Almanac Footy History: The Long-forgotten Pomborneit Football Club

 

The change in demographics and the demise of country footy clubs has been a constant over the past four or five decades. Very many of these clubs are fondly remembered, still have honour boards and photos up somewhere, and are still talked about in the public consciousness.

 

The Pomborneit Football Club is a long forgotten relic of a bygone era. So forgotten that they don’t even rate a mention on the comprehensive list of clubs on the excellent australianfootball.com website. While the Pomborneit Cricket Club has been a constant presence since 1883, the Pomborneit Football Club had a spasmodic journey between 1884 and 1949. Their story deserves to be told.

 

While the first land grant in the Parish of Pomborneit was given in 1858, and several other lots were obtained in the 1860’s, it was the rabbit infestation of that era that moved the Manifold family to section off the north east portion of their ‘Purrumbete’ property, mainly rocky ‘stony rises’ country, in 1867, which saw many families whose names are still synonymous with the area today take up land in the Pomborneit district.

 

Pomborneit was basically considered a coach stop village for a time after 1867, with only a school, post office and a Presbyterian church in operation. That all changed with the Colac to Camperdown railway line opening in 1883. The Pomborneit railway station opened on July 6th, 1883, bringing railway workers to the area. The Pomborneit Cricket Club played its first game on February 12th 1883, while the Pomborneit Football Club played its first games in 1884. The village seemed to grow rapidly in this time, the railway helping other businesses become established in the 1880’s.

 

The Pomborneit FC played around 7 or 8 games in 1884. There was no league or official competition, just clubs lining up games against each other. A highlight was playing Pirron Yallock at Pirron Yallock, at Captain Haines’ paddock at his “Mamre” homestead, on the eastern shore of Lake Corangamite. The team caught the train on the new train line from Pomborneit to Pirron Yallock according to newspaper reports, though it is unclear how they made the journey from Pirron Yallock station to the Mamre homestead several kilometres away. Pomborneit were victorious on the day, a George Lucas goal saw the visitors win 1 goal to no goals in apparently very windy conditions.

 

There was a return game two weeks later, at the Pomborneit North property known as ‘Cabbage Gardens’, an unknown venue somewhere on the Pomborneit-Foxhow Road, which was formerly (and betterly) known as Cabbage Garden Road. At the time behinds did not count in your score, so Pirron Yallock 2 goals 0 behinds defeated Pomborneit 1 goal 11 behinds. W.Foster, the Pomborneit captain, kicked their only goal.

 

1885 was an even busier year for the Pomborneit Football Club, playing 12 games, including games against Camperdown and Cobden. Pomborneit defeated Cobden at Jancourt (likely to be at the Jancourt homestead near Cobden rather than at the Jancourt locality further south) in May 1885, then defeated Cobden again a week later at Pomborneit. Cobden defeated Pomborneit at Cobden in front of a reported crowd of 150 in July 1885. Pomborneit played Camperdown at ‘Clarke’s Paddock’ in August of 1885, a Camperdown home venue, and beat the home team with 1 goal to Camperdown’s 10 behinds under the old scoring system.

 

After some busy early years, most of the 1890’s sees Pomborneit FC games very few and far between. Maybe some were not reported on, more likely football was not a priority in the 1890’s depression years. It took until 1897 for reasonably regular fixtures to return, with Pirron Yallock a regular opponent most years. In 1897 Pomborneit hosted Pirron Yallock at ‘J.Condies Paddock’ in South Purrumbete, but all other home games between 1897 & 1906 are just listed as being at ‘Pomborneit’, with no specific venue named.

 

1907 is the busiest year for Pomborneit in football since the 1880’s. Still no official league, the matches are just games played with a return fixture a couple of weeks later. Matches are played against Danedite, Camperdown Imperials, Pirron Yallock and South Purrumbete, Pomborneit winning 7 out of 8 games.

 

The 1908 season is the first season of an official league that Pomborneit plays in, the Brown-Harlock Trophy. Pomborneit is the winner of the trophy, finishing undefeated; no grand final appears to have been played. A notable result is the inaccurate kicking on July 4th, 1908 at Swan Marsh, Pomborneit 1-19-25 defeating the home team 2-8-20. I’d love to know where the Brown-Harlock Trophy is, if it still exists.

 

1909 sees a new trophy sponsor, clubs playing in the Quinn Competition. Pomborneit win 6 and lose 6 games. Pomborneit wore a blue guernsey that season and were referred to as the ‘Blues’ in match reports. The club was reported as having 70 members in 1909, and closed off the season with a well attended ‘smoke social’ at the Pomborneit Public Hall. Below is a fantastic team photo from the 22nd of May 1909, when Danedite defeated Pomborneit at Danedite 4-9-33 to 2-4-16.

