Claremont Teachers College Football Club … a cobbled history.

  • Premierships and Honours

    Claremont Teachers College Football Club

    Hall of Fame

    The Perth Football League website includes a Premiership Tally of over 100 clubs and the totals of premierships won. Led by University with 98 premierships, a further 30 clubs have premierships totals in the double digits. [https://perthfootballhistory.com.au/premiership-tally]

    Among the more than 70 clubs with single-digit premiership totals are Teachers Training College with 6, and TTC Claremont with 4. However, due to the vagaries of tertiary educational institution nomenclature, these are actually the same club with a variety of names.

    Claremont Teachers College was at different times known as Teachers College, Training College, Teachers Training College, Teachers Training College Claremont, Teachers College Claremont, Claremont Teachers College, and Claremont CAE, along with various abbreviations of those names.

    [Similar inconsistencies exist with the Secondary Teachers College at Nedlands, which is both TTC Nedlands (1 premiership), and N.S.T.C. (2 premierships). Mt Lawley Teachers College is credited as TTC Mt Lawley (2), Graylands Teachers College as Graylands TC (2), and Churchlands Teachers College as TC Churchlands (5). ]

    Apart from Claremont, the Teachers Colleges only existed for relatively short periods of time before changes were brought into being. These included closures, restructures as Colleges of Advanced Education, and amalgamations into what became Western Australian College of Advanced Education, and eventually Edith Cowan University.

    Greater recognition of the impact and success of the Teachers Colleges, and in particular, Claremont Teachers College, is clearly required.

    Using the Perth Football League website, a Hall of Fame has been extracted from the archives, documenting the remarkable record over only about 60 years, of what was for most of its existence a relatively small tertiary institution. Premierships, Runners Up finalists, Fairest and Best winners, and competition leading goal kickers have been compiled. Where available, scores, semi-final and preliminary final results, and other details have also been included.

    A GRADE PREMIERS & SANDOVER SHIELD WINNERS

    1924 TEACHERS COLLEGE (Hugo Fisher Trophy)

    1925 TEACHERS COLLEGE (SANDOVER SHIELD)

    1926 TEACHERS COLLEGE (SANDOVER SHIELD)

    (The Sandover Shield in 2014)

    A COLTS PREMIERS AND C.J. VERYARD CUP WINNERS

    1960 GRAND FINAL Runners Up to University: University 12.9 (81) def Teachers Training College 6.6 (42)

    1962 T.T.C.: Teachers Training College 10.7 (67) def University 6.7 (43)

    1964 T.T.C.: Teachers Training College 9.5 (59) def University 6.8 (44)

    1965 GRAND FINAL Runners Up to University: University 7.14 (56) def Teachers Training College 4.6 (30)

    B GRADE PREMIERS & C.J. JAMIESON CUP WINNERS

    1963 T.T.C. CLAREMONT GRAND FINAL Teachers Training College Claremont 15.15 (105) def Hilton Park 3.15 (33) [plus ‘A’ Colts team]

