- April 30, 2014
- Posted by: essay
- Category: Term paper writing
Student Name:
Allocated Segment: November 1939
Newspapers Searched For This Segment:
| Title ofNewspaper
The Argus
 The Argus     The Argus    The Argus |
Date ofnewspaper
14 November 1939
22 November 1939
28 November 1939
4 November 1939
|
Number of pagesin each issue
22
20
20
46
|
Numberof major
articles or news stories about the Foot-scray Football Club
1
1
1
1
|
Numberof other
articles (such as Match Reports or Letters to the editors, etc.)
3
2
1
3
|
Number of Notices or Advertisements (Such as Social Functions, Obituaries, Club Election Details, etc.)
2
2
0
3
|
Number of Images or Cartoons
0
1
1
2
|
Other
|
Report
The Footscray Football Club (FFC) or the Western Bulldogs (the name was changed in 1997) is one of the oldest Australian football clubs of more than 120 years of existence. Some historians argue that the club was founded in 1883, but this fact is not conclusively proven.  The football team bears the name of its location ”“ “the Melbourne suburb of Footscray”.1 Although that team became the first team that reached the final, in 1939, the Footscray football team was not on the peak of its popularity. According to the article in the newspaper The Argus, several leaders of the team retired.2 In the 56th Annual Report and Balance Sheet of the club of 1939, it is reported that there were only four matches won, while in the previous season there were much more “outstanding performances of the team” when the team entered to the Final Four.3 The Committee states that the lack of success was not connected with the management of the FFC, but it was influenced by the circumstances over which it had no control. Because of the large amount of injuries received by the FFC players, and the lack of appropriate reserves, it was difficult for the team to become the winner. However, the FFC players, and Match Committee hoped that the situation would be improved in the next season.4
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1Early History. FNWB: Footscary Not Western Bulldogs. Official Cite. 2012.
2 ”˜Footscray Football Officials. Several Leaders Retire’. The Argus. 22 November, 1939, p.20.
3FFC, Annual Report and Balance Sheet, 1939. Footscray: The Mail Publishers.
4Ibid.
In the article Footscray Hopes for Next Season which can be found in the newspaper The Argus, it is reported that the high hopes of 1938 were not realized in 1939, but the football players were asked to remain loyal to the FFC.5 It is also reported that the cup was handed to H. Sharp, the runner-up of the FFC, while the Gardiner medal for the best and fairest player in the season was handed to Essendon’s player Noel Smith.6
The best players of the FFC who did everything possible to improve the results of the team during the season of 1939 included Pat Cahill, Allan Collins, Tom Tribe, Allan Yakobsen, Bill Ryan, Charlie Merton, and Leo Hills, and some other players. It is known that the FFC joined the Victorian Football Association in 1925, and the results of the FFC were much better than in the season of 1939. 7 According to the Annual Report and Balance Sheet of the FFC, “in connection to the voting for the Brownlow medal, such a prominent position as a second place was given to Harry Hickey”, one of the younger and rather talented players of the FFC.8 The most important people in the history of the FFC of 1939 were the Captain and the Voce-Captain. Roy Evans, the Captain of the team and Norman Ware showed the best traits of their characters during the matches of the season of 1939. The events of the season were given coverage in press. Such newspapers as The Mall, the Advertiser, and other newspapers reported the latest news on the events, advertised the team, but some of them criticized the FFC.9
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5 ”˜Footscary Hopes for Next Season’, The Argus, 28 November 1939, p.11.
6 Ibid.
7 Fort, R. & Fizel, J. International Sports Economics Comparisons. Westport, 2004, p.320.
8 FFC, Annual Report and Balance Sheet, 1939. Footscray: The Mail Publishers.
9 Cairns, S. The Bulldog Heritage: Historical Player Register, Footscray: Western Bulldogs Forever Foundation, 2010, p.72.
It is known that the Footscray Football Club played against such a premier of the VFL as Essendon, which was known as the Champion of Victoria.
To sum up, in November 1939, the Footscray Football Club did not show good results, but the players and the Committee believed that the situation would be improved in 1940. The players were treated well and most of them managed to improve their sport results in 1940. The event was given good coverage in press and attracted many football fans.