Aspley Rugby League Football Club Inc.

Chapter 1 - Build It and They’ll Come

2007 marked the 40^th Anniversary of the Aspley Rugby League Football Club.  President, Jim Spletter described it as an historic and successful year with the club fielding a team on behalf of the Brisbane Broncos in the Queensland Cup, in addition to six other senior teams and 33 junior teams.  With approximately 700 players from Under 7’s to seniors, Aspley had become one of the largest and most successful clubs in Queensland.  Supported by an equally successful and progressive Leagues Club with assets of $13, 474, 864, the club had a budget of approximately 1 million dollars per annum with four full time staff and approximately 200 hard-working volunteers.

The journey of forty years from 1968 has been a remarkable one.

It started before 1968, because Novar Newton recalls that Rex Dannenberg had kicked around the idea of a Junior Rugby League club in the Aspley area for some time.  Novar, Rex and Jack Gledhill had all attended Nundah State School and Novar and Rex had played for Northern Suburbs, better known as Norths, after they left school, while Jack had managed several junior teams. 

Albert Bishop, Norths’ iconic committee man over many years, had realised the potential of the rapidly growing areas of Aspley and Zillmere for the development of Junior Rugby League and urged Rex to mobilise some mates and get a football club up and running.  His vision was the development of a satellite club that would not only give the local kids the chance to play the greatest game of all, but also develop junior footballers who would ultimately become potential senior players for the Devils.

 No doubt the idea was debated over many beers at the Aspley Hotel, or the Old Maids as it was universally known in those days.  Even allowing for some dutch courage, however, the task must have appeared daunting.  Rex and his mates may have had some optimism and enthusiasm but beyond those intangibles, they had nothing with which to start a football club – no players, no ground, no clubhouse, no jerseys or equipment and no money. 

 Nevertheless, they decided to have a go…..

 In 1967, the Geebung-Zillmere RSL Club stood where it is today but it was known as the Hole in the Wall and operated in a weatherboard building that looked like an old School of Arts.  It was here that Aspley’s founding fathers had their first official meeting.  About ten people attended including Rex Dannenberg, Novar Newton, Des Rose, Don Ritchie, Jack Gledhill, Marilyn Drew,  and Warren Wendt.

 Subsequently, the Norths Aspley Rugby League Football Club was born and Rex Dannenberg was voted its first President.  Des Rose was appointed as Secretary and Novar Newton as Treasurer.  The first step in a journey of a thousand miles had been taken.

 Step 2 was to gather together some players.  Rex Dannenberg was a printer employed by the local newspaper of those days, The Nundah Express, so it wasn’t too difficult to print off and distribute fliers calling upon parents of boys interested in playing Rugby League for a new local club to attend a meeting to be held behind the Coles (later BiLo) building in Robinson Road.

 As a result of this meeting and a word of mouth campaign, enough boys were recruited to field four teams.  Beryl Scamp recalls that Rex Dannenberg knocked on her door to ask her and husband Alan to get their sons, who had been playing for Norths to play for Aspley.  Parent club Norths also decided to send a team across to play under the new club’s banner and their Under 13A team for 1968 played as Norths Aspley and were successful in winning the premiership, the first of 52 which were to be claimed by the Golden Devils over the next 40 years.

 Looking back, the challenges facing the Committee as it tried to get five teams onto the field for the ’68 season were indeed daunting. With no ground of its own the new club had to find somewhere to train and somewhere to play.  Attempts to gain access to Aspley East State School’s oval looked likely to be successful with Principal Brian McKenna supporting the idea.  Unfortunately the Department of Education was not as community-minded then as it is now, and permission was not given.

 Although it was not lit, Bowden Park at Geebung was negotiated as the training field and home games were initially played at Kalinga Park where the Public Service League games were later staged.  Novar Newton remembers a cricket pitch being in the middle of Aspley’s field and “our duty each week was to cover the wicket with sawdust.  Having no canteen we relied on the Golden Circle Cannery to provide one of their drink trailers”.  Apparently the trailer was to move from one member’s place to another over a few years so that nobody officially knew where it was and it subsequently remained with the club.

 Before acquiring jerseys, club colours had to be chosen.  Rex Dannenberg admits that the Nundah State School connection was influential in the final decision to go with brown and gold, coincidentally, the old Nundah colours.  It seems there had been a preference for blue and gold but these colours had already been adopted by Sandgate..  With the colours decided, the more difficult task of acquiring 5 sets of jerseys remained.

