Almanac Footy: ‘A History of Australian Rules Football in Woomera 1948 to 1992’ – Part 1: 1948 – 1952

David ‘Dick’ Turpin  is a Brisbane friend of Almanacker Allan Barden. During the late 60s early 70s David spent a few years working in Woomera when it was quite a thriving community.

David has researched and written a history of footy in Woomera from the years 1948 to 1992.

The Footy Almanac will publish David’s extensive history over a number of weeks. 

Part 1 features the years 1948 to 1952.

Dick has also completed a history of Woomera water polo.

 

A History of Australian Rules Football in Woomera: 1948 to 1992

By David Turpin

 

 

Figure 1 Newman Oval Entrance

 

1948

 

There was an unaffiliated competition in 1948. Details are sketchy however there were 4 teams: Army; Contractors; RAAF; and Works & Housing. Games were played on the only playing ground in Woomera which was called 2 ACS (Airfield Construction Squadron). Army won the first premiership.

 

 

1949

 

In 1949, the Woomera Football Association was formed. It was affiliated with the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), which meant that the Association would abide by the SANFL concerning rules of the game, player registration and transfers, suspensions, umpires, etc.

 

Teams in this first year of the competition were: Works & Housing (W&H); No. 1 Line Construction Project Squadron, Royal Australian Corp of Signals (1 LCPS-Signals); Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Contractors; Long Range Weapons Establishment Range (LRWER); and Royal Australian Engineers (RAE).

 

Works and Housing mainly consisted of players who worked for the Commonwealth Department of Works and Housing. The Department was the design and construction authority in Woomera and its first construction manager was Alan Bouch.  Alan Bouch had played one game for Richmond in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1925 and he suggested that the Works & Housing team adopt the Richmond colours of black and yellow and its tiger logo.  This duly happened, after all, who is going to argue with the boss?

 

1 LCPS-Signals was a bit of a mystery and in 2014 I placed a notice in the Department of Veteran Affairs magazine ‘Vetaffairs’ requesting any former players to contact me. I received several phone calls and all suggested I contact Peter Lee who was the captain of the side in 1949. I duly rang Peter in West Australia and although it was 65 years ago, he remembered the competition vividly. I mentioned in closing that I saw that a namesake of his, a W A Lee of the Koolymilka team, had won the Best & Fairest trophy in 1952. Peter said ‘That was me. My name is William Albert Lee but everyone calls me Peter. I still have the trophy somewhere in a cupboard.’

 

Back to the football. At the end of the minor round Works & Housing was undefeated however they lost the grand final to 1 LCPS by a point.

 

Grand Final: 1 LCPS defeated Works & Housing 5.12 (42) to 5.11 (41)

 

Premiership Coach: Major Maurice Bennett.  Premiership Captain: Corporal William Albert “Peter” Lee.

 

Association Best & Fairest: 1^st M R “Gordon” Hughes – 1 LCPS.

 

Best in Grand Final: Welsh – 1 LCPS, Crack – Works & Housing.

 

Association President: Captain Herdon. Association Secretary: Padre S Calder.

 

 

1950

 

In 1950, LRWER became Village and subsequently the teams were: 1 LCPS, Works & Housing, RAAF, Contractors, Koolymilka, and Village with the teams finishing in that order at the end of the minor round.

 

In an interleague match Woomera defeated Adelaide Old Collegians 16.15 (111) to 3.9. (27).

Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
1st Semi	RAAF			Def.	Contractors
2nd Semi	Works & Housing			Def.	1 LCPS
Preliminary	RAAF			Def.	1 LCPS			By 3 pts.
Grand	Works & Housing	15	17	107	RAAF	2	5	17

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Final: Works defeated RAAF 15.17 (107) to 2.5 (17).

 

Premiership Coach: Norm ‘Bargie’ Williams. Premiership Captain: William ‘Bill’ McGuire.

 

Association Best & Fairest: 1^st M C McEvoy – Contractors, 2^nd K J Farrelly – RAAF and 3^rd Noble of Village.

 

Association President: A Stammers. Association Secretary: Padre Stuart Calder.

 

 

Figure 2 Works & Housing Premiers 1950 – Norm Williams Coach, Bill McGuire Captain

 

1951

 

The participating teams were again 1 LCPS, Works & Housing, RAAF, Contractors, Koolymilka and Village with the final 4 comprising Contractors, 1 LCPS, Works & Housing and RAAF.

 

To confuse the issue Village results were reported as either LRWER or Village.

 

One of Contractor’s better players was Jack Carr, who at the end of the year left Woomera and joined West Torrens in the SANFL. He played in the West Torrens 1953 premiership side.

 

In an interleague match Port Pirie defeated Woomera 5.16 (46) to 6.5 (41).

 

Points at the end of the minor round were Contractors 16, 1 LCPS 15, Works & Housing 11, Village 10, RAAF 8 and Koolymilka 0.

 

Team	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts
Contractors	8		2					16
1 LCPS	7		2	1				15
W&H	5		4	1				11
Village	5		5					10
RAAF	4		6					8
Koolymilka	0		10					0

 

 

It was the first and only time that two teams from Woomera West played in the grand final.

Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
1st Semi	Works & Housing	9	6	60	Village	6	16	62
2nd Semi	Contractors	8	13	61	1 LCPS	7	10	52
Preliminary	Works & Housing	6	9	45	1 LCPS	3	10	28
Grand	Contractors	8	9	57	Works & Housing	7	10	52

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Final: Contractors defeated Works & Housing 8.9 (57) to 7.10 (52).

 

Premiership Coach: Unknown. Premiership Captain: M C McEvoy.

 

Association Best & Fairest: 1^st M R “Gordon” Hughes – 1 LCPS, who had also won the award in 1949.

 

Association President: Norm Williams. Association Secretary: Padre S Calder.

 

Life Membership: Padre Stuart Calder MBE (RIP) and Fred S Lines (RIP).

 

 

Figure 3 Contractors Football Club 1951

 

1952

 

In 1952 the competition had shrunk to 4 teams; Village, Works & Housing, Koolymilka, and RAAF.

 

The Village name continued to confuse as it was now reported as either Village or Woomera with Woomera being the dominant name. This continued up to 1959 when Village finally won out and the Woomera title, as far as reporting went, disappeared into history. The club’s official title was then the Woomera Village Football Club but known to all as Village.

 

In 1952, the Department of Works & Housing was redesignated the Department of Works. Consequently, the Works & Housing team was now known simply as Works.

 

Points at the end of the minor round were Village 26, Works 22, Koolymilka 10, and RAAF 2.

Team	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts
Village	13		2		821	405	66.97	26
Works	11		4		882	565	60.95	22
Koolymilka	5		10		556	659	45.76	10
RAAF	1		14		326	956	25.43	2

 

Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
1st Semi	Koolymilka	17	20	122	RAAF	5	7	37
2nd Semi	Works	8	10	58	Village	7	8	50
Preliminary	Village	4	15	39	Koolymilka	3	8	26
Grand	Village	6	3	39	Works	1	7	13

 

 

Grand Final: Village defeated Works 6.3 (39) to 1.7 (13).

 

Premiership Coach: William ‘Bill’ Novak. Premiership Captain: Signalman F Carlson.

 

Best in Grand Final: E M Liebert – Village, B Flanegan – Works.

 

Association Best & Fairest: 1^st Corporal William Albert ‘Peter’ Lee – Koolymilka 16, 2^nd Peter Turnbull – Works 14, 3^rdNoble – Village 11.

 

Association President: Norm Williams. Association Secretary: Padre Stuart Calder.

 

 

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