Constable Bill Proudfoot

Captain of the Collingwood Magpies. 
Beat cop in Collingwood's backstreets.

"I have played football with the Collingwood team since its inception, and if I have been breaking any of our regulations I am very sorry, as I was under the impression I was not doing anything wrong, or detrimental to the Force in general, in taking part in the manly game of football". (Constable W H Proudfoot, 5th July 1904)

During the 1890s Constable Proudfoot worked a beat that ran through the rundown tenements and industrial warehouses of depression-era Collingwood. He tested shop doors for burglaries, checked that hotels were closed on time and made sure there was no trouble from the sly grog shops, gambling dens and low class brothels that were common to the suburb. Armed with a baton and schooled in the arts of boxing, wrestling and ju-jitsu, he also had the job of keeping the larrikin pushes (gangs) in check. In return the larrikins seemed to enjoy the sport of testing themselves against a lone policeman and would attack with any weapon that was handy including bottles, bricks and fence palings. Though it cost him his front teeth and also a replacement false set, Proudfoot seemed to relish the challenges of his chosen profession. He once attempted to detain three men who had broken into a grocery store and though he had two under control, the third hit him on the head with a sling-shot before escaping.

As fullback and captain of the mighty Collingwood football team, Constable Proudfoot also happened to be a local hero. A huge man for the era at 184cm and 102kg, he had surprising speed, agility and defended his goal with the same bravery, tenacity and brute strength as he did the streets on his beat.
Melbourne’s footy crowds were notoriously violent in the old years and players and umpires often had to run the gauntlet just to get home safely at the end of a game. North Melbourne (the Shin-boners), had a particularly aggressive fan base. At half time their female supporters would line the passage to the dressing rooms in order to jab their hat pins into the limbs of opposing players, sometimes right to the bone. After a close loss to Collingwood in 1896 the North crowd rushed the oval, dragging Umpire Roberts to the ground by his hair before attacking him with fists, boots and lengths of pipe. Proudfoot saved the flagging officiator by carrying him through the mob and to the dressing rooms before he himself was felled by an iron bar.
​
The deteriorating reputation of the game prompted Chief Commissioner O’Callaghan to ban members of the police force from participating. Proudfoot defied the edict and played in the 1903 and 1904 seasons under the fictitious name of Wilson. His superiors were seemingly oblivious until a series of letters were written to the Chief Commissioner, including one reputedly from a member of a notorious Collingwood criminal family.  Proudfoot was thus warned that that any further breaches would end in his dismissal. Eventually Commissioner O’Callaghan had a change of heart and authorised Proudfoot to play the game he loved. He would go on to fulfil a career for Collingwood which spanned from 1892 to 1906 and won him three premierships.

Seven years after retiring from football he was on police duty at Collingwood’s Victoria Park when he entered the nearby Yarra Hotel to quell a half time disturbance. He was severely dealt with by a local push and found himself having to purchase another set of false teeth.

The following year he was given a promotion and transferred to Russell Street Police Headquarters in Melbourne's CBD. From there he patrolled the inner city slum and brothel district known as 'Little Lon'. He was a plain clothes officer and partnered up with the famous 'Plain Clothes Constable Hickling'. It was their role to cultivate and maintain relationships with the local community, to keep up to date with the latest gossip - and to make sure that the street prostitutes  were 'orderly' and the brothel industry kept out of the control of violent criminals. 

In 1926, Proudfoot retired from the force and took over the Wall's Hotel in Werribee. During his career he'd partaken in countless raids on hotels for trading outside of licensing hours. I'm sure the irony would not have missed him in 1929 when he himself was raided and subsequently fined for selling alcohol during prohibited hours.
 
 
 
Timeline:
1868: Born at Kilmore to Scottish immigrant parents
1892: Plays in Collingwood’s first ever VFA match.  (wins Premiership 1896)
1897: A member of Collingwood’s inaugural VFL team.  (wins Premierships 1902 & 1903)
1913: Organises a team of volunteer fire fighters and leads them in saving the town of Mitcham from an approaching bushfire.
1918: Awarded Bronze medal by Royal Humane Society for bringing two bolting horses under control and steering them away from a packed tram carriage in Swanston St Melbourne.
1926: Retires from Police Force and takes over license of the Wall’s Hotel, Werribee.
1931: Dies in a private hospital in Richmond after a battle with cancer. He leaves behind his wife Evelyn and only child Stanley
2005: Inducted into Collingwood Football Club Hall of Fame
2006: Inducted into the Victoria Police Sporting Hall of Fame

Article by Michael Shelford  © 2013

Article originally published in Time Out Melbourne, 2013.

