Barclay 'Titch' Shrapnell Bailes (9 August 1883 – 24 September 1955),Deaths: Bailes, The Age, (Monday, 26 September 1955), p.9. sometimes known as "Bark" Bailes,Football, The Bendigo Independent, (Wednesday, 4 October 1905), p.3. was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Perth in the West Australian Football League (WAFA) in 1904, for Fitzroy Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 1905 to 1909, and for Brighton in the Victorian Football Association (VFA), from 1910 to 1915.
Family
Born on 9 August 1883,Births: Bailes, The Argus, Tuesday, 14 August 1883), p.1. "Titch" was the son of Millinda Sperring Stephenson (1851-1902)Family Notices, The Argus, (Tuesday, 4 October 1870), p.4; Deaths: Bailes, The Bendigo Independent, (Friday 3 January 1902), p.2.; Death of Mrs. A. S. Bailes, The Bendigo Independent, (Friday 3 January 1902), p.2. and Alfred Shrapnell Bailes (1849-1928) — who was the Mayor of Sandhurst, (1883-1884), and member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly (1896-1894, 1897–1907)Deaths: Bailes, The Age, (Monday, 16 January 1928), p.1; Personal, The Argus, (Monday, 16 January 1928), p.16. — and he was also the older brother of one-time Collingwood footballer, Ernie Bailes.
On one occasion, another younger brother, Alfred Bailes, a spectator at the match, took exception to a fierce charge made on "Titch" by Herbert Robinson, during the 27 July 1912 match between Brighton and Williamstown. Robinson had floored "Titch" and almost knocked him out. Alfred jumped the fence, chased Robinson and struck him.Football, The (Brighton) Southern Cross, (Saturday, 3 August 1912), p.6."Old Boy", Association Games: Brighton's Record Score: Impetuous Spectator, The Argus, (Monday, 29 July 1912), p.5. Alfred was later charged, by the police, with striking Robinson. He pleaded guilty to the charge.Footballer Assaulted, The Argus, (Saturday, 17 August 1912), p.20.Nemesis in the Football Field, The Age, (Saturday, 17 August 1912), p.14.Footballer Struck: Striker Fined, The Camperdown Chronicle, (Saturday, 17 August, 112), p.2.
Bailes married Olive Amelia Lyons (1889-1944) in 1911; they had three children, William, George, and Leonard.Wedding: Bailes—LyonsWeekly Times, 1 April 1911; Deaths: Bailes, The Argus, (Friday, 18 February 1944), p.2.
Footballer Perth Recruited from the Bendigo Football Club,Bendigo District Football Association, The Bendigo Independent, Friday, 1 May 1903), p.2.South Bendigo v. Bendigo, The Bendigo Independent, (Thursday, 14 May 1903), p.2."A Bendigo footballer of considerable ability": see Football,The West Australian, (Saturday, 30 April 1904), p.8. Bailes played the 1904 season with Perth as a rover.Football, The West Australian, (Monday, 16 May 1904), p.6.Football, The West Australian, (Monday, 19 September 1904), p.6.Heinrichs, D., "Thirty Years of Football: The State's Finest Players", The West Australian, (Saturday, 6 July 1929), p.19.
Fitzroy Initially used as a wingman, and later as a centre, Bailes transferred to Fitzroy from Perth in the 1905Football, The Western Mail, Saturday, 29 April 1905), p.37. — he had earlier played for a depleted Fitzroy team in an end-of-season charity match, in aid of the Bendigo Hospital, between Fitzroy and Collingwood (arranged by Bailes' father) in Bendigo in 1903, kicking one of Fitzroy's three goals in a drawn match.Sporting; Football: Charity Match, The Bendigo Advertiser, (Thursday, 17 September 1903, p.3.
He finished 1905 in a premiership side; Fitzroy defeated Collingwood in a low scoring Grand Final, and was regarded as the best player on the ground.Football, The Argus, (Monday, 2 October 1905), p.7.Football Season, The Age, (Monday, 2 October 1905), p.9. Bailes won Fitzroy's Club Champion in 1907, and he represented Victoria at the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival the following year,Jubilee Football: The Victorian Team, The (Perth) Daily News, (Thursday, 27 August 1908), p.10.Football Jubilee Carnival: The Victorian Team, The Geelong Advertiser, (Thursday, 13 August 1908), p.6.South Australia Defeated, The (Adelaide) Register, (Thursday, 27 August 1908, p.8. and "was brilliant on one of the wings" in Victoria's final match against Western Australia.Football Jubilee, The Argus, (Monday, 31 August 1908), p.5. He played in the first 15 matches of the 1909 season, and was then dropped for poor form. All in all he played 79 matches and scored 29 goals.
Brighton His initial application for a transfer from Fitzroy to Brighton was refused at the VFL permit committee meeting on 27 April 1910:Football, The Age, Thursday, 28 April 1910), p.9. "B.S. Bailes applied for a permit to transfer from Fitzroy to Brighton, as he is now living at Brighton. The Fitzroy club refused the clearance, on the ground that they were anxious to play him, and would allow him reasonable expenses. Bailes said he was dissatisfied with the way he had been treated at Fitzroy, and, as his brother is playing with Brighton, he wished to play there also. The application was refused." — The Argus, 28 April 1910.Footballers’ Permits: Reasons for Transfer: Players’ Arguments, The Argus, Thursday, 28 April 1910), p.5.
