Football in Gawler - all clubs
| Type of organisation: | Sporting
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GAWLER FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION .
( excerpt from History of Gawler 1837—1908 by EH Coombe)
It was not till about 1870 that football could claim an organised club in Gawler, and Mr. S. B. Rudall was the first Secretary. In the eighties the. Albion club flourished.
The Gawler Football Association was formed in 1889, and comprised the Willaston, Central, and South Gawler Clubs. In the early nineties the Association belonged to the S.A. Football Association, and matches were played regularly on the Adelaide and Gawler Ovals, The Gawler teams withdrew in 1894, and since then inter-club matches, with occasional games against visiting teams, have been the programme. In 1899 there were strained relations between the clubs owing to a dispute, and the Association was disbanded and reformed in March, 1900.
The Association (1908) now has four teams—the Souths, Centrals, Willaston, and Agricultural College. The officers are:—Patron, Mr. H. W. Bennett, President, Mr. R. K. Thomson , Vice-Presidents, Mr. Wm. Dawkins (Mayor), Messrs. A. Smith, A. Gibson, T. Frayne, H. B. Crosby, G. Lines, Commissioner, Mr. Gee. Bright, Hon. Secretary, Mr. P. W. Coxell, Treasurer, Mr. E. Gwynn. The College players were the premiers for 1907.
This Association has continued up to the 1980’s The President of the Association at that time was Mr. W. H. Cox, J.P. Willaston delegates. Messrs. T. Coombe, A. Harris, and P. Carmody mid. Secretary (Mr. W. A. James). The 1908 officers of the Willaston Football club were Patron, Mr. E. H. Coombe. M.P. ; President. Mr. E. Gwynne. Delegates. Messrs. E. Gwynne, E. A. Gwynne, and F. V. Parker ; Hon. Secretary, Mr. F. V. Parker ; Assistant Secretary, Mr. E. A. Gwynne.
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- [[James Jack Thomson Career 1891 to 1896 Premierships 1891 and 1894 South Australian games 1 Jimmy Thomson was the first Gawler player to appear in intercolonial football and was a member of two Norwood premiership teams. A talented allround sportsman he showed great early promise as a follower in three seasons with Gawler when it was a member of the SA Football Association and was vice-captain in 1888. With Gawler's withdrawal from the competition he moved to Norwood in 1891 and was named second-best player in the two-goal win over Port Adelaide to clinch the premiership In 1892 he shaped remarkably in all departments and kicked four goals. In 1893 he was a half-back flanker in the SA team which lost to Victoria at Adelaide Oval and finished the season at centre half¬back for Norwood In 1894 he missed another chance to represent SA when Norwood players pulled out of the team because the SAFA would not provide a first-class carriage for their rail trip to Melbourne Instead Jimmy and his mates - the Daly brothers Percy Stuart Os Bertram Alby Green Alf Grayson and co -played in the SAFA team which beat Yorke Peninsula 5.1 to 4.5 at Adelaide Oval. In the premiership decider that year Jimmy took a brilliant saving mark early and was in the best players as Norwood sealed victory over South Adelaide with a desperate late goal from 'Bos' Daly.Jimmy played at centre in 1895 and 1896. The Adelaide Observer reported his form near the end "fell off very much" and it was surprising to see how the famous Jimmy Thomson was put in the shade by the Port representative Ken McKenzie Meanwhile Jimmy's youngest brother Alec was on the rise as a follower in the same Norwood team. During some lively banter in 1935 mention was made of another Gawler footballer James 'Sorry' Tierney West Adelaide Magarey Medallist in 1908 prompting Jimmy to say: "They didn't have a Magarey Medal in my time; if they had I might have got one." Years before he added "young Tierney" had expressed himself: "If I can play as well as Jimmy Thomson I won't care."Jimmy married Isobel Bews in 1899 and joined the Eagle Foundry a family business founded at Gawler by his remarkable father David who campaigned for the eight-hour day as a young Scottish immigrant and was a union member for 65 years even as an employer. Jimmy was the last of four brothers to run the business. He died at 77 on 15 November 1944 just after the return of the foundry's gilded eagle emblem which high-spirited airmen had taken to New Guinea early in World War II. It was presented to the people of Gawler by members of 86 Squadron RAAF in memory of local flier PO Ivor Hatcher KIA in 1943. When Jimmy's brother Robert King Thomson died at 81 in 1939 it was reported he too had played for Norwood]]
References
Memories of Football in Gawler - all clubs
Rememberer::Peter Whimpress (author) remembers: A Large obituary for David Thomson senior appeared on page 1 of the supplement to the Bunyip on Friday June 30 1903. J.J. Thomson of the Eagle Foundry was a director of the Gawler Motor Car Manufacturers and Engineers Limited (Bunyip Friday10 July 1936)
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