100 years on: Balgownie Rangers’ role in Australia’s first football full international

It’s a special week for Australian football in more ways than one with Friday marking 100 years since the nation’s first ever full international. This is the story of how one Illawarra club played a monumental role in the landmark match.

The round ball game has been front and centre of the news agenda this week with the Socceroos reaching their fifth straight World Cup.

The penalty shootout victory over Peru is a landmark moment in the history of the Australian men’s football team which on Friday will reflect on another watershed event which occurred 100 years ago - the first ever full international.

On June 17, 1922, Australia and New Zealand took to Dunedin’s Carisbrooke Park in front of around 8000 spectators with the home side prevailing 3-1.

It would be the first of 14 games for Australia, who were cladded in a light blue strip, played across the Tasman Sea in a 10-week tour which included two further matches with New Zealand played.

A 12,000-strong crowd watched the second international in Wellington which finished 1-1 while New Zealand won the third match in Auckland 3-1 with an attendance of 15,000.

The inaugural Australian national squad that toured New Zealand in 1922. Back from left: John Cumberfield, William Maunder, William McBirde, Clarence Shenton, Peter Doyle. Middle from left: George Brown, William Dane, Wilf Bratton, George Cartwright, Sydney Storey, Thomas Thompson, Wolfy Bryant. Front from left: David Ward, Alan Fisher (captain), Alfred Morgan (manager), Alec Gibbs, David Cumberford. Picture: Balgownie Museum

The Balgownie Rangers, Australia’s oldest active football club, were represented by two players in the Test at Carisbrooke Park with Dave Ward cap no.10 and Tom Thompson cap no.11.

Illawarra football historian and Rangers life member Travis Faulks said it was a significant occasion for the club which has made a point of honouring its past.

“It’s a huge achievement for the club, the two men and for their families,” Mr Faulks said.

“To be the first at anything is always special and for it to be international football and sport in Australia even more so - it’s something we definitely cherish.

“It’s great that [the inaugural squad] are getting recognised. Eight New South Welshmen and eight Queenslanders going to New Zealand by ship in the early 1920s is a big deal.

“It’s remarkable that they then played 14 games in two and a bit months so to go over there and apply their wares is a great achievement.”

Graham Ward (left) and Robyn Rhodes are the grandchildren of Australian international no.10 Dave Ward. Alongside Illawarra football historian Travis Faulks at Balgownie’s Judy Masters Oval. Picture: Dylan Arvela

It isn’t known if any of Thompson’s descendants still live in the region, however, Ward has two grandchildren who still live in the Illawarra suburb - grandson Graham Ward and granddaughter Robyn Rhodes.

“There’s a great sense of pride,” Ms Rhodes said when reflecting on her grandfather’s achievement.

“I heard Travis speaking on the radio [about the tour] earlier and it was a bit of a spine-tingling moment.

Ward spent his entire life in Balgownie where he worked in the nearby coal mines before setting up a haulage business based on Balgownie Rd in the years before the Second World War.

Ms Rhodes said she was close with her grandfather with the two regularly seen watching the Rangers play at the ground that would go on to be named Judy Masters Oval after one of the first stars of Australian football who made his international debut in 1923.

“Pop was a fairly hard man, especially on the boys in the family,” Ms Rhodes explained.

Travis Faulks, who runs Football United vs Soccer City, commissioned commemorative beers cans in honour of Balgownie legends Dave Ward and Tom Thompson. Picture: Dylan Arvela

“But he had a soft spot for me and I had a soft spot for him and we spent a lot of time together.

“I used to come over here with my pop to watch the soccer and I suppose we used to talk about (his playing days) then.”

In 1923, Australia hosted three Tests against New Zealand where they won their first ever match - a 2-1 result at the Brisbane Cricket Ground.

The two nations have met on 64 occasions with Australia dominating the ledger with 40 wins compared to New Zealand’s 13.

The rivalry hasn’t been played out in over a decade, however, that will change come September 25 when the World Cup-bound Australians face New Zealand, who lost their play-off to Costa Rica on Wednesday, at Dunedin’s Eden Park.