1930's
Season by Season Summaries
|
Year |
President |
Treasurer |
Secretary |
Assistant Secretary |
|
1930 |
J.J. Liston |
Will Davis |
Harold Hosking |
Ron C. Stevenson |
|
1931 |
Jim Gray |
Will Davis |
Harold Hosking |
Len Wignall |
|
1932 |
Jim Gray |
Arch Rennie |
Harold Hosking |
|
|
1933 |
Jim Gray |
Jim Mathieson |
Arch Rennie |
Bob Jamieson |
|
1934 |
Jim Gray |
Jim Mathieson |
Dick Haxby |
Larry Floyd |
|
1935 |
Jim Gray |
Jim Mathieson |
Larry Floyd |
G.F. Meyer/Charles B. Ferguson |
|
1936 |
John Robert Bell |
Charles B. Ferguson |
Larry Floyd |
Jim Ward |
|
1937 |
John Robert Bell |
Jim McConville |
Larry Floyd |
F.S. Hester |
|
1938 |
Ernest W. Jackson |
Jim McConville |
Larry Floyd |
Jim Hopkins/George Rogers |
|
1939 |
Fred Harsley |
Jim McConville |
Larry Floyd |
George Rogers |
|
Year |
Coach |
Captain |
Vice-Captain |
|
1930 |
Jack O'Brien |
Jack O'Brien |
Arthur Sykes |
|
1931 |
Jim Shanahan/Gordon Helwig/Jim Toohey |
Jim Shanahan/Gordon Helwig/Ted Cahill |
Jim Shanahan/Jack Barnes |
|
1932 |
Jim Toohey |
Gordon Helwig/Jack Barnes |
Jack Barnes/Ted Cahill |
|
1933 |
Charlie Stanbridge |
Charlie Stanbridge |
Harold Johns/Ted Cahill |
|
1934 |
Ted Cahill |
Ted Cahill |
Jack Barnes |
|
1935 |
Fred Brooks |
Fred Brooks |
Reg Taylor |
|
1936 |
Neville Huggins |
Neville Huggins |
George Jerram |
|
1937 |
Neville Huggins |
Neville Huggins |
George Jerram |
|
1938 |
George Jerram |
George Jerram |
Neville Huggins/Arthur Cutting |
|
1939 |
Gordon Ogden |
Gordon Ogden |
Reg Thomas |
|
Year |
Best & Fairest |
Best & Fairest Runner-Up |
Best & Fairest Third Place |
Leading Goalkicker |
|
1930 |
Arthur Sykes |
Ted Cahill |
|
Jack O'Brien (50) |
|
1931 |
Arthur Sykes |
|
|
Jim 'Sandy' Sinclair (34) |
|
1932 |
Arthur Sykes |
|
|
Jim 'Sandy' Sinclair (30) |
|
1933 |
Charlie Stanbridge |
|
|
Bob Addison (23) |
|
1934 |
Ted Cahill |
|
|
Ted Cahill (47) |
|
1935 |
Fred Brooks |
|
Stan Lawler (60) |
|
|
1936 |
Neville Huggins |
Fred Brooks |
Jack Richardson |
Stan Lawler (49) |
|
1937 |
Neville Huggins |
Fred Brooks |
|
Stan Lawler (69) |
|
1938 |
Arthur Cutting |
Colin Wilcox |
|
Jack Paterson (31) |
|
1939 |
Arthur Cutting |
Jack Paterson |
Jim Quinn |
Harry Vallence (133) |
Competition awards
1933 - Charlie Stanbridge Recorder Cup & VFA Medal winner
1935 - Fred Brooks VFA Medal winner
1936- Neville Huggins VFA Medal winner
1937 - Neville Huggins Recorder Cup & VFA Medal winner
1938 - Arthur Cutting Recorder Cup & VFA Medal winner
1939 - Arthur Cutting VFA Medal winner
1939 - Harry Vallence runner-up VFA goalkicking 133 goals
Tom Byrne was recruited by Carlton from Ararat in 1929, playing 4 games before transferring to Williamstown mid-season in 1930 where he played 39 games and kicked 33 goals from 1930-33. He represented the VFA in a match against the VFL at Princes Park in June, 1932, which the League won by just 8 points. Byrne crossed to Fitzroy in 1934 but did not play a senior match and finished the season with Prahran. He was then recruited by Hawthorn, where he went on to play 61 games and kick 70 goals from 1935-39. He passed away in November 1984 at the age of 76.
Sporting Globe, August 20, 1930 - Arthur 'Porky' Sykes was made vice-captain in 1930 and went on to win three consecutive best and fairest awards in 1930, 1931 & 1932.
Jack Barnes, father of Ken & Ted Barnes, came to Williamstown from South Melbourne in 1930 and played 67 games and kicked 79 goals up until he suddenly resigned during the 1934 season. He was captain for part of the 1931 & 1932 seasons and vice-captain for part of the 1931, 1932 and 1934 seasons. He transferred to Williamstown District, which was in the VFA sub-districts competition, as captain-coach after his resignation and won the league best & fairest award despite playing just six games.
