History

This is a collection of data arranged by Andy Purcell.

These notes have been collated and edited by Dave Nicolson.

The original football played on the Darling Downs was based on Gaelic Football. The outstanding players were Fred Groom and James Tolmie afterwards Speaker of the Legislative Council of the Queensland Parliament which was abolished in 1922.

Between 1882 and 1886 there were constant arguments over whether to adopt Melbourne Rules or Rugby Rules. In 1886 due to the efforts of Neil McPhie, JobStone, Gerald Barlow, Fred Way, Harry Hatton and J.C. Bain a Toowoomba Rugby Union was formed. This became the popular football code, although Melbourne Rules or to give it the modern term Australian Rules (AFL), survived in Toowoomba until the World War 1. The first teams were Moonlights, Paddingtons, Rockliffe, Gordon, Aubigny and Rangers.