The Leopold Football Club

[Aut Vincere Aut Mori]

I'm doing a bit of research into the Leopold Football Club. This Club was formed in 1889 in the Port Melbourne/South Melbourne area and survived until 1924 when it changed its name to the South Melbourne 2nd XVIII and should not be confused with the Club around the Geelong area. It originally played on the PMCG and then later on the SMCG from 1901. It was highly successful winning the Premiership in 1897 (South Suburban Junior FA), 1900, 1910, 1911, 1913 (Metropolitan Junior FA - the original name of the VAFA) and then played in the newly formed Victorian Junior League (the original name for the VFL 2nds/Reserves) from 1919 until 1924. The Club colours were Red & Blue.

1) Why were they called Leopold? was it after Prince Leopold - one of Queen Victoria's children or a long since delicensed hotel or something else??
2) What was their guernsey ? Stripes, hoops etc ???
3) They played against other teams like Beverley (Richmond based) and South St.Kilda. Why was Beverley called that name? South St.Kilda were highly successful winning the premiership in the MJFA in 1893, 1894, 1895, 1897 yet disbanded at the end of 1899. What happened to the Club to cause its demise.
4) I have found one picture of them on Trove but there must be other photos of them out there as they are mentioned in reports of their AGM.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

 

[Michael Riley]

There appears to be 2 team photos on the web and I seem to have two more but no idea where I got them from.

LOST IN THE SNOW ON THE AUSTRALIAN ALPS. (1910, October 20). Punch (Melbourne, Vic. : 1900 - 1918; 1925), p. 15. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175607563
LEOPOLD FOOTBALL TEAM: PREMIERS METROPOLITAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION. 1900. (Yeo[?] Photo., Royal Arcade, Mellourne.) (1900, October 6). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), p. 30. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article139156982

It would be hard to find the origin of the team name. Could be related to the Leopold Cricket club. They appear to have put on a combined social in 1893 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227693589

Other ideas are:
Leopold -Son of Queen Victoria
Leopold -King of Belgium
Leopold Street in South Yarra
Leopold Hall in Stokes street Port Melbourne
Leopold Terrace - Victoria Avenue South Melbourne

 

[Bandit55]

I'm doing a bit of research into the Leopold Football Club. This Club was formed in 1889 in the Port Melbourne/South Melbourne area and survived until 1924 when it changed its name to the South Melbourne 2nd XVIII and should not be confused with the Club around the Geelong area. It originally played on the PMCG and then later on the SMCG from 1901. It was highly successful winning the Premiership in 1897 (South Suburban Junior FA), 1900, 1910, 1911, 1913 (Metropolitan Junior FA - the original name of the VAFA) and then played in the newly formed Victorian Junior League (the original name for the VFL 2nds/Reserves) from 1919 until 1924. The Club colours were Red & Blue.

1) Why were they called Leopold? was it after Prince Leopold - one of Queen Victoria's children or a long since delicensed hotel or something else??
2) What was their guernsey ? Stripes, hoops etc ???
3) They played against other teams like Beverley (Richmond based) and South St.Kilda. Why was Beverley called that name? South St.Kilda were highly successful winning the premiership in the MJFA in 1893, 1894, 1895, 1897 yet disbanded at the end of 1899. What happened to the Club to cause its demise.
4) I have found one picture of them on Trove but there must be other photos of them out there as they are mentioned in reports of their AGM.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

I assumed the club was named after the Leopold Street which runs between Queens Road and St Kilda Road, but have no basis to it.

It played games at the Warehousemens Ground, now the Albert Cricket ground, as well.

An Albert Park resident Dr Robert Grogan would be the best person to ask if you can track him down. He's written books about the South Melbourne Cricket Club and the South Melbourne District (Football) Sports Club. i assume he would have come across information about the Leopold Club in the research for those books.

There's a heritage centre at the Emerald Hill Library https://heritage.portphillip.vic.gov.au/Heritage_Centre, they may be able to help.

 

[Michael Riley]

I believe this 1910 photo is from 'Sport '. A newspaper in the SLV Collection

 

[Aut Vincere Aut Mori]

There appears to be 2 team photos on the web and I seem to have two more but no idea where I got them from.

LOST IN THE SNOW ON THE AUSTRALIAN ALPS. (1910, October 20). Punch (Melbourne, Vic. : 1900 - 1918; 1925), p. 15. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175607563
LEOPOLD FOOTBALL TEAM: PREMIERS METROPOLITAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION. 1900. (Yeo[?] Photo., Royal Arcade, Mellourne.) (1900, October 6). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), p. 30. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article139156982

It would be hard to find the origin of the team name. Could be related to the Leopold Cricket club. They appear to have put on a combined social in 1893 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227693589

Other ideas are:
Leopold -Son of Queen Victoria
Leopold -King of Belgium
Leopold Street in South Yarra
Leopold Hall in Stokes street Port Melbourne
Leopold Terrace - Victoria Avenue South Melbourne

Thank you for the reply and the great photos. I have missed these on Trove.
Where did you get the one in the frame?

I think the Leopold Cricket Club and Football Club were essentially the same club. However, some of the football committee seems to have been on the PMCC committee and this enabled the Leopold Club to play football on the PMCG during winter. Eventually the Leopold Club lost their use of the ground to the Blenheim Club. Leopold are referred to as an Albert Park Club and players for away games always met at the Middle Park Railway Station. The Melbourne Football Club seems to have taken them under their wing in the period 1900 to 1910. The MCC controlled the Warehousemen's Ground (Albert Ground) and this enable Leopold to play their for a number of years. The MCC also recruited a number of Leopold players in this era and donated money to the Club. However, the SMFC seems to have then taken them on as one of a number of 'Junior' clubs. The others were South Juniors and South Melbourne Districts FC.

I always drove past Leopold Street just off Queens Road and thought that is where the name came from but there is a reference to Prince Leopold in one newspaper report. Other Club names in and around SM/PM in the period were Pembroke and Blenheim which were not geographically based.

The emphasis on VFL and VFA level football in this era ignores the other lower level leagues that flourished at the time.

 

[Michael Riley]

Thank you for the reply and the great photos. I have missed these on Trove.

The emphasis on VFL and VFA level football in this era ignores the other lower level leagues that flourished at the time.

Not sure about the framed on, possibly ebay or an Auction site years ago.

I agree that much more work needs to be done on lower grades of football, Country football and (for me), the VFA. These stories all tie the bigger picture together.

I have spent a lot of time lately on the 1877-1890 era, and it is hard to separate out the junior and senior teams, then the 1890s to 1920s see lots of diversity in the competitions, culminating in a crazy restructuring of things in the 1920s. Interesting stuff indeed.

 

[Michael Riley]

I found these from 'Sport' in the SLV collection

 

[Aut Vincere Aut Mori]

I found these from 'Sport' in the SLV collection

Michael, thankyou for those photos. They are terrific.



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