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First
Annual Ball held
The
Club's First Annual Ball was held at the Mitchelton RSL on 30
August 1952. Highlights outlined in the advertisement included:
Queen of the Ball, Novelties and Supper. Dress was optional. Entry
was 10/- double or 5/- single.
The
Bee Gees
The
internationally famous singing group, the Bee Gees, Barry, Robin and
Maurice Gibb, performed at the Mitchelton Soccer Club Trophy Night in
1960 before they shot to stardom. The Club paid the princely sum of
£6/6/0 for the pleasure.
The
then 14 year old Barry towered over his 11 year twin brothers and the
quality of their performance left a lasting impression on their
audience, many of whom have followed the careers of the young artists
from this time.
The
Bee Gees released their first international hit, New York Mining
Disaster, in 1966 and their songs have topped the charts in five
successive decades.
George
Best comes to Mitchie Soccer Club
Football
legend and superstar, George Best, visited Mitchelton Soccer Club on 18 July 1983.
Best thrilled the packed club house and the more than 150 juniors who
turned up to see the star and hound him for autographs. Long time
club supporter, Mitchelton Pharmacist, Ril Garozzo, was largely
responsible for sponsoring Best's visit to the club.
Teralba
Park
The
move to Teralba Park represents one of the most significant events
undertaken by the Club in its long history. The Park has provided
the infrastructure for the Club to participate at the highest level
in Brisbane football.
Success
has not been achieved without hard work and the Club has been blessed
with a fine range of individuals who have given their time to help
the Club achieve its goals.
Thirty-six
acres of land on the southern side of Pullen Road was resumed by the
Brisbane City Council in 1952 for use for park and recreation. It
was named "Teralba" meaning "Big Trees". The land had
originally been owned by Nicholas Mitchell after whom Mitchelton was
named.
From
1860 to 1900 part of the area was a very successful Vineyard operated
by Mr Jesse Pullen. The following 40 years the area had been
occupied by very successful Chinese market gardeners.
The
Park was leased by Mitchelton Sports Club in 1977 and now boasts 12
football fields. Through the hard work of volunteers, contractors
and the Brisbane City Council, Teralba Park has been developed into
one of the finest football complexes in Brisbane.
The
dedicated people involved in the development of the Park also had to
deal with not only the operations of a growing club but also the need
to pull in additional funding for works at the new ground. Club
members made financial commitments through team building levies,
selling raffle tickets at the Brook Hotel, organizing raffles,
carnivals and the annual fete. Selling bricks was a good fund raiser
particularly pursued by Life Member, George Lincoln. Maynard Savage
purchased the first brick sold.
It
is difficult to name everyone who gave up their time to participate
on a regular basis in working bees or fund raising activities to make
Teralba Park what it is today but there are some who are worthy of
mention: Arthur and Merle Heiner, Bill and Val Thompson, Frank and
June Barrett, Duncan McDonald, Ross Black, Keith Green, Ray Bryant,
Rob Beck, Col Ivey, Arthur Kitchener, Mick Bartkowski, Les Hunt,
Terry and May Anderson, Kevin Jones, Len Snowdon, Eric Mitchell,
Michael & Moira Blunt, Phil Harris, Deiter Klose, Graham
Cleeland, Andy and Pat Baker, Ada and Andy Thompson and Garnett Kerr.
Unfortunately, June Barrett, a Life Member, who had been one of the
Club's greatest workers particularly in fund raising activities and
the move to Teralba Park, passed away suddenly in 1983.
At
the Brookside end of the park, a playground was constructed in
memory of Kerrie Heiner. Kerrie passed away in 1977 from an illness
at 10 years of age. Kerrie's family has had a long association
with the Club as administrators and players. Kerrie's mother,
Merle, is a Life Member of the Club and the Kerrie Heiner Memorial
Trophy is awarded each year initially to the team raising the most
money for the Club.
Des
Miles - FIFA Referee
Des
was a member of the 1959 Third Division Premiership winning team and
later for a couple of seasons as an unelected President of the club's
senior soccer division. Des obtained his grade 1 refereeing
certificate in 1969 and was a member of the Referees Federation
management committee from 1967 to 1975. He was vice president of the
Federation from 1978 to 2001 and was awarded Life Membership in 1978.
He held the position of State Referees Coach from 1973 to 1989. In
1977 Des obtained his Federation of International Football
Association's (FIFA) badge in 1977 which enabled him to referee
matches any where in the world. Des has also been involved in
coaching junior referees. Highlights of his career have including
refereeing matches between Australia/Queensland and opposition from
Russia, Israel, Canada, China, Manchester United, Chelsea,
Middlesborough, Glasgow Rangers, and Hong Kong.
