Research Missing VFA leading goalkickers

[Pedantic]

I was hoping some people here with their excellent Trove skills or access to books might be able to help with a few issues I had looking for VFA leading goalkickers:

- Who won the league goalkicking in 1898 and 1901? (1898 was a bit of a weird season with a quasi-finals but 1901 was normal)
- A first name for the "A. Christie" (also spelled Christey and Christy) from Geelong who was equal leading goalkicker in 1878?
- Was the Hugh McLean who won in 1882 for Geelong the same Hugh McLean who played cricket for Victoria in 1891/92 (seems unlikely but not impossible)?

The two missing winners from 1898 and 1901 are obviously the most interesting questions. Any assistance would be appreciated, my Trove-fu is weak.

 

[35Daicos]

I was hoping some people here with their excellent Trove skills or access to books might be able to help with a few issues I had looking for VFA leading goalkickers:

- Who won the league goalkicking in 1898 and 1901? (1898 was a bit of a weird season with a quasi-finals but 1901 was normal)
- A first name for the "A. Christie" (also spelled Christey and Christy) from Geelong who was equal leading goalkicker in 1878?
- Was the Hugh McLean who won in 1882 for Geelong the same Hugh McLean who played cricket for Victoria in 1891/92 (seems unlikely but not impossible)?

The two missing winners from 1898 and 1901 are obviously the most interesting questions. Any assistance would be appreciated, my Trove-fu is weak.

http://www.geelongcats.com.au/club/history/the-golden-era-18591896

This has Arthur Christey as a Geelong premiership player 1878-79.

 

[35Daicos]

I was hoping some people here with their excellent Trove skills or access to books might be able to help with a few issues I had looking for VFA leading goalkickers:

- Who won the league goalkicking in 1898 and 1901? (1898 was a bit of a weird season with a quasi-finals but 1901 was normal)
- Was the Hugh McLean who won in 1882 for Geelong the same Hugh McLean who played cricket for Victoria in 1891/92 (seems unlikely but not impossible)?

The two missing winners from 1898 and 1901 are obviously the most interesting questions. Any assistance would be appreciated, my Trove-fu is weak.

Looks like it! Born 1864 and died 1915 for the footballer and cricketer:-
http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/6775.html
http://gnet.geelongcollege.vic.edu.au:8080/wiki/McLEAN-Hugh-1864-1915.ashx

He played in the original Victorian Football Association (VFA) competition with the Geelong Football Club from 1882-1889, Melbourne in 1890 and Geelong again in 1892.

He played in the Geelong team for many years. Mr McLean was also a first-class cricketer, and was at one time a member of the University team.'

 

[35Daicos]

I was hoping some people here with their excellent Trove skills or access to books might be able to help with a few issues I had looking for VFA leading goalkickers:

- Who won the league goalkicking in 1898 and 1901? (1898 was a bit of a weird season with a quasi-finals but 1901 was normal)
- A first name for the "A. Christie" (also spelled Christey and Christy) from Geelong who was equal leading goalkicker in 1878?
- Was the Hugh McLean who won in 1882 for Geelong the same Hugh McLean who played cricket for Victoria in 1891/92 (seems unlikely but not impossible)?

The two missing winners from 1898 and 1901 are obviously the most interesting questions. Any assistance would be appreciated, my Trove-fu is weak.

I see the excellent Hard Ball Get site is missing this information as well. You've probably already noted that:- http://www.hardballget.net/missing-info.html

MISSING INFORMATION
VFA LEADING GOALKICKERS
The leading goalkicker of 1898 and 1901.

The goalscorers for those two seasons (game-by-game) can be found here:-

http://www.thegapchessclub.org.au/vfa/ww/1898.htm
http://www.thegapchessclub.org.au/vfa/ww/1901.htm

I don't know if anyone has gotten around to going through them all and seeing who came out on top of the goal tally for those years!

