Football history is far from an exact science, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and go with what you know and hope that the full story falls into place at a later time. Such is the case with today's nominee.
Wilf Bratten, Socceroo #12, won his one and only cap in the 2nd Test of the inaugural Australian tour of NZ. He was one of 8 Queenslanders on the tour but the only one from regional Qld, Ipswich players excluded.
There was no GrassRoots or junior football in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in the early 1920's, in fact, there were only 4 clubs when the first iteration of the North Coast FA was set up in 1921 and the players, for the most part, were dairy farmers who came to the game as adults or who possibly played the game at boarding school, but due to time this is something we will likely never know.
Wilf played at Mapleton in 1922 from where he was selected for Nth Coast, thence Qld & finally Australia.
Wilf spent his whole adult life in the Flaxton region after emigrating from his native Sheffield at 16 and going on to make a mark in the local bowls association. You get the feeling that football was just something that happened. TBC
The team is the North Coast representative team from 1923 and the oval is the probable location of the first game played on the Sunshine Coast in 1921 in Palmwoods.
Being from Sheffield probably make Wilf the first English born player to wear Australian colours with the bulk of the '22 squad either Australian or Scottish.
Wilf Bratten, Socceroo #12, won his one and only cap in the 2nd Test of the inaugural Australian tour of NZ. He was one of 8 Queenslanders on the tour but the only one from regional Qld, Ipswich players excluded.
There was no GrassRoots or junior football in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in the early 1920's, in fact, there were only 4 clubs when the first iteration of the North Coast FA was set up in 1921 and the players, for the most part, were dairy farmers who came to the game as adults or who possibly played the game at boarding school, but due to time this is something we will likely never know.
Wilf played at Mapleton in 1922 from where he was selected for Nth Coast, thence Qld & finally Australia.
Wilf spent his whole adult life in the Flaxton region after emigrating from his native Sheffield at 16 and going on to make a mark in the local bowls association. You get the feeling that football was just something that happened. TBC
The team is the North Coast representative team from 1923 and the oval is the probable location of the first game played on the Sunshine Coast in 1921 in Palmwoods.
Being from Sheffield probably make Wilf the first English born player to wear Australian colours with the bulk of the '22 squad either Australian or Scottish.
Photo courtesy of Sunshine Coast Libraries
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