also had memberships and in 1912 this numbered a healthy 293.

The league relied heavily on 'The Propaganda Fund' which was derived from 2.5% of the net gate takings from all VFL matches. Sydney club delegates wanted the money for NSW from this source directed to specific purposes however an apparent clash with the trustees of the

6 THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL GROUND The Game's missed Opportunity in Sydney Australian Football Ground over the application of these funds appeared to be a looming problem.

The Daily Telegraph noted on 17 September 1913 that the trustees of the Australian Football Ground practically controlled the finances of the League.

No interstate teams visited Sydney in 1913. St Kilda was all set to journey there for a match on September 6 but their hopeful prospects for the finals precluded them from the trip, whilst the stoppage of the Queensland visitation was blamed on an apparent smallpox epidemic. Carlton also failed to fulfil the proposed interstate fixture in Sydney

The only interstate team to play in Sydney in 1913 was a South Australian combined second grade side which struggled to finance the trip and was supplemented by the trustees of the Australian Football Ground with a donation of £50 ($100).

Since the League trustees acquired the Australian Football Ground, the work of Secretary to the trustees, which also incorporated the duties of secretary of the Football League, had assumed big dimensions, and to be effectively carried out demanded whole- hearted and assiduous attention. Mr A M Little, who has carried out the onerous and heavy duties for the previous two years placed his resignation with the trustees “owing the business and for private reasons.” Mr Little had done admirable work during his term of office, and the Herald reported, “followers of the game will regret his retirement. Applications for the position were called for by advertisement by the League trustees, and the position is being made a remunerative one.”

Mr L Davidson who had been working with the league as a field umpire and coach to the public school teams was appointed to replace A.M. Little as the full time secretary to the trustees of the Australian Football Ground in mid September 1913.

The 293 membership tickets of the Australian Football Ground issued "under liberal terms" by 1913 had diminished considerably. The new secretary, Mr Davidson, proposed new terms of membership which would also admit all holders to the SCG for the 1914 All-States Carnival.

The league blamed the smallpox epidemic of 1913 for the drop in membership tickets to the Australian Football Ground. They went from 293 in 1912 to 79 in 1913 with hopes to raise the number to 300 in 1914. The trustees were doing what they could to increase the sale of these tickets anticipating the co-operation of the clubs. They approved the following scale: • Hon. Member (plus two ladies tickets), one guinea, • Senior playing member (plus two ladies tickets), 10s 6d; • Second grade players (plus two ladies tickets) 7s 6d; • Young Australian players – juniors, (one ladies ticket) 3s 6d • Schoolboys 2s 6d.

By mid April the membership figures for the AFG had doubled "and the prospects of a record being established were bright".

There was however early conjecture whether the 1914 All States Carnival would be played on the Sydney Cricket Ground because of it's lease to the NSW Rugby League. At least two states indicating they would not play on any other venue. An arrangement was eventually agreed to whereby two Saturdays, August 1 and 8 were secured for the carnival on condition that the be released for Rugby League on the same dates for play against the English.

The South Sydney Club moved south from their Redfern base to hold their 1914 annual meeting at the Newmarket Hotel which was and still is diagonally opposite the Australian Football Ground at Mascot.

Interest in the game appeared to dwindle in the 1913 season as evidenced in the deficit of well over £230 ($460) in the leagues finances for the year which was blamed on the introduction of the "electoral system" (district) and the loss of Erskineville Oval. The latter

7 THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL GROUND The Game's missed Opportunity in Sydney was regained for the league for 1914. All clubs had to assume names of electorates and not of groups or companies.

It is difficult to judge problem times for the league but certainly 1913 appeared to be a turning point. There was mention made of "lavish furnishing" at the Australian Football Ground; The Riverina Club, Ariah Park's visit to Sydney where they were just beaten by the eventual premiers, Sydney; A combined Metropolitan team received a 53 point drubbing at the hands of an Albury combination whilst another representative team visiting Duntroon College received "the father of a thrashing" The deficit for the year certainly did not help things which was now blamed on the lack of visiting teams, the smallpox epidemic and only two revenue producing grounds.

Of the expenditure, of which officials were extremely conscious, £58.2s ($116.24) was for expenses in sending the NSW team to Queensland.

By 1914 the league was happy that besides Erskineville Oval, they had secured Hampden Oval for the 1914 season which would do away with having to play games on the unfenced Moore Park.

