Resource History Thread - Footscray Football Club and Western Bulldogs newspaper archive

[Philthy1]

I wonder if anyone has a copy of the team photo published in the Western Times from circa 1982 when Robert Groenewegen wasn’t quite fully dressed…

 

[Dogs 13]

An amazing 77 free kicks for the match. Just goes to show you can still win if you’re good enough even if you’re on the losing side of the count by an amazing 21 frees

 

[dogwatch]

Great research and collation of primary sources Vinegar Mess .

I enjoy these retrospectives, not just to relive some great moments but also to see how much the game, the administration, the media and the coverage have all changed.

Even for those who weren't born when KT bagged 15 it should be a fascinating insight into footy & club history.

 

[Vinegar Mess]

1954 – Semi Final
at Melbourne Cricket Ground [11 September 1954]

Geelong 8 - 14 - 62
Footscray 11 - 19 - 85


Variation on a theme: our path to the 1954 Grand Final.

Geelong had finished minor premiers in 1954 with a 13-5 win/loss record. The Dogs (11-1-6) took them on in a semi-final; in a twelve-team competition the winner of 2nd semi went directly through to the GF and the loser to the Prelim. The Cats exiting in straight sets is a bonus footnote.

Captain-coach Charlie Sutton had to bark instructions from the sidelines; he didn't get up for the game having been carrying an injury since early August (“pain and stiffness caused by torn tendons behind the knee” according the the Sun). When Sutton returned for the GF the player to miss selection was “nineteen-year-old carrot-topped” Lionel Ryan who was stretchered off with a knee injury in the second quarter of the semi.

I’ve been a little indulgent with the newspaper clippings from this match – it was easy to get carried away by the language of yesteryear. I’ve also sourced a couple of papers not readily available online – the Sporting Globe (both the Saturday evening and the mid-week editions) and the Footscray Advertiser.

If anyone wants higher resolution digital copies of these images – or any others I’ve posted in this thread – just message me.


Newspapers – The Sporting Globe [11 Sep 1954]

Front page



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Fun fact: Bont would have been the tallest player on the field for either side.

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Newspapers – The Sun News-Pictorial [13 Sep 1954]

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Photograph




Newspaper Reports – The Sporting Globe [15 Sep 1954]

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Statistics



Fluff piece




Newspapers – Footscray Advertiser [17 Sep 1954]

Back page



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