1910s - Williamstown Football Club

1910's

Season by Season Summaries

Season Summary: 1910

Season Summary: 1911

Year	President	Treasurer	Secretary	Assistant Secretary
1910	Lou Benness	W.J. Canning	Arthur Johnson snr	Harry Roberts
1911	Arthur Johnson snr	R.A. Sharp	W.H. O'Rourke	Gordon Salvas
1912	A. Buckley/ John Anthony Dennis	R.D. Hayes	Arthur Johnson snr	Billy Barnes
1913	John Anthony Dennis	R.D. Hayes	Arthur Johnson snr	Billy Barnes
1914	Frank Finegan	Charles Ernest Tabley	Arthur J. Prideaux	Billy Barnes
1915	Frank Finegan	Charles Ernest Tabley	Arthur J. Prideaux	Billy Barnes
1916	WWI Recess	WWI Recess	Arthur J. Prideaux	WWI Recess
1917	WWI Recess	WWI Recess	Arthur J. Prideaux	WWI Recess
1918	Frank Finegan		Arthur J. Prideaux	Jim Challis
1919	John Anthony Dennis	Charles Ernest Tabley	Tom Spencer	George Musicka

Year	Coach	Captain	Vice-Captain	Leading Goalkicker
1910	Edward Rourke	Edward Rourke	Alick McKenzie	Jimmy Matthews (30)
1911	Ted Alley	Ted Alley/Bert Amy	Bert Reitman	Bert Amy (15)
1912	George 'Jack' Angus	George 'Jack' Angus/Bert Reitman	Bert Reitman	Bert Amy (18)
1913	Bert Reitman	Bert Reitman	Bert Amy	Leslie Coward (25)
1914	Alex 'Joker' Hall	Bert Reitman	Norm Busbridge/Tom O'Halloran	Len Elliott (22)
1915	Alex 'Joker' Hall	Ted Alley	Bobby Gibbs jnr	Stan Mitchell (16)
1916	WWI Recess	WWI Recess	WWI Recess	WWI Recess
1917	WWI Recess	WWI Recess	WWI Recess	WWI Recess
1918	WWI Recess	WWI Recess	WWI Recess	WWI Recess
1919	Alex 'Joker' Hall	Bert Amy	Bobby Gibbs jnr	Bert Amy (16)

The Williamstown team of 1910, the only season in the Club's history that a WFC monogram appeared on the guernsey. The side was captain-coached by Edward 'Copper' Rourke, a former West Melbourne and Prahran captain, who is seated in the middle of the front row. 1907 premiership defender, Bert Reitman, is seated to the left of Rourke.

Williamstown players of 1910, from top left clockwise:

George 'Coon' Bennett : played 13 games and kicked 1 goal in 1910 after joining from Essendon Association. Bennett later served in World War I.

Edward 'Copper' Rourke : captain-coach 1910 in his only season with Williamstown, playing 18 games and kicking 3 goals. He had earlier played 4 games with Collingwood in 1894 after being recruited from Collingwood Imperials, before continuing on with West Melbourne (1902-07) and Prahran (1908-09). He captained both of those clubs. Rourke was unsuccessful and was not reappointed in 1911 after the team dropped to seventh place on the ladder with just eight wins from its 18 home-and-away games. This continued the slide from premiers in 1907 to third in 1908 and fifth in 1909. Rourke's selection as captain-coach was an interesting one as the former West Melbourne captain transferred to Prahran when West disbanded and was captain of the Two Blues in 1908-09 before he was one of four players sacked after an unsatisfactory performance in the 1909 second semi-final against Brunswick. Rumours circulated that the players accepted money to 'play dead' although the VFA didn't have an investigation and the Association was comfortable enough to grant the quartet permits to play elsewhere. Two of the other Prahran players, Bill Bennion and Jack Julian also joined 'Town, although the former had played previously with the Villagers but he was at Port Melbourne by round 10 after being told his services were no longer required once again. Rourke crossed to Northcote in 1911 and was appointed captain there also after the original skipper, Alf Beck, resigned after the opening game. He then moved on to the newly-created team, Melbourne City, in 1912.

Alfe Weidner : played 42 games and kicked 3 goals for Williamstown from 1909-11 after being recruited from Warragul.

Les Gell : played 4 games and kicked 2 goals for Williamstown in 1909. He had played 6 games and kicked 5 goals with Geelong in 1908.

Jack Julian : played 16 games in 1910 after being recruited from Prahran, along with Edward 'Copper' Rourke and Bill Bennion, who were all sacked by the Two Blues after an unsatisfactory performance in the 1909 second semi-final against Brunswick. See the notes on Rourke for further details.

Bill Bennion : played 5 games and kicked 2 goals in 1910 after being recruited from Prahran, along with Edward 'Copper' Rourke and Jack Julian, who were all sacked by the Two Blues after an unsatisfactory performance in the 1909 second semi-final against Brunswick. See the notes on Rourke for further details. He was at Port Melbourne by round 10 after being informed by the committee in late June that his services were no longer required. He had played previously with Geelong West, Geelong (1901-04, 46 games 6 goals) and then Richmond (1905-07) before Prahran (1908-09).

Williamstown players of 1910, from top left clockwise:

Bert Reitman : played 126 games and kicked 10 goals between 1907-14, after being recruited from Collingwood. He was vice-captain in 1911, captain for part of 1912, captain-coach in 1913 and captain in 1914. He was a member of Williamstown's first premiership team in 1907, and had two sons, Ron and Keith Reitman, who both played senior football with 'Town and were members of the Seconds premiership team of 1948. Keith was also president of the Seconds in 1966/67.

