Page 136 - History of Parkside Football Club (1897-2017) Editied Version Completed_optimized

Parkside Football Club 1897/2017

A letter was sent to Hon. A.E. Shepherd congratulating him on leadership of Victorian Labor Party.

A.E. Shepherd – Parkside’s and F.D.F.L. first Premiership Coach (1931)

President of F.D.F.L. from 1933 to 1945

Shepherd, Alfred Ernest (Ernie) (1901–1958)

“Alfred Ernest (Ernie) Shepherd (1901-1958), community leader and politician, was born on 6 January
1901 at Bendigo, Victoria, eldest of eight children of Victorian-born parents Alfred Shepherd, miner,
and his wife Rebecca Josephine, née Neilson, both active Presbyterians. Leaving Violet Street State
School at the age of 14 to help support his family, Ernie worked for Robert Harper & Co., and studied
maths and carpentry at night at the Bendigo School of Mines. He joined the Labor Party, became
secretary of the Newsboys' Union (to secure a pay rise for fellow paper-boys) and supplemented his
income by driving for political candidates, including Tom Tunnecliffe. In 1916 he went to Melbourne,
lived with an aunt at Footscray and attended anti-conscription meetings. At 17 he began an
apprenticeship as a pattern-maker in the Victorian Railways' workshops at Newport.

An enthusiastic sportsman, Shepherd swam and dived competitively, and played football with the
Footscray and North Melbourne second XVIIIs. He was honorary secretary of the Footscray Swimming
Club (1918-30), Footscray Football Club (1930) and Footscray District Football League (1933-45). In
addition, he was a Victorian Football League umpire (for matches in the second division), and a judge
and registrar of the Victorian Amateur Swimming Association. The F.F.C., F.D.F.L. and Victorian
Football Union were to award him life memberships. At Ballarat East on 9 April 1927 he married with
Presbyterian forms Beatrice Vera Hancock, a dressmaker. By 1929 they had their own home at
Footscray. The nearby St Andrew's Presbyterian Church became the family's place of worship.

Once a Parksider, Always a Parksider