Billy Hicks

This report from the Newcastle Sun (14 June 1922, page 5) tells of one more moment in the strange sequence of deaths at Weston. Billy Hicks was an all round clubman, a type recognisable across all sports. His death came not long after the loss of Bill Lambert and not long before the death of Peter Coppock. George Kennedy, who took on Billy's role also died, in an underground accident, at the end of the following year.

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SOCCER MAN'S DEATH

'BILLY' HICKS Result of a Fall

W. ('Billy') Hicks, who was badly injured by falling from his horse at Weston on Friday last, died in Kurr Kurrl hospital yesterday. He had been associated with Weston Club for many years. He had been player, trainer, ambulance man, and held various positions on the Weston Club's committee, and was always ready to fight the club's battles. Very little hope was held of his recovery — the back being badly injured — and he succumbed to his injuries yesterday. The loss to soccer is a big one, but to his widow and family the sympathy of all Soccerites is extended.

Alma Kelly and the Weston Women

Daily Telegraph, Thursday 13 September 1928, page 27

This story line has taken me a little by surprise. I knew that women's teams had sprung up all around Australia in the 1920s but I hadn't drawn a connection between this phenomenon and Weston. Reading 'Mothering the Matildas: The trailblazers who kickstarted Australian women's football' by Paul Nichols published in 2018 would have helped. He writes

In Newcastle, that great cradle of Australian football, a series of matches between women’s teams from Abermain and Weston were played during August and September 1928.

In one match, The Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder reported that Weston’s Alma Kelly scored after a ‘dazzlingly brilliant run.’ 

So it turns out that women in Weston started agitating to play football as early as 1928 (probably earlier). Nicholls continues, the "enthusiasm of the women could not be stopped. By the end of September, another four teams had been formed at Bellbird, Cessnock, East Greta, and Kurri North End."

A reporter at an early game wrote "players from Abermain and Weston held the stage, and after a fast and strenuous game Abermain won by 2 goals to 1. Abermain looked very neat in gold jerseys and black shorts. ... Weston affected blue and gold jerseys, with black skirts."

This ongoing series of games resulted in Weston meeting Speers Point at the Sydney Sports Stadium in what was according to some, the final of the Women's State Cup in 1929, though the following report from the Newcastle Sun (14 November 1929, page 2) tones it down a little. Moreover, the event was under auspices of the "Australian Sports Company" and not an official soccer body. Nonetheless the article gives a good insight into the progress of women's football in the late 1920s.

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SOCCER GIRLS

Exhibition in Sydney

At Sydney Sports Ground on Saturday night two women's soccer teams from the Coalfields and Newcastle will meet in an exhibition soccer match. The teams are Weston and Speer's Point.

The were invited by the Australian Sporting Association, of which Mr. Jack Munro is manager, to visit Sydney and play on the Sports Ground on the opening night. The girls will play 20 minutes each way, with an interval of 10 minutes. Mr. H. Adkins, an English referee, is to officiate. A white ball will be used nnd the game will be played under electric light. Weston girls will play in Weston's recognised Black and White shirts, and will be represented by: Goal. Jennie Bryson; backs. Freda Hallam and Maggie Reid; half backs, Nellie Hure, Doris Outram and Chrissie Mitchell: forwards. Mary Hanley, Eileen Hanley, Alma Kelly, Mary Allen and Myrtle Holmes, Mildred Brogan is emergency. Mr. J. W. Grigg is to manage the Weston girls. Speer's Point girls will be looked after by Speer's Point secretary, Mr. Jack Brown. They will play in canary shirts and have chosen the following players: Goal, Elizabeth Sager; backs. Valeria Thornton and Ken Kerr; half backs, Ivy Cadman Melvie Kerr and Beatrice Ninnis; forwards, Maud Reid, May Fulton, Vire Roy. Abie Kerr and Sona Anderson: with Bella Roy emergency. The girls' soccer match is part of a programme which includes whippet racing, bicycle races and handicaps. Should the game prove successful it is intended to ask the winner to meet Corrimal (South Coast) girls the following week, and a week later to stage a representative northern (Newcastle and Maitland) v. South Coast women's soccer match. This would lead up to an all State girls' competition, which Mr. Grigg is anxious to run for charity in 1930.

