Zoe Moffatt
Lancefield Football Netball Club is calling on locals to help identify players and officials from the 1909 team, ahead of its 150-year anniversary.
The photograph from the Romsey-Lancefield and District Historical Society captures the district-wide rep team outside the old members stand when it played the Victoria police team at the MCG.
Charlie Walker from Lancefield FNC said organisers identified two Lancefield players in the team: Frank ‘Silver’ Caine (third from left) and Alexander ‘Ike’ Johnston (fourth from right), who both played VFL for Carlton.
“It would be wonderful if the descendants of the other players would be able to put a name to a face, and bring them back to life,” he said.
Mr Walker said local historian Denis Graham passed on the photograph of the Gisborne Association combined team for the club’s reunion on April 1.
“[Mr] Graham has co-authored a must read book [launching] in May detailing Lancefield’s football origins and its success through the ages,” he said.
“No other country footy club can surely match the rivalry of the 150 years of encounters in the Lancefield-Romsey games, where passions overflow and mounted police once chased spectators off the ground.”
Mr Walker said Lancefield has extensive early history in terms of leading the way in the development of the game.
The photograph and other unearthed treasures will be on display at the reunion, which is to be held at the Lancefield Mechanics Hall.
Mr Walker encouraged anyone with information about the players in the photograph to reach out to Mr Graham.
Details: www.romseylancefieldhistorical.org.au/
