Episode 81 - The ongoing process of making this a Victorian soccer history show

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Paul ponders the personal impact of Marxist alienation.

Then the clean up, with the usual suspects, with veiled references to copyright infringement debates. And book launches to look forward to, eventually.

Then to the show proper - and an update to the Geranium story from last week, including Australian Rules historians backsliding into claiming any archival photographs of football teams as belonging to their sport. 

The Footscray Historical Society is looking for volunteers to help digitise parts of its photographic collection. But the members of the FHS are continuing to provide a wealth of treasures for Ian's research into Footscray soccer, but also school soccer - and thus Ian looks into the ongoing matter of senior ethnic backed clubs from Victoria's State League in the 1960s (and thereabouts), creating relationships with extant non-affiliated junior soccer teams. Ian reads out a letter from Greg Daglis, reminiscing about playing for Sunshine Heights Slavia's junior teams in the 1960s and 70s. And some discussion, too, about the gradual erosion of the importance of public school soccer in Melbourne.

During the break we got a phone call from a listener, which confused the crap out of everyone in the studio. Thnaks Greg Werner, for providing some background on Sydney school soccer from the early 20th Century. Then onto Swinburne Tech and its student journal Open Door, and a poignant story about the death of a soccer loving teacher at the school - and clues into the "40 Thieves", British teachers brought to Australia in the 1920s and 30s. What influence did this teacher intake have on Victorian soccer?

Then more research of Ian's (and the folk at the FHS) on the late era of Footscray Thistle - on the vandalism of the clubrooms, the number of club members serving in the war, and what clues this might offer to the end of Thistle.

Then Ian ruminates on British writer Harry Pearson's The Far Corner, a book on cultural aesthetic of football in the north-east of England. This discussion is meant to illustrate the low value we as a society place on the interests of working class and ordinary people, including their sporting interests. Paul mentions how it's a matter of culture - and mass, low culture especially - moves on relentlessly and unapologetically. And an example of how that football across the world is not popular across all levels or strata of society - see Antony Sutton's reminiscences here as an example.

Then 100 Years Ago Today, where we begin in Kalgoorlie publishing an article from Sydney, where someone's rambling about cricket and football, and the rise of Australian Rules as the "modern game", supplanting other older codes; then to Armidale in New South Wales, and an increase in soccer memberships, and a very early morning start to get to Tenterfield by train; then to Geraldton, for the opening of the local season; then down to Midland Junction and Perth; then still in Western Australia, with Katanning, and Sunday recreation rules; back to Perth, and Aussie Rules and soccering the ball; and Melbourne results.

Episode 74 - The epistolary scheming of Willem Siebenhaar; NSL video tranche

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We begin this episode by reminiscing about MySpace, but not for long, and read some fan-mail, and celebrate South Melbourne and Melbourne Knights being 1st and 2nd on the ladder.

Eventually Pauls gets to discussing a tranche he's been given of mostly South Melbourne Hellas related videos spanning 1983-1994 or thereabouts (which he's been uploading on his YouTube channel) - clips people may not have seen before, and clips from otherwise poor eras in South Melbourne's history. We talk about the reaction of then Brisbane City player Paul Schiavo to one of the early 1980s clips, and his further recollections on the differences between Brisbane and Melbourne crowds of that era, especially in regards to temperament. Paul also goes on to discuss what the videos as a collective reveal in the form of evidence - of game styles, of stadiums, supporters and the limited amenities, and the resemblances to a lower league English quality of the same time. And the effects on the class makeup of the crowd when amenities are improved.

After the break we look at the brief Australian soccer involvement of the eccentric Dutch anarchist Willem Siebenhaar, in particular Siebenhaar's attempts to get soccer going in Perth and Fremantle in the 1890s. Ian takes great delight in the epistolary scheming of Siebenhaar at trying to encourage discussion and debate about the merits of soccer. Paul wonders if this is more evidence of a cohort of eligible bachelors (and bounders), usually professionals belonging to the middle and upper-middle classes trying to promote soccer. For more on Siebenhaar's life and interests aside from soccer, see his ADB entry.

