Fifteen players in all black kits pose against a backdrop of a United Tribes flag and the Union Jack.
The ‘Maories’ were the New Zealand Native Football Team who toured Britain (including Ireland) in 1888-89. Players were predominantly of Māori ancestry, though the team included white New Zealanders. The team were the first to perform a haka, to wear all black, and to sport the Silver Fern. They were the first rugby side from the southern hemisphere to visit Britain. Twenty years earlier, an Indigenous Australian cricket team were the first cricket side to do so.
A force to be reckoned with, they played an impressive 74 games during their 14-month tour, winning 49, losing 20 and drawing 5. Their points tally was 394 to 188. In their three internationals, they beat Ireland but lost to England and Wales. One side they did lose to was the Yorkshire County Football Team (see previous blog post).
The 1888 New Year’s Eve edition of the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer carries a match report of their game against Cardiff. Fifteen thousand gathered to watch Cardiff overcome the Maories by a scoreline of a goal, a try and 3 minors, to a try and a minor. Minors were awarded for forcing the defending team into grounding the ball behind their goal line to prevent the attacking side from scoring.
The team relaxing before their Middlesex game at Sheffield Park
The Maories only existed from 1888-89, yet they crammed in 107 games, with impressive statistics: w78 l23, d5). They also squeezed in nine Victorian Rules (now Australian Rules) and two Association Football fixtures, all in Australia.
Images and most source material from heartland.co.nz