So here we have the first recorded team list of Weston women and a sense of the ambition around the women's game.

Sadly, the great plans did not come to fruition. No general growth in the women's game was observed, though women's football in Lithgow boomed over the next few years. Organisers at least got a game up in Corrimal, but minus a Corrimal team. Weston and Speers Point played again.

The game was previewed by the Illawarra Mercury (4 April 1930, page 17)

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Ladies at Football.

At the Corrimal Memorial Park on Saturday afternoon lovers of Soccer football will have an opportunity of witnessing the first game of Soccer football played on the South Coast by two ladies' teams. The contesting teams will be Weston v Speers Point, both from the North, and as the proceeds are to go to the distress in the Northern coalfields, the promoters hope to see a record attendance present. The kick-off takes place at 3.30' p.m.

The Labor Daily (17 April 1930, page 2) published the following photo (with a typically silly headline) of the Speers Point Women.

And this seems to be where the ambitions conclude. Despite raising money for miners' relief, the teams reverted to the more informal structure of the past two years. They sought and received permission from Kurri Kurri Soccer Club to use the Drill Hall ground on Friday 9 May. It seems that Weston had morphed into Kurri-Weston in the meantime, which maybe presages some movements in the men's teams a decade later.

The game was previewed in the Newcastle Sun (8 May 1930, page 3):

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Women's Soccer Match

At the Kurri Drill Hall ground tomorrow afternoon. Kurri-Weston women's Soccer team will meet Speer's Point women's team in a charity Soccer match. These two teams have met four times and have won two games each. Before the match there will be a fancy dress match. Following is the team selected to represent Kurri -Weston:— Ivy Shakespeare (goal); Freda Halam, Jenny Bryson, (backs); Maggie Dodds, Vida Holmes, C. Mitchell (half-backs): Hannah Purdy, S. Williams. Myrtle Holmes, M. Brogan, Mary Allen (forwards). Emergencies: Bessie Sullivan and J. Kelly.

A big crowd was reported at Kurri for a repeat game in May, Speers Point again winning 1-0. (Despite the claim that the record stood at two games apiece prior to this game, I can only find a record of Speers Point winning 1-0, repeatedly)

Another Weston (+Kurri) team list, which is a bonus. However, one absence is Alma Kelly, previously such a central figure in Weston's women's team. She scored what might have been the first goal for Weston women, against Abermain, and was the talismanic captain, focused on by the press. One report of an earlier game against Speers Point recounts:

Alma Kelly, in a black and white striped Jersey, brought Weston, her team, to the kick-off, and solemnly shook hands with Beth Sagar, captain of Speer's Point team. "Go it. Alma!" shrieked the Weston supporters In the grandstand.

Kelly seems to have been a gregarious girl who stood out at whatever she did. As well as her football exploits, she tended to win dancing contests and seemed quite popular among her peers. 

"A game for women Soccer at Weston has become, but those who think it has grown effete thereby are introduced to Alma Kelly, the captain." Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 20 August 1929, page 14

No doubt she was an imposing player. Her absence at Kurri is most likely innocuous. However, her subsequent story is a one of a personal decline because of social forces much bigger than the game of football.

In 1934. under the mistaken belief that she was in a "certain condition" she took an "implement" to herself and ended up dying from peritonitis at the age of 23 on April 24. We can read so much into this story that would be pure (albeit reasonable) speculation. But it is indeed tragic that someone who could have helped lead the development of women's football in the region ended up dead from a common cause: self administered abortion in a society that frowned upon sexual expression and a woman's ability and right to choose an appropriate medical intervention.

Trove contains little information on Weston women after May 1930. I'll keep looking but I figure the impetus had gone from the women's game in the region, at least at that point in history.

1921

From Sid Grant History of Coalfields Soccer

Before the curtain had fallen on the 1921 season, stark tragedy hit the Homestead club. Its captain and stalwart defender, Bill Lambert, was fatally injured in Hebburn Mine. Injured in a fall of coal, he fought for four days but died on the Saturday. ... Again Avis with 12 goals was the club's leading scorer.

Bill Lambert

Bill Lambert sits in pride of place as Captain of the 1920 NSW team.

