South and Port Melbourne Thistle Cricket Club
by David Thompson
In April 1924, the South and Port Thistle Cricket Club won the premiership in the Victorian Scottish Association for the third year in succession, the first time such a feat had been achieved in that association.[1]
The cricket club was part of the well-established South and Port Melbourne Thistle Society, a social organisation formed on 31 August 1898 to celebrate all things Scottish across the two municipalities.[2]
The Society held regular concerts and in 1910 the Secretary, Robbie Young, with Mr C Finlay and Ex-South Melbourne Councillor, W Lewis formed a male pipe band. When 22 of the 26 members of the band enlisted for the First World War, Robbie Young established a ladies pipe band.[3]
At the monthly social meeting of the Thistle Society at South Melbourne Town Hall on 9 July 1932, Robbie Young, was guest of honour to mark his 25 years as Secretary of the Society. The newspaper report of the evening mentions that he was ‘associated with the formation of Scottish cricket competition and the Thistle Rifle Club’.[4]
Otherwise, the origins of the South and Port Thistle Cricket Club are unclear.
There is a report of a match against Melbourne played on 9 March 1912.[5]
At a meeting in October 1914 to celebrate the men’s pipe band success at the competitions in Ballarat, toasts were also made to other groups within the Society including the cricket club, perhaps unsurprisingly, proposed by Robbie Young.[6] Later that year there is a report of a match against the Richmond Thistle Club.[7]
The Record carried a report of the opening Victorian Scottish Cricket season in October 1916 with ‘South and Ports meeting Footscray Thistle’[8] and a further match was played in November against Williamstown Thistle.[9]
The cricket club’s annual meeting held at Concordia Hall, Bank Street, South Melbourne on 10 September 1917 complemented the team on last season’s play having won seven of their nine matches and finishing runners-up.[10]
Of course the Thistle Cricket Club wasn’t all about cricket!
There were regular social evenings such as the one held in conjunction with the South Melbourne Open Sea Bathing Club in November 1917 to mark the silver wedding of ‘esteemed supporters’, Mr and Mrs James Scobie[11], and a ‘bon voyage’ in March 1920 to the club’s scorer, Thomas Brown, and Mrs Brown, who was an ‘energetic worker with the ladies of the club’ prior to their departure for Canada.[12]
At the annual meeting in August 1919, held at Mr C Butler’s residence with Robbie Young in the chair due to the absence of the President, South Melbourne Councillor H Layfield, ‘It was decided to again compete for the Scottish cricket competition, and a strong eleven will be put into the field. An enthusiastic committee look forward to a very sociable Saturday’s cricket during the ensuing season, and extend an invitation to all supporters to take part in out matches at the club’s ground, near Middle Park station’.[13]
Clearly a sociable summer’s afternoon of cricket was high on the agenda.
There were also regular picnic excursions. About sixty supporters plus a strong eleven attended a picnic at Fern Tree Gully in January 1919. There were various races and sports including a match against the ‘local champions’. The crowd swelled to around 200 as Fern Tree Gully residents joined in the fun.[14] The Club again travelled to Fern Tree Gully during Easter 1920 where a ‘ladies cricket match created considerable amusement’. There was also a men’s match and the usual array of sporting contests.[15]
As we saw at the start of our story, the South and Port Melbourne Thistle Cricket Club were about to enter a period of unparalleled success.
At the annual social [there’s that word again] at Concordia Hall in September 1921 the report showed that the team had won all of their 11 matches but had lost the premiership by one point.[16]
In 1922 South and Port beat Collingwood Caledonians to secure the premiership. The match was played over five Saturdays at the Middle Park ground.[17]
Eighty members and players attended the Club’s picnic at Diamond Creek in January 1923[18] and in April the Club again played Collingwood for the premiership. Perhaps luck was on their side as Collingwood could only field 10 players on the first day.[19] The newspaper report indicates that the match would be completed that week but there does not appear to be a report on the final result.
As we know South and Port completed their hat trick of premierships in 1924 with Collingwood again being the vanquished side.[20] By this time the Club were holding fortnightly social meetings at Concordia Hall including a grand Tartan Fair in July that year.[21]
Evidently these regular social evenings help keep the winning club together over the winter months and so South and Port won their fourth premiership in a row in 1925, this time defeating Footscray.[22]
The end of our story is as unclear as the beginnings of the South and Port Melbourne Thistle Club. Further references to the Scottish cricket competition in the local newspaper are few and far between. The club held a picnic at Maribyrnong in January 1926 travelling by motor launch from Princes Bridge[23] repeating the outing the following year.[24]
What happened to the South and Port Melbourne Thistle Cricket Club after 1927 is not known but there is a 21st century postscript.
During renovations of a property in Port Melbourne in June 2021 the owner found a South and Port Melbourne Thistle Cricket Club badge in the backyard. It is in deplorable condition. It looks like it has been buried in that backyard since the glory days of the club in the 1920s but it is now part of the PMHPS collection and an undeniable connection to Port Melbourne’s sporting and social history. A beautiful thing in its own way.
[1] 1924 ‘VICTORIAN SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 19 April, p. 7. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164444892
[2] 1898 ‘BREVITIES AND COMMENTS.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 10 September, p. 2. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108484451
[3] 1932 ‘SOUTH AND PORT THISTLE SOCIETY.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 16 July, p. 4. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164465697
[4] Ibid
[5] 1912 ‘SCOTTISH CRICKET ASSOCIATION.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 16 March, p. 6. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162604086
[6] 1914 ‘SOUTH AND PORT MELBOURNE THISTLE SOCIETY.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 31 October, p. 2. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74231639
[7] 1914 ‘SCOTSMEN AT CRICKET.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 26 December, p. 3. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74231901
[8] 1916 ‘VICTORIA SCOTTISH CRICKET.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 28 October, p. 3. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75012941
[9] 1916 ‘SCOTTISH CRICKET.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 11 November, p. 3. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75012996
[10] 1917 ‘SOUTH AND PORT THISTLE CLUB.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 15 September, p. 3. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75014260
[11] 1917 ‘SILVER WEDDING.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 10 November, p. 3. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75014492
[12] 1920 ‘BON VOYAGE.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 27 March, p. 2. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165175922
[13] 1919 ‘SOUTH AND PORT THISTLE CRICKET CLUB.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 23 August, p. 2. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165176210
[14] 1919 ‘HOLIDAY PICNIC’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 1 February, p. 2. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165175779
[15] 1920 ‘ENJOYABLE HOLIDAY OUTING.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 17 April, p. 4. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165175337
[16] 1921 ‘CRICKET.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 10 September, p. 3. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162536232
[17] 1922 ‘CRICKET’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 29 April, p. 2. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162540327
[18] 1923 ‘SCOTTISH PICNIC.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 3 February, p. 8. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162536405
[19] 1923 ‘Cricket’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 14 April, p. 2. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162538729
[20] 1924 ‘VICTORIAN SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 19 April, p. 7. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164444892
[21] 1924 ‘TARTAN FAIR.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 19 July, p. 3. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164446698
[22] 1925 ‘Cricket’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 2 May, p. 6. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164450353
[23] 1926 ‘Cricketers’ Picnic’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 6 February, p. 6. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164442824
[24] 1927 ‘RIVER PICNIC.’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 5 February, p. 2. , viewed 18 Apr 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164456908
