A FAMOUS FOOTBALL FAMILY

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 98, 16 July 1927, Page 11

A FAMOUS FOOTBALL FAMILY

\ FAMOUS Welsh footballer, who visited New Zealand many years ago, once observed to a friend of the xcriter’s J Tn my country, football is a business; but in yours, it is a religion.” With the Badeleys, it has been as much a family tradition as a religion. They have carved a deep niche in the temple of Rugby fame in Maoriland, and their names will bo remembered long after the outstanding events of their careers have been forgotten. Had injuries not taken heavy toll of their playing years, there is no saying to what heights they might have reached. The quartette has been strangely dogged by ill-luck; for instance, all four at some time or other have had concussion, and in the case of Vic Badeley, a succession of

injuries finally cut short a particularly brilliant career. Best known of the four, Ces and Vic, came on the scene almost together. Ces started his representative career in 1916 as a member of an Auckland wartime fifteen against the nth Reinforcements , and in the following year, while still at school, Vic played his first representative game for Auckland against Wellington. Ces gained his New Zealand cap in 1920, being a member of the team which visited Australia under the captaincy of J. Tilyard, and two years later, Vic was in Sydney as a member of the team led by that famous old Rugby warhorse, “Moke” Beilis. Ces Badeley’s big year ivas 1921. His great game for New Zealand in the only test match New Zealand won against the Springboks is still talked about in Dunedin. In the following year, a bady smashed cartilege in the knee dimmed his powers, and it was not till 1924 that he definitely “came back” in big football, when he was chosen as a member of the team which went through Britain without

a single defeat. There are many who think that Ces teas unjustly treated by the N.Z.R.F.U. in connection with that tour, something which is by no means new where Auckland is concerned, but this is not the place to dismiss the matter. Vic, too, played in the All Black trials of 192.'/, but in the second match of the season, against Hawke’s Bay, he ivas so bady injured that he was in hospital for seven months, and at one time his life ivas despaired of. His recovery was one of the marvels of modern surgery, and to-day, after the lapse of three years, one may run across him in the stand at Eden Park, as keen as ever on the game he played, so well. Ces dropped out of the game for :i while on his return from the All Black tour of 1924, but last year, he gained, representative honours for North Auckland, and this season, he

is back in his old place as an Auckland representative five-eighth. Down in the Waikato, the youngest of the family, Bert, has made a great name for himself as fullback and a goal-kicker of more than ordinary ability. In tico or three matches recently, his tally was twelve goals out of thirteen attempts. Like his other brothers, he laid the foundation of his career at the Auckland Grammar School, where he was captain of the First Fifteen in 1920 and 1921.

The eldest brother, Will, is on the land at Tamaki. Hs has been farming in different parts of the North Island for some years past, and probably not many are aware that he was also a good footballer. He played second-grade League before the war, and, but for injuries, would probably have gone a long way in the 13-a-side code.

Apart from Rugby, all the brothers tccre more than average cricketers. Bert teas a Waikato representative last year, prior to-which he used to knock up some good scores for Parnell. Vic was nominated for the position of ivicket-keeper in the Auckland team of 1922, and, but for the incomparable Rountree, would probably have secured representative honours at cricket. He was a member of the team which visited Fiji a few years ago, and was third on the batting averages to “Sid” Hiddleston and Irving, a club-mate in the Parnell team. Ces was also handy with the bat, and Will can still wield a vigorous blade, having mads some good scores in the Suburban Association's competitions in recent years. The writer can remember only one first five-eighth rcho has played in New Zealand since the war who was definitely superior to Ces Badeley as an attacking player, as the writer remembers him in the Springbok year. And he was not a New Zealander. The player referred to is Tom Lawton, one of the greatest footballers we have seen in this country. Possibly B. Sheehan, another Neto South Welshman, comes in the same category, but one is not so sure. As for Vic. as a centre threequarter, lie was one of the best we have had for many years.