Perhaps it's necessary to quote Sid Grant verbatim to cover Bill Lambert's death. It's a document that speaks for itself that requires little from me:

Since the Weston Club was founded over 70 years ago, it has had many joys - but in stark contrast, it has had many moments of sorrow. Its glorious cavalcade of triumphs has been punctuated with tragic occurrences which have struck at intervals to bring the club to its knees. But with traditional pluck, it has weathered these crises. Probably, the blow which hit the club with its greatest grief was the loss of its stalwart skipper, Bill Lambert, when he was at the height of his playing career. Gloom and anxiety like black clouds hovered over the town when the news leaked out that Lambert had been critically injured by a fall of coal in Hebburn No. l. That was on Tuesday, 22nd November, 1921. Production ceased and all hands turned towards rescuing Lambert, who was taken to nearby Kurri hospital. 

Despite all medical skills and sympathetic nursing, Lambert, after a valiant effort to survive, passed away. 

A pall of sadness spread right across the soccer firmament. 

The funeral cortege was one of the biggest seen in the North since Les Darcy died and was buried at East Maitland. 

Thousands invaded the town and a panorama of sadness, bowed heads and dampened eyes · followed to the Kurri Cemetery. 

Here an eloquent tribute was paid by Rev. D. Wetherall, Metho­dist Clergyman form the Kuni Kurri Circuit. 

Mr. Wetherall said, "We have all congregated here in deep sorrow to honour a worthy citizen, a footballer of high rank, a leader of men - on and off the field, whose career has been cut off by this tragic occurrence. Let me tell you that for four days, Lambert battled manfully to live on but in the end he heard the referee's final whistle.

"His passing leaves a lesson to us all - be prepared at all times to play the game for the game's sake. 'Be modest in victory and generous in defeat' was his motto. As poet Byron once wrote, 'I must sleep now'. Vale Bill Lambert - the Pride of Weston." 

Grant's glowing eulogy can be supplemented by the following reports from the regions press. The Newcastle Sun  reported Bill's death on Monday 28 November 1921, page 7.

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FOOTBALLER'S DEATH

'BILL' LAMBERT Coal Fall at Hebburn

The news that the captain of the Weston Soccer Club. R. W. Lambert, had died as the result of injuries from a fall of coal at. No. 2 Hebburn colliery on Friday afternoon, which practically broke his back, in a sad blow to the Soccer fraternity of the State. Bill Lambert represented New South Wales against Queensland in 1920 and 1921. His powers on the field, combined with his wonderful skill as a captain were responsible for his unanimous selection as skipper of the State team in 1920 and 1921. He was easily the best known player in the State, and his death has caused a wide feeling of sympathy. Already messages of sympathy have been received from the New South Wales Soccer Association, Metropoli-tan (Sydney), South Coast, and New-castle. The funeral took place this after-noon, and the various associations, as well as the South Maitland clubs, were represented, while a number of New castle clubs also sent representatives. The deceased leaves a widow and four children, the youngest of whom was born in England a few weeks ago. Mrs. Lambert having left Australia for a trip in June last. Bill Lambert was skipper of Weston Club for a number ot years, and was remarkably popular in the Maitland, as well as in the Newcastle area.

On Wednesday 30 November, the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, published the following account of Bill Lambert's funeral on page 8, adding an appreciation of the importance of cricket in his life.

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WESTON. The attendance at the funeral of the late Mr. William Robert Lambert on Monday afternoon was a fitting tribute to the memory of a good man, who, in all his associations, whether as a member of the Miners' Federation, as a citizen, as captain of Weston Soccer Club and of the State Soccer team, or as secretary of Weston Cricket Club, always played the game. His death in the prime of his manhood, and the absence of his wife and little children on a visit to England, combined to enlist general sympathy. The funeral moved from the residence of Mr. W. Anderson. Aberdare-street, Weston, to the Methodist portion of the Kurri Kurri Methodist cemetery, the Rev. D. Weatherall conducting services at the house and at the grave. At the grave Mr Weatherall referred to the fine character of the deceased and to the sad circumstances associated with his death, The chief mourners were Mr. J. F. Johnson, father, and Mrs. S. Pybus, aunt. The Weston Town Band led the cortege, which included members of Hebburn Miners' Lodge, representatives of other Miners' lodges, Grand United Order of Oddfellows Lodge, Weston Buffaloes, representatives of the New South Wales and Newcastle Soccer Associations, officers and members of the South Maitland Soccer Association, and of Weston Soccer club, representatives of Newcastle district clubs, and from every Soccer club on the Maitland coalfield, representatives of the Hunter District Cricket Association, and officers and members of the Weston Cricket Club. Messrs, B Austin, J. Sharpe, J. Logan and R. Cockburn acted as pallbearers. The hymn "Nearer, My God to Thee," was sung during the service at the grave. Among a wealth of floral tributes placed on the grave were those from the N.S.W., Newcastle, South Maitland, Metropolitan, and South Coast Soccer Associations, and from all Soccer clubs in the district, and the Hunter District Cricket Association. 

