Allen Waterman was born in Ealing, Middlesex, on the western fringe of London, in 1891. With parents and four brothers he emigrated to Adelaide in early 1912. The family lived at Walkerville, just a short hop across the river to the ground of the St Peters soccer club. Allen was the most prominent player of the five brothers before the war, appearing regularly for St Peters in 1912 and 1913. Another brother played occasionally.
Allen was a plumber. When he enlisted in the AIF in November 1915 he apparently was worried about a bad knee, injured while playing. He also had a conviction for speeding. He served in England and France until mid-1919 in the First Australian Auxiliary Hospital. In 1917 he reported that his knee was injured again while playing soccer for his unit.
After returning to Adelaide Allen played for North Adelaide and was selected for a state select XI to play the Lancashire Association in 1921. Allen played for a short lived club called Rangers in 1924 and he later played games with the Veteran Players’ Association. Allen was also a dedicated referee, officiating at many junior and schools games in the 1920s. He had married Winnifred Herbert at Walkerville in 1919.
In 1933 he wrote an article for The News describing the soothing pleasures of church bell ringing, and later became a keen lawn bowler. He died in Adelaide in 1958.
Note. Researching Allen Waterman’s story revealed a typical problem faced in this research. Allen had two brothers whose forenames began with the letter “H” – Herbert, a plasterer by trade, served in the 27th Battalion during the war, and Horace served with the 5th Pioneer Battalion. H. Waterman played occasionally for St Peters prior to enlisting. After the conflict this brother also played for North, Rangers and the Veteran Players. In 1939 and 1940 he was a member of the SASFA executive committee and board of control, attending a welcome ball for the “Palestine” footballers at the Grosvenor Hotel in 1939. The discovery in Ancestry.com that Herbert died in Victoria in 1949 meant that H. Waterman appointed Life Member of the Soccer Association in 1950 must have been Horace. This was the definitive evidence required to declare him a Soccer Anzac.