5 SOUVENIR SWFL PROGRAMME PREMIERSHIPS $2.00 ’’’’’56 64 67 78 96 SSELTON FOOTBALL BU C E L H U T 50 B YEARSOFTHEMAGPIE 1955 2004 50thAnniversaryReunion Saturday-SundayAugust21-22 2004 Vern, Peter & Greg Walsh Major Supporters of the Club and Sponsors of the Club’s Honour Board Telephone: 97254488 Facsimile: 97914077 Peter: 0418931946 Greg: 0408932946 SouthWesternHighway Bunbury6230WesternAustralia www.vvwalsh.com.au ProudSupportersoftheBusseltonFootballClub CounterMeals Mon-Wed: 12noon-2pm,6pm-8pm Thurs-Sat:12noon-2pm,6pm-8.30pm Sun: 6pm-8pm MARINE TERRACE, BUSSELTON PH: 9752 1078 FAX: 9754 1069 1 WELCOME A sincere welcome from the organising Committee to all the Past & Present Players, Officials and Members to our reunion to celebrate our 50 years in the South West Football League (SWFL). Following the amalgamation of Eastern & Western Districts to form the Busselton Football Club in 1955, and join the Bunbury Collie League as it was known then, with the headquarters at Churchill Park, where they remained until shifting to their new headquarters at BovellParkin1977,afarcryfromtheoriginaloldchangeroomsinthetowncentralblock. The oval gave us a distinct home ground advantage for those first 22 years when we played in 7 Grand Finals. Bovell has not proved quite as successful but with top grade facilities it has provedtobeabetterenvironmentforPlayersandMembers. The Club can be very proud of the number of footballers it has produced, who have gone on to makeanameforthemselvesatahigherlevelandI’msuretherewillbemoreinthefuture. We thank the President and Committee Members over the years, who have put in so much time and effort to ensure the Club is successful both on and off the field. They do not always get the accoladestheydeserveandintoday’ssocietyitisnotgoingtogetanyeasierinthefuture. I would like to thank the Committee for their assistance but it would be remiss of me not to single out Sharyn Newlands and Barry Cameron for their input and dedication to ensure this is a great reunion weekend. It has certainly been a pleasure to sit back and leave the majority of the organisingtothem. The other task that has caused a few headaches to Hutchy and his selectors is the ‘Team of the Century’. Undoubtedly this will cause some discussion and I hope all Players will realise what a difficulttaskitwasandtakeitintherightspirit. Welcome once again, enjoy the weekend and relive those great moments and camaraderie over the50yearsandI’msure“theolderweget,thebetterwewere”‘sayingwillprovequiteapt. MikeAdams,Chairman. 50thAnniversaryReunionCommittee. In2004wehadwonfivePresident’sAwardsforExcellence andanAustralianToyotaDealerOfTheYearAward ...Whoknowswhatwewillachieveinfutureyears! TOYOTA AUSTRALIAN DEALEROF LaurieSaltarini’s THEYEAR BUSSELTONTOYOTA TOYOTA PRESIDENT’S SellingandServicingToyotaCarsandCommercials AWARDFOR EXCELLENCE Phone(08)97521333Fax(08)97524036 78WestStreet,Busselton 2 PRESIDENT’SWELCOME The past 50 years of the Busselton Football Club would add to many hours of hard work, dedication and commitment. This would also mean a lot of people over the years being involved with the Club in some way. All these people are now part of the ‘History of the Club’. Many stories will be told and many games replayed, some I’m sure will be added to and a comparison will be made. This is what Reunions are all about. There have been many changes at the Busselton Football Club over the years. The light towers enabling football to be played at nighthavebeenagreatsuccess. One disappointment is the Club not being used as a full Sporting Club, with some of the bodies notusingthefacilitiesthatarethere.ThishasplacedafinancialburdenontheFootballClub. I cannot end without thanking Mike and his Committee for the many hours they have put into making our Reunion a success. So sit back, relax and enjoy the moment as we remember the yearsthatwere. RayDowell,President, BusseltonFootballClub2004. SOUTHWESTFOOTBALLLEAGUE The Busselton Football Club were foundation members of the SWFL in 1957 when the League was formed. In 1954 two teams from Busselton joined the Bunbury Collie League and a year later amalgamated to form the Busselton Football Club. Fifty years and the Busselton Football Club is a respected and valued Club in the SWFL. The Club has been an integral part of the SWFL history and has contributed in no small way to the successoftheSWFL. Busselton has been a loyal and strong contributor to the sixteen Country Championships won bytheLeague,andsince2000tothethreeColtstitles,theSWFLhaswon. The Club has been a successful on field team having won five League Premierships, five Reserves Premierships and a record breaking eight Colts Premierships. In addition to that the ClubhaswonsixClubChampionships(SwanShields). Busselton has had many champion players over the