 

 

The Pomborneit team in the photo (not in photo order, any help with names to faces would be much appreciated) is: J.Baker (captain), A.E.Boyd (vice-captain), G.Robertson, W.O’Callaghan, J.Patterson, H.P.Jeffers, D.Hose, A.Robertson, J.Murray, T.Murray, F.Hanlon, D.R. Kelly, W.Tomkinson, H.Weston, G.Roache, W.Patterson, J.O’Donnell & R.Mathieson

 

From 1907 to World War 1, Pomborneit home games were nearly all played at ‘W.N.Hindhaugh’s Paddock’, likely located just north east of Pomborneit North on or near the Danedite homestead. W.N.Hindhaugh was club president for all of those years. But an interesting one off game was held ‘on a paddock on the Colac Road near the 7 mile post’ against Bostocks Creek on June 10th, 1909. Basically the location of the current Pomborneit Recreation Reserve. That venue saw no more action until the Pomborneit Recreation Reserve was officially opened in 1933.

 

Pomborneit finished second to Danedite in yet another rename, the McCabe & Hindhaugh Competition in 1910. Clubs had to settle for whatever colour guernseys they could get their hands on in those times, Pomborneit wore maroon and were referred to as the ‘maroons’ in 1910.

 

A mixed season in 1911, winning 5 and losing 5, junior (now known as reserves) teams from Camperdown, Cobden and Terang entered the competition, while some country clubs withdrew. In 1912, a Mortlake junior team joined the competition, Pomborneit now the only country club, yet still competitive, winning half their games. Most 1912 newspaper reports refer to the team as the ‘maroons’, though two reports also give the nickname ‘the rises’, a moniker that is never used again. In 1913 the maroons played their home games at Camperdown’s Leura Oval without much success.

 

1916 seems to be the only year Pomborneit played in during World War 1. There are reports of 2 games against Camperdown and a game against South Purrumbete, but perhaps the most interesting game was between Pomborneit and a Pomborneit District Married Men team. A few bachelors were required to round out the married team. Pomborneit 14-12-96 defeated Married Men 3-10-28. The match was a fundraiser for the Pomborneit State School Patriotic Fund, raising 15 shillings and 9 pence for the cause. This match, plus some matches hosted by the Pomborneit State School team in 1916, were held in a paddock on Mr Harrison’s property in the hills next to Mount Porndon, land still owned by the Harrison family. As the photos below show, we were lucky enough to have a look at and a kick on that piece of land a couple of years ago when taken there by Les Harrison, who is still on that Harrison land his family has had since 1867.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pomborneit resumed football in 1921, first up with a game against Camperdown in aid of the Camperdown Hospital. Only a couple of other games were reported that year.

 

Reports are still few and far between in 1922, and the games are only briefly covered, but there’s mention of Pomborneit becoming premiers after defeating Hawk’s Nest (the locality known as Pomborneit East since 1931) for a third time that season. The second of three Pomborneit football premierships is by far the hardest to find information on.

 

Match reports are still scarce in 1923, but there’s another game against Hawk’s Nest, these are the only two seasons of football from Hawk’s Nest that look like they appeared in.

 

The club looks like it went into recess from 1924 to 1926, reforming to be a part of the Camperdown & District Junior Football Association ahead of the 1927 season, again it was junior in status not age. The competition included 4 teams, Pomborneit, Bostocks Creek and reserves teams from Camperdown and Terang. Pomborneit’s only two wins were both against Terang. While it is unclear what colours Pomborneit wore from 1921-1923, from 1927 onwards they wore blue and gold vertical stripes. Post WW1, blue and gold were the sporting colours of all Pomborneit teams for a certain period, including tennis, table tennis, cricket and women’s basketball (netball).

 

In 1928 the addition of Chocolyn and Elingamite saw the competition expand to 6 teams. Bostock’s Creek had won the previous 4 premierships, but it was minor premier Pomborneit and Elingamite who met in the grand final at an extremely windy Leura Oval in Camperdown where there was a ‘splendid attendance’. Elingamite opened with the assistance of a ‘high wind favouring the town goal’, and led with 2-7-19 to Pomborneit’s 1 behind at quarter time. Pomborneit kicked 4 goals to one with the wind in the second quarter, and led 4-4-28 to 3-9-27 at the main break. Pomborneit could only manage 1 behind against the wind again in the third term, Elingamite leading 5-15-45 to 4-5-29 at the last change. Pomborneit had all the momentum in the final term and stormed home to win 8-10-58 to Elingamite 6-18-54. The players were awarded medals at a footballers ball in the Pomborneit Public Hall in the October of 1928, an event attended by more than 200 people, who ‘thoroughly enjoyed dancing to the strains of Mr Sloane’s high-class orchestra’.

