1946 /

1946 – Parramatta enters the N.S.W.R.L.

The first meeting of the proposed Parramatta District Club was held in the School of Arts, Parramatta, on August 20, 1946. 

At this meeting a provisional set of officials were elected to work on the formation of a District Rugby League Club in the Parramatta District. They were as follows:

President Mr C. Shipway, Treasurer Mr H. Smith, Secretary Mr J. Parsons.  
Provisional Committee: S. O’Neill, B. Yates, C. Vild, L. Hitchcock, E. Armstrong, N. Cooper, J. Cooper. R. McLaurin, G. Hannan, A. Prudames, J. Howden, J. Argent, S. Simpson, T. O’Shea, E. B. Morris. 

The first Committee meeting was held in the School of Arts, Parramatta on August 27, 1946 at which it was decided to forward a letter to the Western Districts Junior League seeking their co-operation and also asking them to forward to the Western Suburbs District Club a letter of support for Parramatta’s application to the N.S.W. Rugby League.

Finance was deemed necessary, and it is recorded that N. Cooper donated £1.1.0, and other Committee members threw in one shilling each to pay for hire of the Town Hall.

A meeting at Parramatta Town Hall was held to garner public support and the financing and publicising of the District Club. Donations included £5 from Riverstone RLF Club, £5 from St Marys, while Mr J. Cooper loaned the money for the meeting.

A special meeting was held on October 3, 1946 to find a number of gentlemen who were further willing to support the club financially. Mr Jack Argent donated £100, Mr Terry O’Shea licensee of the Woolpack Hotel donated £100, and guarantees were given by Mr Malcolm £100, Messrs Burt, Smith and Griffiths £25 each for the purpose of importing players.

Messrs. Shipway and Argent were given the task of compiling statistics and planning the case to be presented to the N.S.W. League’s meeting on Monday October 28, 1946.

The planning Committee had approached Parramatta Park Trust who agreed by one vote for the newly-formed Club to have use of Parramatta Oval (Cumberland Oval) for half of the Saturdays during the football season and training on Monday and Wednesday nights on a shared basis with N.S.W. Rugby Union, provided there were sufficient guarantees.

Messrs. Shipway and Argent presented their case at the meeting to the N.S.W. Rugby League General Committee on October 28, 1946. They were joined by Jimmy Parsons who was a former school friend of Argent and Endeavour teammate. They had run into each other on the Granville train platform upon return from war service.

Also at the same meeting was an application from Manly-Warringah District. The N.S.W.R.L. decided to hold a special meeting of its Vice-Presidents the following Monday night.

On November 4, 1946, the N.S.W.R.L. determined to grant Parramatta and Manly-Warringah a charter to the first-grade district competition. Parramatta was provided entry subject to obtaining Cumberland Oval, Parramatta, for its home ground.

It was agreed that the borders for the new club should extend from the pipeline on Woodville Road to the Raymond-Church Street junction at Harris Park, through Raymond Street via Bridge, Allen and Eleanor Streets to the railway at Rosehill racecourse, then along the western side of the railway to Parramatta River. 

The selected colours of the Parramatta Club were approved by the N.S.W.R.L. - a Royal Blue jersey with a 6-inch Gold Bar through the chest and arms, with Blue Knickers, Royal Blue Socks with Gold tops as the colours of the Parramatta Club on November 24, 1946, being the successful colours worn by the Parramatta South School, Parramatta Intermediate High School. They had been the colours that many of the Club’s supporters and officials had worn in their school days. 

Parramatta Oval (Cumberland Oval) would become synonymous with the Parramatta team and ‘the boys from Cumberland’ had arrived.