The history of the Parramatta Eels dates back to their formation as the Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club in 1947 to the present day.
Background The roots of the playing of rugby football in Parramatta lie in the 19th century with the formation of Parramatta FC in 1879 which featured regularly in Sydney competitions. The King's School in Parramatta helped found the New South Wales Rugby Union in 1874 and provided many prominent footballers. As with most other rugby union clubs in Sydney in 1900, Parramatta FC was made defunct to make way for the new district clubs.The town spent the pre-war (1900-14) as the "third wheel" of the Ashfield and Burwood centred Western Suburbs District Rugby Union Club, and while some matches were played at Cumberland Oval, it was not given its own first grade district club until 1934 (Parramatta 'Two Blues')
When the NSWRL Premiership was formed in 1908, a club made up of Western Suburbs Rugby Union “defectors” formed the Central Cumberland club which participated in the first year of competition before the club was absorbed into the Western Suburbs DRLFC, also formed in 1908. Rugby league began to be played in the Parramatta district in 1909 with local teams, such as Iona and Endeavours, forming a district competition. Many other clubs within the Parramatta district also emerged with clubs being established in suburbs across the district over the ensuing decades and a Western Districts side representing the area in the President's Cup.
Agitation in the area for a local club to participate in the NSWRL Premiership began in the mid-1930s with a formal proposal put to the NSWRL in 1936 by local Rugby League identities such as Jack Argent and Jack Scullin. The proposal was rejected by all clubs except Western Suburbs.
1940s The advent of World War II put the establishment of the club on hold and a Parramatta district club was not proposed again until 1946 when the club was successfully admitted into the Premiership.
In the 1947 NSWRFL season, Parramatta's first, they finished at the bottom of the table, with one less win than fellow premiership debutants, Manly-Warringah. In 1948, Parramatta were winless in their first eleven matches but the signing of former Western Suburbs and Leeds five-eighth Vic Hey as captain-coach helped them to eighth with five wins and a draw. In 1949, with popular former Balmain winger Mitchell Wallace setting tryscoring records beaten only during their golden age of the 1980s,Parramatta: Most Tries in a Season the “Fruitpickers” as the club was popularly known,Collis, Ian and Whiticker, Alan; The History of Rugby League Clubs; pp. 189-192 finished fifth with eight wins and four draws. The club also saw utility back Ian Johnston win its first Australian guernsey.
1950s The promise of 1949 was not fulfilled during the 1950s. Hey had been plagued by injury in his first two years at the club and retired as a player after 1949, with the result that Parramatta fell back to ninth in 1950 before winning nine matches in 1951.
In their first five seasons, Parramatta had won 28 and drawn eight of their ninety matches for a not disrespectful 35.56 percent winning rate, but the period from 1952 to 1961 was to prove the most disastrous of any NSWRFL club since University won only fifteen matches in nine seasons between 1929 and 1937. In these seasons, Parramatta won only 35 and drew two of 180 matches and claimed the wooden spoon on no fewer than eight occasions, including six in succession from 1956 to 1961. After Hey moved on at the end of 1953 Parramatta went on a merry-go-round with coaches: they had five in as many years from 1954 to 1958, and even former Rabbitoh premiership coach Jack Rayner could not lift them off the bottom between 1958 and 1960.Parramatta Eels coaches
Apart from the recruitments of international backrower “Mick” Crocker for a then-record single-season fee in 1954‘Crocker will play here’; The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 January 1954, p. 16 and prized Yass hooker Bill Rayner in 1956, Parramatta was almost completely reliant upon local juniorsHeads, Ian and Middleton, David; A Centenary of Rugby League 1908-2008: the Definitive Story of the Game in Australia, Pan Macmillan. and not nearly enough quality players could be found for competitiveness; however, there were notable players like hardman prop Roy Fisher, who played a record 170 consecutive grade games between 1954 and 1962.Middleton, David; Rugby League 1990-91, pp. 104, 121
1960s 1960 was to prove the most disastrous season in Parramatta's history, with the club, despite the recruitment of Toowoomba centre Ron Boden, finishing last in all three grades.Haddan, Steve; History of the NSW Rugby League Finals; p. 135 1961 saw the acquisition of international back-rowers Ron Lynch from Forbes in country NSW and Brian Hambly from South Sydney, but the blue and golds, despite a promising start under captain-coach Boden with two early victories, won only one more game and returned to their familiar place at the foot of the ladder.
Under coach Ken Kearney, Parramatta ended their run of six consecutive wooden spoons by finishing the 1962 NSWRFL season in fourth place, making the play-offs for the first time and emulating this feat in the lower grades. With new recruits Ken Thornett (who became known as “The Mayor”) from English club Leeds and talented half-back Bob Bugden from St George, Parramatta had their most successful season since their inception before being eliminated from the finals in the first round by Western Suburbs.
