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Happy St George's Day

Willow

Willow

Assistant Moderator
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108,319
On this day in 1921, a St George first grade team ran onto the field for the first time.

Our birthday, April 23rd, is also St George's Day around the world.

Happy Birthday to us!

SAINTS' FIRST PREMIERSHIP MATCH
KICKOFF ON 'ST GEORGES DAY', 1921
-----------------------------------------------------
Saturday, April 23, 1921. Venue: Sydney Sports Ground. Kickoff: 3:15pm
Saints' first match was coincidentally scheduled for 'St George's Day', 1921. Their opponents were Glebe, captained by William 'Binghi' Benson who went on to play for Saints in 1927 and featured the mighty Frank 'Chunky' Burge who would later captain-coach St George.
1921_gilbert_0.jpg
Herb Gilbert Snr (pic left) had the honour of being the inaugural first grade captain and coach. A veteran of 33 years old, Gilbert was regarded as one of the greatest centres in the game. His inspiration and experience brought instant respect to the new club.

Saints went down 4 -3 but kept the more fancied Glebe tryless.
George Carstairs (pic right) had the honour of scoring Saints' first ever try.
sh_carstairs1.jpg


A standout player for St George was forward, Ernie Lapham who out-performed his rivals.

The inaugural FIRST GRADE TEAM on the day (with numbers)
Fullback:1- Lyall Wall.
Wing three quarters: 2- George 'Bluey' Carstairs; 5- Norman Shadlow.
Centre three quarters: 3- Herb Gilbert (captain-coach); 4- Reg Fusedale.
Halves: 8- Tommy Burns; 9- Frank Gray.
Forwards: 10- Clarrie Tye; 11- Roy 'Bunny' Bossi; 12- Tony Redmond; 13- Ernie 'Curly' Lapham; 14- Sid Field; 15- Jack Clark.
Reserves: 6- Lew Heuschkel; 7- A. Bossi, 16- F 'Skinny' Wilkins; 17- J. Morris

http://jubileeavenue.com.au/history/1921-1925.php
 
Last edited:
Willow

Willow

Assistant Moderator
Messages
108,319
On Wikipedia...

Celebrations

Countries that celebrate St George's Day include England, Canada, Croatia, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republic of Macedonia. Cities include Moscow in Russia, Genova in Italy, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Beirut in Lebanon, Qormi and Victoria in Malta and many others. It is also celebrated in the old Crown of Aragon in Spain—Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, and Majorca.

A woodcut print of St George


St George's Day is known as the Feast of Saint George by Palestinians and is celebrated in the Monastery of Saint George in al-Khader, near Bethlehem. It is also known as Georgemas.[4]
Besides the 23 April feast, some Orthodox Churches have additional feasts dedicated to St George. The country of Georgia celebrates the feast St. George on 23 April and, more prominently, 10 November (Julian Calendar), which currently falls on 6 May and 23 November (Gregorian Calendar), respectively. The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the dedication of the Church of St George in Kiev by Yaroslav I the Wise in 1051 on 26 November (Julian Calendar), which currently falls on the Gregorian 9 December.
In the General Calendar of the Roman Rite, the feast of Saint George is on 23 April. In the Tridentine Calendar it was given the rank of "Semidouble". In Pope Pius XII's 1955 calendar this rank is reduced to "Simple." In Pope John XXIII's 1960 calendar the celebration to just a "Commemoration". In Pope Paul VI's revision of the calendar, that came into force in 1969, it was given the equivalent rank of a "Memorial", of optional use. In some countries, such as England, the rank is higher.
St George's feast is ranked higher in England and in certain other regions. It is the second most important National Feast in Catalonia, where the day is known in Catalan as La Diada de Sant Jordi and it is traditional to give a rose and a book to a loved one.
Under the state atheism of former Eastern Bloc countries, the celebration of Saint George's Day was historically suppressed.[5]
UNESCO declared this day the International Day of the Book, since 23 April 1616 was the date of death and possibly anniversary of birth of both the English playwright William Shakespeare (according to the Julian calendar) and the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes (according to the Gregorian calendar).
April 23 is also the anniversary of the St George Dragons Rugby League Football Club. The St George club coincidentally played their inaugural NSWRL first grade match on St George's Day, 23 April 1921 at the Sydney Sports Ground in Australia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George's_Day
 
Willow

Willow

Assistant Moderator
Messages
108,319
I ring up my Scottish relatives to wish them Happy St Andrews Day every year.
I ring up my Irish relatives to wish them Happy St Patricks Day every year.
I ring up my Welsh relatives to wish them Happy St Davids Day every year.

They all ring me up to wish me Happy St George's Day every year. And I'm not English.
 
gUt

gUt

Coach
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16,888
St George and the Dragon was one of my favourite stories as a kid.

Didn't mention Illawarra though.
 
Willow

Willow

Assistant Moderator
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108,319
Actually you're wrong gUt.

In the ancient texts there is mention of Saint George's support crew. As I'm sure you know, no Knight or Saint can gain fame without important people around him - the Blacksmith, the Farrier and ofcourse the 'caddy' of the middle ages, the all important Squire. No champion becomes a champion without a back up team.

By amazing coincidence, Saint George referred to his team as the meridiem litoralibus populo (old Latin). This loosely translates into the old English as, Illawarraites.

So there you have it. The joint venture is indeed a bringing together of kindred spirits.
 
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