George Kennedy

George Kennedy was part of a sad sequence of deaths at the club in the 1910s and 1920s. George had only recently taken over as Club trainer and was killed in fall of stone at Hebburn No. 1 mine. Sid Grant writes, "George played his senior football with Abermain and twice won inter-district honours. A great optimist, George was liked by all," a fact borne out by his funeral procession.

George's obituary, published on page 5 of the Maitland Weekly Mercury, Saturday 15 September 1923, seems a remarkable document. Though maybe for its time it was little beyond the norm. What strikes me is how useful it is for researchers. It places Kennedy at the centre of several cultures, the primary one of which is "British Football", specifically the "Weston Soccer Club". But more than this, his union and club affiliations are revealed, as is his role as a bandsman and his love of music. The length of his procession is a measurement of his importance to the community. 

For me the most important aspect is the list of names at the bottom. First his "pals": two sets apparently; and a subsequent list that will be useful in triangulating with the Weston Club. A poignant little moment lies in the names "Mrs. Coppock, Cliffie, and Ralph", remembering that George was the one who drove with William Beaney to inform her of Peter Coppock's death. We learn their sons' names, which would usually be quite difficult information to find.

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OBITUARY.

On Saturday afternoon, the remains of George Main Kennedy, who was killed by a fall of stone in Hebburn No. 1 mine on Thursday, were laid to rest in the Methodist cemetery (writes our Kurri Kurri representative). The procession, over a mile long, was headed by the massed bands of the district playing the "Dead March." The cortege included Hebburn Miners' Lodge, Hebburn colliery officials, representatives of the British Football Association. Weston Soccer Club, Soccer players from other clubs, and a large number of motor cars and other vehicles. A bandsman's tunic, and a football with club colours, rested on the coffin. At the graveside the deceased's favourite hymns were sung to the accompaniment of the massed bands. Rev. E. H. Wilson officiated at the graveside. A large number of beautiful floral tributes were placed on the grave, including those from Weston Band, Weston Soccer Club, Hebburn and Pagans Clubs, Northern District and South Maitland British Football Association, his pals (R. Hall, J. Finley, J. Browell, and J. Gallagher), pals (T. Martin, T. Dixon, G. Liddle, W. Liddle and R. Varty), Mr. and Mrs. J. Avis and family, Ella and Luke, Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Fisher, Mr. and Mrs. Rob Fisher, Mrs. Thirlwell, F. and R. Hall, Mr. and Mrs. Prescott, and family. Mr. and Mrs. McMillan and family. Mr. and Mrs. Stansbury, Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson. Mr. and Mrs Horsfield. Mr. and Mrs. and Nellie Marchant, Mr. and Mrs. J. Powell and family. Mrs. Coppock, Cliffie, and Ralph, Mr. S. Lloyd, Mr. and Ms. Beaney. Mr. and Mrs. and Myra Kelly, Mr. and Mrs. Cullis, Mr. and Mrs. Tyler and family, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner., Clarrie and Flo. Mr. and Mrs. Mills and family, Emma and Harry and little Emma. Mr. and Mrs. Rudd and family, Mr. and Mrs. Norris and family, Mr. and Mrs. Egdell and family.

