I have often wondered about the names of these teams. They are both Cricket and Football teams with the same name, the Moonta Turks. This in its self is quite unusual I think, and I have not been able to find out the origin of the name. I first noticed it because my maiden name is ‘TURK’ and I presumed that the first part of the name was from the town of Moonta in South Australia. But why ‘TURKS’, does anyone know?
MOONTA TURKS CRICKET CLUB (2nd X1) Premiers 1921-1922 Back Row:- J CALDER (Umpire) J ELARI, M PORTER, D WEARING, J CAHILL, A BENNETTS, Front Row:- C WILLIAMSON, L STEPHENS, W TREWHELLA (Capt) C BURGESS (Vice Capt) E PRINCE, Sitting:- T PORTER, C CALDER.
MOONTA TURKS FOOTBALL CLUB Season 1922
Back Row:- E DUFFY, J WEARING, W BENNETTS, A TREMBATH, L MORRIS, R TREWHELLA, J WEARING, E SCHULTZ, E BENNETTS
Middle Row:- D JONES, J CALDER, L STEPHENS, A SMART, P TAAFE, C BROWN, M CAVAZZI, L TREWHELLA (Vice Capt) F DIGHTON
Front Row:- R WEARING, J HENDRY, F HAWKINS, J TREMBATH (Sec), A ROSEWARNE, A SMART (Capt), W TREWHELLA (Vice Pres), M WALLACE, C MAYER
Sitting:- S BURNS, CAVAZZI Jnr, A EDGELL, S BURGESS
MOONTA TURKS Football Club Season 1923
Back Row:- T McAULEY, J BACKMAN, S BURGESS, J BARRETT, J ELARI, S WEARING, J TREMBATH,
G ADAMS, J WEARING, A BENNETTS
Middle Row:- J ANDERSON, W BENNETTS, C CALDER, W COLLOPY, A SWEET, R A SMART, F DIGHTON, R WEARING.
Front Row:- F METHERAL, J HENDRY, J LAFFIN, A J SMART (Captain) W TREWHELLA (Sec and Tres),
J CALDER (Vice Capt), A TREMBATH, M MAYER
Moya Sharp
Latest posts by Moya Sharp (see all)
- Blood on the Mulga Plains: The Last Day of John Sutherland - 28/02/2026
- A Brother’s Return in Mourning: Tragedy on the Coolgardie Goldfields - 28/02/2026
- The Contract at Old Warden Shaft - 28/02/2026
Hi Moya…seems the Turks were originally the Moonta Mines Young Turks FC and later abbreviated to Moonta Mines Turks FC.
(of course Young Turks refers to the figurative expression ‘young turks’ meaning ‘the new breed, impatient for change’ began to be used in the early 20th century)
G’day Moya,
There was a Moonta Turks soccer team in Boulder in the 1930’s. I remember my father telling me that he was their goalkeeper.
Hi Moya,
We have the Turks Football photos here in our collection in the Family History Resource Centre in Moonta but I am still looking for your cricket one. We have over 6000 photos in our collection. There is a fellow who has written an unpublished history of the Moonta Football clubs, so I will check in it for a clue re the Turks name for you. The Turks later amalgamated with another club so the name was dropped.
BTW Its A. Rosewarne, not Rosewaine, I believe, in the 1922 photo. The name is a very common Cornish name here.
The Young Turks originated in Turkey around 1878, from what I can tell….wanting a reinstatement of the Ottomons…..it will be interesting to know who named the team, which I think started in Kadina. Either there were Turkish members or perhaps the swarthy Cornish men were labelled Turks….presumably some of these miners moved to Kalgoorlie and brought the name with them….