Brisbane Soccer Record, 12 August 1925, ecuador jersey article by club president R L Waddell. Juventus were also Milan’s opponents in the annual Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi, held at the San Siro on 22 August. Notwithstanding Latrobe’s strong squad, Corinthians went on to win the Premiership (see ‘Premiers and Cup winners’ below). The First Division comprised ten teams: Blackstone Rovers, Booval Stars, Bundamba, Corinthians (Langlands Park, Greenslopes), Eastern Suburbs (Heath Park, East Brisbane), Latrobe (Gregory Park, Milton), St Helens (Ebbw Vale), Thistle (Lanham Park, The Grange), Shafston Rovers (Raymond Park, Kangaroo Point) and Y.M.C.A., and the Second and Third Divisions twelve and nine teams respectively. Kangaroo Point Rovers: The KPR club history outlines links with the Pineapple Rovers club (possibly established in 1886), which also played at Raymond Park, Kangaroo Point (formerly part of the Pineapple Sportsground – see above) for many decades. Ipswich Knights: Blackstone Rovers (1888) merged with Bundamba Rovers (1894) to form Coalstars in 1964. Dinmore Bush Rats (sometime between 1888 and 1890) merged with Redbank Seekers (1910) in the 1950s, which merged with St Helens (formed 1910) in the 1960s. St Helens United then merged with the Coalstars club in 1998 to form the modern Ipswich Knights. After the 1941 season, in which the Premiership was won by Blackstone Rovers (see ‘Premiers and Cup winners’ below), the competition was suspended (the only major games played were fixtures and friendlies between servicemen’s teams, as well as teams formed from groups who stayed in Australia to maintain ‘essential services’).

By 1957 the professionals were in the ascendancy, but momentum had been lost and the code was subject to a major split and suspension by FIFA for the poaching of players from European clubs without paying transfer fees. After the war, as part of a “populate or perish” policy, the Australian Government initiated an assisted migration program, which continued until 1973. As well as British and Irish migrants, the government sponsored migrants from European countries, particularly Italy, Greece, Germany and Turkey. Australia defeated Japan 2-0 thanks in part to a goal from Brisbane based Graham McMillan, but was knocked out in the quarter-finals by India 4-2, after two Australian goals were disallowed. Since only amateurs could take part in the Olympic Games which were to be held in Melbourne in 1956, there was a considerable incentive to ensure that the game was kept free of any taint of professionalism, just at the point when its popularity was taking off as a spectator sport which allowed the emergence of semi-professionalism on a significant scale for the first time. Another corner followed on the other side, and as Figo walked across, mexico jersey he slowed to pick up the missiles and as he prepared to take the corner he moved away some of the debris while giving an ironic thumbs-up and smiling.

The Division B regular season would no longer take place at the same time as the Division A regular season. The oldest extant club that has played continuously in Brisbane senior men’s competitions appears to be Wynnum, which entered the Brisbane First Division in 1921, the year the club was formed. In 2003, Brisbane Men’s soccer re-structured its senior competition into a semi-professional ‘Premier League’ with three divisions (Premier, Division 1 and Division 2 and accompanying reserve grade competitions) and an amateur ‘Metropolitan League’, with no limit to the number of divisions. The Premier divisions featured promotion and relegation each season, whilst the ‘Metro’ league divisions were populated by nomination. The 1946 season opened brightly, with 31 teams contesting Brisbane senior competitions in three divisions. Oxley club reached its pinnacle in the late 1950s, winning the First Division premiership and a number of cup and shield competitions. The Code in Brisbane in the 2000s continues to suffer some disunity, with ongoing disagreements between Brisbane clubs and both the Brisbane and State associations, regarding the structure of various junior and senior competitions and the allocation of resources. The code was also wracked for much of its early post-war history by a conflict between amateur and professional groups within the administration of the sport and clubs.

Arsenal football club needs no introduction, as the club is very much popular throughout the world. However, in 2014, BSWW created the first world ranking table based on a similar system to FIFA’s world ranking for association football national teams. Adjacent to this scene Lorenzo created a fresco of St. Christopher, and Vasari suggests that up until this point, no artist had successfully depicted a figure on such a large scale with accurate proportions. During this decade, the Brisbane Premier League was dominated by Brisbane City (four Premierships), with Brisbane Lions and North Star each winning two. In 1970, he signed with Freiburger FC before moving to Tennis Borussia Berlin in 1972. He remained in Berlin until 1977 when the Cosmos of the North American Soccer League purchased his contract. Birkenmeier remained with the Cosmos until 1985. During those years, he played eight outdoor NASL, two indoor NASL and one Major Indoor Soccer League season. In addition, Major League Soccer operates as a single entity, meaning that all clubs are owned by the league, with club investor-operators holding shares in the league itself rather than owning their teams directly, and all players being centrally contracted. The club’s major signing of the summer window was the long-awaited transfer of Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur for €100 million.