Journalist, Organiser

Tom Barker was an Ipswich-born sports journalist and editor of the Queensland Times who wrote under the names ‘Old Sport’ and ‘Red Gum’. Barker became the key chronicler of the rise of Ipswich football between 1890 and 1925.

Barker learnt his craft at the Queensland Times in the 1870s, during which time he was a prominent local cricket player. He spent much of the 1880s working in newspapers in North Queensland.

Organised British Association football commenced in South East Queensland in Barker’s absence, but its existence was tenuous at the time of his return to Ipswich in May 1890.

The next year the Ipswich British Association football community formed its first association and local competition. Barker was on hand to report on the rise of Ipswich football, often touching on the personalities, family links and cultural life surrounding the game. 

Barker was also involved in sporting administration, and was regularly appointed onto committees across a range of sports. In 1894, he was appointed to the organising committee of newly formed Ipswich Football Club, the second soccer club of that name. 

In 1909 Barker became acting Chairman of the Ipswich and West Moreton British Football Association, and was elected a vice-president of the same organisation in 1911.

He shared his name with another Ipswich football pioneer and early Blackstone Rovers player who he would designate as Tom ‘Old Horse’ Barker in his journalism. The two Tom Barkers often competed against each other in cricket, leading the journalist to differentiate himself T. J. Barker or simply ‘Old Sport