 

[Pedantic]

I see the excellent Hard Ball Get site is missing this information as well. You've probably already noted that:- http://www.hardballget.net/missing-info.html

MISSING INFORMATION
VFA LEADING GOALKICKERS
The leading goalkicker of 1898 and 1901.

The goalscorers for those two seasons (game-by-game) can be found here:-

http://www.thegapchessclub.org.au/vfa/ww/1898.htm
http://www.thegapchessclub.org.au/vfa/ww/1901.htm

I don't know if anyone has gotten around to going through them all and seeing who came out on top of the goal tally for those years!

Awesome, thanks so much!

I'd seen thegapchessclub site before but hadn't noticed the link to the full game-by-game results before. I'll try and tally them up at some point in the next few days and report back with my results unless someone saves me the trouble in the interim.

 

[35Daicos]

Awesome, thanks so much!

I'd seen thegapchessclub site before but hadn't noticed the link to the full game-by-game results before. I'll try and tally them up at some point in the next few days and report back with my results unless someone saves me the trouble in the interim.

It would obviously be nice if somebody had already done that! It's a very good site and hopefully you can find everything you need to provide the answer(s) there. I'll have a look on Trove to see if a leading goalkicker for the Association in those couple of years does get a mention, but no luck so far.

 

[Rainier Wolfcastle]

It would obviously be nice if somebody had already done that! It's a very good site and hopefully you can find everything you need to provide the answer(s) there. I'll have a look on Trove to see if a leading goalkicker for the Association in those couple of years does get a mention, but no luck so far.

Pedantic, 35Daicos - I've been working on these for ages but hadn't clicked "publish" yet, I'll print a full list later today at www.hardballget.net

Regarding the two missing seasons:

1898
Joe Sullivan (Port Melbourne) led with 26 (or 24 depending on a forfeited match)
Lou Daly (Port Melbourne) 20
Alf Elder (Richmond) 20

Sullivan was usually a defender and kicked very few goals in the rest of his career. But in 1898 he joined Port's gun goalkicker, Lou Daly up forward. Port Melbourne FC records have Sullivan finishing the season on 26 and Daly on 20 (and match by match research concurs).

His total of 26 includes 2 goals in the match against Richmond on Sept.3 which was eventually forfeited when all but 7 of the Tigers refused to play the second half and the remaining 7 called it quits at 3/4 time (Daly did not score in that match giving him 20 overall).

1901
Jack Hutchinson (Port Melbourne) 26
Charles 'Bones' Clements (Brunswick) 25
Dave Decoit/Decoite (Footscray) 24
Staniland (Williamstown) 24* - his tally in the final game (Aug.31 vs Brunswick) is yet to be confirmed

-------------------

The game-by-game results at thegapchessclub are missing goalkickers for a number of games in these two seasons (I was missing the same ones after originally using the same sources on Trove). By going through non-Trove sources on microfilm at the State Library I've been able to piece together the seasons.

There are a surprisingly large number of discrepancies in the VFA leading goalkickers found online and in print - even as late as 1997 a typo on the old fullpointsfooty site had Shayne Smith with 107 goals and this has spread across all online sources. He actually kicked 106.

Full details to follow when I get home from work later today...

 

[WhiteHartLane23]

I was hoping some people here with their excellent Trove skills or access to books might be able to help with a few issues I had looking for VFA leading goalkickers:

- Who won the league goalkicking in 1898 and 1901? (1898 was a bit of a weird season with a quasi-finals but 1901 was normal)
- A first name for the "A. Christie" (also spelled Christey and Christy) from Geelong who was equal leading goalkicker in 1878?
- Was the Hugh McLean who won in 1882 for Geelong the same Hugh McLean who played cricket for Victoria in 1891/92 (seems unlikely but not impossible)?

The two missing winners from 1898 and 1901 are obviously the most interesting questions. Any assistance would be appreciated, my Trove-fu is weak.