    1964 T.T.C. CLAREMONT B GRADE: GRAND FINAL Teachers Training College. 12.14 (86) def University 6.8 (44)

    C GRADE PREMIERS & GROSVENOR CUP WINNERS

    1966 GRAND FINAL University 8.12 (60) def Teachers Training College 7.10 (52)

    1974 T.C. CLAREMONT GRAND FINAL Teachers College Claremont 17.16 (118) def Maylands 9.6 (60)

    1980 SF1: Mt Lawley 17.14 (116) def T.C. Claremont 14.11 (95)

    1981 SF2: City Beach 16.11 (107) def T.C. Claremont 11.5 (71)

    1981 PF: Whitford 20.13 (133) def T.C. Claremont 14.15 (99)

    D GRADE PREMIERS & FLANAGAN CUP WINNERS

    1967 T.T.C. GRAND FINAL Teachers Training College 8.5 (53) def University 6.7 (43)

    1970 C.T.C. Claremont Teachers College 15.16 (106) def North Beach 10.10 (70)

    E GRADE

    1978 GRAND FINAL Teachers College Mount Lawley 16.18 (114) def Teachers College Claremont 7.9 (49)

    1984 GRAND FINAL W.A.C.A.E. 12.16 (88) def Applecross 12.10 (82)

    B GRADE FAIREST & BEST

    1954 K. ARMSTRONG (T.T.C.)

    1964 M. BUTCHER (T.T.C.)

    ‘A’ COLTS FAIREST & BEST

    1960 J. King (Teachers Training College)

    1961 B. Slater (Teachers Training College)

    1962 G. Stannage (Teachers Training College)

    C GRADE FAIREST & BEST

    1980 S. MCNAMARA (T.C CLAREMONT)

    D GRADE FAIREST & BEST

    1982 W SIMMONDS (TC CLAREMONT)

    E GRADE FAIREST & BEST

    1978 S MCNAMARA (T.C. CLAREMONT)

    1983 W SIMMONDS (CLAREMONT CAE)

    UNDEFEATED TEAMS

    1925 TEACHERS COLLEGE

    B GRADE LEADING GOALSCORER

    1963 M. LEACH T.T.C. CLAREMONT (no total known)

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  • Private Edward William Vinicombe, Service Number 4018

    The apparently generosity of the Claremont Teachers College football team in withdrawing from both the 1928 and 1929 competitions mid-season, ostensibly due to ground unavailability, masks a bigger problem faced by the College itself.

    Many of the teaching courses at the time were only of 6 months duration, and others were of 12 months, commencing in the middle of the year, and reaching completion the following year. There were also two year courses.

    The remarkable success of the Teachers College team in 1924 – 1926 may in part be due to repatriation programs offered by the College to soldiers returning from the World War.

    One such returned soldier was Edward William “Ted” Vinicombe of East Pingelly, the oldest of 7 children of William Edward Vinicombe and Ellen Sarah Window. He was aged 18 on his enlistment, with his father’s permission, as a Private in 1915, and trained at Black Boy Hill. His enlistment papers record him being 5’9″ (175cm) and 145 lbs (63 kg), with grey-blue eyes, fair complexion and brown hair. He was deemed fit for active service.

    Embarking from Fremantle on HMAT Ajana in December 1915, he was taken on strength with the 48th Battalion AIF.

    His records show he was wounded “in the field” in France in August 1916, and this is noted as “Shell shock”.

    Transferred to the Australian Fourth Division Infantry School, then attached to the First Anzac Corps School, he was subsequently moved again to the Second Anzac Corps School until July 1917. Returning to the 48th Battalion and service in France, he was hospitalised in France with abcesses in his groin. Further hospitalisation for boils and scabies took place in England, and he also spent time in the notorious Bulford Hospital, receiving treatment for VD. He was absent without leave on two occasions during his enlistment, losing a total of five days’ pay.

    [Administrative headquarters of the No. 1 Australian Dermatological Hospital, Bulford, Wiltshire, April 1919. The hospital was the principal VD treatment facility for 1st AIF soldiers in Britain. Although a grim, depressing amenity for patients and staff alike, it undertook effective medical work. In its peak year of activity, 1918, it managed 9 404 patients. (Source: Australian War Memorial, photograph no. D00456.)]

    Ted Vinicombe returned to Australia at the end of December 1918, and was discharged on 17th of April 1919. He received the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

    He attended Claremont Teachers College for a one year course in 1924-25, and was thereafter named in the team that won the 1926 Perth Districts Football Association Premiership.

    The Principal of the College, William J. Rooney, wrote of Vinicombe, “Fine presence and personality, forceful and tactful proving an excellent senior student. Good attainments. He has made much progress and will be a great power for good. He is a tireless worker and adds a fine steadying influence. He will meet with success …”

    Ted Vinicombe began his teaching career on probation at Hay River, west of Mt Barker, and Boyagarra, north-east of Brookton in 1926. These appointments did not preclude him from playing in the 1926 Premiership side, and he may also have been selected in the earlier two Premiers, as no records have yet been located. In Brookton in 1925, he married Ailsa Sladden. His teaching posts next included Nebrikinning [Narrogin] 1929, Highbury [Narrogin / Wagin] 1933, Dongara 1936 (where he was Secretary / Assistant Treasurer in the local RSL branch), Nabawa [Chapman Valley] 1940, and Bluff Point [Geraldton] 1943. He resigned in 1946, but returned to teaching in 1948 at Narrogin, followed by appointments at Applecross (Deputy Principal) 1952 and Rivervale (Head Teacher) 1956. He died at Rivervale in 1956, aged 58. (Source: “Western Australian Teacher Soldiers of World War 1 1914 – 1918”, Neville Green).