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Peter Coppock

One of the rare images of Peter Coppock,

cropped from a representative team photo

The last thing Peter George Coppock ever did was participate in a Weston FC training game at the Homestead on 7 September 1922. It would’ve been a buoyant session given that the team had beaten a powerful Pyrmont team 3-2 there on the previous weekend. It’s easy to imagine players milling in the changing shed having just run in to escape a downpour, ready to maybe have an ale, or maybe just go home, have dinner and an early night ready for a shift in the morning. The heavens put paid to that. As the players were wondering what to do next a bolt of lightning struck the shed with a terrible force killing Peter Coppock outright, young Gordon Hadfield passing away soon after, despite the presence of Doctor Wood. It also left three of their teammates stunned and reeling, one dangerously ill.

Peter Coppock was a champion player and a great servant of the game. According to the Newcastle Herald, he "was recognised as the best left half in the northern district." The article also points out that he "went through the war with distinction." He was decorated for gallantry twice and seems to have been a respected and valued comrade by many. Having played representative football, during the war he became a busy promoter and advocate of soccer among the Armed Forces in Europe. He organised games and wrote tremendous reports on those games that found their way back to Australia, being published in the Newcastle papers.  

34th Battalion soccer team. 20th November 1918, Fricort, France.
Peter is likely holding the ball in the front row. From Harrower collection.

His death hit the entire football community hard. The Herald lamented (pessimistically as it turned out) that the "Weston club looked like having a big say in two competitions, but the sad event has quite disheartened them, and they will miss one who was, perhaps, their most popular player and beloved of them all." Seemingly undaunted, the club powered towards the end of the season, collecting the Kerr and Stevenson Cups.

Coppock's Weston career was such a short interlude. His footballing credentials had to a great extent already been established. In his early 30s, his skills had been developed and his footballing wisdom was clear. And while he may well have been on the edge of further promotion within Australian football's ranks, possibly into the Australian team, such was his form, Weston was not a crucial part of his formation. 

In Memorium notices 1923

That story belongs to other clubs, particularly Merewether Advance, the club he left to go fight in the AIF. Yet Weston is where he died, to become part of the club's litany of misfortune.

How Coppock came to be at Weston is probably an interesting tale. It appears he was having trouble finding or keeping work in Adamstown so had temporarily left his family in Merewether and was living with Mr Beaney who might well have assisted him in finding work. The fact that his family didn't move to Weston might speak to the temporary nature of his transfer. This we will never know.

The community rallied round with a well-attended funeral and a match to raise funds for Coppock's family. At Weston's awards night, the 1922 cup medals were awarded to all players. Coppock's were given to his youngest son, Ralph in a scene observers felt was indescribably sad. One reporter mentioned a "pathetic incident was the handing over of the medal won by the late Peter Coppock ... to his infant son, aged 15 months."

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Article on Coppock on the NNSWF website

The following article appeared in the Newcastle Sun, Friday 8 September 1922, page 5

STRUCK DEAD BY LIGHTNING

Two Soccer Footballers Killed 

THREE OTHERS INJURED SHOCKING TRAGEDY AT WESTON

Two footballers were killed and three others seriously shock-ed by lightning at Weston during the fierce electrical storm yesterday afternoon. They were, with 13 of their-mates, in a shed at the Homestead ground, changing clothes after a practice match. Those killed were:--

PETER COPPOCK (32), married, miner at Hebburn colliery, living at Weston. GORDON HADFIELD (16), car driver, of Weston. The injured men are:— William Tweddle (30), John Robinson (17), and Samuel Wood (17).

There was no warning. The players had been driven from the field by a deluge of rain, and they were preparing for home. Coppock, one of Weston's most dependable players, was just donning his shirt when the flash came. Richardson and Hayes, youths, who did good work for Weston seniors against West Wallsend on Saturday week, were standing on each side of Coppock. Suddenly, Coppock fell dead. In another part of the dressing-shed, Hadfield quickly succumbed. All the occupants of the shed were seriously affected. At nine o'clock last night, one of the victims was seen wandering through Weston's streets in a dazed manner. He was quickly transferred to safety. Three of the players suffered severely from shock. They were taken to the Kurri District Hospital at Dr. Woods' orders. Last night, when the body of Coppock lay in the Kurri District Hospital, it was arranged that a presentation should be made him at the residence of Mr. Penman, an enthusiastic footballer of Weston. Shortly after the accident, Mr. W. Beaney, secretary of the South Maitland Soccer Football Association, with whom the late Mr. Coppock had been staying, together with Mr. George Kennedy, motored to Merewether, where Mrs. Coppock and her two children reside. Mr. 'Jock' Stevenson, managing director of J. Stevenson, Ltd., drove to the home of Hadfield and offered his condolences.