I've looked in detail at 1901 and my research suggests leading goalkicker was Jack Hutchison (Port Melb) with 25
There are however several players on 24 and not all games have goalkickers recorded.
Players scoring over 20 goals (see attached spreadsheet) were:
25 Jack Hutchison (PM)
24 Herbert Landells (Brunswick)
24 Dave De Coite (Footscray)
24 Ted Staniland (Williamstown)
21 Charles Clements (Brunswick)

 

[WhiteHartLane23]

Pedantic, 35Daicos - I've been working on these for ages but hadn't clicked "publish" yet, I'll print a full list later today at www.hardballget.net
... By going through non-Trove sources on microfilm at the State Library I've been able to piece together the seasons.
Full details to follow when I get home from work later today...

Clearly you've gone the extra mile on this one - glad my spreadsheet is at least close to yours!

 

[Rainier Wolfcastle]

Pedantic 35Daicos WhiteHartLane23 Gibbsy

It's pretty rough-looking for the moment but it's finally live - all of the VFA-VFL leading goalkickers 1877-today are listed along with both their H&A totals AND season totals...

http://www.hardballget.net/vfa-goalkickers.html

You'll note there are some absolute head-scratchers in the various online sources such as wikipedia, etc courtesy of a couple of stats books that were published in '82 and '89 (to be fair, Trove wasn't even imaginable back then and the author of those books did a bloody good job compiling as much as he did from the available sources such as microfilm, newspaper archives, etc).

The one that really blows me away is 1903 - Jack Hutchison is commonly listed as joint leading goalkicker with Bert Ryan but Hutchison didn't play that year (either he was injured or he sat out the year to break his contract and force a transfer from Port Melbourne to Richmond).

Anyway - enjoy and I'll give you a heads-up when I get a chance to tidy that webpage up and add more info!

Easty

 

[35Daicos]

Pedantic 35Daicos WhiteHartLane23 Gibbsy

It's pretty rough-looking for the moment but it's finally live - all of the VFA-VFL leading goalkickers 1877-today are listed along with both their H&A totals AND season totals...

http://www.hardballget.net/vfa-goalkickers.html

You'll note there are some absolute head-scratchers in the various online sources such as wikipedia, etc courtesy of a couple of stats books that were published in '82 and '89 (to be fair, Trove wasn't even imaginable back then and the author of those books did a bloody good job compiling as much as he did from the available sources such as microfilm, newspaper archives, etc).

The one that really blows me away is 1903 - Jack Hutchison is commonly listed as joint leading goalkicker with Bert Ryan but Hutchison didn't play that year (either he was injured or he sat out the year to break his contract and force a transfer from Port Melbourne to Richmond).

Anyway - enjoy and I'll give you a heads-up when I get a chance to tidy that webpage up and add more info!

Easty

Great effort!

 

[Pedantic]

Pedantic 35Daicos WhiteHartLane23 Gibbsy

It's pretty rough-looking for the moment but it's finally live - all of the VFA-VFL leading goalkickers 1877-today are listed along with both their H&A totals AND season totals...

http://www.hardballget.net/vfa-goalkickers.html

You'll note there are some absolute head-scratchers in the various online sources such as wikipedia, etc courtesy of a couple of stats books that were published in '82 and '89 (to be fair, Trove wasn't even imaginable back then and the author of those books did a bloody good job compiling as much as he did from the available sources such as microfilm, newspaper archives, etc).

The one that really blows me away is 1903 - Jack Hutchison is commonly listed as joint leading goalkicker with Bert Ryan but Hutchison didn't play that year (either he was injured or he sat out the year to break his contract and force a transfer from Port Melbourne to Richmond).

Anyway - enjoy and I'll give you a heads-up when I get a chance to tidy that webpage up and add more info!

Easty

Awesome work! More than I could have hoped for when starting this thread haha. Fascinating how some of those errors trickle down through the years.

 

[rbartlett]

Pedantic, 35Daicos -

1898
Joe Sullivan (Port Melbourne) led with 26 (or 24 depending on a forfeited match)
Lou Daly (Port Melbourne) 20
Alf Elder (Richmond) 20

Fyi, our records show Alf Elder on 20 goals for Richmond for this year.