Despite the addition of skilful second-row forward Dick Thornett for 1963, ultimate success would continue to elude Parramatta with the side being knocked out of the 1963 finals by St George. Finishing second in 1964 Parramatta were thrashed 42–0 by the Dragons in the major semi-final, before being knocked out by Balmain; their Third Grade team did however win the club's first premiership. In the 1965 season, with Ken Thornett as coach, the side finished in third position. However, Grand Final qualification would continue to elude them and Parramatta would again bow out of the finals, this time defeated by South Sydney. Parramatta completed the rest of the 1960s in the middle of the ladder, without any further play-off appearances, finishing seventh in 1966, ninth in 1967, and sixth in 1968 and 1969.
1970s Parramatta finished with the wooden spoon, the club's tenth, in 1970, but with Ken Thornett returning finished fourth and again qualified for the play-offs in 1971. However, Parramatta again failed to progress in the minor semi, being defeated by St George, and fell back to last position in 1972 despite possessing class players like Bob O'Reilly, Denis Fitzgerald, and Keith Campbell. The Eels luckily avoided the wooden spoon in 1973 and 1974, but began the 1975 season by winning its first-ever senior trophy when they defeated Manly in their first-ever Pre-Season Cup (Wills Cup) final.
In the main premiership, Parramatta after a promising start fell off, losing seven and drawing one of nine games mid-season. A rush in the last six weeks saw them easily win five games to finished equal fifth (sixth on percentages) with Balmain and Western Suburbs and were forced into a play-off for fifth position. Parramatta, on a roll, achieved a string of elimination play-off victories, defeating Western Suburbs (18–13) and then Balmain (19–8) to qualify for the semi-finals in fifth position. Parramatta played Canterbury-Bankstown in the preliminary final, achieving another narrow victory 6–5. However, in the minor semi-final Parramatta's courageous run of victories – achieved despite crippling injury tollClarkson, Alan; ‘Parra 13 Refuse to Be Beaten’; Sydney Morning Herald, 1 September 1975, p. 13 – ended with a 22–12 defeat by Manly.
In 1976 a new coach, Terry Fearnley, joined the Eels. In the same year several of Parramatta's greatest players joined the club. These included Rugby union recruit and 1975 Wallaby tourist, Ray Price who would go on to represent both NSW and Australia in Rugby league. Another new recruit was five-eighth John Peard. Nicknamed “the Bomber”, Peard was encouraged by Terry Fearnley to develop his tactical kicking game (the “bomb”) as an attacking technique. As the 1976 season progressed Parramatta emerged as one of the best performing sides, finishing second in the competition. In the major preliminary semi-final, Parramatta decisively defeated St George 31–6 and met Manly in the major semi final. In a close match, Parramatta narrowly defeated the Sea-Eagles with a late try to winger Graeme Atkins (who scored from a Peard bomb) and qualified for the club's first Grand Final. In the Grand Final, against the same Manly side they had defeated two weeks before, Parramatta were trailing 13–10 after 71 minutes. Receiving a penalty five metres from the goal line, the Eels formed a controversial flying wedge formation (now a banned movement in both Rugby codes) and pushed towards the goal line. The wedge collapsed before the goal line and Parramatta's Ron Hilditch, who held the ball at the apex of the wedge, was tackled by Manly's Graham Eadie and the match ended with the scores unaltered.Sean Fagan, Fearnley’s Flying Wedge And The ‘76 Eels Retrieved on 5 September 2006; Alan Whiticker, Grand Finals of the NSWRL (2e), Gary Allen, 1994
Bolstered with the recruitment of goal-kicking Australian representative centre Mick Cronin Parramatta finished as minor premiers in 1977. Meeting St George in the Grand Final, the scores ended at 9-all after a powerful Ray Price line-break lead to a try. Cronin missed the final conversion that would have broken the tied scores. After a period of extra time passed with the scores unchanged the two sides met in a replay the next weekend. In the replay, Parramatta were defeated 22–0.1977 Tied Rugby League Grand Final Era of the Biff Retrieved on 5 September 2006; Alan Whiticker, Grand Finals of the NSWRL (2e), Gary Allen 1994
The next season, 1978, saw both the debut of future champion half-back Peter Sterling and the emergence of former representative player, Denis Fitzgerald, as President/CEO of the club (a position he held until 2009).Peter Badel, ‘I won’t quit, vows Fitzgerald’, Sunday Telegraph 21 May 2006 Parramatta qualified for the finals but were controversially denied progression in controversial circumstances. After the first minor semi-final ended in a 13–13 draw, a replay was required and Parramatta were defeated 17–11, but Manly appeared to have scored the winning try on the seventh tackle. In 1979, Parramatta made it to the major semi-final but were defeated by St George 15–11 and lost the preliminary to Canterbury 20–14.
1980s In 1980, despite the recruitment of veteran Arthur Beetson and the emergence of notable players such as Eric Grothe, Steve Ella and Brett Kenny, Parramatta missed the finals for the first time since 1974.