years and the Club have a great record of SWFL Fairest & Best Medallists. They have won five “Hayward” Medals, four “Times” Medals andthreeColtsMedals. Congratulations to the Committee who have organised the recognition and celebration of this greatmilestoneintheClub’shistory. TheSWFLcongratulatetheBusseltonFootballClubonthisveryspecialoccasion. K.J.Lynn,President, SouthWestFootballLeague. From this... ...to this BUSSELTON We’rewithyou forthelonghaul Congratulations forthelonghaul Magpies LOT2BUSSELLHIGHWAY POBOX472BUSSELTONWA6280 PHONE:(08)97521522FAX:(08)97521301 3 EASTPERTHFOOTBALLCLUB On behalf of the East Perth Football Club I would like to congratulate the Busselton Football Club on its excellent contribution it has made to Football, both in the South West National Football League and the Western Australian Football League, especially in regard to players whohaverepresentedtheRoyalsafterbeginningtheirfootballcareersatBusselton. Our Clubs have always had an excellent working relationship and we are sure that the bond that hasbeenestablishedwillcontinueintheyearstocome. May I wish the Busselton Football Club my heartiest congratulations on their 50th Anniversary andpastachievementsandextendthehopeoffurthersuccessinthefuture. Yoursfaithfully, AlexWilson, GeneralManager, EastPerthFootballClub. LeedervilleOval,VincentStreetPOBox447LeedervilleWA6903 Telephone0894432259Facsimile0894434552eastperthfc.com.au The East Perth Football Club congratulates the Busselton Football Club and thanks them for their cooperation over the years 4 EARLY1900’s BackRow:Curtis,JohnAbbeySnr.,GeorgeLaw,****,JohnAbbeyJnr.,H.Rose,JimDavis, AlfHutchins,NattyAbbeySnr. 3rdRow:TomAbbey,MervynDawson,DonDawson,****,****,****,F.Lightly,****,JackTroy,Finlayson, 2ndRow:PercyReynolds,CyrilSmith,G.Hadley,ChrisAbbey,JimBarker,NuggetAbbey,****. FrontRow:Brennan,NattyAbbeyJnr.,B.Jones(Umpire)ClaudeThompson,PaulKlaehn. JockAbbey’sfather,Nat,isinthefrontrowandhisgrandfatherisontheextremeright,backrow;whosetwinbrother Johnissecondfromleftbackrow. Leith&PercyAbbey’sfatherChrisisinthemiddleofthesecondrow. 5 ASIREMEMBERLOCALFOOTBALL (Inthe1920’sand30’s) There was an association consisting of Busselton Wanderers, Lumpers and Capel, some players coming in from Jarrahwood and Nannup. The game was controlled by a Committee formed from delegates from each Club. Eventually, the name Wanderers changed to Pastimes, and it came to a stage where this club became so strong they were winning all the games so easily that interest in the game was falling away and people weren’t going to watch, so somethinghadtobedone. A Public meeting was called for all those interested in the sport, including players. A decision was made to elect an independent Board of Control to run the Association This Board consisted of Mr. Neville - Commercial Hotel, Mr. R. Elliott - Esplanade Hotel, Mr. A. Maddison - Newtown Store (now Vasse), Mr. Cooper - a Carrier, and Captain Dodd, who was the Chairman of the Disputes Committee. All the Clubs were disbanded, names were put into a pool and new Clubs formed: Pastimes, Railways and Centrals. This might appear to have been a drastic move, but it soonprovedtobeagoodone,becausethegamebecameakeencontestonceagain. At this stage, another Club was formed, Newtown, and a new ground had been developed near the hall on five acres given to the residents by Mr Richard Gale. This ground was completely developedthrough'WorkingBees’withnofinancialassistancegivenfromanysource. Playing facilities during these years were pretty rough, water being the major problem, Many times I saw the chaps trying to do breast stroke in pools on the ground - how different playing conditionsaretoday. The game itself has changed tremendously over the years. Handball was a flick of the hand, not a punch, punching did not come in until the late 30’s. Most of the rules were the same as today. The style of the game is just so different, much, much faster with the flow-on game than it was in yesteryears. The drop punt has replaced the drop kick and a stab kick, which used to be a feature. A point worth making is that the game was played purely as an amateur sport, nobody being paid, and we even bought our own uniforms we played in. Training was mainly done at home, particularly from the Newtown point of view, as we were mostly farmers, although we did try to meetonceaweekforakick. It’sagrandoldgameandifIhadmyyearsoveragain,Iwouldstillplay. RobReading(Dec.) “Birchfields”Vasse. HOBSON’S __ OFQUEENSTREET __ FURNISHINGSl BEDDING l FLOORCOVERINGSl BLINDS MHISS OBS FINEFASHIONSl MANCHESTER l EVENINGWEAR _ QUEENSTREET,BUSSELTON PHONE97521546 6 BUSSELTONCARNIVALTEAM BackRow:H.Hughes,R.Rose,C.Williams(ViceCaptain),J.Guthrie,B.Turner,N.Rogers. MiddleRow:H.Falkingham,J.Bruce,C.Lowe,A.Biggs,J.Drummond,L.Lowe,H.Maslin,