We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother…
THUS coach, Ross Hutchinson, a scholarly primary school teacher and decorated bomber pilot, addressed the collection of lumpers, tally clerks, and truck drivers who largely comprised the South Fremantle side of May 17, 1947.
They faced tremendous odds as did the English in France on St Crispin’s Day, 1415, as immortalised by Shakespeare in Henry V. Historic rival East Fremantle had won the previous 35 games on the trot
But South had always had a single purpose in mind—to beat East Fremantle. East had reciprocated in their attitude to South. On this occasion South won a thriller by four points, and six WA Football League premierships in the next eight years followed. South was the undisputed champion of Australian football.
Published recently, Steve Errington’s comprehensive Southerners Forever More covers the first six decades of the club’s varied but colourful history. Errington started this ambitious project on grand final day 1997 and finished this the first segment in 2010. For much of this time he was working full-time as head of chemistry at Curtin University.
“Comprehensive” is an understatement, providing, for example, descriptions of each of the Southerners’ (as they were originally) first 60 seasons of what Ross Hutchinson might have called “triumphs and disaster”, often drawn from old newspapers at Battye Library. From sheets of paper listing every South Fremantle game, 1900-1959, the scores and the grounds came an interesting by-product: the list of every South Fremantle player in the study period, even the likes of Bill Back who played a total of one game, in 1905.
Scattered through the book are cameo pieces on the first secretary: Hughie Edwards who played seven games before winning the Victoria Cross; the first paid coach and the first coach sacked; and Bernie Naylor’s 23 goals in a game against Subiaco. None of these stories is sadder than the day captain-coach Ron Doig received severe head injuries in a violent finals match with East Perth in 1932. Crowds gathered outside his home in Howard Street when word went out that Doig was convulsing and he died in a private hospital at midnight. Doig had been a Fremantle hero and his death stunned the city.
With the funeral on Monday afternoon, flags were flown at half-mast at the Town Hall and Victoria Pavilion. Shops were closed, crowds lined South Terrace and Market Streets as the cortege—nearly a mile long —snaked its way to Fremantle Cemetery. An estimated 2500 mourners attended the funeral and a lone piper led the procession to the graveside. The casket was covered in a red and white flag.
The book also features many photographs including a rare 1934 team photograph which is in colour and has been rescued from a newspaper insert.
The message from Errington’s book is that football has long been important to Fremantle. When the social history of Fremantle is written this book can provide important insights concerning this working class town. And there is more to come. Already he has written 35,000 words on the club’s remaining seasons and a third book will cover early days of the 1880s and 1890s. The sad thing about the current book is its sales have not been properly promoted by the publisher—the South Fremantle Football Club. Eight months passed between publication and launch. The author deserved better.
by RON DAVIDSON