Gordon Salvas : played 7 games and kicked 2 goals after being recruited from Pt Nepean in 1910. He was assistant secretary in 1911 and was the father of Lou Salvas, who played 103 games and kicked 112 goals from 1941-51 after being recruited from Auburn, including the 1949 premiership and the 1948 grand final, when he was vice-captain. He joined the army in 1941 and played 5 games with Hawthorn in 1943 during the war recess. He was also a runner and made the semi-finals of the Stawell Gift in 1947.

Les Joy : played 34 games and kicked just one goal from 1909-11. Joy was a wingman recruited from Camberwell.

Jimmy Matthews : played 81 games and kicked 134 goals from 1903-13. He played for St Kilda in 1907, appearing in 12 games and kicking 18 goals. He kicked 46 goals in 1906 to lead the Club goalkicking and was runner-up in the Association goalscoring, and led the Club goalkicking again in 1910 with a total of 30. He played first-class cricket for Victoria from 1906-15 and appeared in 8 Test matches for Australia and is the only player to take two hat-tricks in a game against South Africa in 1912. He served in World War I and became the curator of the Williamstown ground after his retirement from playing.

The Williamstown team of 1912, pictured outside the original pavilion at the Pt Gellibrand ground, which was officially opened in December 1887. Pictured in the middle row holding the ball is the new captain-coach, George 'Jack' Angus, and on his right is vice-captain, Bert Reitman. The player on the far left of the middle row is Ted Alley and to his right is Jack MacDonald.

Reg Wallis joined Williamstown in 1912 and went on to play 57 games and kick 11 goals up until the end of 1915. He became captain-coach of Williamstown Juniors in 1916 during the war recess until suffering a bad leg injury in round 5 against Footscray Juniors and was replaced by the North Melbourne champion rover, Charlie Hardy. Wallis then went to Footscray in 1918. With pre-war teammate, Ted Alley, he then went to Hawthorn and played 35 games from 1919-21.

Long-serving defender, Bert Reitman, was appointed captain-coach for the 1913 season. Recruited from Collingwood during 1907, Reitman played in Williamstown's premiership team that season and retired after the 1914 season while still captain. He was immediately made a life member for his 8 years of service, and had two sons, Ron and Keith, who played seniors in the mid-1940's and were both in the 1948 Seconds premiership team.

Alex 'Joker' Hall was the Club's first non-playing coach when appointed in 1914. He also coached Williamstown in 1915 and again in 1919 after the recess for World War I. Hall had commenced playing with a team called Union Jack before he crossed to Essendon in the VFA from 1891-96, including the 'Don's four consecutive premierships from 1891-94. After a year away from the game in 1897, Hall returned to play with Essendon's VFL team from 1898-1900 before crossing to Preston, then playing in the Victorian Junior Football Association, for the 1901 season. He returned to Essendon in 1902 and then went back to Preston in 1903. He then played for Essendon Town in the VFA in 1904-05 before embarking on a lengthy coaching career, starting with St Kilda in 1906 where he played one game under the assumed identity of Wyberg. Hall then went to South Africa for several months before returning to coach Melbourne from 1907-09 and then Richmond in 1910. He then returned to Melbourne as coach for the 1911-13 seasons before coming to Williamstown in 1914. Hall later became the first coach of Hawthorn when they joined the VFL in 1925 and was later head trainer at South Melbourne just before World War II. He passed away suddenly on March 8, 1953, at his home in Warrandyte at the age of 84.

Harry Cox was a vice-president and trainer in 1914/15 before enlisting and seeing action in Egypt with the Expeditionary Forces, together with Bert McTaggart snr. McTaggart came to Williamstown from Werribee in 1911 and played until 1914, when he enlisted and sustained a wound to the shoulder and was hospitalised in Heliopolis, Egypt, in September 1915. After four years in the service, he returned to play one final season in 1919 with 'Town, finishing on 75 games and 43 goals. His son, Bert McTaggart jnr, played at centre half-forward in Williamstown's 1939 premiership team after being recruited from Williamstown District. He played 9 games for Carlton in 1940 and the first round of 1941 before returning to Williamstown and completing 36 games and kicking 32 goals for 'Town. He then went to Footscray from 1942-45, playing 59 games before embarking on a lengthy coaching career in Tasmania.

Williamstown Advertiser, August 7, 1915.

Former player, Arthur Edward 'Skelly' Caldwell, Private 4th Battalion Australian Infantry – played 84 games from 1902-10, including the Club's first premiership in 1907 and 8 games for St Kilda in 1909. Arthur died on active service in July 1915, aged 29. Born in Young NSW in February 1886, his family moved to Melbourne soon after. Arthur went to school at North Williamstown Primary School. His brother Jim Caldwell played 155 games with South Melbourne and was also in the Williamstown premiership team of 1907 as well as being captain-coach of 'Town's 1921 premiership team. An older brother, Bob, also played for Williamstown from 1895-1904 and was vice-captain in his final season. Arthur’s other brothers Thomas and Joseph also served overseas, Thomas winning a Military Medal for his bravery in action. On 26 July 1915 Arthur died as a result of wounds he had sustained at Gallipoli on 15 July. He had been transferred in a hospital ship to Malta. He is buried at Addolarata Cemetery in Malta.

23 people connected to the Williamstown Football Club had enlisted and served on the European front during World War I, the most of any of the VFA clubs. Of these, former players, Leslie Coward (leading goalkicked 1913) and 1907 premiership player, Arthur Caldwell (84 games, 1902-10), failed to return as did Les 'Leggo' Lee (12 games, 1915). An honour board was commisssioned by the Club to commemorate the sacrifice made by all those who volunteered. 38 players from Williamstown Juniors also enlisted.