FOR those of us who just can't seem to warm to the mustard yellow and the grass green of the St Mary's Football Club, we should at least give credit to the club that gave Aboriginal football its start in the Top End.
It was 55 years ago this week that the newly formed club put to work an important social and sporting initiative that gave Aboriginal and Tiwi football a leg up on the mainland.
In 1952, Ted Egan, whose life, work and association with Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory is legion, saw an injustice and made moves to correct it. Egan was instrumental in forming the St Mary's Football Club specifically to bring Aboriginal people into senior NT football. Up until that time, blackfellas were simply not allowed to play en masse.
"The express purpose of St Mary's was to provide (football) opportunities for Tiwi Island footballers to play in the Darwin competition, as no other club except Wanderers would accept full-blood Aboriginals," says long-time supporter and honorary life member, Rex Nixon's Saints website.
St Mary's and the Tiwi Bombers play tonight in a game that marks the return of Friday night football to the NTFL; the league's first this season. It's not just any game, however. The Saints will celebrate a remarkable milestone; its 1000th* senior football match in the Northern Territory Football League.
Making their debut in the 1952/53 season, it is highly symbolic that the club's seniors will tonight do battle with the NTFL's newest boys on the block in this special milestone game. After all, the Tiwis were the primary reason the club came into existence.
The club's first premiership team, which came just one season after their formation, had players which carried the surnames Tipungwuti, Tipiloura, Kerinaiua, Kantilla and Tipuamantimerri. Tonight, descendants of those men will be wearing the red and black of the Bombers against the Saints.
It promises to be an intriguing match. Both teams are 6-1 and are setting the early pace in the NTFL. It's an opportunity for the Tiwis to avenge their shock Round 1 defeat at the hands of the Saints and for St Mary's to keep on top of the newcomers.
* AboriginalFootball jumped the gun by seven games last month, re: Saints may need 1000 miracles. It's definitely the real deal tonight.
DARREN MONCRIEFF
AboriginalFootball@westnet.com.au
Friday 30 November 2007
Last Modified on 30/05/2012 17:45