Sheilas, Wogs and Pooftas... nothing to do with the Ravens

Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, under a heavy British influence, the NSW Amateur League was created and clubs invited to apply for the 1902 season. One of those teams was Gladesville Corinthians, founded by the two great characters and businessmen of the town at the time, Ezekiel Hardaker and Wilberforce T. Zorbas. The short eight game season was a success with the team ending up fourth in the five team league, thus avoiding relegation to Division 2.

Corinthians continued to battle against the odds through the formative years – the league grew to a fourteen game season as it has continued ever since. Following the Battle of Raven Street in the first world war when Australian troops overcame German forces in a bloody battle, as a mark of respect Gladesville’s premier sports team changed their name to the Ravens and a legend was born. The 1926 season saw Ravens finish the season four points above the relegation zone, a record high, thanks to the goals of the ‘Italian Stallion’ Allessandro Volpado and the goalkeeping nouse of Percival Purcell. It wasn’t long before the crowds at their new Peel Park stadium reached 40 000, as TV hadn’t been invented yet and there was nothing to do of a Saturday arvo when it wasn't sunny. Australian soccer was going through its golden era.

The second world war took its toll on the Ravens, with many of the players called into action. Only Bertie Galanos and Norbert Zorbas stayed behind, excused from military duty due to a twisted knee and a pulled hamstring respectively. With the war behind them, the Ravens set about rebuilding their team, hitting the heights in 1967 when the pennant competition was introduced – Ravens made the semi-finals. With the Gladesville Hornsby league eventually taking over from the NSW Amateur League, Ravens saw their chance to flourish against lesser teams and elected to join the new set up, heralded as a move towards glory by the master technician and then player-manager Reginald P. Valas. The seventies were to be a difficult time for the Ravens – the stadium was all but demolished, replaced by housing. In fact the only pieces remaining are the ‘Bank’ which covers what used to be the changing rooms and offices and the ‘Canteen End’ which used to be the mens urinals.

With Ravens heading for extinction, they finally turned the corner in 1985 when the Gladesville Bowlo bought out the existing owners, Skase Enterprises, for a dollar and set about a massive rebuilding program. Players in the over 35s team will tell you how it was back then , very tough – the players had to walk to Peel park and there were no mobile phones. There would be forty players at Monash for training and they wouldn’t know that the coach had cancelled the session due to a waterlogged pitch. The Gosford trip was everyone’s summer holiday. The advent of the technological revolution changed all that and Ravens find themselves on the way up to new heights, ready to hit the road to success and Australian soccer domination.

INTO THE FUTURE:

Now that Frank Lowy has taken over Australian Soccer, and set a new Premier League in motion, applications from clubs to join its new Australian league are being taken. Gladesville Ravens are rumoured to be the third Sydney club, a great opportunity to take the town into it’s next golden era. With Qantas providing free transport for teams around Australia and cut price packages for fans, and with an influx of foreign clubs vying for a stake in one of the teams, Gladesville will be there. Preliminary talks with Chelsea and AEK Athens are rumoured to have taken place at the Bowlo, Ron Atkinson is tipped as manager after buying a $3 million house in Hunters Hill, and a new twenty thousand seat stadium is planned for the mental hospital on that nice park down there. Gladesville will leave behind the likes of West Pennant Hills and Putney Rangers and welcome the likes of Perth Glory and Northern Spirit. Keep watching for news and further insights into the future of Gladesville Ravens in the new Australian Premier League.