 In 1968, the late Bill Brown, famous Australia opening batsman of the Bradman era, lived at Aspley and operated a sports store in Queen Street in the City.  Treasurer Novar Newton approached Bill Brown, explaining that the new club needed five sets of jerseys but had virtually no money.  Bill agreed to supply the jerseys, shook hands and told Novar that the club could pay him when it was able to do so.  Pat Buckley, one of the club’s early property officers, recalls that Bill Brown remained a true friend of the club over the years often allowing it to carry over accounts until the following season.

 The original playing strip comprised a plain chocolate brown jersey with white collar and golden devil emblem, white shorts and brown socks with a gold top.  Those who pioneered the club were united in the view that every boy in the area wishing to play Rugby League would be able to do so regardless of family circumstances.  To that end no fees were charged, jerseys were provided and coaches, managers and supporters often picked players up and dropped them to games.

 Following a tradition of parent club Norths, players kept their jerseys and socks at the end of every season.  This was probably good for the Property Officer who didn’t have to chase jerseys at season’s end, but expensive in that new sets had to be purchased every year.  To enable the club to meet its commitments each of the five managers was given the responsibility of raising the necessary funds for his team.  This was done largely by running doubles and raffles.

 General fundraising in 1968 was undertaken in a variety of ways.  The balance sheet for that year showed receipts of $2,332.29 with $665.40 of that amount coming from “chook raffles” at Coles in Robinson Road using a large chocolate wheel made by several of the members.  Four raffles on a Saturday morning was considered a very successful day, but at the end of the year a net profit of about $480 was made by this means.  Other sources of income included barbecues ($325.61), Melbourne Cup activities ($220 net), proceeds from functions including one at Norths Old Boys hall at Clayfield ($432), drink sales at Kalinga Park ($64 net) and a picture night ($42).  Membership fees for that year brought in $110.40.  After paying expenses of $1,523.86, the club had a balance to go forward to 1969 of $808.43, an amazing performance and a tribute to the pioneer workers of the club.

 The Golden Devils were also to have a successful year on field.  The Under 13 team, which had come across from Norths and which indeed played their first fixture against Redcliffe in a set of jerseys borrowed from the Devils, was to win Aspley’s first premiership.  The team was coached by ex-Australian forward Mr Reg Kay and managed by Doug Drew.

 1968 was also to be the beginnings of a tradition that has continued through 40 years, the annual exchange with Wentworthville Rugby League Football Club.  David Rose, the club’s first secretary had come to Brisbane from Sydney to work at the Amoco Oil refinery.  David had had a connection with Wentworthville Club in Sydney and suggested an annual exchange between the two clubs.  In its foundation year, Aspley hosted Wentworthville’s F grade thus beginning an ongoing tradition of friendship and sportsmanship between the clubs that exists to this day.

 Successfully hosting Wenty was one more reason for the fledgling club to feel satisfied that their first year had been a good one.  With a premiership pennant on the yet to be built wall, money in the bank and a hardworking group of volunteers, there was cause to be optimistic about 1969.  That optimism was to be converted into another year of solid achievement. 

 In its second year, Aspley fielded nine teams and won two premierships thanks to the 8B’s and 12C’s.  Membership stood at 94 (12,574 in 2007), with members paying a subscription of $2 per year. In presenting his Annual Statement of Income and Expenditure, Novar Newton was pleased to point out that the club had a balance at the end of 1969 of $2,499.17, “a considerable improvement on the $808.43 at the same time last year.”  He acknowledged the hard work of all managers, coaches and parents who so ably supported all barbecues, raffles, chook wheels and other fund raising efforts throughout the year.  All teams had been asked to raise $100 towards club expenses and this was met and exceeded by every team.  Apart from team efforts, major fundraising sources included the “chook” wheel (profit $709.41), Melbourne Cup activities ($244.10) and the canteen at Kalinga Park ($117.75).  A bottle drive had also raised $186.98 and the club was appealing for people to volunteer storage space to expand the scope of this activity.

 Even more exciting for the club as 1969 drew to a close were developments that would lead to its having a home.  Negotiations with the Council to lease the area in Kirby Road where the club is now situated were by now well advanced with local Alderman Len Trezoma advocating on the Club’s behalf.  The prospect of the lease had in turn led to plans being drawn up in anticipation of a clubhouse being built.  A “new look” jersey was also proposed for the 1970 season, and Norths Aspley looked forward to the seventies with confidence.