Another premiership?

Many members of our club could recite the years of Berwick's premiership, especially the history buffs. Often they'll tell you 1925, 1954, 1977, 1978, 1999, 2015, 2017, and 2018. You'll sometimes see the years listed on archived memorabilia, posters, social media posts or even see each of the trophies in the cabinets.

Berwick Football Club team from 1910

But did you know that Berwick has won an additional premiership that has regularly been forgotten over the past few decades? The premiership of 1910!

In 1910, Berwick was playing in the Berwick District Football Association. It was the first year of the Association and they decided to affiliate with the Victorian Junior Football Association. The VJFA would assign umpires and make judgements on protests that the association could not resolve itself.

The Association was small, with only four teams! These teams were Pakenham, Nar Nar Goon, Cranbourne, and Berwick.

In the following years other teams like Springvale, Dandenong, Clayton and Clyde would join the Association. The Association in later years was often interchangeably called the Berwick District Football Association, Dandenong District Football Association, or the Berwick and Dandenong Association.

In 1910 the four teams played 12 association games in total. But there seems to be some confusion on whether Berwick won all 12 matches or if they lost two. Strangely, even at the Association's end-of-season meeting the Pakenham delegate congratulated Berwick on being undefeated, but then the secretary corrected that they were defeated twice. The Pakenham delegate's response was "We might say they went through the season without a defeat. This was a fine record and one of which the club could be proud." So perhaps the reports of being undefeated were more of a reflection of Berwick's dominance rather than the team truly winning every match.

There is no denying that Berwick had been dominant, the newspapers report that Berwick had scored 644 points whilst only 222 had been scored against them.

The association put aside £3/3 as a trophy for the premiership winner. Upon winning the Association premiership, the club held a meeting at the Mechanics' Institute. After much debate the club decided to put the money into the clubs funds and to hold a complementary social and dance for the club members.

Additionally, the club handed out awards to O. Espie for most goals (21) and H. Dick for best all-rounder.

So next time someone is talking about Berwick's premierships, don't forget 1910!

References:

Berwick Shire News. Wed 13 April 1910

Berwick Shire News. Wed 3 Aug 1910

Berwick Shire News. Wed 10 Aug 1910

Berwick Shire News. Wed 17 Aug 1910

Football. (1910, August 10). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 2 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved September 19, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66202220

Football. (1910, August 17). South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), p. 3 (WEEKLY.). Retrieved September 19, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66202261

COUNTRY MATCHES. (1910, August 15). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10452876