Historical information

This photo is a very early example of an action image from an Australian Rules football match in a rural area in Victoria. The identity of the two teams is not confirmed. The team with the dark colored uniform is probably the Bacchus Marsh football team. The other team is possibly Parwan. The style of uniforms suggest the date of the photo is from around 1910 or possibly a few years earlier.

Significance

This item has particular historic and social significance as an action image of two of the early sporting teams of Bacchus Marsh and district. These type of images are very rare for teams outside of the major metropolitan competitions such as the Victorian Football League of Victorian Football Association. It therefore provides a rare and fascinating depiction of an early football game as it was played and the ground conditions in which footballers played in the early 1900s.

Physical description

A black and white photograph produced from a digitized glass negative held by the State Library of Victoria titled, ‘Men and boys playing football on an oval set among trees and fields’ ca. 1910, Pictures Collection, State Library Victoria, H92.433/20. The description for the image held by the State Library of Victoria does not identify the location where the image was taken. By close comparison with other images of Maddingley Park held by the Bacchus Marsh and District Historical Society the location has been identified as Maddingley Park, Bacchus Marsh. A significant identifier for this image is the presence of the Evans Pavilion in the background which was built in 1896. Trees and statues in the background on the left side of the image also match other images of Maddingley Park from this time.