Historical information

Photographer notations on slide: Scotch v. Xavier - Olympic Park B42

At the first match of the 1934 Public Schools Premiership and Championships at Olympic Park (where AAMI Park is now) between Scotch College (white shorts) and Xavier College, (black shorts) a mark is missed by Xavier players and then taken by a Scotch player.

Research by project volunteer, Fiona Collyer:
A crowd of schoolboys standing behind a picket fence, watch with anticipation as two teams contest a football at the goalposts.

The Public Schools Premiership and Championship was an Australian Rules football tournament held every winter over five weeks between six schools- Scotch College, Xavier College, Melbourne Grammar, Wesley College and traditional rivals Geelong Grammar and Geelong College.
The school that won the most games out of the five played, won the competition.

As the 1933 Premiers, Xavier College had the honour of playing the opening match of the season on 28 June against runners-up Scotch College at Olympic Park (where AAMI Park is now).

The Public Schools Premiership matches were widely reported in Melbourne’s daily newspapers with photographs and commentary of every game. Weekly society magazine “Table Talk” featured reports and seven photographs of the first games of the season. Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) wireless station 3AR interspersed their afternoon program of reproduced music with detailed descriptions of the matches.

Also reporting the matches was “Forty-Years-On”, presumably a student in the 1890s, whose regular column in The Herald newspaper “Activities In The Public Schools” published all the latest news on Victoria’s public (private) schools.
In his column for The Australasian 7 July 1934, “Old Boy” writes about the Scotch versus Xavier match-
“For more than half the game last week, Scotch was outplayed, but took the lead early in the last term and kept it. Scotch surprised even its own supporters by its dash in the last 25 minutes. Xavier, who became over confident by the prospects of victory, could not withstand the final onslaught. In the last quarter Scotch was the better side and won by seven points.”

The final score was Scotch 11.11 (77 points) and Xavier 10.10 (70 points).
At the end of this exciting match the overjoyed Scotch boys swarmed over the Olympic Park fences to chair their captain, Stanley Steele and carry him shoulder high, to the pavilion.

The first documented game of a variation of Australian Rules football was played at Richmond Paddock (now Yarra Park) from 7 August 1858. Australian Rules football writer Hugh Buggy of The Argus 16 April 1952 explains-
“It began when boys and masters of Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School decided to play a 40-a-side game, with the first team to score two goals to be the winner.
Goal posts were pitched more than a mile apart, one set on the Jolimont Hill and the other at Punt road Richmond. Nobody defined the boundary, and the play swung over the broad acres of the park and around the gum trees.
It went on and on like a Test match, from noon till dusk. After 15 hours of play on three Saturdays the score was one goal all, and the game was abandoned for that season.”

Rules of the game hadn’t been decided at this time - the earliest known rules were codified a year later in 1859.

A sculpture and plaque located outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), created by sculptor Louis Laumen in 2001, commemorates this game. It depicts two school boys chasing a ball along with umpire Tom Wills, a co-writer of the rules and promoter of Australian Rules football.

A medley of Gaelic football, an Aboriginal game called marngrook as well as football played in English public (that is private) schools have been cited as inspiration for Australian Rules football.

The word “Marngrook” meaning “game ball”, comes from the language of the Gunditjmara, First Nations people of southwestern Victoria. Marngrook was played at gatherings and celebrations and involved players competing to jump and catch the ball after it was kicked high into the air. The player that catches the ball then gets to kick it. The ball was made from possum skin, filled with pounded charcoal and tied with kangaroo sinews.

Protector of Aborigines in Victoria, William Thomas (1794-1867) observed in 1841-
“The men and boys joyfully assemble when this game is to be played. One makes a ball of possum skin, somewhat elastic, but firm and strong… The players of this game do not throw the ball as a white man might do, but drop it and at the same time kick it with their feet, using the instep for that purpose. The tallest men have the best chances in this game. Some of them will leap as high as five feet from the ground to catch the ball. The person who secures the ball kicks it. This continues for hours and the natives never seem to tire of the exercise.”

The Victorian Football League (VFL), was founded in 1897 with eight teams playing Australian Rules football and held its first Grand Final at the MCG in 1902. From the start the games attracted large enthusiastic crowds, which included women.