 

[rbartlett]

Pedantic 35Daicos WhiteHartLane23 Gibbsy

The one that really blows me away is 1903 - Jack Hutchison is commonly listed as joint leading goalkicker with Bert Ryan but Hutchison didn't play that year (either he was injured or he sat out the year to break his contract and force a transfer from Port Melbourne to Richmond).

Easty

FYI Our records show Jack Hutchinson actually played the pre season games of 1903 for Richmond - 13/4 , 18/4, 25/4, 27/4
But did not play any regular season games for us that year

 

[Harry Hook]

I haven't checked against the spreadsheets but this is the full 1898 Footscray list from the Independent of 17 September 1898

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article73248838

 

[Harry Hook]

I have a query about Joe Sullivan.

Is his name Joe Sullivan or Joe O'Sullivan?

This report of the Port Melbourne Standard of 22 April 1899

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165312583

says Port Melbourne would be missing Joe O'Sullivan in 1899 who had gone to Rutherglen

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165312583

which may be consistent with this Joe O'Sullivan of South Ports Cricket Club in the Standard of 7 January 1899

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165318918

which given that the Standard is a local newspaper, you'd presume they'd get it right.

When he did go to Rutherglen I cannot be sure because this match report of the Standard of 22 April 1899

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165312584

identifies Joe O'Sullivan as scoring for Port.

I'm not even sure his first name was Joe as 1910 Standard reports refer to a "Joe" ( ie his his preferred name not his real name) O'Sullivan
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164952305
That we are possibly talking about the same man is adverted to ( I won't say confirmed) by the Wikipedia reference to Joe Sullivan of Carlton which says he'd played for Port Melbourne AND Rutherglen before playing for Carlton between 1900- 1903 being the leading goalscorer there for 2 of his 3 years but intriguingly Wikipedia does not give a date of death.

I can't find a date of death for him anywhere.

Blueseum has him going to Boulder City in the Kalgoorlie league in 1903 as well as previously playing for Collingwood in the VFA and Collingwood Imperials.

Collingwood Forever has him debuting in 1895 playing 5 games there but does not refer to his Port Melbourne service. He was also stated to have been recruited from Collingwood Imperials. Collingwood Imperial Football Club was existing at least as early as 1893.

Though I can only see him a Sullivan from Carlton being granted a clearance in 1904 - not necessarily to Boulder

West Australian 11 May 1904 -
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25088058


But this report of the Standard of 27 May 1905 again has a "Joe" O'Sullivan formerly a crack forward for Carlton playing for Port in 1905.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164441869

And this line up in the Standard lists OSullivan starting at CHF in 1905 ( as do numerous other reports)

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164439914

1906 reports have a Sullivan starting in centre for Port

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164439606

But interestingly this letter to the editor in the Standard in 1906 about "shamateurism"

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164440343
refers to O'Sullivan.


A J Sullivan was certainly cleared from Port to Carlton on 1900

Argus 26 April 1900
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9057522

So as far as I can track his records it went something like this:

Collingwood Imperils - From ???? to 1894
Collingwood - From 1895 to ??????
Port Melbourne - From ????? to 1898
Rutherglen - From ?????? to 1899
Carton - 1900 to 1903
WA ( presumably Boulder) 1904
Port Melbourne - 1905 ( which if he was born in 1877 makes him 28) - ????

It may be that he was alive as of 1933 given this lineup for a veteran's game

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article181741529

Indeed this player appears to be the same as the Carlton player of 1904. Cf the Sportsman of 19 August 1933

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article181740315


where it was said that he last played in 1904 for Carlton and as at 1933 resided in Port Melbourne and referred to him only as "Joe" Sullivan.

But the question remains was his name Sullivan or O'Sullivan.


I'd normally consider with some cynicism the press reports but the Standard was a good local paper for Port players ( almost as good as the Record for South Melbourne players) and there is the issue about DoB and DOD.