 

 

1929 was another strong season from the Pomborneit FC, this time they could not get over Elingamite in the first semi final, finishing 4th. 1930 was a what if season for the club, losing to Cobden twice by 4 points, losing to Camperdown by a point, losing to Bostocks Creek by 5 points and missing the finals. The Pomborneit Football Club played its home games from 1921-1930 at the Pomborneit North property ‘Chelsea’, the front paddock of which was the home of the Pomborneit Cricket Club from 1894 (but possibly earlier) to the Recreation Reserve opening in 1933. ‘Chelsea’ also hosted the many athletics meetings of the Pomborneit Sports Club over several years.

 

Sadly, Pomborneit decided not to enter a team in 1931. And it looked like football in Pomborneit was done. As the 1930’s progressed, some prominent Pomborneit family names appeared in Bookaar Football Club teams. Yet none at all in the closer located South Purrumbete Football Club. While there was some crossover between Pomborneit and South Purrumbete players in earlier times (particularly the 1880’s and 1900’s), there was none in the 1920’s & 1930’s from any Pomborneit based player. I have a theory that sectarianism played a part, with South Purrumbete being a mainly, but not exclusively, Catholic club at the time, while Pomborneit never had a Catholic church, instead being a mostly Presbyterian and Anglican community.

 

After almost two decades of no football, the Pomborneit Football Club was revived for some matches in 1948. The two matches found so far see a Pomborneit senior team play a Camperdown Under 18 team, both times at Camperdown’s Leura Oval.

 

The Pomborneit team that played on the 8th of May 1948 was:

 

Back: E.Bailey, D.Rippon, R.Boyd
Half Back: S.Burge, K.McGarvie, W.Cust
Centre: D.Boyd, R.Kelly, M.Hallyburton
Half Forward: G.Patterson, R.Everett, E.Rippon
Forward: W.Boyd, D.Kelly, J.Kelly
Followers: F.Payne, R.White
Rover: T.Baker

 

Camperdown 2-8-20 defeated Pomborneit 1-8-14 on that day. The teams also met on the 14th of August, Camperdown winning again, 6-9-45 to 3-11-29.

 

In 1949 Pomborneit again played Camperdown Under 18’s, losing 8-6-54 to 1-5-11 on July 9th. Two weeks later, Pomborneit hosted Tesbury at the Pomborneit Recreation Reserve, the Camperdown Chronicle reporting the ‘game was well attended’. Pomborneit 5-14-44 defeating Tesbury 6-5-41. Goalkickers for Pomborneit were T.Baker with 3 and N.Boyd with 2, best players were T.Baker, N.Boyd, J.Boyd, E.Roff and W.Pegg. The Chronicle reported that the two teams were to meet again in a fortnight at the Pomborneit Recreation Reserve, but a record of a second game is yet to be found. There’s no record of Tesbury ever having a football team before or after 1949. It’s interesting that after nearby South Purrumbete went into recess after the 1948 season, the Tesbury team contained many South Purrumbete football names. South Purrumbete Football Club wouldn’t return until 1956.

 

 

 

 

I’ve only been able to come across one person who has memories of that 1949 game at the Pomborneit Recreation Reserve, though I did know a few participants in the game, all who have sadly passed before I commenced work researching Pomborneit’s sporting history. I caught up recently with Kath Podger (nee Harlock), who remembers being at that game as a young girl. Kath remembered there being a large crowd, and that Doug Boyd, who had a long and successful career at the Pomborneit Cricket Club, broke his leg in the game in a story I’ve also heard from later generations of Doug’s family. Kath’s father Ron Harlock was a member of the 1928 Pomborneit FC premiership team and talented in several sports including cricket and table tennis.

 

There’s no record of any Pomborneit football after 1949. Maybe an opportunity lost with South Purrumbete in recess in the early 1950’s? The cricket club dropped back to one team for the 1950/51 season so maybe the numbers just weren’t there.

 

Little remains of the Pomborneit Football Club apart from the few photos in this article. No trophies, no honour board. The 1909 team and the 1928 premiership photo are now on the wall at the Pomborneit Recreation Reserve. We live in hope that maybe, just maybe, someone has an old trophy out there somewhere. Some more photos. Or even better, an old guernsey.

 

If not, there’s more research to do, hopefully more games to uncover. The Pomborneit Football Club deserves to be remembered, to be acknowledged. Go the Blues/Maroons/The Rises/the Blue and Golds!

 

Any further information, photos or memorabilia of the Pomborneit Football Club is keenly sought after. Please contact Luke Reynolds on 0428 560 402 or [email protected] if you have anything.

 

 

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