Episode 51 - Too many Sandringhams, not yet enough clarity

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On this week's episode we begin with the clean-up, where Mark Boric is uploading some team sheets. George Cotsanis is still pumping out the interviews. We note that listener Simon Reynolds has sent in a request that we talk about inland northern New South Wales soccer.

Ian then moves on to talk about a small batch of aerogrammes from the 1950s, wherein there is correspondence between an emigrant Englishman and his friend, discussing soccer in Frankston, including via the medium of the soccer pools. Who knows what other correspondence is out there in the archives?

We also look at a question posed to us by a listener on twitter named "Ewok Hunter", about the claim by a New South Wales Christian FA that in the 1970s they were biggest association in the southern hemisphere. We also quickly consider a topic query by Garry MacKenzie, asking about Australian soccer memorabilia (especially novelty/limited edition/collectable material) and how to gauge the material and monetary value of such items.

After the break we welcome Michele Rowse to the show. Michele is the current treasurer of Melbourne's Sandringham, and she asked the question of whether the club she is a member of - which was founded in 1947 - has any connections to any of the several clubs named Sandringham which played at various times in Melbourne competition during the 1910s, 20s, and 30s. As part of the process of trying to find it out, we discuss:

• What constitutes continuity in a soccer scene like Melbourne's, where clubs often fail to persevere between one or two generations of players. 
• The historical nexus between the Brighton, Moorabbin, and Sandringham clubs, and whether the establishment 
• What the nature of the "soccer impulse" was in the bay-side suburbs in and around Sandringham, and how it differed from that of clubs from other parts of Melbourne. 
• Important people involved in the founding and otherwise of the various clubs named Sandringham.
• The Bingham family - or at least persons with the surname Bingham - including Harry, Les, and Don who were involved with clubs named Sandringham at different times, and which may provide some sense of organisational continuity.
• The champion Scots player George Raitt, who played for Melbourne Thistle, Victoria, and Australia, who was involved as with two Sandringham iterations as a committeman after he retired from playing.
• The effects of two wars on clubs named Sandringham, forcing them into recess which it appears that neither came out of.
• The difficulties of searching for material on clubs named Sandringham, in lieu of limited or truncated online materials.
• But also issues of nomenclature - especially the difficulty doing searches for "Sandringham" and "association football" because of the existence of the Victorian Football (aussie rules) Association's Sandringham club.

Finally, in 100 Years Ago Today, we look at the Melbourne results; we look ahead to the north vs south game in Tasmania; look at some lengthy missives from Sydney; a cross-code extravaganza involving New Souht Wales and Queensland; and we finish up the segment by looking at a curious article from Melbourne about hockey, which has us asking - how is it that Victorian know enough about soccer to use some of its parlance and refer to its tactics, while holding the simultaneous position of knowing nothing about the game?