 

[Rainier Wolfcastle]

That's a heck of a lot of research there, Harry - interesting stuff!

There were actually two Joe Sullivans that played for Port Melbourne in their early years. The first played in their inaugural VFA season (1886) and Port's historian, Terry Keenan has him as the 19th senior player to represent the club, playing 22 career games:



Mark Pennings (Vol.3, p.152) credits that Sullivan with 13 to 21 games in 1886 and has no mention of him for 1887 (Vol.3, p.232).

---------------------------

The second Joe Sullivan debuted for Port in 1896. PMFC records list him as their 179th senior player and credit him with 36 games:



Pennings (Vol.4, p.446) has Sullivan Mk.2 making his senior debut with Collingwood in 1895 (recruited from Collingwood Imperial, 5 games, 4 goals) then moving to Port Melbourne in 1896 (Vol.4, p.510) for 17 games, 0 goals.

I'm not sure how many games Sullivan played in 1897 but the extensive goalkickers list in Table Talk (Aug.27, 1897, p.16) has all VFA goalkickers from 3 goals up and he's not on it.

1898 he moved up forward and stole Daly's crown, leading the comp with 26 (or 24 if the forfeited match goals are not included).

The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers lists him as Joe Sullivan, playing for Carlton 1900-03 (54 games, 63 goals) - "A forward who was sometimes an erratic kick for goal. He represented Victoria in 1903 and moved to Perth a year later."

He then returned to Port in 1905-06.

Based on all of the above the only source that refers to him as O'Sullivan is The Standard.

 

[Rainier Wolfcastle]

FYI Our records show Jack Hutchinson actually played the pre season games of 1903 for Richmond - 13/4 , 18/4, 25/4, 27/4
But did not play any regular season games for us that year

Big thanks for this info, Rhett. It will be interesting to find out exactly what Hutchison was doing that season. The search continues...

 

[Harry Hook]

That's a heck of a lot of research there, Harry - interesting stuff!

There were actually two Joe Sullivans that played for Port Melbourne in their early years. The first played in their inaugural VFA season (1886) and Port's historian, Terry Keenan has him as the 19th senior player to represent the club, playing 22 career games:

View attachment 434566

Mark Pennings (Vol.3, p.152) credits that Sullivan with 13 to 21 games in 1886 and has no mention of him for 1887 (Vol.3, p.232).

---------------------------

The second Joe Sullivan debuted for Port in 1896. PMFC records list him as their 179th senior player and credit him with 36 games:

View attachment 434572

Pennings (Vol.4, p.446) has Sullivan Mk.2 making his senior debut with Collingwood in 1895 (recruited from Collingwood Imperial, 5 games, 4 goals) then moving to Port Melbourne in 1896 (Vol.4, p.510) for 17 games, 0 goals.

I'm not sure how many games Sullivan played in 1897 but the extensive goalkickers list in Table Talk (Aug.27, 1897, p.16) has all VFA goalkickers from 3 goals up and he's not on it.

1898 he moved up forward and stole Daly's crown, leading the comp with 26 (or 24 if the forfeited match goals are not included).

The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers lists him as Joe Sullivan, playing for Carlton 1900-03 (54 games, 63 goals) - "A forward who was sometimes an erratic kick for goal. He represented Victoria in 1903 and moved to Perth a year later."

He then returned to Port in 1905-06.

Based on all of the above the only source that refers to him as O'Sullivan is The Standard.

A lot of which confirms my research without Pennington's book.

