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Chris Wills's Page
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- Chris Wills is currently completing a BA Multimedia (Business Marketing) while working for an IT recruitment agency in Melbourne's CBD.
He has played Australian Rules both in Victoria and Western Australia for many years. In recent times became interested in the founder of Australian Rules Tom Wills after reading an article about his life and as a result has been involved in projects with the Melbourne City Council to recognize his role as the single most important figure in the establishment of the game.
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Good to hear from you. I'm happy that we may agree to disagree on this one, but for my take re: Tom Wills involvement in starting football, see Alf Batchelder, Pavilions in the Park, pp. 50-60. It depends on what you mean by football. W.J. Grieg and other South Yarra men were playing 'football' in 1857.
Here are some notes from my own research. [Don't quote me on this, but I vaguely recall checking the Geelong Advertiser in 1859 to check that formation date & Wills is not mentioned (hopefully, you'll double check that & prove me otherwise!)]
*Geelong FC formed (18 July 1859), at a meeting held at the British Hotel, in Corio St., & Dr. D.B. Reid, Dwyer senior, Mason, J.O. Thomas & others took the leading part in forming it. The Geelong club used to play on very rough ground, near the Agricultural Society’s Show yards. The players who resided in Newtown considered the distance to great to travel, & they only decided to belong to the club on the understanding that the matches should be played on the Argyle Ground. (See Geel. Adv. 21/10/1878). They played at Eastern Park, later to become Corio Oval and Argyle Paddock.
*In April Sitt Jenkins formed a club, & according to Bell's (26/5/60) Geelong FC became defunct during 1859 & a meeting was held at the British Hotel 21/5/60 to re-constitute the club.
*25/7/59: A Geelong FC Scratch Match played. Described as "The species of inaugural football match" in GA Mon. 25/7/59
MP
Good to see a range of Tom Wills images. I think you'd get some contrary opinions as to whether Tom Wills was the sole founder of Australian football. As you know, journalists like Martin Flanagan push Wills in this light but this view has been contested by historians like Gillian Hibbins. In my own research I have not come across Wills starting the Geelong footy club, and Wills was one of a few guys that wrote up the rules. In fact, in about 1863 Wills wanted to put a bar across the goal posts as in rugby! The Melbourne Grammar v. Scotch College was also not the first football match in 1858, but I think there is so much invested in this idea that people are reluctant to let it go. Early football is a fascinating topic though and has been the focus of considerable debate during the 150 years celebration. Wills was clearly a very popular sportsman at the time, and obviously Victoria's greatest cricketer for a while.
Mark Pennings