“Viva” writing in the
Supplement to The Weekly Times-3 July 1886
LADIES COLUMN
(By Viva)
FOOTBALL.
A Social Sketch.
“…Of the popularity of football and footballers among women, there can be no doubt. Young, soft hearted girls, who would not “tread upon a worm," avow that football matches are "awfully jolly," and seem to regard accidents as a necessary part of the amusement…a great proportion of the spectators were ladies.”

“Minetta” writing for Punch Magazine -
“Ladies Letter,
Holmby House, Toorak”
22 June 1905
“The "Football Girl" is a feminine genus at present much to the fore in Melbourne. Not that she plays football—at least not beyond a kick in the backyard or paddock—oh, dear, no! Her interest in the game is purely from a spectacular point of view. "Football Girls" usually hunt in couples, with two male barrackers attached. They know all about So-and-So's form, and whether he is a trier or has been bought. They go to each match of their particular club, and watch the play intently, their faces wearing a decidedly strained expression when their club is getting the worst of it. They are not ashamed to barrack either, when matters are progressing successfully…
Yours ever,
MINETTA.”

The Herald 2 July 1909 published a cartoon by Ambrose Dyson depicting women football fans, which asked-
“THE QUESTION OF THE DAY.
Should Girls Go To Football Matches?
Should they?
The sex made up their mind about the matter very early on.”
The resounding answer was-
“Well, I’d like to see the man that would stop me!”

At the final match of the 1934 tournament on August 2, Melbourne Grammar finished the season unbeaten, winning their tenth Public Schools premiership in 16 years.
The Weekly Times 11 August 1934 reported-“Melbourne Grammar…had a rather lucky escape against Xavier…Had a Xavier player not touched a shot, kicked by a team-mate, as it was going through goal Grammar would have been beaten.”

Final score - Melbourne Grammar 13.7 (85 points) defeated Xavier College 12.9 (81 points).

Ladder for the 1934 Season-
Melbourne Grammar-5 wins
Wesley College- 4 wins
Scotch College- 3 wins
Xavier College- 2 wins
Geelong Grammar- 1 win
Geelong College- 0 wins

The Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) exists today where eleven member (private) schools, including co-educational schools, participate in 21 sporting competitions throughout the year. (The descriptor “Public School” references the historical usage of the term and the model of the British public).


PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOOTBALL BEGINS WITH SCOTCH--XAVIER MATCH. (1934, June 29). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 11. Retrieved June 23, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204824484

PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOOTBALL AT OLYMPIC PARK (1934, July 5). Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939), p. 5. Retrieved May 30, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article149682433

PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOOTBALL. (1936, July 3). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 18. Retrieved May 30, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11888301

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. (1934, June 29). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved August 6, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204824486

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Australian_rules_football

COLLEGE SPORTS (1934, July 7). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), p. 48 (METROPOLITAN EDITION). Retrieved August 6, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145238393

GRAMMAR CHAMPIONS (1934, August 11). Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), p. 72. Retrieved August 6, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224562842

LETS LOOK AT FOOTBALL with HUGH BUGGY (1952, April 16). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 9. Retrieved August 6, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23174340

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AMONG THE SCHOOLS. (1934, August 7). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved August 6, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205521661

https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/australian-rules-football#:~:text=In%20the%20winter%20of%201858,games%20of%20Australian%20Rules%20football.

https://apssport.org.au/about/

http://lindsaymagazine.co/from-marngrook-to-australian-rules-football/

https://collection.australiansportsmuseum.org.au/objects/70993/possum-skin-ball

FOOTBALL. (1886, July 3). Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), p. 6 (SUPPLEMENT TO THE STORY TELLER). Retrieved September 7, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221741193

Ladies' Letter. (1905, June 22). Punch (Melbourne, Vic. : 1900 - 1918; 1925), p. 28. Retrieved September 22, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175410975

THE QUESTION OF THE DAY. (1909, July 2). The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), p. 9. Retrieved September 22, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242062970

Physical description

Glass plate negative

Inscriptions & markings

Photographer notations on slide: Scotch v. Xavier - Olympic Park B42