JOHN MATHER

January 11, 2010

On the tenth of October, 1952, a twenty year old John Mather was walking over the Dumbarton Bridge, which spans the River Leven in Dumbarton, Scotland, when he heard the distressed cries of two young boys.

One was hanging on a pipe and unable to get up, while trying to raise help for his brother, who was floating away downstream and was already twenty to fifty metres out. Without thinking, he dived fully clothed into the icy water and succeeded in bringing them to safety.

The boys, aged three and seven, owed their lives to his quick response, and he was duly awarded the Royal Humane Society's Parchment on Vellum award as recognition.

Mather, a man with no shortage of highlights in his sporting career, values this award as easily the biggest highlight of his life.

John Mather's association with bowls has been a sixty year journey, from the Bonny Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond to sunburnt Australia, initially Melbourne, and eventually Western Australia.

Mather has enjoyed a fine career with Victoria Park, Carlisle, City Beach, North Beach and Warwick since arriving in Western Australia thirty nine years ago, but is perhaps best known for being a driving force behind the Inter-nations concept.

From an idea in 1978, a committee, originally consisting of Mather(President), Bert Sharp, Gerry Pannell, Vin Zani, Arthur Atkins, Joe Rodin, Tony Srhoy, and Frank Harrison, met at the Manning Hotel and laid the groundwork for the first of the Inter-nations competition, an event which still has top billing on the Western Australian Bowls calender, and one that has raised over fifty thousand dollars for Princess Margaret Hospital.

“The first tournament was held at the Carlisle-Lathlain Bowling Club in 1979,” John told us. “I introduced colour for the first time in world bowls, and the original six participating teams representing their countries all played in their coloured shirts. They were Australia, England, Scotland, Italy, Yogoslavia, and Holland.
I never asked for permission, because it may have invited refusal. After two or three years colour gradually became introduced in the eastern states.”

Mather still skippers a rink for Scotland in the Inter-nations, and, with Osborne Park's Jimmy Bell, is one of only two original participants of the event still taking part.

John Mather's bowling journey began on the north bank of the river Clyde, in Scotland, at the town of Dumbarton, not far from Loch Lomond, at the age of seventeen. Too young to join the bowling club, who had a minimum age of twenty one, he would regularly frequent the local park, where there was a public green.
At a cost of a shilling an hour plus a side bet of another shilling, as well as hired galoshes and slip over shoes, he and his mates would while away many weekend hours.

Reaching the required age, John joined the Vale of Leven club, and soon made his presence felt, when, in his second year, he and one of his mates, who was also a new bowler, took out the club championship pairs, beating the top guns who had won most of the previous pairs championships in the final.

In 1962, at the age of twenty nine, John and wife Mary decided to migrate to Australia. The obvious choice was Melbourne, where they had rellies, but in John's words: “When we passed through Perth we loved the place, and I think even then we had ideas of coming back.”

The Mathers made their home in Essendon, and John joined the Doutta Galla Bowls Club, in Essendon North, where he soon worked his way up the grades to eventually play as skip in first division, winning the A.P.R. Singles and several club events in the process. Building a house in Altona, he transferred to the local club, where he quickly became heavily involved in the administration side of the game.
John was instrumental in the conversion of the club from a struggling outfit to the showpiece it is today, as one of Australia's premier bowling clubs.

“The greens were a mess,” he recalled. “We pushed the slogan, “good greens come first, the club will automatically follow,” and the club went from strength to strength to what it is today, with two outstanding grass greens.”

John entered the Victorian State singles, and was drawn to play against his idol, Australia's best ever bowler, Glyn Bosisto, who had just won the champion of champion singles. Mather managed a memorable win over the champ, 21-18, which led to his selection in the Victorian State Squad.

The Mathers then decided to return home to Scotland, a homecoming that only lasted for eighteen months before they booked a one way flight to Perth.

Joining the Victoria Park Bowling Club, Mather played for six years in their first division side, winning a first division pennant flag in 1974, and a masters fours with Bert Sharp, Tom Finlay, and Peter Falconer He then moved to Carlisle-Lathlain, where he won back to back singles, and shared in a triples victory with Peter Bowden and Bill Paterson. In 1984, he and Bowden made the final of the State Pairs, losing to Dennis Katuna- Rich and John Rainoldi.

Transferring to City Beach in 1987, Mather's seven year stint saw him win most club events on offer, playing third and skip in their first division red side, and chalking up all club championships, before another seven year spell at North Beach, where he was successful in the club singles and other championships. John appears these days to have his roots firmly entrenched at Warwick, where he has been successful in many club events, winning each club championship, including five triples titles.

As with most from the old country, John Mather is a keen soccer fan, having played and coached the game in his youth. At Essendon he was coach and president of the Essendon Soccer Club. On moving to Altona he became involved with the Altona Soccer Club, where he once again served as President.

John was elected to the Victorian Soccer Federation, and that was where he first met the famous Sir Matt Busby, who was manager of Manchester United Football Club.
John,Mary,Matt Busby and friend pictured
His friendship with Sir Matt is one of his fondest memories. When Manchester United toured Australia for a second time a few years later, Sir Matt asked John if he would like to have his old club badge. He then handed over his club membership badge from his blazer. John proudly said he still has it.

After the game on the Sunday night at Perry Lakes Stadium, John hosted a party for United captain and fellow Scot Martin Buchan at his home. The two exchanged cards and letters for many years after.

No points for guessing that John Mather is a mad keen Manchester supporter.

He recalls the funny side of bowls when playing a championship singles match at Victoria Park. “ I had a drive, hit the jack, and it broke in two,” he said. “The umpire was called to decide which half of the jack was to be regarded as the legitimate one. The verdict was that the one half remaining on the green would be the counted as the kitty, and, with my bowl being the closest in proximity, I was fully in agreeance with the decision.”

John Mather was also Chieftain of the Victoria Park Caledonian Society, in which capacity he was responsible for organising the annual Scottish Ball, along with a committee. At the 1979 Ball, special guests at the top table were Premier Sir Charles Court, Lady Court, ex Premier John Tonkin and his wife, plus leader of the opposition Ron Davies.

On the day before the ball, Sir Charles's secretary rang John to ask if he wanted a speech from Sir Charles. “I politely declined, saying that I didn't want any speeches and advised him to come along and enjoy himself, which he did,” recalled John. “In retrospect, I don't think that many people could have told Sir Charles not to talk, but I managed to.”

Mather told us that he found Aussie Bailey, Frank Perry, and Geoff Oakley hardest to beat, while ranking Bert Sharp and Dick McCallum as the best he'd seen, along with Bosisto.

Unfortunately, John lost his darling wife Mary to cancer on the fourteenth of October, 2007. However, his two daughters, Caroline and Brenda, have given him four grandsons and two granddaughters, who are all into sport. A painter and decorator in his working life, John these days enjoys a game of snooker when he's not out on the green, and considers himself a very lucky fellow.

Still a very competitive bowler and a canny skipper, who can draw with the best of them and possesses a n unerring drive, John Mather has lost none of his competitiveness on the green. Over a fine sixty year career in two countries and two States of Australia, he has been a leading exponent of the game, and current opponents would vouch that he's last none of his skill or sparkle.



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RON HEAD