The last segment is 100 Years Ago Today, where we start with fire brigade soccer in Wagga and Sydney; then to Albury for more Corinthians and Thistles; in Brisbane, the Wynnum players miss the train for their match against Corinthians; then to Weston where there's a meeting for various presentation, and Ian marvels how well organised these meetings are; then down to the South Coast where they thank the ladies in their auxiliary role; and after a brief stop in Rockhampton (see also Joe Gorman's old article on soccer in Nerimbera); the exotic oriented story of the HMS Malaya playing against the Singapore Chinese Football Association; and the attempted revival of rugby union in Victoria.

Episode 52 - Tony Persoglia and the Victorian Football Club Archive

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We begin the episode with the clean up, noting that Mark Boric has been going through his personal archives, but also uploading match programs from Adelaide United's first season, which was spent in the final season of the NSL. 

And of course George Cotsanis is still pumping out the interviews.

More problematic - for Ian, at least - is the work of Garry MacKenzie. Garry may have found that John Jaap - the man who Ian had credited as being responsible for the 1875 soccer match at the Woogaroo Asylum - may not have actually been the person responsible for that after all. Jaap may have been ill and way at the time, and may also have been older than previously thought. It's a good problem to have though - another avenue of inquiry opened, and the reassurance that people are still engaged with that research.

Paul then launches into a spiel of sorts on the Wayback Machine, the perennially frustrating but still invaluable resource for looking at the history of the internet. Paul's discussions ranges from

• A very rough introduction of how to search for material within the database, using either exact web addresses, or carefully chosen key words.
• Dead ends, dead links, and workarounds which only sometimes work - and the many things which will remain out of reach.
• Old South Melbourne stuff that even Paul was not aware of including a column from then South coach Ange Postecoglou
• The need for patience and persistence, especially when one is unable to access videos and other documents.
• The ability to, that aforementioned persistence and patience, still be able find and salvage photos, match reports, histories, and all sorts of other details.

In our middle segment we welcome back Tony Persoglia to the show. Tony has just completed a massive update to the Victorian Football Club Archive on OzFootball. In this wide-ranging chat, we cover

• The original impetus to start the project
• What's included in this update - including an expansion of club entries, an index of clubs and names, club merger and split information, 
• The technological framework that underpins (and sometimes hinders) a project such as this.
• The possibilities and difficulties in applying the work done here to different sets - whether that be other states, regional areas, and for women's football.
• What's next in the immediate future for Tony's OzFootball work.

Finally, a packed 100 Years Ago Today. prefaced by a note by Ian on vagaries of searching through Trove. We begin in New South Wales and Uralla and a team from Bananaland; state team selection news from Newcastle; still looking ahead to the North vs South game in Tasmania; a strangely written but information rich item from Western Australia, which includes references to Perth to Wyalcatchem; more on the Queensland team's tour of New South Wales, this time on the south coast; and finally to Melbourne for the results, but especially two very different views of the same controversial incident.

Episode 47 - Greg Stock and resetting narratives

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Apologies again for Paul's sketchy internet connection.

Life during the plague time continues, but so does the show.

We note that this week much of Mark Boric's attention has been on establishing a letterhead section for his site. George Cotsanis has been uploading video items on his YouTube and Facebook accounts - much of them from Gary Cole's personal collection - as well as new interviews. A shout-out for Matthew Galea, who has been promoting his efforts at creating at an online space for Essendon Royals' history. Then a mention of Garry MacKenzie and his ongoing research to the certified rogue, Arthur Prinsep (more on that later in the year, we hope.)

Ian discusses his nascent project idea of writing and editing a book of biographical essays (from a variety of writers) on important, prominent, and interesting figures in Australian soccer history before 1945.

Then Ian gets back on his hobby horse of people campaigning against public spaces being converted into soccer fields. Paul tries to put him back in his place by providing the necessary social and historical context. Only time will tell if Ian learns anything from the experience.

In 100 Years Ago Today we're joined by recurring guest Greg Stock as we visit Perth for the ongoing visit of the Prince of Wales; note the news of an English team touring South Africa and wondering if they'll make the trip across to Australia; note passing comments made on the popularity of the various football codes in England; a seemingly confused snippet on soccer in North America; reports of a soccer brawl in Queensland, as reported in Port Pirie; and lastly, a bit on new oval for Granville.

