Burwood United began as Glebe Black Watch.
Glebe Black Watch was formed in 1887 at Redhead's Hotel and played in its early yeards on Redhead's Paddock, somewhere near Glebe. The clue to the location of the paddock is a Newcastle Sun article from 1940. It reported the Traveller's Rest Hotel was near the junction of Macquarie Street and Gordon Avenue. The hotel was managed by Joseph Redhead. An open paddock opposite the hotel was used by a variety of sports. In February 1893 the hotel was destroyed by a fire. (The Newcastle Sun, 20 May 1940, page 4 & Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 17 Feb 1893, page 4, FIRE AT MEREWETHER)
First Game - Saturday 4 June 1887 at The Glebe - Probably Redhead's Paddock
A very interesting match under the British Association rules was played between the newly formed Black Watch of the Glebe and Junction and the Carrington team, at the Glebe, on Saturday afternoon. It being the Black Watch's first appearance together, they were rather unacquainted with one another's play; and the game resulted, as was anticipated, with a slight advantage for the Carrington by two goals to one.
(Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 7 June 1887, page 5)
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), Tuesday 30 October 1934, page 5
EARLY FOOTBALL BURWOOD UNITED TEAM Soccer Players of the Nineties
(By "The Onlooker.")
Those who saw the game recall outstand-ing incidents associated with the exciting semi-final of the Ellis Cup Soccer competi-tion in 1891. In that match the young members of the Burwood United team de-feated a strong and clever combination, Minmi Rangers, one of the outstanding clubs in in the history of Soccer football in the North. The semi-final was virtually the final, for it was recognised that the winner of the match would have little dif-ficulty in defeating the other finalist, Car-rington, and Burwood United won by a good margin. The photograph reproduced on this page was taken after the final had been won. It is owned by Mr. David Smart, of Brechin, Scotland, and was sent to his son, Mr. George Smart, of Newcastle, and President of the Adamstown Soccer Club. Mr. David Smart, before returning to Scotland, had captained Burwood Unitcd, and the club sent the photograph to him as a mark of appreciation. Mr. Smart was regarded as one of the finest half-backs to have played in the North, and was in-strumental in the formation on the club, which later became Burwood United. He helped form a club which had its head-quarters at Glebe, and was known as the Black Watch in the middle 80's, but when the team played its matches on the Burwood Cricket Ground, now known as Mitchell Park, it changed its name to Bur-wood United, and later transferred to a ground which became known as the Junction Grounds, situated opposite St. Jo-seph's Catholic Church, Merewether. Mr. Smart and a member of the team, Mr. John Dunn, were two who interviewed Mr. J. C. Ellis, M.L.A. and were successful in securing the Ellis Cup for competition. Mr. Smart returned to Scotland in 1890, after having played a big part in the suc-cess of the club, and his place as cap-tain of the team was taken by a new ar-rival to Australia, another Scotsman, also a full-back, James Hutton, who later played centre-forward for the team. At the beginning of the next season, the club promoted four second-grade players Burns, Bower, Brien and Bailey, and the team, stronger because of the inclusion of the juniors, went through the Ellis Cup com-petition without defeat. In those days matches were played every second Satur-day, the pay-day for the mines, to suit the working of the collieries. An interest-ing point associated with the match be-tween Burwood and Minmi is that it was refereed by Mr. Andrew Jackson, an uncle of the Australian Test cricketer, the late Archie Jackson.
THOSE IN THE GROUP Most of those in the photograph were men well-known in Newcastlc. The office-ers, who were included in the group, formed a splendid executive, but the team gained its results because of its faithful-ness to training. Every moonlight night was welcomed because the team could then kick the ball aboubt. The Club Secretary, Mr. Sam Genge, was a well-known , personality in the North, and a keen organiser. Mr. W. F. Stewart, the President, is an uncle of the Minister for Commerce (Mr. F. H. Stew-art), and was one of the club's strongest supporters. Mr. J. Coutts, a Scotsman, assisted in the management of the club, and the club's delegate to the Associa-tion, Mr. T. Marshall, who had been an active player for some time, retired from the game at about the same time as Mr. Smart returned to Scotland. The positions of the players in the photograph is similar to those occupied by them on the field of play. A. Dunn and A. Bower were the full-backs, and A. Bailey the goalkeeper. Bailey was out-standing "between the sticks;" and after his first season in senior football he was chosen to play for New South Wales. The three defenders formed a strong com-bination, which conceded few goals dur-ing the season. The half-back linemen, G, Hunter, R. Wilson, and H. Brien, were among the youngest playing senior football at the time. Hunter was a splendidl positional player and particular-ly adept at placing the ball with his head. Wilson, in addition to being a splendid footballer, was an outstanding cricketer and played for Merewether and Stockton before going to Queensland, where he gained considerable success with a cricket team know as Graziers. His brother, Mr. Arch Wilson, is a member of the executive of the Stockton Cricket Club. In recalling the time when the photo-graph was taken, the third half-back, Mr. H. Brien, who was almost 18 at the time, explained his doleful expression as being caused by a "nagging toothache." He was probably the youngest member of the team. Mr. Brien has been an alder-man in the Hamilton Municipal Council for many years, and occupied the Mayoral chair on a number of occasions. He is also a member of the Hunter River Water Supply and Sewerage Board, and until this year, when he retired from the posi-tion, was President of the Hamilton Cricket Club. Mr. Brien also played with the Adamstown Soccer team, and represented Newcastle in inter-district matches.
THE FORWARD LINE The outside right was J. Burns a fast runner, who could run the ball down the field at great speed and under splendid control. J. Dunn, who scored the goal which eliminated Minmi Rangers in the semi-final match, was a fine type of in-side right, and practised for so long with Burns that an outstanding combination was developed, and it was because of the understanding between the pair that the vital goal was scored. J. Hutton had not been long in Australia before his worth as a player was recognised. He was a clever player in any position, and the mention of of his name to those who followed football is the 90's brings pleas-ant recollections. Hutton's play is still held up as an example to young play-ers. D. Currie and J. Kidd formed the left wing pair, and were regarded as an extremely clever pair. The cup is still in competition, and only a few of the players who helped to win it for the Burwood United Club so many seasons ago remain, but many of those who watched Burwood United, resplen-dent in white trousers and jerseys of dark blue with a red sash, defeat Minmi Rangers, declare that the North has never had a finer team.