1867 Buck Wheatley

"One of the best known of the old-timers at South Melbourne is A. E. ("Buck") Wheatley."

"His son, Jack Wheatley, writes to state that his father is now 87 years of age and although he is rather feeble, the veteran's memory is marvellous. A. E. Wheatley can be regarded as one of the fathers of the games of cricket and football in this State. His notes on the past make interesting reading and can be regarded as valuable history as he was honorary secretary and captain of the South Melbourne club."

"I dedicate this faithful record to Charles Crooke, the first hon. treasurer and one of the first players in remembrance of many happy days spent with on the playing ground.

Prior to May 22 1867, there had not been any senior football club in what was then called Emerald Hill.    Several attempts to start with a club fell through for want of local support.   In those days the land between Park Street and St. Kilda was vacant Crown land, although four batteries of Garrison Artillery were located on the foreshore; also the rifle butts occupied a large area extending from the beach to what is now called Canterbury Road.   The St. Kilda railway line separated this land from Albert Park.   The magnificent Middle Park did not show up until many years after 1867.

In this year (1867) it was decided to form a first class football club.   A meeting was called for May 15, 1867; those being present Charles Crooke, Noble, Dan Reed, T. V. Foote, F. Upton, Wm. Crooke, J. Garbutt, A. E. Wheatley and others.    It was then decided to call a general meeting to be held at the Rose of Denmark Hotel on May 22, 1867.

At this meeting, A. E. Wheatley was occupied the chair. A. E. Wheatley was elected hon. secretary and Charles Crooke hon. treasurer.   It was agreed that all the principal citizens should be asked to support the club.   The following residents agreed to do so; Messrs. R, B, and C. R. Dickenson, T. Foote, Osborne, Whiteman, Yuille, Major, Runting, Fishley, Page, Nimmo, Heather, Exon, Finlay, and many others I cannot call to mind. "

The club played under the name of the South Melbourne Club during 1867.   South played all the principal clubs around Melbourne with considerable success.   In season 1868, the old Emerald Hill players gave trouble.   The cause was this:    Prior to 1867, the old Emerald Hill players intended to start again, but the S.M.F.C. got in too soon for them. Although they played and helped the club, they did not like the name South Melbourne and they awaited their opportunity to act, which came prior to commencing of the season 1868.

A special general meeting of the S.M.F.C. members was called, and several supporters including myself were absent.   The Emerald Hill party had it all their own way and the meeting, by a very large majority, agreed to alter the name of the club from South Melbourne to Emerald Hill, under which name it played during 1868.   I was absent at the time, spending holidays at Smeaton, and was very much surprised to learn that I had been elected a vice-president of the club.   T. S. Atkinson was hon. secretary.

The great season 1869 was approaching.   A Challenge Cup was to be played for by all the principal clubs of Melbourne.   Clubs who entered and played for the Cup were: Melbourne, St. Kilda, South Yarra, Emerald Hill, Hobson Bay Railways, Carlton and Albert Park.    At the annual meeting of the Emerald Hill Club at Taylor's Hotel, Clarendon Street, in 1869, A. E. Wheatley was elected to the chair.

Directly the meeting started a motion was carried that the name of the club be altered to South Melbourne.   All the old Emerald Hill members left the meeting in disgust, saying that they would not play under such an objectionable and unknown name as South Melbourne.   But the chairman left the chair and interviewed them.   They then returned and gave no further trouble and helped to win the Challenge Cup.

They, however, agreed to play under the name of Albert Park and the club was known by the name of the Albert Park Football Club for several seasons before the original name was again adopted in 1874.   Since then there has been no change of name.   Mr.William Yuille was elected as secretary for the season.

In 1878, I was still an office-bearer of the club, also hon. secretary of the football club.   Thirteen years before this date, I was hon. secretary (quite a youngster), but I was too young at the time to be of much good to the club.  In 1878, the S. M. cricket ground was fenced in, the ground greatly enlarged and improved, and an excellent pavilion built.   I was responsible for those improvements.   The club had, however, increased its liabilities considerably.   We tried everything - concerts, sports meetings, debentures, etc. - but the liabilities always stared us in the face.   And were not reduced.

My idea was to get rid of this liability, so I consulted the football committee and asked them if they would agree to play in the S.M.C.G. ground provided they received half the profits.   They willingly agreed.   The cricket club committee objected at first, but I brought in expert evidence to prove that the turf would not be damaged.

My old friend, Tommy Wills, once captain of the Rugby School informed the committee that football was always played on the great English public school cricket grounds during the winter, and top-dressed early in the spring. When football was finished with, cricket was then played.   The wickets play just the same, in fact even better - according to Mr. Wills statement. "

Since 1878, football has been played at South Melbourne with most gratifying results. Large sums have been made and the ground very much improved. The committee of the South Melbourne Cricket Club at the time, however, were very anxious, as it was the first time on record that football was played on first-class cricket grounds in Australia."

"Buck's" memory perhaps slipped a little in recalling the Challenge Cup as 1869. It was in fact initiated in 1870, but every other detail agrees with what was published in the press some 64 years previously. In calling himself in the article "A. E. Wheatley" when referring to positions within the club rather than using the first person, he leaves the impression that he was writing from original minutes of the meeting where the full name would have recorded.

The first meeting of the club was at the Rose of Denmark Hotel on Napier Street on the Emerald Hill on May 22, 1867. Wheatley was elected honorary secretary, and the election of a president held over. The meeting noted an application to play on the Three-Chain Road.

The Three-Chain Road, was so named because of its length, and was the forerunner of today's Albert Road.

The ground, if it could be called that, was at the end of Moray Street. From The Australasian's description of the day, the road actually constituted part of the playing area:

The South Melbourne club formed in 1867 became Emerald-Hill in 1868 and Albert Park the following year, and what "Buck" Wheatley's recollections do not reveal is that the reason for the changes were probably a social issue.

"South Melbourne" at the time referred to the low-lying areas on the banks of the year where much of Melbourne's lowest class inhabited a tent and shanty town. Emerald Hill was the area around where the Town Hall now lies; somewhat elevated both in geographic and social terms. Albert Park emerged as a compromise between the two, although it did more accurately reflect the club's playing location at the time.

A new South Melbourne emerged in 1874 and after a couple of unsuccesful attempts, the club that we remember came with an amalgamation in 1880 of Albert Park and South Melbourne, where the Albert Park club's colours were retained, but the latter name adopted.

As well as the struggle over the name, the narrative gives a first-hand account of the reluctance of the cricket club committees to let football onto their grounds, and in turn, directly highlights the reason why they were ultimately forced to do so.

	1867 "Buck" Wheatley Remembers
	The original South Melbourne Football Club went through a series of name changes, ultimately becoming the Albert Park club. Albert Park later merged with a new South Melbourne to form the entity we knew before they became the Sydney Swans. In a rare disclosure in The Sporting Globe of 1931, "Buck" Wheatley, one of the original founders of the club as a young man, recalled one of the first annual meetings in 1867 ...

1867 "Buck" Wheatley Remembers