The Williamstown team of 1930, pictured before the opening game of the season against Yarraville, the first game at the cricket ground with the new grandstand which had been officially opened three weeks earlier on April 5 by the Mayor, Cr. G. Paine.
Arthur Cutting came to Williamstown in 1931 from Footscray Seconds after earlier playing with Yarraville in 1929. He would go on to play a then Club-record 159 games and kick 8 goals up until the end of 1945, excluding the war recess of 1942-44 and the one season he spent as captain-coach of Wimmera Rovers in 1934. One of Williamstown's most highly-decorated players, he was vice-captain for part of 1938 after Neville Huggins transferred to Prahran early in the season, and tied for the Recorder Cup with Bill Downie of Northcote. He also took out the VFA Medal in 1938 & 1939 and was runner-up in the Recorder Cup in 1939 as well as winning the Club best and fairest award in 1938 and 1939. Cutting was also a dual premiership player, playing on a half-back flank in both the 1939 and 1945 pennant-winning teams. He was awarded the best player in the 1939 final series. Cutting was a life member and also a member of the Club's Hall of Fame.
The Williamstown team of 1932, pictured in front of the new grandstand built in 1929 and officially opened in April 1930. Fred Brooks is third from the left in the second back row. Tom Byrne is fourth from the right in the second back row and Jack Barnes is second from the right. Coach, Jim Toohey, ex-Fitzroy player from 1913-17 and 1920, is fifth from the left in the back row. 'Barney' Lonergan is the third player from the left in second front row. To the right of him is Arthur 'Porky' Sykes, then captain Gordon Helwig and then Arthur Cutting, fourth from the right in the second front row. Cairo Dixon is on the right of the front row, sitting on the ground.
Charlie Stanbridge played in Williamstown's 1921 premiership side before transferring to Port Melbourne the next season where he played for 3 years before joining South Melbourne for 5 seasons where he played 69 games. He then returned to Port Melbourne for 3 seasons before coming back to Williamstown as captain-coach in 1933 but went to Camberwell as assistant coach during the following year.
Eddie Deller made his senior debut in the round 16 match of 1933 at Williamstown against Port Melbourne after spending all of the previous season in the Seconds. Originally from Parkside, he would go on to play 130 games and kick 14 goals up until round 10 of the 1945 season, when he retired and became a trainer for the remainder of the season and then again from 1952-58. Deller played in the back pocket in the 1939 premiership victory and was awarded the most consistent player trophy in 1938 and the most effective player in 1937 & 1940. He crossed to Spotswood in 1935 but returned to Williamstown the following season. Deller was vice-captain of the Seconds in 1944 under captain-coach Gordon Ogden when the Reserves started again after the recess in respect of the Second World War. He was the father of legendary VFL field umpire, Bill Deller, and his brother, Reg, also played for Williamstown in 1933 before crossing to Williamstown District.
This season ticket for 1933 is the earliest in the Club's collection.
VFA Recorder, May 5, 1934 - captain-coach Ted Cahill
North Melbourne's Neville Huggins was captain-coach of Williamstown in 1936/37.
Argus, May 3 1937 - former captain-coach, best & fairest winner and VFA Medal recipient, Fred Brooks, played his 100th senior game for Williamstown in the round 5 match against Brighton, which was lost by 21 points. Brooks was officially the first Williamstown player to play 100 senior games with the Club but at least 24 other players are thought to have reached the milestone prior to him.
Williamstown Chronicle, August 14, 1937
Back Row: Mick Maloney, Frank Hewson, Bill Thomson, George Flett
Middle Row: George Rogers, Bert Paterson, Alex Bond, Fred Harden jnr, Jim Foley, Ern Pinckney, Albert Wilkins
Front Row: Joe Connery, Bert Moon, Larry Floyd (secretary), Ernest Jackson (president), Jim McConville (treasurer), Fred Harsley, Alan Harsley
Colin Wilcox transferred from Melbourne Seconds in 1938 and went on to be the Club games record-holder with 173 senior appearances up until the end of 1949, excluding the war recess period of 1942-44, overtaking Arthur Cutting who played 159 senior games. Originally from Wodonga, he played on the half-back line in three premierships sides (1939, 1945 & 1949), the first Williamstown player to do so, and was best player in the 1939 triumph. He also played on the half-back flank in the 1948 grand final, which the Seagulls lost to Brighton. Wilcox won the Club best & fairest award in 1948, and was runner-up in 1938, 1940, 1941 & 1945. He was awarded the most effective player trophy in 1946, the most consistent player in 1947 and the second best player in the 1949 finals series. He abruptly resigned before the 1950 season when coach, Gordon Ogden, was controversially replaced by Melbourne's Adrian Dullard. Wilcox was selected on a half-back flank in the Williamstown Team of the Century, is a member of the Williamstown Hall of Fame and was awarded life membership.
