If you're old enough to remember 1977, you may recall that Australia celebrated the centenary of the first cricket match between Australia and England at the MCG. It was a remarkable Centenary Test for a number of reasons. With Australia captained by Greg Chappell and England by Tony Grieg, David Hookes made his Test debut, Rick McCosker was struck in the jaw by Bob Willis in the first innings and famously reappeared all bandaged-up in the second to assist Rod Marsh to become the first Australian wicketkeeper to score a century against England, Derek Underwood took 3/16 in 11 overs, the magnificent Dennis Lillee took 6/26 in 13 overs, and the late Queen and Prince Philip attended.
The occasion was so celebrated that there was memorabilia galore, and three years later, another Centenary Test was held, this time in England at Lords.
The point of all this?
100 years ago today, Australia played its first football match against England at the 'Ekka' (Exhibition Ground) in Brisbane. It was the first of a five-match series played in Sydney, Melbourne and Maitland. We figure if we didn't tell you about it, who would?
Of course, we have a book about it too. The Coping Stone—the First English Soccer Tour of Australia 1925 written by Paul Nicholls is football history, but not as you know it. It's one that takes a bold and creative literary approach to events that happened but by animating it also. He gives us characters to care about, a context to understand and a mythology we can carry forward.
As Ian Syson said at last night's book launch:
"... (It is) writing that generates an uplifting truth about football's history and importance without being limited to factual details...His structure and pacing are precise. The book spends a lot of time recounting match facts but it never falls into tedium."
With a gun-toting hotel manager, a breakaway professional league, a mysterious robbery, and the ghosts of the Great War hovering in the background, The Coping Stone is a vivid and moving reimagining of how football in Australia fought for its future.
If you love history, football, sports history, Australian history, or just good storytelling, you will enjoy The Coping Stone. We promise!
By the way, The Coping Stone is our 75th book. We guarantee that if you read every one of the 28 books on Australian sports history we've published so far, you would be extraordinarily well-informed. Much, much more than some of the self-titled 'sports historians' we hear from!
The image we're sharing above (from the book beautifully designed by Leslie Priestley) is of the Sydney Town Hall in May 1925 at a reception for the visiting Englishmen.
Paul writes about it this way:
"In casual attire, the New South Wales players followed in single file behind captain James 'Judy' Masters down the central aisle of Sydney Town Hall. They could barely hear themselves think. This was rarefied air for these amateur footballers. On either side, grinning supporters stood and applauded. Above them in the galleries, people clapped and waved their hats, the sound reverberating around the walls. In front of them, the 9,000-pipe Grand Organ, one of the world’s largest, dominated a platform filled with a choir and musicians.
When the English team entered the hall, the audience could not contain themselves. It felt as if the roof might lift off the place. Resplendent in their dress suits, the athletic-looking English players were cheered all the way to the stage. No journalist present could remember such a boisterous welcome for an overseas sporting team.
When the applause died down, New South Wales governor Admiral Sir Dudley de Chair presented John Lewis with an Australian flag. The flag was donated by Samuel Hordern, with its pole fashioned from the timber of HMAS Australia.
Australia’s newest football zealot, Hugh McIntosh MLC, presided over the event and invited Lewis to say a few words. He was greeted with a standing ovation. Lewis was in his element: “I regard our game as the only true football,” (cheers); “Our sport is not just a British game but the world’s game,” (hear, hear); “We are not here merely as football pioneers, but Empire pioneers,” (hurrah!)."