Family
Club
Mitchelton has a history
of several generations of a family playing for the club. Some of the
names which have been synonymous with Mitchelton Club are Jim
Docherty, John Tree, Vic Marshall, Stockdales, McJannetts and Fred
Gray and Tom Jones, while the Lairds (Willie, Bob, Tom, Carson, Andy,
Bill, Bob, Eddie, Matthew, John, Graham and Shane), the Greens
(Albert, George, Percy, Fred, Brian, Doug, Merv, Ernie, Keith, Gary,
Robert, Ken and Keith Jnr), the Lincolns (Bill, George, Geoff and
Andrew), the Moreys (Gordon, Graham, Peter, Neil, Daniel, Carl and
Trent) have ensured there has always been some of their members
active in the Club. Individual records are those of George Lincoln
and Carson Laird both Life Members and Club members for over 50
years. Both Sid, the father, and John, the son, of
Bill Sharman, one of the two surviving members of the 1948
premiership team, played for Mitchelton.
Queen's
Birthday Weekend Carnival and Fete
One
of the highlights of the Club's year was the Annual Fete and Under
9 Carnival held on the Queen's Birthday holiday. This event was
held from the late 1960s to the early 1990s and was a big fund
raiser. Stalls were conducted by teams not involved in the carnival.
One of the largest Under 9 Carnivals held was in 1983 when 20 teams
participated including sides from Gympie, Dalby, Ipswich and
Toowoomba. The major final was won by the Mitchelton Under 9
Division 1 North team defeating Pine Rivers. The consolation final
was won by Eastern Suburbs defeating Albany Creek. In addition to
the under 9 competition, Dalby Association brought teams in the 10,
11 and 12 age groups to play against Mitchelton teams.
Miss
Mitchelton
The
Miss Mitchelton Quest was part of a fund raising event conducted by
the Brisbane Junior Soccer Association as the Miss Junior Soccer
Competition. The participating clubs were permitted to retain 80% of
the funds raised by competition entrants. The balance was used for
Brisbane junior representative teams. The Annual Quest was held
during the 1970s and 80s. Known Miss Mitchelton entrants included:
Cheryl Miles, Karen Tanzer, Kellie Jones and Joan Van Kuijck.
Stalwart
Jackets
As part of the Club's
Rewards and Recognition Strategy the following players were awarded
the first Mitchie Stalwart Jackets for having played for the Club for
a total of twenty years.
Graham Morey - 1956
- 1981. Played 25 seasons missing only two seasons while
traveling around Australia and overseas.
Peter Morey - 1957 -
1993. Missed only two seasons when traveling around Australia
and overseas before retiring after the World Masters Games in 1994
Geoff Lincoln - 1962
- 1991. Played 27 seasons for Mitchelton missing a couple of
seasons having brief stints at other clubs. Retired in 1991 after
playing in 1991 Second Division Grand Final winning team.
Kevin Jones - 1962 -
1990. Played a total of 23 years for the Club and
three seasons Commercial League.
Garth Jones - 1964 -
1987. Played a total of 23 years for the club with one year with
another club.
Craig Roberts - 1964
-1990. Played 17 consecutive seasons until 1980 before a stint
at another club. Returned to Mitchelton in 1986 playing couple of
seasons before playing finishing in Commercial League in 1990.
Graeme Anderson -
1969 - 1996. Played junior soccer for Mitchelton for 4 seasons
before transferring to other clubs. Returned to Mitchelton in 1980
and playing continuously for a further 17 seasons.
Darryl Heiner - 1969
- present. Playing career with Mitchelton broken by stints
with other Premier League team. Continuing to play for Mitchie in our
Over 35 team and is playing his 22nd season.
Ritchie Puttock -
1971 - 1999. Played a total of 27 seasons broken by brief
stints with other clubs.
Brett McDonald -
1973 - 1998. Played for Mitchelton for a total of 25 seasons
missing only the 1984 season. Club's leading goal-scorer on a
number of occasions. Brett along with Michael Black was awarded a
Testimonial Year by the Club and funds were raised to construct the
shaded area at the front of our Clubhouse.
Grant Bryant - 1975
- present. Played for Mitchelton for 10 years before
transferring to other clubs. He returned to Mitchelton in 1987 and
played a further 15 seasons missing only a couple of seasons.
Currently playing in Over 35 team.
Michael Black - 1976
- present. Currently coaches and plays in Over 35 team in his
25th season with the Club. Voted Mr Football on several
occasions and is a member of the Mitchelton Team of the Century.
Phil Millard - 1976
- 2001. Played a total of 24 seasons with Mitchelton missing
two seasons while interstate and having a year off.
Paul Bland - 1977 -
2001. Played 23 season missing only one while interstate. Paul
is a member of the Mitchelton Team of the Century
Rohan Cassell - 1974
- 2005. Played 11 consecutive seasons giving the game away
before returning to play a further 11 seasons. Rohan is currently
President of the club.
Unknown
Team
On
the Club House wall is of a photograph of a team
about which only limited
information is available. The player in the front row with the ball
has been identified by his granddaughter as being David Campbell,
father of Malcolm Campbell, who played with the Club in its
successful teams in 1948 and 1959. It is believed that the photo
would have been taken somewhere between 1918 and about 1925. Any
information on this team would be appreciated.
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