Rex Stevenson

ACCIDENTALLY SHOT DEAD

Rex Stevenson in
 the 1936 State 
League winning team.. 

Rex Stevenson. 23, who had been one of the Weston State League Soccer Club's forwards since 1935, was accidentally shot dead at Lemon Tree, Port Stephens, on Saturday. A rabbit shooting party of which Stevenson was a member was returning to its motor launch, and Stevenson at the rear was handing shotguns down a steep slope. A double barrelled gun which, he put down stock first struck a rock and went off, and Stevenson who received the full charge in his chest, died almost immediately. The funeral at Cessnock was attended by

Weston's 1936 State League Cup

 representatives of all Northern State League Soccer Clubs., Stevenson, who lived at Church Street, Cessnock, was a miner employed at the Ellington Colliery, In 1936, when Weston, despite the absence of three key players in New Zealand, for an important section of the season, won the New South Wales Soccer double, State premiership and State Cup, nothing in soccer distinction seemed beyond Stevenson's reach. Fast, elusive and an accurate kick, he was an admirable type of forward to finish off the work of a constructive halfback line and with added experience and polish he seemed likely to go far in representative company. 

From Raymond Terrace Examiner and Lower Hunter and Port Stephens Advertiser, Thursday 6 October 1938, page 3

Weston and Memory

This feels like a kind of starting point.

George Kennedy, the Weston Soccer Club's trainer, was killed by a fall of stone in Hebburn Colliery yesterday. The deceased had been a popular member and player of the Weston Club for some years, and took over the duties of trainer upon the death of Hicks. The accident following upon those of W., Lambert, W. Hicks, and Peter Coppock, all of whom have been killed within the past two years, hits the Weston Club hard. In consequence of the fatality, the match which was to have been played at Weston tomorrow between Weston and West Wallsend has been abandoned.

This article in the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (Friday 7 September 1923, page 2) underlines the extent to which Weston Bears has its share of tragedy as well as glory in its annals. Sid Grant puts the matter eloquently when he claims the club's "glorious cavalcade of triumphs has been punctuated with tragic occurrences which have struck at intervals to bring the club to its knees."

Every sporting Club has its go-to stories of pain and despair but what is it about Weston that means it has a little more than its fair share? Rotten luck is one answer but perhaps the tragedies and their reporting and memorialisation are a measure of the club's standing in the Coalfields. Grant writes of the death of Bill Lambert in a fall of coal at Hebburn No. 1: 

A pall of sadness spread right across the soccer firmament. The funeral cortege was one of the biggest seen in the North since Les Darcy died and was buried at East Maitland.

Soccer was a big deal in the region at that time and the death of a great club's best player and captain was a major public event.

This also makes me wonder whether the tragic history of Weston has given the club senses of history, importance and belonging not shared by many other Australian soccer clubs. Events that have caused repeated public memorialisation have in effect forced Weston into public historical consciousness in a way that Western United (for example) can only dream of. And while it seems from here (Melbourne) that Weston might be but a memory, I'm not sure that that is the case in its hearth.

I'd be interested in responses to this idea. Feel free to leave a message in the comments.

Welcome

This is a new blog, a public place to store my research on Weston Bears Football Club. You are welcome to read it, use it (with appropriate attribution) and send comments to me about the pieces I put up. You can also make suggestions in regard to research tasks you think I should be pursuing.

My intention is to write a history of this great club, a history that captures its spirit and its remarkable episodes of joy and tragedy off the field and highs and lows on it.

To my mind the club is special in a number of ways, the least of which is its longevity. While old in terms of most Australian soccer clubs it is certainly not the most senior in the Newcastle region. While having been spectacularly successful at times, the club has also had periods without much success. To me the club is special in its identity, one harking back to the club's very founders. Another feature is the recurrence of tragedy within the club and its community. My starting hypothesis is that these events (which might have brought the club to its knees) have strengthened the club and contributed to a culture of memory that is vital to any successful sporting body. Weston is a club that remembers its past and seems to want and need to remember. Stories of fact and myth entwine in the club's written and living memories. I hope to do justice to them.