Transcribed below are some highlights from 2 separate police files from 1904 which dealt with Constable Proudfoot disobeying police regulations and playing for Collingwood under an alias. I've included some of the police reports and the letters of complaint that drew police attention to the situation.

At least four letters were sent to the police in 1904 informing them of Constable Proudfoot playing for Collingwood under an assumed name.

89 McCracken St,
Kensington.
May 31st, 1904
Dear Sir,
I must draw your attention to the fact that Constable Proudfoot is playing Football under the name ‘Wilson’ in the Collingwood F.C as it is unfair to the other members of the force and against the police regulations. I hope you will take the necessary steps to stop his breaking the regulations at once and if not I must inform the higher authorities.
Frank Hiam.


To the Chief Commissioner of Police (date stamped 6th June 1904),
Dear Sir,
Having a letter to spare I have some remarks to make about a certain Constable of Clifton Hill and which I hope you will make some inquiry. I am given to understand that no Constable is to take part in any sport (vis-a-vis) Football. Mr Proudfoot of Clifton Hill who is now playing under the name W H Wilson …
(signed) Justice


Abbotsford
 2/6/1904
Sir,
It has come to my knowledge that Constable Proudfoot was refused permission to play Football. Well Sir do you know he has played every match this season for Collingwood under the name ‘Wilson’. Sir if that is to be tolerated what can be expected from the public. A Law-breaker in disguise as a Law preserver.
Hoping you will not let the matter drop,
E M Murphy
Abbotsford


Another (below) was from Joseph Collis of Perry Street, Collingwood. Collis was a surname of ill fame in the Perry Street area of Collingwood during this era. In fact a great deal of Collingwood’s sly grog was sold by the Collis family for a period of over 2 decades. In 1917, the Collingwood Council did their best to drive the family to other regions by pulling down their house at Perry Street … but that’s a story for another time.


Perry Street
Collingwood
14th July 1904
The Chief Commissioner of Police, Melbourne.
Sir,
I wish to bring under your notice the fact that Constable Proudfoot plays regularly on behalf of the Collingwood Football Club against the police regulations, under the assumed name of W Wilson and to ask how is it that a member of the Force can invariably be off duty on Saturday afternoons,
Yours obediently
Joseph Collis
Small photo card enclosed.”
(note: The small photo card mentioned at the end of the letter is actually one and the same as the cigarette card used as the photograph for this article. If you look carefully you will see the pin mark used to attach it to the police file.)
 
 
In the subsequent investigation Inspector William Waters asked: “Did the Constable take an assumed name? If so why?” (Inspector William Waters 6/6/1904)

In answer, Constable Proudfoot wrote: “Yes. My reason for doing so was that some of my relatives did not care for me playing football, and as they live in the country, I thought that by taking another name they would not know that I was playing” (Constable W H Proudfoot, 8/6/1904)

An incredulous Chief Commissioner then wrote: “I shall be glad to know why the Sergeant in charge of Collingwood has permitted the Constable to go on playing during this season knowing well as he did that the practice was forbidden. Mr Waters (Police Inspector) also knew this and appears to have neglected his duty. Let the Constable be finally warned.” (Chief Commissioner O’Callaghan 15/06/1904)



Below is Constable Proudfoot’s subsequent (possibly career-saving) report.

Report of Const. Proudfoot 4071 relative to attached letter of Frank Hearn, re: me playing football.
I have to report with reference to the attached letter, I have played football with the Collingwood team since it’s inception, and if I have been breaking any of our regulations I am very sorry, as I was under the impression I was not doing anything wrong or detrimental to the Force in general, in taking part in the manly game of football, and in addition I have never allowed the game to interfere with my Police duties, as the records will show I was either on leave of absence or off duty when taking part in any match. And why Mr Hearn, if such a person exists, or any other outsider should take exception to me playing football, infers vindictiveness on his part and probably being a supporter of some other team thinks his team would have a better show of beating Collingwood if I were excluded from playing. I may state that this is the only pastime I indulge in and the training always keeps me in good condition and tends to make me better able to perform my duties as a Constable. (W H Proudfoot 5/6/1904).
 
Sergeant Barrett, Proudfoot’s boss at Clifton Hill Police, excused himself of responsibility by writing “I have to report that none of the League matches are played at Clifton Hill. I have a great dislike for the game myself, and never go to see it or read about it in the papers. I was therefore quite unaware of the Constable playing in other subdistricts.”

The final warning must have had effect because Sergeant Barrett wrote on the 18/07/1904 “From what I can learn Proudfoot has not played football since he has been finally warned not to do so. Until last Saturday when leave was granted to him for that purpose”.