Almanac Book Review – ‘The Boy from Birdum’: Bill Dempsey’s magnificent story of humility

Most times you can’t see Bill Dempsey in the Members Bar at West Perth games but you can certainly hear him.

Normally he is laughing loudly (probably at one of his own jokes) and slapping someone he may have just met on the back. Bill is a regular fixture at this kind of carry on. Having just turned 80 and a bit more hunched these days, the former ruckman is still a commanding presence, ambling around talking to whoever about whatever with his glass of red dangling at a precarious angle. Normally he’ll ask about how ‘your mob’ is going and is genuinely interested. The couple of times I was sucked into his orbit I walked away like he knew me. Yet he did all of this grandstanding in a humble fashion. A confident way we second-guessing plebs wish we could go about ourselves.

I only heard the stories about Bill as a player and didn’t witness it first hand due to my age. His name on the stand at our second home in Joondalup showed the gravitas he had with the club over 343 games and 2 premierships. It is only in recent times that I appreciated how much of a humble icon he is after reading about his life in The Boy from Birdum.

Co-written with Steve Hawke (son of Bob and author of Polly Farmer), the story is told as if Bill is talking to you in that Members Bar after the game when the players’ awards have been handed out and there’s some stragglers at the bar. None of it with fanfare or ego.

Originally from Darwin, Bill’s father fought in World War 2 leaving a large and loving family to look after his soon-to-be wife and Bill. Upon his return, both he and his Bill’s sister died from meningitis when Bill was only 3. Being the times they were post-World War 2, the authorities came and took Bill away. Another of the stolen generation. His mother Dorothy (of the famous Darwin Holzte family) was smart enough to get a job in the canteen of the orphanage to be near her son. His time at the Reta Dixon Home wasn’t easy but it set the foundations of self-motivation and hard work that led him to a storied career and life.

Through all his achievements, Bill is a humble and modest man but he seems to downplay his footy achievements in this book. It’s more about his journey as a human being. At 17 he was part of a deal to get another Darwin footballer down from his beloved Darwin Buffaloes to West Perth. While that player lasted a quarter of football, Bill stayed and persevered. Bill was only one of six indigenous footballers in the League when he made his debut in 1960. He rose above the racism, never snapping back at provocation. He was once said that boxers box and footy players play footy.

If you read this book not knowing who Bill is, you wouldn’t realise how great a footy player he was the way he downplays his achievements amongst the stories. To add gravitas to his playing career, Hawke includes a chapter where fellow former players and commentators tell how much of a colossus Bill was as a player. To be such a legend meant the sport must have ruled his life, but it didn’t. Bill also loved playing basketball and played in the State League in WA for Bayswater for a couple of years before West Perth found out and put a stop to it. He was also more interested in indigenous culture and helping out the mob as he made his way in the wider world. Bill did that in spades as a player and then community leader throughout his life. The massive influence of Polly Farmer when he arrived at West Perth as captain-coach has its fingerprints all through the pages of this book too. Bill loved a smoke and a drink with one eye on going back to Darwin. Polly put a stop Bill’s career being one that burned for a bright short time.

Bill is no literary novelist but he can tell a great story. His post-footy career saw him connect with daughters he never knew he had who accompany him to West Perth games to this day. He worked on projects providing housing for the indigenous in regional WA. He was a very successful businessman before disaster struck through the self interest of others. His stories suck you into a bygone time and a career, whilst understated in his book, will be celebrated with his long-awaited induction into the AFL Football Hall of Fame. This book is a lesson in humility and a celebration of a great player and man who is perhaps not recognised outside of WA and the Territory. The Boy from Birdum will preach to those masses ignorant about William Brian Dempsey and be cherished by those who are not.

Hopefully I can run into him again in a Members Bar sometime in 2022.