Almanac Local History: Sporting history in abundance at Coburg Pine Ridge Cemetery

A while ago, Allan Barden discovered that his great-grandmother was buried in 1918 in the Coburg cemetery. In finding out a little more he met the Friends of Coburg Cemetery a small group of volunteers who look after the cemetery and also have done some research into those buried there. This piece by Allan reflects on the cultural and historical significance of cemeteries generally, and discusses what they mean to us, and tell us. He then considers the lives of a number of Australian sportsmen buried in the Coburg Cemetery. [Wonderful piece – Ed]

Almanac Book Reviews: Wray Vamplew’s Games People Played by Roy Hay

Roy Hay reviews Wray Vamplew’s impressive volume on sports histories, dating back centuries in human history.

Sports history in Australian history

Roy Hay offers some thoughts on the significance of sports history as a part of our overall understanding of Australian history. The Footy Almanac has an important role to play in that bigger picture.

Sports Archaeology? What lies beneath the pitch…

When did the English start their climb to the top of the limited-overs rankings in cricket? According to this photo, it could have been much earlier than you think!

The Summer that Time Forgot

Peter Baulderstone takes advantage of the Almanac’s recent disappearance from cyber-space to suggest that sports history should really have ceased last September. You know it makes sense.

Footy Spirits and ‘Palmhenge’

Harold Peacock brings out the history in the “everyday”. Visit his blog for more insights like this one.

The greatest trick cricket ever pulled

Sean Curtain invites us to consider the game of cricket and wonders whether ‘fresh eyes’ will help us understand cricket’s current marketing strategy and approach to the game generally.

Picture research- what is involved

By Roy Hay Last week Les Shorrock, the doyen of Victorian football (soccer) photographers, who worked for Soccer Action and the Age among others, sent me a copy of a picture from his files that he was unable to identify. It showed five players in action, three from one club and two from another. It [Read more]

How Lost Was My Archive?

NEW NARRATIVE POSSIBILITIES IN AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL HISTORIES The recent developments in the digitization of library archives have profoundly affected the researching of sport history in Australia and beyond. Some images, facts and data once buried are now easily accessible via simple on-line searches. We no longer need to trust the factual accuracy of the Turners, [Read more]