On Saturday 23 July 1898, the Melbourne weekly newspaper The Leader published The Footballers' Alphabet.

The poem, which had been written by its influential (Australian Rules) football correspondent, "Follower",^[1] delivered a brief comment on a number of the most prominent Australian Rules footballers playing in Melbourne in 1898 -- the second year of the VFL competition -- presented in the alphabetical order of their family names.^[2]

Given the poem’s subject and its novelty, it was very popular, and it was republished in a number of different newspapers, including The Age,^[3] and The Ovens and Murray Advertiser.^[4]

A pastiche of the poem, centred on the players of the Sunbury Football Club in the Yorke Peninsula, was published in 1920,^[5] and another, centred on the players in the Adelaide (SAFL) competition, was published in 1925.^[6]

The Poem

A stands for Anderson, hard to beat back,

        Likewise for Adamson, also a crack;

B stands for Barry, who's clever and strong,

        And Brockwell, who plays on the wing for Geelong;

C is for Condon, the Collingwood flyer,

        And Conway, who's earnest and always a trier;

D for young Dando and Dowdell (sic) -- both smart;

E stands for Elder (kicks straight as a dart);^[7]

F --- "Toby" Barton and Reid will go down,^[8]

        Before "Tracker" Forbes will fade out of renown;

G is for Gavan (sic), who never says die,

        And for Gilligan too, who can mark very high;

H stands for Hogan, a better mark still,

        Also for Howson, who puts on no frill;

I stands for Ingram^[9] -- from Brunswick he came --

J for Jackson and James, who are dabs at the game;

K for Gus Kearney, both brilliant and smart,

        As fresh at the end as he was at the start;

L stands for Lewis, a "centre" of fame;

M for M'Ginis, the boss of the game;

N stands for Noonan, who roves for Fitzroy;

O for O'Dea (sic), who's a broth of a boy;

P is for Pleass, unsurpassed in the ruck,

        And Proudfoot, renowned for his coolness and pluck;

Q stands for Quilligan^[10] (plays with "Old Dick");^[11]

R is for Robinson, clever and quick;

S---stand aside, please, and let me proclaim,

        That Stuckey's the best captain playing the game;

        It's a fact I believe, though I think we must own,

        Fitzroy, for hard graft, has a daisy in Sloan;

T stands for South's clever back player, Trimm (sic)

        (They made no mistake when they got hold of him).

U stands for Upton,^[12] a crack of the past;

V is for Vautin, who's dodgy and fast;

W for Wardill, a marvellous stayer;

X the x-ception, that can't claim a player;

Y stands for Young -- the Geelong one, I mean,

        A greater high marker there never was seen;

Z for old Zox, who at all football dinners,

        You'll find in white waistcoat proposing "The Winners".

See also

• Acrostic

Notes