But five points to note about the contemporary sources ( and I know a little about the newspapers of the time):

(1)When contemporary sources use "joe" instead of Joe what they usually mean is his name was James, Jonathon or even Rex but may be not Joseph. Numerous of the contemporary sources plus the 1933 Sporting Globe reference refer to him "Joe" not Joe;

(2) Port Melbourne Standard is very reliable as a primary source for that time ( I remember trying to track down Jack Maine in the Jack Maine\Jack Main in the Accuracy thread who played for Port and the Standard from memory was one of the few papers of the time to imo properly refer to Jack Main as Jack Maine). I'll try to find the reference for you (late edit it is post 959 of the Inaccuracy thread). They knew the players;

(3) that letter to the editor is crucial evidence imo. Match reports from team lineups can be just magnification of an initial error but when one writes a letter to editor and uses a name, it is a slightly more personal band of of contemporary evidence;

(4) for a Collingwood player, ex Carlton captain and leading goalscorer and leading forward for Carlton ( leave aside the Port Melbourne part of his career) we know precious little about his life after football in particular, when he apparently died. Blueseum who have excellent researchers use a lot of ???? in their references to him and a lot of people seem to have just accepted he was Joe Sullivan born in Collingwood in 1877.

(5) Blueseum, Collingwood Forever etc have used the birthdate of a Joseph Sullivan who was apparently born on 1 February 1877 ( as if they were searching for a Joseph Russell who was born around that time). now the maths comes into play. We don't know when a Joe Sullivan started for Collingwood Imperials before going to Collingwood. If it was 1893 that makes sullivan's career between the ages 16 to about 28 and starting at Collingwood Imperials at age 16. If if it's 1894, then he's 17 and his age bracket is between 17-29. But also assuming that date to be correct, we also know Sullivan as being listed to played in the old timers game in 1933 ( making him then 55 or 56).

Something doesn't ring me about this bloke whether it's the use of "Joe" or the lack of DoD but we can say that he apparently was alive in 1933 and then living in Port Melbourne so our geneologists should make short work of it either way.

 

[Harry Hook]

As for Hutchison, this report of 1931 suggests he later played for Footscray but was primarily a Port player

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article182546416

 

[Rainier Wolfcastle]

A lot of which confirms my research without Pennington's book.

But five points to note about the contemporary sources ( and I know a little about the newspapers of the time):

(1)When contemporary sources use "joe" instead of Joe what they usually mean is his name was James, Jonathon or even Rex but may be not Joseph. Numerous of the contemporary sources plus the 1933 Sporting Globe reference refer to him "Joe" not Joe;

(2) Port Melbourne Standard is very reliable as a primary source for that time ( I remember trying to track down Jack Maine in the Jack Maine\Jack Main in the Accuracy thread who played for Port and the Standard from memory was one of the few papers of the time to imo properly refer to Jack Main as Jack Maine). I'll try to find the reference for you (late edit it is post 959 of the Inaccuracy thread). They knew the players;

(3) that letter to the editor is crucial evidence imo. Match reports from team lineups can be just magnification of an initial error but when one writes a letter to editor and uses a name, it is a slightly more personal band of of contemporary evidence;

(4) for a Collingwood player, ex Carlton captain and leading goalscorer and leading forward for Carlton ( leave aside the Port Melbourne part of his career) we know precious little about his life after football in particular, when he apparently died. Blueseum who have excellent researchers use a lot of ???? in their references to him and a lot of people seem to have just accepted he was Joe Sullivan born in Collingwood in 1877.

(5) Blueseum, Collingwood Forever etc have used the birthdate of a Joseph Sullivan who was apparently born on 1 February 1877 ( as if they were searching for a Joseph Russell who was born around that time). now the maths comes into play. We don't know when a Joe Sullivan started for Collingwood Imperials before going to Collingwood. If it was 1893 that makes sullivan's career between the ages 16 to about 28 and starting at Collingwood Imperials at age 16. If if it's 1894, then he's 17 and his age bracket is between 17-29. But also assuming that date to be correct, we also know Sullivan as being listed to played in the old timers game in 1933 ( making him then 55 or 56).

Something doesn't ring me about this bloke whether it's the use of "Joe" or the lack of DoD but we can say that he apparently was alive in 1933 and then living in Port Melbourne so our geneologists should make short work of it either way.

