Episode 92 - 100th anniversary of the women's soccer match at the Gabba (with Peter Eedy)

Download and listen to this episode here.

Paul begins this show by noting that Ian is not back, yet. But also, what the hell happened to the last month's worth of scheduled episodes? Short answer: Paul had the lockdown sads. But also, here's a reference from 2004 to then South Melbourne president George Donikian proposing government investment in Bob Jane Stadium (today's Lakeside) to make it a multisport, multi-tenant venue...

Paul discusses some of what's been going on in the Australian soccer history scene over the past month, where he seems obsessed with the story of Parramatta Eagles getting thrown off a plane in 1994 because they were being very silly; and digging in to the history of the long gone national indoor soccer league. (see Roy Hay's interview here on the Geelong Region Soccer Show from 2020 for an in depth look at topic). All of this is summarised in a rambling treatise trying to pinpoint the loss of collective memory in Australian soccer - not just for the great games and goals, but also the little, strange, off-beat, colourful moments which add depth to the overrdiing experience. 

Our guest this week is Queensland soccer historian Peter Eedy. We first discuss Peter's history in soccer history. We discuss process and self-definition - the boundaries between professional an amateur historians, and the difference between historians and mere researchers. Oh, the familiar path of the accidental historian - Facebook groups, Wikipedia, Trove! The quest to find some niche of your own, not replicating what others have done. Peter discusses the intricacies of working on Wikipedia, including his tremendous work on documenting the history of soccer in Brisbane. He also discusses the plusses and minuses of covering the early years of soccer in Queensland and Australia, and the romantic appeal of formative years and origin stories.

In our final segment we cover the 100th anniversary of the women's soccer match at the Gabba, noting that it was not the first soccer match played by women or girls in Australia (see one example here from Harlaxton in 1917). We try to figure out the process by which this match was played - its impulse, its people, its obstacles, its proponents, and its opponents, and its aftermath. The conclusion? Like the men's 1880 match between Kings School and the Wanderers, it may not have been the first game of its kind, but as the first "public" game, it acts as a useful starting point for discussions about the history of organised, continuous women's soccer in Australia.