Western Suburbs 1 ( D Jack) Hakoah 3 ( A Marnoch, G Yardley 2)
In June 1971, Australia was witnessing mass protests around the country against the Vietnam War and the apartheid South African rugby tour, Gough Whitlam, then Federal Opposition leader controversially was about to visit China and Daddy Cool were soaring up the local pop charts with “Eagle Rock”.
On the local football front, the consistently strong Hakoah side travelled to Drummoyne Oval to play my team, the NSW Federation Division 1 upstarts, Western Suburbs Soccer Club. Wests newly promoted to the first division, had surprised football followers by winning the 1971 pre season Ampol Cup 4-2 against Marconi in January of that year. Proving that they weren’t going to be also rans in the competition proper, a string of impressive performances had Wests in second place behind Hakoah prior to the Drummoyne Oval encounter.
Wests had recruited extensively pre season and boasted three typically tough Scotsman in captain Archie Blue, George Kinnell and Davey Johnston. They had also signed Brian Turner who had returned from a stint as an apprentice professional with Tottenham Hotspur, the lanky Wim Spiekerman, the 1969 Golden Boot winner from Wilhelmina in the Victorian Federation and the equally lanky and experienced former APIA defender, Cliff van Blerk. A number of Novocastrians, including Greg Smith and Peter Pont were encouraged to leave behind their Newcastle roots and the gifted Greg Byles and reliable John Hargeaves were just two of the local Sydney youngsters, proving that all that glitters did not have to come from overseas. Western Suburbs also had two representative goalkeepers in their ranks, Ross Kelly having played for Australia and Terry “The Eagle” Eaton for NSW.
For a number of years, Hakoah had dominated local club football, spearheaded by Ray Baartz, the best Australian footballer that I have seen and Hakoah showcased the cream of Australian talent. Like Wests, Hakoah boasted their own Scottish contingent, including one time Australian captain Allan Marnoch, goalkeeper Frank Haffey, George Yardley, Ray Gardiner, speedsters, Willie and Harry Rutherford and a young “Jinky” Joe Watson. Aside from the Scots and Baartz, Johnny Watkiss, Dennis Yaager and Danny Walsh were all Australian internationals and there were few local footballers more skilful than their left sided Brazilian forward, Hilton Silva.
As was customary, the Wests players were treated to a pre game scotch fillet at the Five Dock licenced club and I think that coach, Tommy Dawson may have given us some pre game instructions after lunch, but a combination of Tommy’s mumbling delivery and his Geordie brogue made it difficult to determine whether he was praising the chef for the delicious steak or advising us to close down Ray Baartz and Willie Rutherford as soon as they were in possession.
Those who remember Drummoyne Oval in 1971, will tell of a hard, uncompromising surface, bereft of grass, once winter had arrived. This was not unexpected when rugby union and soccer shared training and competition matches on the pitch seven days weekly, with school sports also active daytime during the week. As was customary in 1971, many NSW Soccer Federation grounds “featured” cricket pitches on which bounces could be extremely common and injuries equally so.
Apart from Drummoyne Oval, other grounds including North Sydney Oval, Hurstville Oval and Mona Park with their concrete cricket squares, provided a huge challenge and risk, to footballers in 1971. To think that the modern footballer complains about the Sydney (Allianz) Football Stadium and the unsatisfactory drainage !!
With so many quality players among the sides, it was not surprising that a record home crowd was in attendance at Drummoyne Oval that Sunday afternoon. Although Wests and Hakoah were two of the lesser supported clubs in the first division, over 4,000 spectators attended, most sitting on the grassy hills with the miniature grandstand having been filled in record time.
Pre game, the tight Wests’ dressing room was no place for the claustrophobic. As players vied for five minutes on the massage table, an overriding scent of Dencorub dominated the packed space. This was blended with Marlboro cigarette aroma from the sides’ elder statesman, George Kinnell (no concerns for occupational health and safety in 1971). Kinnell, the former Stoke City and Sunderland professional and second cousin of the legendary Scot, Jim Baxter, was also supplied with a dram of Johnny Walker, pre game and at half time as part of his contractual arrangement.
We started brightly and after seven minutes I headed Wests’ first goal past the still agile 32 year old Frank Haffey. Sydney Morning Herald reporter Alan Speers, described my header as “magnificent” so I’m not going to argue with Alan’s assessment! Wests lead was short lived though, with defender Allan Marnoch, an infrequent goalscorer, driving a right foot shot past the veteran Terry Eaton in the Wests’ goal, before the lethal George Yardley put Hakoah, 2-1 into the lead. Hakoah scored a third goal, again through Yardley and although Western Suburbs’ display had shown that they were genuine title contenders, on the day Hakoah had too much class for the Magpies.
Surprisingly, that season Hakoah were knocked out in the semi final play offs and Western Suburbs went on to reach the NSW Federation Division 1 grand final. We lost that match 2-3 in a tight encounter with St. George Budapest, another Sydney based club with a wealth of footballing talent at that time.
On 6th June 1971, I was extremely lucky to have played with and against so many Australian football greats. Without advocating cricket grounds for football matches, it is a pity that local fans aren’t able to travel to nearby grounds, such as Drummoyne Oval or Hurstville Oval, as in 1971, to watch the cream of local football talent at close quarters.
David Jack © 2026
- Original black & white match photos by Anton Cermak
David Jack 