Uncovering the lost footy fields of Newcastle

Newcastle has a rich history of sport that dates back centuries, but many of the great grounds that once drew large and loud crowds have long disappeared. One man is finding them again.

Football fanatic Jeffery Green has a new labour of love which is unearthing more than he bargained for.

The former school teacher is writing a book on the hidden soccer grounds of the Hunter, a little piece of history he hopes will be published in late 2023.

What started as a project to try and find Minmi’s first competitive patch of grass back in the 1880s has expanded, highlighting close to a dozen hidden gems of the past.

“It’s like going down a rabbit hole,” Green said.

“The more you research, the more you find. History and soccer are two of my passions, so it’s a way of bringing both together.”

Minmi’s 1886 Ellis Cup winning side. Picture: Supplied

Mining the University of Newcastle’s archives in an effort find football gold, Green has also walked the sites where football games of the past were played.

When it comes to the oldest soccer clubs in Australia, Minmi Rangers are in the top 10 and it is believed they played their first ever game at Kelly’s Paddock.

The club’s inaugural team were expatriate Scottish coal miners who settled in the area for work.

Green’s quest is now to find exactly where their first home game was played in the historic town.

“We don’t have much evidence about their first home ground, Kelly’s Paddock,” he said. “We know they eventually went to Brown’s Paddock, and we know where that is, about a kilometre from the swamp area north of Minmi. We know that it wasn’t where the current soccer ground is because that was the slaughter yard at that time.”

The club was formed in 1884 but records of this is hard to come by.

Green’s research for the project may even re-write the history books on which club should hold the mantle of Northern Football’s oldest club.

“There’s nothing in the historical record about Minmi until 1886, so that in itself is a bit of a mystery,” he said. “If they were formed in September 1884, where’s the evidence? I have evidence that Lambton Thistles were kicking a ball around and playing Sydney teams in 1885.”

The history of the former site of Hobart Park in New Lambton also raises an eyebrow. It is now built over by homes and only a few hundred metres from McDonald Jones Stadium, home of current A-League club, the Newcastle Jets.

Hobart Park in New Lambton. Picture: Supplied

“It was one of the best facilities in Newcastle at the time,” Green said.

“It held international matches, which included China playing there in the 1930’s. We’re talking about a ground that had a grandstand about 40 to 50 metres long, it was privately owned, it was right on the tram way on Hobart Road, so there was a tram stop there.”

Green says back in the day it was all about finding a clear paddock and putting some sticks in the ground and away they went.

The coalfields area also has a long and proud history with the round ball over the years.

“Weston had the famous Homestead ground which isn’t there anymore, we know where that was , but have no pictures. ‘Pig Paddock’ at Cessnock — we’ve got evidence of an aerial shot in 1943, you can see the football markings of the field,” Green said.

Former Northern NSW club, Hamilton Athletic, played at the “Tramway Ground”, where the Hamilton bus depot now sits. It was secured in 1920 for a lease of three years and was officially opened by the mayor of Hamilton two years later.

Now the Hamilton bus depot, this site was once the 'Tramway Ground'.

It’s believed crowds of up to 20,000 attended matches there.

“It’s frustrating because we know where that was but there are no images from back then,” Green explained.

“The ground was also used for the match of the day game, the best match of the round was played there. Those games were put up on a pedestal,” he said.

The former Crystal Palace Ground at Wallsend will be featured in the publication and it was there many top class matches played out. It once took pride of place where Wallsend Plaza now sits, while West Wallsend’s ground, nicknamed “Wembley”, will also be featured.

Once complete, Green believes another book is on the cards, spawning from his research.

“There’s so much we don’t know about old clubs, for example Hamilton Athletic was formed in 1885. There’s another interesting fact, that there’s another really old club that we know very little about,” Green said.