Written by Alan Garside.
| An English professional side toured Australia
between May and July of 1951 and played a match against a Granville
District side at Parramatta. The Granville District representative
side was composed of players from the Auburn and Granville clubs in
Sydney. The game was originally scheduled for June 27 but was postponed
due to incessant rain making Cumberland Oval unplayable. Right-back,
Harry Bamford, was required to play centre forward due to a number
of players unavailable due to injury. The match was considered to by many to have been the most competitive game of the English sides 1951 tour. With only 15 minutes to go the Granville District side were still holding the English team at 2-2 but were unable to hold them out until the final whistle. | ||||
| Played : Wednesday July 18 1951 | Venue : Cumberland Oval, Parramatta, Sydney | |||
| Granville District Ron Lord, Bob Lee (c), Bob McLelland, Andy Henderson, Archie McAllister, Norm Rowlands, Jock Hodge, Colin Johnston, Eric Hulme, Alan Jacobs, Ray Marshall; Reserves : Bill Henderson, Jack Steven, Cec Callaghan, Ken Vairy Goals : Marshall (x2) |
2 | - | 5 | England Sam Bartram, Frank Lock, John McCue, Derek Parker, Reg Flewin (c), Joe Shaw, Gordon Hurst, Bill Smith, Harry Bamford, Harry Webster, Bobby Langton Goals : Bamford (x2), Langton, Smith, Hurst |
| Referee : Jack McKenzie Linesmen : H Heggen and Ron Wright Attendance : 5,269 Half Time : 0-0 Managers : Stan Nolan (Granville District), David Wiseman and Frank Adams (England) Trainers : Arthur Lee (Granville District), Bob Shotton (England) | ||||