FOOTBALL INCIDENTS. - THE GROUNDS MUDDLE. UMPIRES' TROUBLES. - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) - 6 Jul 1914 (original) (raw)

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Mon 6 Jul 1914 - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)
Page 8 - FOOTBALL INCIDENTS.

The representatives of the Victorian

Football League—Messrs. Charles Brown-

low (chairman), L. M. Thompson, A. A.

Manzie, W. R. Fleming, J. Gardiner, and

E. L. Wilson—met the delegates from the

Victorian Football Association (Messrs.

Cole Bentley, A. J. Woodham, J. A. Den-

nis, G. Johnston, W. J. Moulton, and T. J.

Evans) at the League rooms on Saturday

night, to discuss the muddle which has been

created by the Australasian Football Coun-

cil granting the use of the Melbourne

Cricket-ground to the New South Wales

Rugby League in August. The circum-

stances have been fully detailed in "The

Argus." The League representatives made

an offer of settlement, which the Association

people agreed to recommend to the full

Association at its meeting this evening.

The recommendation is:—"That this con-

ference agrees that the Victorian Football

Association shall play its semi-final

matches on August 8, one on the Melbourne

Cricket-ground, and the other on a ground

to be decided by the Victorian Football

Association, and that the final match of the

Victorian Football Association be played

on the Melbourne Cricket-ground on

August 22. This arrangement, as to August

22, to be subject to the approval of the Mel-

bourne Cricket Club, the Melbourne Foot-

ball Club, and the Richmond Football Club.

That it be a recommendation that the

prices of admission to all matches be-

Ground 1/. stand 1/ extra."

The position now is that the Victorian

Football Association has engaged the East

Melbourne and Carlton grounds for August

8. The Carlton authorities are, it is under-

stood, willing to cancel their agreement

with the Association, but the East Mel-

bourne Cricket Club committee is not so

complacent. Its members feel that the

Association must either use the ground and

pay the cricket club the percentage agreed

upon, or pay a sum equivalent to the esti-

mated proportion. The Association dele-

gates were anxious that, as they were to

stand down to oblige the League, the latter

should make the arrangements with the

cricket club. The East Melbourne people,

however, declined to discuss the matter

with the League. With regard to the

arrangement that the League will, "if pos-

sible" leave a free day for the Association

final next year, the League's suggestion is

that, "if possible," they will play the re-

turn match with South Australia in Ade-

laide each year. In view of the trouble that

the expression "if possible" has caused in

connection with the, arrangements in Syd-

ney and Melbourne, it seems strange that

these words are used again. Either the

League intends to leave a free day, or not.

If it does, it should say so, but not leave

the result to the mercy of "if possible."

It appears to be taken for granted that

an umpire once attacked by a crowd be-

comes a fair quarry for every other mob

whose side happens to be beaten in a match

in which the umpire officiates. A little

while ago C. Pritchard was hunted at Haw-

thorn by some Port Melbourne enthusiasts.

On Saturday they won a match at Prahran

in which Pritchard umpired, so generously

came to his aid when the angry Prahran

people were in quest of his blood. The um-

pire was not able at the moment to appre-

ciate the irony of the situation, because his

attention was otherwise absorbed. The cir-

cumstances were as usual. Up to half-time

Prahran seemed to be winning comfortably,

but after half-time Port Melbourne re-

vealed form which upset all early calcula-

tions. They overhauled and finally beat

Prahran by a point, and then the trouble,

as far as the umpire was concerned, began.

Some disappointed followers of Prahran,

including quite a remarkable proportion of

the "gentler" sex, waited for some twenty

minutes until the poor umpire had dressed,

and then rushed him in the usual wolfish

fashion. He was protected by police con-

stables, and a number of the Port Mel-

bourne people, whose, conscience perhaps

may have moved them to an unusual gene-

rosity. Once on the railway station Prit-

chard was safe, and took his baiting on the

whole calmly and coolly. Soon afterwards

the police were seen escorting some of the

hunters from the vicinity of the station,

but apparently no arrests were made, and

Since umpire-baiting seems to, have be-

come a fashionable habit in some of the

suburbs, a few points of interest are sug-

gested. It was found necessary in the

Prahran case to remove certain persons

from the vicinity of the railway station.

Were the police protecting the crowd in

this case against the wrath of the umpire?

If there was reason for removing them at

all, they must have been doing something

wrong, and if they were doing something

wrong, there was very urgent need for

doing something more than removing them.

On the moment that he left the Toorak

Park on Saturday Pritchard, even though

he be a football umpire, seemed to be en-

titled to the same rights and to the same

protection as any other peaceable citizen.

Would the police have permitted a crowd

to chase and threaten an unoffending citi-

zen who had not umpired in a football

match without taking action to punish the

offenders, either by arrest or by summons?

An interesting opportunity was distinctly

missed, because the appearance of a few

ladies as defendants in such eases would

have added interest and variety to proceed-

ing which are become somewhat monoton-

As the teams were leaving the field at

the conclusion of the Collingwood-Richmond

match on Saturday, a free fight occurred

among a section of the "barrackers." A

riot appeared imminent, and was only

checked by the action of a police-constable

in rushing to the spot and forcing his, way

into the crush. He took the name of a

young man, and this took the heart out of

During the half-time interval of the Carl-

ton-University match Professor Baldwin

Spencer, on behalf of the University club,

took occasion to thank R. L. Park, who is

retiring from the game for this season, for

his services to the team, laying particular

emphasis on his kindly consenting to play

that day in an emergency. Park, in his

reply, reiterated his determination that this

match should be his last this season. He

has been chosen as a member of the Aus-

tralian Eleven to visit South Africa, and also

has examination engagements at the end

In the Essendon v. Footscray match on

Saturday no one did more brilliant work

than M. Madden. Footscray supporters

realised this, and many of them cheered

him as he left the field. A few minutes

later he was passing a group of Footscray

lady supporters, and one cried. "Yah, Mad

Mick." Madden smiled, but a heap of

fine sand was beside him, and he picked

up a handful and threw it in the air. As

it fell the ladies screamed, and one declared

Madden had struck her. An excited male

Footscrayite called the police, who inquired

into the complaint. Madden meanwhile

had heard the allegation, and he at once

came from the pavilion, still in his uniform,

to face his accusers. The constable, how-

ever, soothed the ladies by saying, "Get

away home now; there's nothing wrong at

all. Your team has been beaten, and you

want to get even with Madden somehow."

In the laugh which followed the ladies were

shown out of a side gate and disappeared.

Middle Brighton, playing in the Federal

Association on Saturday, beat Heatherton

by 30 goals 40 behinds to nil. This is

The carnival team for Sydney, in which

so many of the League players' are keenly

interested, will not be selected until July

Geelong were deprived of the services of

Martini during the second quarter of the

match on the M.C.C. ground, owing to an

accidental knock. Several players made a

rush for the ball, and Allen, of Melbourne,

got it. Martini, who was just behind, with

another Melbourne man close by, was

"sandwiched" between the two. He was

carried off on a stretcher, and, after re-

ceiving attention, was able to take his place

Dowling, a West Adelaide rover, has

played in 169 consecutive League games of

football. On Saturday he was presented

with a gift by his club to mark the occa-

sion, which is believed to be a record for

During the second quarter of the match,

Pakenham v. Nar-nar-goon, on Saturday,

J. Cowell, captain of Pakenham, had his

thumb broken and dislocated; the bones

were sticking through the skin. Paken-

ham's former captain is still standing down,

as the result of a broken shoulder. This