    Apart from a court appearance in January 1938, as a result of a traffic accident with a motorcycle policeman, Ted Vinicombe seems to have led an uneventful life after his time at the Teachers College.

    However, it is likely his experience in the Infantry training schools predisposed him to pursue a teaching career after his discharge. A mature former soldier with good leadership attributes would no doubt have been a handy recruit for the College football team.

  • Beginnings

    This little blog will attempt to record and preserve a small part of the history of the Claremont Teachers College Football Club, which played in the WA Amateur Football League (as it was), and its predecessors, from the 1920s to the 1980s. Contributions are welcomed from former players or officials from any era. Much of the historical information is drawn from the Perth Football League website. (https://perthfootballhistory.com.au/)

    The photo above, which I stumbled upon in an eBay sale, is of the 1924 Premiership side, taken, as anyone who knows the College would realise, outside the Refectory (see below). Interestingly, a Norfolk Island pine tree can be seen in an identical position in both photos.

    Photographer: Susan Barratt

    The names of the players are handwritten in pencil on the back, but unfortunately covered with mounting tape, which I have not tried to remove.

    Claremont Teachers College was the only teacher education institution in WA, from its foundation in 1901, until the establishment of Graylands Teachers College in 1955. The football team was known by many variations of names over its lifetime, and this has perhaps led to the under-appreciation of its successes.

    The 1920s

    1922 saw the formation of the Mercantile Football Association, representing business or mercantile houses. In 1924, it became known as the Perth District Football Association, to allow the affiliation of clubs other than company teams. In that same year, a team from Teachers College was admitted to the competition, sporting Green and Gold colours. Based on the photo, it would appear that the uniform was possibly a green guernsey with gold stitching of the CTC letters, at least on some.

    In its first season, the Teachers College were the Premiers, winning the Hugo Fisher Cup by defeating Commonwealth Bank 9.5 (59) to 5.14 (44) . Hugo Fisher Pty Ltd were sports goods manufacturers in Perth who also manufactured the ‘Fischer’ football. This is the team in my photo, with, it would seem, the Hugo Fisher Cup.

    The Teachers College team claimed the Premiership again in 1925, winning the inaugural Sandover Shield. (In 1923, Mr Alfred Sandover offered to present a shield for the Association. It was accepted but it was decided to defer its awarding till 1925. The Sandover Shield is still contested and presented to the A Grade Premiership team.)

    Played on 8th of August 1925 at the Showgrounds, the College again defeated Commonwealth Bank 13.14 (92) to 10.14 (74) . Reportedly a “very evenly balanced team”, it was reported that the College was undefeated in this season by virtue of its 10-win record up to the two finals, and a win in the Grand Final.

    For the first time, all clubs were instructed to have numbers on their guernseys.

    In 1926 Teachers College, by defeating Harris Scarfe & Sandovers on the 7th of August at Beatty Park, achieved a third consecutive Premiership and won a second Sandover Shield.

    The 1927 season commenced with 7 teams, although one withdrew mid-year. After 3 rounds, the Final was played. Teachers College were given the privilege of registering ten further players who were eligible to play after 17th August due to the number of players leaving the college after that date, but did not make the Final.

    A shortage of grounds in 1928 resulted in Teachers College’s offer to withdraw from the Association, which was accepted on the 30th of July.

    A third round of only three matches per team was drawn up.

    In 1929, the Perth Districts Football Association name was changed to the Western Australian Amateur Football Association. At the completion of the two rounds, and after Teachers College’s withdrawal on the 15th of July 1929, the remaining six teams fought out the finals fixtures with University defeating Harris Scarfe & Sandovers in the Grand Final and winning the Sandover Shield. University had only been admitted into the Association in 1928.

    A summary of the Premierships completed in the 1920s shows the huge impact that the Teachers College had on the fledgling competition. Undoubtedly drawing from a pool of young fit men, after the first flush of success, the College nevertheless struggled to field teams towards the end of the season, perhaps due to players being appointed to country teaching positions. At the time, many teaching courses were only of 6 months duration, while other 12-month courses commenced mid-year and finished the following June.

    From its acceptance into the competition, the Teachers College team had been Premiers in 1924, 1925 and 1926, and runners-up in 1928. The 1927 runners-up assignation was corrected in the publication the following week.

    The Teachers College / Training College team apparently did not resume in the Amateur competition until 1947, fielding in ‘C’ Grade, but not making the Finals.