1910s

Football begins in Warwick and Roma

As football was gaining traction in Toowoomba, teams in Warwick, Mitchell and Roma began to form. In Warwick 1912, Mr. W. G. Smith held a meeting for those interested in the game. Within a month, teams from Warwick, Clifton and Tannymorel had begun to play matches against each other. The matches were rough, with a few players coming away with broken bones. The Warwick team also began playing against Toowoomba. A newspaper report from 1913 details a particularly gripping match between the two teams which resulted in a 4-4 draw.

In Roma, the first football match recorded appears in 1912. The Western Star and Roma Advertiser reported that teams representing Mitchell and Roma played a match resulting in a 3-1 win to Mitchell. The article illustrates the perception of soccer football at the time, noting that most spectators didn’t know the rules of the round ball game and found rugby more exciting.  

During this period Toowoomba’s participation in intercity competition continued. They continued to play teams from Ipswich and in 1916, got permission to play the season in Queen’s Park. However, the war was having a huge impact on the game in the South West region. In 1919, it was reported that 140 British Football Association members had gone to the Front. In Warwick, the lack of players meant that only a couple of games at junior or cadet level were played during the war.

Read more about the beginnings of football in Warwick at Neos Osmos.