Before the start of the season the NSW Rugby League were to consider a proposal to meeting with Australian Football officials regarding the sharing of grounds.

All but the grand final was played at the Australian Football Ground in 1914, which is a very puzzling situation. It and the reserve grade grand final, although played on separate dates, were played on Erskineville Oval. The gate takings for the reserves grand final, less the gateman's fee, were donated to the Patriotic Fund (World War I had already commenced) after use of the ground had been given free of charge by it’s trustees.

Mr Phelan's writings continue: And so high hope was centred on the 1914 season. The Australian Football Ground had received its playing baptism. It was acclaimed by all who had played on it as the best football ground in Australina. Enthusiasts were agog. Would the Carnival games be played on the ground? Cold reasoning however, pointed to the then poor facilities for transport of anticipated corwds that would flock to see the game.

Eventually it was decided to hold the carnival games on the SCG. The carnival was due to open on August the 6th. On August 4, when all the state teams were assembled at the Australian Football Ground for the purpose of distance contests at the carnival games, the news was flashed by cable that England had declared war against Germany. Fate had stepped in and dealt a cruel blow. Had England's declaration of war been made a few weeks earlier or later, all might have been well as regards the continuity of ownership of the Australian Football Ground by the NSW Football League.

The financial loss from the carnival was irreparable, and in due course the league trustees tendered their resignations. That step resulted in the Australian Football Ground passing into the hands of Sir Hugh Denison who had generously relieved his co-trustees of their financial obligations in connection with the ground.

At the 1915 Annual Meeting of the League it was decided to dispose of the Australian Football Ground, on which there was a debt of ₤9,000. A E Nash, J J O'Mearer and J J Jagelman resigned as president, treasurer and commissioner for disputes and the entire trustees also submitted their resignations.

8 THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL GROUND The Game's missed Opportunity in Sydney The league was decimated with so many players signing on in the army. For example and probably worst effected, the South Sydney Club retain only four players from their premiership team of 1915. Some though pursued other interests.

And later Mr Phelan wrote: With the advent of the 1915 season, a small body of enthusiasts met in the Sports Club, Sydney. Mr H.C. Harte, eventually decided to carry on. The principal executive officers appointed were Mesrs. E.W. Butler - President, H.C. Harte - Treasurer and Mr J.E. Phelan - Secretary.

With the flower of our football talent overseas, and death's cloud resting heavy and black of the homes and in the hearts of the people the outlook was a dark one, but due to splendid co-operation on the part of everybody concerned the league successfully weathered the storm and at the end of the war period had reached a state of comparative affluence by its own efforts, as the Australian Football Council was not functioning and the propaganda amount received from that source amounted to but forty pounds from 1915- 19.

During a part of the war period the ground was tenanted by a gun club for pigeon shooting purposes and the once beautiful grand stand became almost a wreck. In 1922 the late Mr Con. Hickey, who was a great admirer of the ground as a playing area, and who also visualised its future possibilities, had an earnest talk with myself over the position. After a lengthy debate at the Australian Football Council held in 1922 a motion, "That all profits made at Carnival games be held in trust by the Council to finance Carnivals in which losses may occur, or to acquire ownership of playing grounds" was carried on the casting vote of the chairman, the late Mr Charles Brownlow. That was encouraging to Mr Hickey and myself.

On my return to Sydney I secured an interview with Sir Hugh Denison and subsequently, on March 19, 1923, he wrote to me that he was agreeable to the offer I had submitted him for the use of the ground for that season with the option of purchase later on.

On March 23, the NSW League in its collective wisdom gave the proposition short shift. Looking back over the years, I cannot recall any decision of the NSW League that hurt me so much. I felt that the labour of years on behalf of the game in Sydney had been in vain; that vision had departed to be replaced by petty present-day considerations

In 1925 or 1926 the ground passed into the ownership of the YMCA Society at a figure which was well within the powers of the NSW League on the proposals submitted to me by Mr Hickey in 1922.

In 1927 or 1928 the YMCA Society sold the ground to a Dog Racing Company at a reputed figure of twenty three thousand pounds. It is now known as Shepherd's Bush. One may well quote Shakespeare and say, "none so poor as to do honour" to the sincere old time enthusiasts who put the Australian game before petty and personal considerations"..

And so passes into history the only occasion football in NSW ‘owned’ its own ground. [ENDS]

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