On Saturday 23 July 1898, the Melbourne weekly newspaper ''
The Leader'' published ''The Footballers' Alphabet''.
The poem, which had been written by its influential (Australian Rules) football correspondent, "Follower", delivered a brief comment on a number of the most prominent Australian Rules footballers playing in Melbourne in 1898 -- the second year of the VFL competition -- presented in the alphabetical order of their family names.
Given the poem’s subject and its novelty, it was very popular, and it was republished in a number of different newspapers, including ''The Age'', and ''The Ovens and Murray Advertiser''.
A ''
pastiche'' of the poem, centred on the players of the Sunbury Football Club in the
Yorke Peninsula
The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the south by Investigator Str ...
, was published in 1920, and another, centred on the players in the Adelaide (SAFL) competition, was published in 1925.
The Poem
::A stands for
Anderson
Anderson or Andersson may refer to:
Companies
* Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910
* Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car
* Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer
* Anderson ...
, hard to beat back,
:: Likewise for
Adamson, also a crack;
::B stands for
Barry Barry may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name
* Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...
, who's clever and strong,
:: And
Brockwell, who plays on the wing for Geelong;
::C is for
Condon, the Collingwood flyer,
:: And
Conway, who's earnest and always a trier;
::D for young
Dando and
Dowdell (sic) -- both smart;
::E stands for Elder (kicks straight as a dart);
::F ---
"Toby" Barton and
Reid will go down,
:: Before
"Tracker" Forbes will fade out of renown;
::G is for
Gavan (sic), who never says die,
:: And for
Gilligan
Gilligan is a fictional character played by Bob Denver on the 1960s TV show '' Gilligan's Island'' and its many sequels. Gilligan, affectionately called "little buddy" by the "Skipper", is the bumbling, dimwitted, accident-prone first mate of t ...
too, who can mark very high;
::H stands for
Hogan
A hogan ( or ; from Navajo ' ) is the primary, traditional dwelling of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house. A hogan can be round, cone-shaped, multi-sided, or squ ...
, a better mark still,
:: Also for
Howson Howson is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Howson family, show business dynasty
* Albert Howson (1881–1960), American actor
* Charles Howson (1896–1976), English footballer
* Colin Howson (1945–2020), British philosoph ...
, who puts on no frill;
::I stands for Ingram -- from Brunswick he came --
::J for
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
and
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguati ...
, who are dabs at the game;
::K for
Gus Kearney, both brilliant and smart,
:: As fresh at the end as he was at the start;
::L stands for
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
, a "centre" of fame;
::M for
M'Ginis, the boss of the game;
::N stands for
Noonan, who roves for Fitzroy;
::O for
O'Dea (sic), who's a broth of a boy;
::P is for
Pleass, unsurpassed in the ruck,
:: And
Proudfoot, renowned for his coolness and pluck;
::Q stands for Quilligan (plays with "Old Dick");
::R is for
Robinson Robinson may refer to:
People and names
* Robinson (name)
Fictional characters
* Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719
Geography
* Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 1960 ...
, clever and quick;
::S---stand aside, please, and let me proclaim,
:: That
Stuckey's
Stuckey's is a convenience store in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwestern United States. known for its pecan log rolls and kitschy souvenirs. Additionally, Stuckey's sells candy, apparel, and souvenirs, and other products online.
Stuckey's ...
the best captain playing the game;
:: It's a fact I believe, though I think we must own,
:: Fitzroy, for hard graft, has a daisy in
Sloan;
::T stands for South's clever back player,
Trimm (sic)
:: (They made no mistake when they got hold of him).
::U stands for Upton,
[Henry Upton (1855-1936) had played for a number of seasons with Geelong in the VFA in the 1870s, including two of Geelong's VFA Premiership teams (see]
Obituary, ''The Age'', (Saturday 26 September 1936, p.24
. a crack of the past;
::V is for
Vautin, who's dodgy and fast;
::W for
Wardill, a marvellous stayer;
::X the x-ception, that can't claim a player;
::Y stands for
Young
Young may refer to:
* Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents
* Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood
Music
* The Young, an American roc ...
-- the Geelong one, I mean,
:: A greater high marker there never was seen;
::Z for old
Zox, who at all football dinners,
:: You'll find in white waistcoat proposing "The Winners".
See also
*
Acrostic
Notes
{{Reflist, 30em
1898 poems
Australian poems
Australian poetry
Sports poems
History of Australian rules football
Australian rules football people