The matter was soon resolved; and he was granted a clearance on 4 May 1910.Football: Permits to Players: Association Clubs, The Argus, Thursday, 5 May 1910), p.5. However, he did not play his first game for Brighton until the second round match, against Northcote, ten days later, on 14 May 1910,Brighton (13.14) Beat Northcote (6.8). The Argus, Monday, 16 May 1910), p.11. because the match in question, like all VFA and VFL matches originally scheduled for 7 May 1910, had been postponed for seven days as a mark of respect for King Edward VII, who had died at Buckingham Place on 6 May.Notes and Comments, The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 14 May 1910), p.19. In the last half of the 1913 season he was unable to play due to injury: "Brighton will be without the services of their sterling centre player — B. Bailes — for this afternoon, and also for the rest of the season. Early in the year "Titch" suffered from an injured jawbone, and it was thought that he would have to retire from the game, but after undergoing medical treatment he was able to resume his place in the team. During the present week the injuries took a more serious turn, for which "Tich" will have to undergo an operation."Football, The (Brighton) Southern Cross, (Saturday 12 July, 1913), p.6.
Fully recovered, he played for Brighton in the first match of the 1914 season.Football, The (Brighton) Southern Cross, (Saturday 18 April, 1914), p.7. He played in the centre with the Brighton, along with his brother Ernie (at wing), for six seasons (1910-1915).In order to facilitate military recruiting, the Victorian Football Association terminated its 1915 season earlier than originally planned (see The Association: Season to Close in a Month, The (Melbourne) Winner, (Wednesday July 1915), p.6; and, due to the ongoing war, its 1916 and 1917 seasons were completely abandoned.
Military service He enlisted in the First AIF in April 1916, served overseas, and was discharged in June 1919.About People, The Bendigo Independent, (Monday, 26 March 1916), p.5.Football at the Front: Keen Competition: An Exciting Match, The Benalla Standard, Friday, 1 February 1918), p.4.Australian Casualties: Victorian List No.407: Seriously Ill, (Monday, 10 June 1918), p.3.Victorians on the S. Euripides, The Age, (Wednesday, 26 March 1919), p.10.World War I Service Record: Barkley Shrapnell Bailes (5543).
Coach Sandringham Bailes served as chairman of selectors for several years at the Sandringham Football Club in the VFA.His son, William “Bill” Bailes, played for Sandringham from 1931 to 1934.
In 1935, having retired from the Richmond Football Club at the end of the 1933 season, due to what had been considered to be a career-ending injury, and having worked as a football commentator for radio station 3UZ for the entire 1934 VFL season, ex-Richmond wingman/half-forward Sid Dockendorff was appointed coach of Sandringham for the 1935 VFA season, in place of the former Essendon footballer, Garnet Campbell who had served as Captain-Coach in 1934. Dockendorff was cleared from Richmond to Sandringham in April 1935.Association Permits, The Age, (Thursday, 18 April 1935), p.15. He came out of retirement, and played at Sandringham as captain-coach.
By late June, Dockendorff had obviously regained his pre-injury (Richmond) form; and was recruited by Syd Coventry, then the coach of Footscray (VFL), in a secret deal involving Richmond. At the end of June 1935,Club Notes: Sandringham's Improvement, The Age, (Friday, 28 June 1935), p.9. Dockendorff "asked for a clearance [back to Richmond] because of difficulties in effecting insurances against injury"; and, at a special meeting, the Sandringham officials granted his request.Late Clearances: Dockendorff for Richmond, The Age, (Monday, 1 July 1935), p.7. However, the very next day after the VFL had registered the clearance from Sandringham to Richmond, Richmond cleared Dockendorff to Footscray.Dockendorff Cleared to Footscray,The Age, (Tuesday, 2 July 1935), p.5. He eventually played 17 senior games for Footscray; and Coventry eventually came good on his promise to Dockendorff, and Dockendorff was promoted to the position of club captain (he was captain in 1937, although only playing in 4 matches, and retiring due to injury).
In these highly emotional circumstances, Bailes was appointed as coach of the Sandringham team for the remainder of the 1935 season;Club Notes: Sandringham Training, The Age, (Wednesday, 3 July 1935), p.7. and, at the stage that Bailes took over the coaching, Brighton had only won three of the 12 matches it had already played that seasonAssociation Topics: Sandringham to Try Juniors, The Argus, (Wednesday, 3 July 1935), p.11. — and it would go on to lose each of the final six matches of the 1935 season.
There was further trouble when former Essendon footballer Clarrie Hearn was appointed captain-coach for the 1936 season. In June 1936, Hearn tendered his resignation, citing "pressure of business"Hearn Resigns, The Argus, Wednesday, 17 June 1936), p.17. — however, on this occasion, rather than, once again, calling on Bailes, the club decided to split the coaching duties between the captain, Bob Thoms, as captain-coach, and the vice-captain, Bill Mitchell, as his assistant, for the rest of the season.Thoms Captain-Coach: Clearance to St. Kilda Refused, The Argus, (Wednesday, 24 June 1936), p.12.
See also 1908 Melbourne Carnival
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