For the final segment Greg, Ian, and Paul discuss a piece which Greg wrote on the latest call by governing bodies for a reset of the narrative as part of Football Federation Australia's XI Principles document. Among the issues covered:

• the idea that the recurring idea within Australian soccer of resetting - and how that often leads to rewriting and/or forgetting
• is this recurring attempt at "fresh starts" an inherent quality of Australian soccer?
• why don't we have a collective sense of a broader shared soccer history
• comparisons to other sports in Australia, and why we should be cautious in thinking other sports are better at presenting a collective historical front
• the state and regional lines which make a shared collective soccer history difficult
• how much of the blame for the lack of a linear or shared history should be on historical circumstances (fractured state lines), governing bodies (resetting and clean slates), and ordinary fans (who take little interest in their own histories, and moving on to new ones) 
• whether the lack of sustained multi-generational cultural relevance following strong eras for the game is in part the reason why soccer fails to gain traction in the way Australian Rules or rugby league do
• the game's failure to embrace its depth of history, essentially focusing only on very specific and comparatively recent events
• the absence of a national, primeval soccer mythology
• a left-field theory from Paul - that the lack of Socceroos success in qualifying for World Cups (and relevance, for often playing minnows or touring clubs) - is part of the cause of a lack of a national soccer identity. 
• as another left-field example of the strangeness of Australian soccer history being wiped out - Andy Harper's playing history was institutionally and culturally erased by his employer, Fox Sports.
• ultimately, the one unifying concept in Australian soccer history - is it self-loathing?

Episode 3 - Missing trophies; Soccer in schools; Prahran

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We begin with trying to figure out the current monetary value of the FA Trophy, donated to Australian soccer back in the day for interstate competition (and currently in the possession of Football Victoria). Back then it was valued at £250, a year's annual salary for a working man. As to the value of £250 in today's money, we got two estimates, one being  $40,000 (David Krunic) and the other estimate being as much as 60,000 (Andrew Howe).

Soccer historian and listener of the show, Peter Eedy, took the theme of missing trophies and ran with it, discussing a range of Queensland trophies. There was

• the 1961 Australia Charity Cup won by the now defunct Hellenic club of Brisbane
• The Hilton Shield played for from the 1920-1960s - also missing
• Late 1800s badges. 
• The Brisbane Charity Cup

We also noted Simon Smale's article about Brisbane City's missing NSL Cup trophy.

This week's main discussion focuses on soccer in schools, especially in the early 1900s. Moving across the different states, we look at how the growth in school soccer, and the responses it engendered from rival codes of football, is key to understanding the development not just of soccer, but also other football codes, and the rhetoric used against soccer in Australia to this day. Among the examples looked at are:

• Kogarah High School in Sydney, a new soccer area with a sudden growth of clubs
• Sydney's Marist Brothers high school, with a six teams in an internal competition; unusual in that it was a Catholic led soccer culture
• Perth, possibly the ground zero of a virulent strain of anti-soccer rhetoric which classed soccer an invader and a threat, and which set the ground for a code-wars view of soccer by Australian rules bodies, as opposed to one where soccer was seen a harmless novelty 
• Melbourne, where school soccer had the difficult task of trying to dislodge the already established take-up of Australian rules

Moving on from historic representations of school soccer to literary ones, we look at the the play and film versions of The Heartbreak Kid, and the centrality in both of teachers as ; we also look at the centrality in soccer literature of teachers as gatekeepers (for better and worse) for soccer; we also compare the effects that such 'motivating individuals' have on a local soccer culture in terms of creating a sense of self-reliance and self-sufficiency. These concepts are linked

(see also this from Paul's blog on the The Heartbreak Kid film and its connections to South Melbourne Hellas.)

We move on to a Sacred Sites segment, looking at the inner-Melbourne suburb of Prahran. Apart from featuring as a key soccer locality in Melbourne from the game's earliest days through until the late 1940s (and maintaining a club presence until the late 1980s), there are also these connections to school soccer. Prahran High School was the site of filming for The Heartbreak Kid; Ange Postecoglou was a student at Prahran High School, and where he set up teams in the absence of formal support; just a few years later Prahran High School (with future NSL player Ange Goutzioulis) were state champions.