The Age, November 26, 1938
Arthur Cutting tied with Bill Downie of Northcote for the 1938 Recorder Cup and won the VFA Medal outright as well as the Club best and fairest with recruit, Colin Wilcox, runner-up. This was the fourth year in a row that a Williamstown player had taken out the VFA Medal and the fifth time in six years, following the sucesses of Charlie Stanbridge (1933), Fred Brooks (1935), Neville Huggins (1936-37) and now Cutting. Cutting would repeat the win in 1939 and Des Fothergill would take it out in 1941. Williamstown were also successful in the Recorder Cup, with Stanbridge (1933), Huggins (1937) and now Cutting also taking out that award. Des Fothergill would also be the recipient of the Recorder Cup in 1941.
Former 134-game Melbourne & Victorian back pocket, Gordon 'Butcher' Ogden, was appointed 1939 captain-coach in February from amongst a field of 11 applicants. Ogden had captain-coached Warracknabeal the year before. Originally from Northcote CYMS, Ogden played with the VFL Demons from 1928-37 and with Williamstown from 1939 to the end of 1941, although he missed half of the latter season due to injuries, illness, business committments and a two-match suspension. He captain-coached Williamstown Seconds in 1944 when that competition resumed after the war recess and also played a further 7 senior games in 1945 to finish up with 56 appearances and one goal. He later coached Williamstown to the 1948 grand final, which was lost to Brighton, and the 1949 premiership win over Oakleigh. He was overlooked for the coaching position in 1950 and eventually ended up coaching Yarraville from 1951-55, including the 1953 grand final, which was lost to Port Melbourne by 10 goals. Ogden passed away on August 23, 2001, aged 92.
Club management of 1939, from left Fred 'Pop' Harsley (president), Larry Floyd (secretary), Jim McConville (treasurer) and Jack Le Brun (VFA delegate).
WFC general committee of 1939
Eric 'Tarzan' Glass came to Williamstown in 1939 after 78 games and 135 goals with Melbourne from 1933-38, and was the Demons leading goalkicker in 1936 with a total of 56 majors. Originally from Goomalling in the wheatbelt area of WA, 45 kms from Northam where he was born in 1910, Glass commenced playing for East Fremantle in 1927 and played 55 games and kicked 115 goals up until the end of 1932, including the 1930 & 1931 WAFL premierships. He went on to amass 82 games and 53 goals for 'Town up until the end of 1945 (excluding the war recess years of 1942-44), and was vice-captain of the team in his final season. He played in the 1939 and 1945 premiership wins for the Seagulls and was awarded the most consistent player trophy in 1940 & 1941. He was coach of Williamstown Seconds in 1946 and was selected as ruck-rover in the Club's Team of the Century and is a member of the Club's Hall of Fame. Glass enlisted in the RAAF during World War II and passed away on July 29, 1985, at the age of 75.
Vice-presidents of 1939
Back: Henry Hall and Edward Duncan 'Peter' McIntyre
Front: Fred Harden jnr, Horrie Hocking, James Hocking and the legendary Bill Dooley snr
The Williamstown team pictured before the round 9, 1939, game at Preston, which was won by 'Town by 35 points, 18.17.125 to 14.6.90, the first victory at Preston since round 2, 1911. 'Soapy' Vallence kicked 7 goals.
Back row: Charlie Walsh, Bert McTaggart jnr, Eric Glass, Ossie Maloney, Jack McDonagh, Matt Cave, Eddie Deller, Clive Fairbairn, Colin Wilcox
Centre row: Jack Methven, Harry Vallence, Reg Thomas, Gordon Ogden (captain-coach), Stan Jamieson, Arthur Cutting, George Fitch
Front row: Norm Chisholm, Jack Paterson, Marty Phelan
Argus March 22 1939
Harry 'Soapy' Vallence being congratulated by captain-coach, Gordon Ogden, after kicking his 100th goal of the 1939 season in the game against Preston at Williamstown in round 18. He became the first 'Town player to boot a century of majors and it was the first time he had achieved the personal milestone at any level of football, despite kicking over 700 goals for Carlton in 204 games. The photo appeared in the Argus on Monday, August 21, 1939.
'Soapy' Vallence (#8) flies for a mark against Bill Johnson of Prahran in the 1939 preliminary final at Toorak Park which 'Town won by 7 points, 17.19.121 to 16.18.114. Vallence kicked 8 goals.
The 1939 Williamstown grand final squad v. Brunswick at the MCG on Saturday, October 7.
Williamstown's 1939 premiership squad
Back row: Martin Phelan, Rodger Hagan, Ossie Moloney, Tom Ward, Reg Outen, George Fitch*, Stan Jamieson*
Third Row: Eric 'Tarzan' Glass*, Jim Quinn*, Bert McTaggart jnr*, Mattie Cave*, Jack McDonagh*, Colin Wilcox*, Clive Fairbairn, Doug Menzies*
Second row: Cliff Johnson*, Eddie Deller*, Harry 'Soapy' Vallence*, Gordon Ogden (captain-coach)*, Reg Thomas (vice-captain)*, Arthur Cutting*, Bill Spokes*
Front row: Norm Chisholm*, Jack Paterson*, Bob Willet*, Maurice Hartney
*= played in grand final v. Brunswick, Saturday October 7, 1939