It was here in France’s Somme region on April 25, 1918, that Australian soldiers saved the town from German forces, precisely three years after the landing at Gallipoli forged Anzac Day.
Each year, the Aussie spirit lives on through the thousands that make the pilgrimage to the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux to honour those who fell on France’s Western Front.
On Sunday, Australian pride will again feature, but perhaps in a more tangible sense than before, when the Aussie Spirit Australian football team plays France in the inaugural Anzac Cup.
A football match celebrating the unique bond between Australia and the Villers-Bretonneux region came to fruition after a pair of like-minded footy lovers from opposite ends of Europe had the same idea. Simon MacGregor – an Aussie hailing from the Victorian surf coast, who plays footy in Finland with Aussie Rules Europe – and Cyril Talon, of Commission National de Football Australien club the Paris Cockerels, hatched the concept at last year’s European Cup in Prague.
MacGregor’s great grandfather was a captain with the Australian Veterinary Corps in the Somme. He represented Australia in cricket and played football with his fellow soldiers as a reprieve from the rigours of the front line. MacGregor engaged Australian co-ordinator with Aussie Rules Europe, Troy Toohey, who has a similar connection to the area and was quick to offer his support.
Toohey travelled to Villers-Bretonneux last year to honour his great-grandfather, a Military Cross recipient who served at Fromelles, and was overwhelmed by the locals’ continued respect for Australians because of the actions of their forebears.
“I had a woman who worked in one of the museums in the area cry when I gave her my great grandfather’s details,” Toohey said.
“There’s a really strong bond there. In the local school they have a sign up in the courtyard that says ‘Do not forget Australia’. It’s something that’s reinforced more than 90 years later.”
The Anzac Cup will complement official Anzac Day activities and involve Australian expatriates playing for the Aussie Spirit side, with the opposition made up of the best players in France.
It is hoped the event will attract people travelling to the region in support of Anzac ceremonies, and reinforce the connection between Australians and the local French community.
“It’s trying to pay their respects but almost having like a big country football match atmosphere at the same time,” Toohey explained.
“It’s an event to honour the fallen but at the same time celebrate the Aussie spirit that they forged in the battlefields. That’s where the name Aussie Spirit, the Australian team name, essentially comes in.”
Event details
Date: Sunday April 26, 2009
Time: Activities commence 10am
Venue: Principal Soccer Stadium, Route d’Amiens (D1029), Villers-Bretonneux, France 80800