Harry, the genealogical side of historical research is not my passion but those here among us who enjoy that side of history do remarkable work and should be able to carve out more info easily enough. So I'll leave the research into the origins of Sullivan/O'Sullivan with you and our resident genealogists and push on in other areas yet TBD.

However, if he does turn out to be O'Sullivan let me know so I can update the VFA Leading Goalkickers list. Be sure to detail it in the Inaccuracies thread as well.

 

[Harry Hook]

Harry, the genealogical side of historical research is not my passion but those here among us who enjoy that side of history do remarkable work and should be able to carve out more info easily enough. So I'll leave the research into the origins of Sullivan/O'Sullivan with you and our resident genealogists and push on in other areas yet TBD.

However, if he does turn out to be O'Sullivan let me know so I can update the VFA Leading Goalkickers list. Be sure to detail it in the Inaccuracies thread as well.

Actually your research cuts across a number of threads, as do many of the threads on this board. It cuts across the AFL date of birth thread as well as historical inaccuracy thread.

 

[Rainier Wolfcastle]

As for Hutchison, this report of 1931 suggests he later played for Footscray but was primarily a Port player

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article182546416

If you refer to season 1908 of the tables he was the VFA's leading goalkicker in his first season at Footscray... http://www.hardballget.net/vfa-goalkickers.html

Hutchinson headed back to Port Melbourne mid-1909 after a pay dispute with the Bulldogs.

He was one of the stars of that era but is now largely overlooked due to staying in the VFA rather than trying his luck in the VFL...

1899 - Port Melb. (12 goals)
1900 - Port Melb. (18)
1901 - Port Melb. (26) - likely VFA leader
1902 - Port Melb. (46) - VFA leader
1903 - DNP (played pre-season only for Richmond)
1904 - Richmond (40) - VFA 2nd
1905 - Richmond (29)* may have kicked more
1906 - Richmond (56) - VFA leader
1907 - Richmond (67) - VFA leader and new VFA season record
1908 - Footscray (68) - VFA leader and new VFA season record
1909 - Foot/Port (tbd)
1910 - Port Melb. (53) - VFA 2nd
1911 - Port Melb. (31)
1912 - Port Melb. (18)* may have kicked more

Kicked a couple of very big bags as well. A very solid career for that era in footy.

 

[worbod]

If you refer to season 1908 of the tables he was the VFA's leading goalkicker in his first season at Footscray... http://www.hardballget.net/vfa-goalkickers.html

Hutchinson headed back to Port Melbourne mid-1909 after a pay dispute with the Bulldogs.

He was one of the stars of that era but is now largely overlooked due to staying in the VFA rather than trying his luck in the VFL...

1899 - Port Melb. (12 goals)
1900 - Port Melb. (18)
1901 - Port Melb. (26) - likely VFA leader
1902 - Port Melb. (46) - VFA leader
1903 - DNP (played pre-season only for Richmond)
1904 - Richmond (40) - VFA 2nd
1905 - Richmond (29)* may have kicked more
1906 - Richmond (56) - VFA leader
1907 - Richmond (67) - VFA leader and new VFA season record
1908 - Footscray (68) - VFA leader and new VFA season record
1909 - Foot/Port (tbd)
1910 - Port Melb. (53) - VFA 2nd
1911 - Port Melb. (31)
1912 - Port Melb. (18)* may have kicked more

Kicked a couple of very big bags as well. A very solid career for that era in footy.

According to Footy Facts 1987-88, Hutchinson kicked 37 goals in 1905, behind teammate Dick Knell (44) and Les Mortimer of Williamstown (48).

 

[rbartlett]

According to Footy Facts 1987-88, Hutchinson kicked 37 goals in 1905, behind teammate Dick Knell (44) and Les Mortimer of Williamstown (48).

We've got Hutchinson as 45 goals in 1905, 1 behind Dick Knell with 46
https://tigerlandarchive.org/tiki-index.php?page=VFA+Leading+Goalkicker