Balgownie Rangers, Corrimal, Granville, Newtown
NSW

James William ‘Judy’ Masters

Enlistment Date
31/05/1915
Age At Enlistment
23
Rank On Enlistment
Private
Rank Attained At War’s End
Sergeant
Regimental No.
1075
Battalion
19th Battalion, C Company
Fate
Returned
Fate Date
19/06/1919
Occupation
Labourer
Place of Birth
Balgownie, New South Wales
Religion
Church of England
Marital Status
Single
Embarkation Details
Embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT Ceramic on 25 June 1915

Contemporaries deemed Judy Masters the foremost native-born soccer player of his own and any previous era. The Balgownie soccer ground was named after him. James William (Judy) Masters was born on 21 May 1892 in Balgownie, New South Wales. Known as the “Little Master”, he enlisted on 31 May 1915.

Sid Grant wrote:

He was 5ft 8in, 12 1/2 st, all muscle and bone for he hewed Illawarra coal for 40 years. He was a born leader, never shirked a tackle if a goal was in question and was never once spoken to by a referee in over 400 games. He captained Australia, the NSW South Coast and Balgownie and led an AIF team which was formed in France when peace came in 1918.

He entered the senior ranks when only 15 1/2, played for Balgownie 1901-11, Newtown 1912-13, Granville 14-15. With the AIF he saw service in Gallipoli, Egypt, France and Belgium. He returned [on 19 June] 1919, and began his international career, playing for Australia on 13 occasions and scoring 12 goals. Long before he died on 2 December 1955 he was a legend on the South Coast.

See Phil Mosely’s entry on Judy Masters in the Australian Dictionary of Biography

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