George William Roffey was one of South Australia’s most prominent soccer players before the First World War and he continued his involvement with the game after the war. He was born in London in 1882 and joined the Royal Navy as a teenager. He first played in Adelaide in 1904 when he turned out for HMS Katoomba in two games against South Australian XIs. After these matches he became permanently based in South Australia and was involved with training personnel for the future RAN. Roffey was said to have founded the Cambridge club in 1906, and he played for them as captain until 1910. By this time he had left the navy and was involved in the motor trade, selling tyres for Dunlops.
He played twice for the SA state team against WA in 1909, two crowd pleasing 4-4 draws at Jubilee Oval. The Adelaide club were fortunate to acquire his services in 1911-1912. Roffey’s impressive list of honours with his two clubs consisted of a league title and two Webb-Harris Cup wins with Cambridge, and a Cambridge Cup success with Adelaide in 1912.
George Roffey enlisted in the AIF in mid 1916. He had married local girl Nellie Ware in 1909, and gave his occupation as “rubber trade foreman”. His experience in the navy and from some time spent in the Australian militia meant he had some skills to impart, and he was promoted to acting sergeant and spent over a year as an instructor on training courses in Australia and England.
When he did reach the Western Front he was shot in the foot in June 1918 and returned to Australia and medically discharged in October 1918. His wound had been classed as “mild” and he turned out for the South Adelaide club in 1920, although he was now 38. His final fling was playing for a veterans’ team in 1925.
Roffey had become a member of the SASFA committee in 1924, where he was in charge of appeals and the conduct of the reserve league. With a partner he had set up a business repairing and retreading tyres, but eventually worked for Cornells until his death. Active on the Adelaide social scene he was captain of the Citroen Car Club and a chief organizer of the Motor Traders’ Ball.
His son, also George, played for Pulteney Old Scholars from 1927 to 1930. George Roffey died of a heart attack at his home in Adelaide in 1932.