PREMIERSHIPS WON

“Thus the victory lies with the Wallaroo Club, leaving them for this season the premier club of the colony.”

SYDNEY CLUB PREMIERS: ● 1870 ● 1871 ● 1872 ● 1873 ● 1874 ● 1875 ● 1876 ● 1877 ● 1878 ● 1879 ● 1880 ● 1892 ● 1894 ● 1899 ●

A DECADE OF DOMINANCE
(1870 to 1880)

Club rugby arrived in Sydney with the founding of Wallaroo Football Club in 1870. The rugby clubs and schedule of contests in Sydney were at first organised in much the same way as among the great London clubs — Blackheath, Richmond, Harlequins, Wasps, Guy’s Hospital and others — with matches arranged directly between clubs on a friendly basis.

” … when the Rugby was the only style of play recognised here, certain clubs existed who played each other regularly at intervals every season, and the only contests which were looked forward to with any degree of interest were those in which the University, Wallaroo, Waratah, and King’s School were engaged … ”
— Sydney Mail, 10 June 1882

In this era, the ‘Premiership’ was a title of merit, not a trophy in a cabinet. A club’s reputation was built by the strength of its fixture list and the quality of the teams it defeated. In many cases it was obvious to all at season’s end who held the ‘high honour’ as the ‘premier club’.

Sometimes it was not so clear, and while newspapers and the public offered their views, there were no official rankings, league table, points system or knockout cup. Clubs judged their own performance by their results against the strongest opposition and their own view on any contested points or results.

The 1870s was Wallaroo’s dynasty alone as the preeminent and dominant football club of the colony, winning or holding the premiership each year from 1870 to 1880. Across this entire decade, Wallaroo FC consistently emerged on every season’s merits as Sydney’s rightful ‘premier club’. Wallaroo FC were runners-up in 1881 and 1882 to Sydney University (SUFC).

“Thus the victory lies with the Wallaroo Club, leaving them for this season the premier club of the colony.”
— Australian Town and Country Journal, 24 August 1872

“It is, however, satisfactory to note that the first fifteen succeeded in defeating every club that was opposed to them, thus leaving no doubt as to their right to the title of ‘the premier club of the colony’.”
— The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 May 1880

THE NSWRU COMPETITIONS & TROPHIES ERA
(1883 to 1899)

Sydney was not London. As new suburban and working-class clubs emerged through the 1880s, there was growing demand for the NSWRU (then called the Southern RFU) to introduce and oversee scheduled and organised club competitions.

Wallaroo FC continued to have its annual matches with the King’s School and other arranged games, while fulfilling the now competitive formal club season. The Sydney clubs premiership was still awarded to the team with the best record over the season, which sometimes came down to needing to win the last game of the year in a trophy final.

From 1895 onward Wallaroo FC played under the growing shadow of the proposed district-club scheme, which eventually arrived in 1900 and brought the demise of Wallaroo and the other social ‘cosmopolitan’ clubs.

Despite these challenges, Wallaroo FC won three further premierships in this era — 1892 (‘Royal Agricultural Society’s Challenge Shield’), 1894 (‘Union Medals’) and 1899 (‘Union Medals’).

“We may hail Wallaroo as the 1899 premiers, and offer congratulations upon their successes. It is generally admitted that Wallaroo is the finest team of the year; good all round back and forward, and especially strong in attack.”
— The Referee, 6 September 1899

CONTESTED CLAIMS OF OTHERS

Acknowledging that there are retroactive claims by supporters of SUFC to 1871 and 1873, yet their respective season record in important matches was, at most, on a par with Wallaroo FC. Contemporary records show their season results did not eclipse Wallaroo’s, leaving the ‘premier’ mantle firmly with the Wallaroo FC.

While the SUFC openly asserted after the 1875 season that it was now the premier club, Wallaroo FC at its annual meeting of 24 April 1876 publicly declared “the club still ranks in a premier position” and dismantled the SUFC’s claim, which included SUFC disregarding a third match between the two clubs.

Some retroactive compiled lists of premiers also include Waratah and Balmain at 1874 and 1875, yet there was no such claims at the time. Waratah in 1874 did not go beyond stating they were on a par, while Balmain in 1881 (making no mention of 1874) volunteered this was the first season they had yet stood among the leading clubs.

Wallaroo FC continued to recognise the 1894 premiership as being awarded to them alone, despite the NSWRU later revoking its decision and declaring Randwick the winners based on it winning a trophy final over the Wallaroos — a decision that did not accord with the NSWRU’s own rules that the premiership was to be awarded to the team with the best record over the season.

THE UNRIVALLED LEGACY OF WALLAROO FC

By the dawn of the district-club era in 1900—the precursor to today’s Shute Shield—Wallaroo FC stood alone with 14 premierships. Their nearest rival, SUFC, trailed with nine.

Wallaroo did not just play the game; for three decades, they defined it.

All website text & content © Sean Fagan

[ site homepage ]