CARLTON and North Melbourne meet at the MCG for the kids on Friday evening - but one can turn back the hands almost 144 years to when the old dark Navy Blues first committed to the Children’s Hospital cause, in a fundraising exhibition match at the same venue.
It happened on that very ground on the afternoon of Saturday, August 30, 1879, when Carlton’s pioneering former players of the 1860s and ’70s participated in the fundraiser with their Melbourne contemporaries.
Amongst those taking the field for Carlton was Jack Conway, the club captain from 1868 through o 1871 and the first manager of an Australian touring XI to England; Harry Guy, a backman from the foundation year of 1864 through to 1878; and Guy’s teammate through those seasons John Turnbull.
For Melbourne, Henry Colden Antill Harrison, who played a leading role in pioneering the sport, took to the field.
An unnamed correspondent for The Age who covered the exhibition match reported the following in part:
“The announcement that the old players of Melbourne and Carlton, who in past years have played exciting games, would meet again in the football field was sufficient to cause a largo concourse of people to assemble on the Melbourne Football ground, where the match was played.
The appearance of the old players was an interesting reminder of the past, when Conway, Harrison, Byrne and others were in their prime, and delighted the spectators by the dash of their play. The match on Saturday was more amusing than exciting, but, everything considered, the old players performed remarkably well. Their kicking and running was very stiff, but some of them marked in a better style than many of the players of the present day.
The game finally resulted in a draw, each side having obtained a goal. The contest was conducted in a friendly manner, and proved enjoyable to both the spectators and the players. The proceeds of the match, nearly £20, will be given to the Children’s Hospital.”
It is worth noting here that in 1879 that there was no “Australian” pound and the rate was fixed to the British pound – so £20 in 1879 was worth £3179.67 ($5866.55 AUD) in today’s value.
Fast forward to February 1954, and the Royal Children’s Hospital was again one of the many institutions supported by Carlton through its benevolent President Kenneth Luke, the then head of an electroplating firm and a chairman of four companies.
The Sporting Globe reported that Luke saw fit to “do a service for the afflicted children of this city” by distributing 1200 medals to sick children to commemorate the late Queen’s visit.
