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.
Dick has also completed a history of Woomera water polo.
1978
By 1978 Bill Harvey was umpire’s coach and he was behind the introduction of the two-umpire system. Woomera was the only league outside of Adelaide where this concept had been introduced.
Bill commenced playing for the Magpies back in 1962 and had a ten-year/100-game career with Centrals and Koolymilka, so he knew a bit about football.
A new interchange rule was introduced whereby players on the bench could be interchanged at certain times during the match with the umpire’s permission.
Coaches for this season were Centrals – Paddy O’Neill, Koolymilka – Bruce Perkins, Mt Gunson – Butch Harding, and Norths – John Shepherdson.
At the Area & Mail medals count the winner was Des Zobel of Woomera North with 30 votes; runner-up was his teammate and fellow Bank of New South Wales employee Peter Ault with 24 votes. Kelly Hill of Mt Gunson amassed 28 votes however he was ineligible as he had been suspended for a match during the season.
The leading goalkicker was Woomera North’s captain/coach John Shepherdson who kicked 58 goals.
Points at the end of the minor round were Norths 22, Centrals 16, Mt Gunson 6 and Koolymilka 4.
| Team | Wins | Byes | Losses | Draws | For | Against | % | Pts |
| Norths | 11 | 1 | 76.40 | 22 | ||||
| Centrals | 8 | 4 | 67.80 | 16 | ||||
| Mt Gunson | 3 | 9 | 28.00 | 6 | ||||
| Koolymilka | 0 | 12 | 28.20 | 4 |
| Final | Team | G | B | Pts | Team | G | B | Pts |
| 1st Semi | Koolymilka | 19 | 30 | 144 | Mt Gunson | 10 | 4 | 64 |
| 2nd Semi | Norths | 15 | 19 | 109 | Centrals | 8 | 12 | 60 |
| Preliminary | Centrals | 17 | 15 | 117 | Koolymilka | 5 | 13 | 43 |
| Grand | Norths | 17 | 21 | 123 | Centrals | 11 | 12 | 78 |
Grand Final: Woomera North defeated Centrals 17.21 (123) to 11.12 (78).
Premiership Coach: John Shepherdson. Premiership Captain: John Shepherdson.
Best in Grand Final: Peter Ault – Norths, Phil Ward – Centrals.
League Best & Fairest – Area & Mail Medals: 1st Des Zobel – Norths 30, 2nd Peter Ault – Norths 24, =3rd Greg Reeks – Koolymilka 18, =3rd Ray Schliebs – Norths 18.
Leading Goalkickers: 1st John Shepherdson – Norths 58, 2nd Peter Ault – Norths 44, 3rd Phil Turner – Centrals 34.
League President: D Lever. League Secretary: H Sullivan.
1978 WJFL
The ultimate demise of the WJFL occurred in 1978.
A strong committee under Mrs S Smoker was formed and a player tea was held in early April.
Despite repeated calls for players, the best the WJFL could achieve was a few scratch matches between 2 teams. Seniors umpire coach Bill Harvey was a jack of all trades; he umpired the games and offered informal training and game time.
It was a sad ending to a league that started in 1961. I was one of those boys in 1961 and coming from Queensland did not have a clue what the game was all about. I soon learned with some good coaching from Dasher Smart, Des Doran etc. During the league’s existence, hundreds, if not thousands, of boys learnt the fundamentals of the game and progressed to senior teams both in Woomera and elsewhere.
Brian Dempsey for instance played for the Demons, then for Village as a ruckman and finally for Eastlake in the ACT where he made the ACT team for the 2nd Division Australian Carnival.
A good outcome is that in the last 4 years of the WJFL all 4 clubs each won a premiership: Magpies in 1974; Roosters in 1975; Demons in 1976; and Eagles in 1977.
Below is a summary of the WJFL and the achievements of the 4 junior clubs.
| Team | Premiers | Runners Up |
| Magpies | 8 | 3 |
| Eagles | 4 | 5 |
| Demons | 3 | 3 |
| Roosters | 2 | 6 |
| Total | 17 | 17 |
1979
In 1979 at the AGM The Works Sports Club applied for re-admittance to the league. President of Works, Frank Gurr, spoke on behalf of the club and stated its capabilities to field a side.
John Shepherdson of Woomera North opposed the application as he was concerned this would lower the standard of play in the competition. He also said that ‘he suspected Works would seek to reclaim players who were now with Norths but may desire to return to their original club.’
Frank Gurr responded by pointing out that Works was one of the original teams in the Woomera competition and since they had a history of sport, they should be permitted to re-enter the competition.
The newly-elected president of the WFL, Laurie Braid, commented that he could see both points of view and there needed to be a vote on the motion. Works were duly readmitted.
The coaches for the year were Centrals – Terry Morphett, Koolymilka – Bruce Perkins, Mt Gunson – Butch Harding, Norths – Dave Thomas, and Works – Brian Morden.
It was interesting to note that Bill Harvey and Bob Spooner came out of retirement to assist the Koolymilka club.
Controversy also raged when Koolymilka played a perceived unregistered player in G Reeks in the 1st semi-final match against Centrals. This case was however slightly different to the Angelo Mele case of 2 years previous in that Reeks had been a student in Adelaide and there were special rules for students returning home i.e. they had to play 2 games during the minor round to play in the finals.
It appears that G Reeks had not played the 2 games nor had he applied to play elsewhere in the first place. Reports indicated that action to include the player in the side was only made after discussions with the Centrals Selection Committee who agreed not to protest if Koolymilka won the match.
Koolymilka did win the match and the Centrals did not lodge a written appeal with the league and the league could not act unless it received a written appeal under Rule 45.1 of its constitution. Central’s representative stated they did not wish to put Koolymilka through the anguish that they suffered in the Mele case.
This attitude upset some of the Central’s players who believed the league should have acted regardless.
The Area & Mail medals were won by Andrew Thompson of Woomera North on 33 votes; second was his clubmate and North’s captain/coach Dave Thomas on 31 votes.
The best Under-17 player award was won by Chris Griffiths.
The leading goalkicker was Bryan Hughes of Woomera North with 58 goals; Kelly Hill of Mt Gunson and John Shepherdson of Woomera North tied for second with 48 goals.
Life Membership of the league was awarded to Pat Cullinan who had given many years of service to it including 5 years as president.
Player Life Membership was awarded to John Shepherdson who played for Centrals, Works and Woomera North.
At the end of the minor round, the points were Woomera North 22, Mt Gunson 16, Koolymilka 16, Centrals 8, and Works 0. The Works’ re-entry to the league was unfruitful.
| Team | Wins | Byes | Losses | Draws | For | Against | % | Pts |
| Norths | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1651 | 848 | 66.41 | 22 | |
| Mt Gunson | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1446 | 844 | 63.14 | 16 | |
| Koolymilka | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1179 | 1031 | 53.15 | 16 | |
| Centrals | 4 | 3 | 8 | 969 | 1497 | 39.29 | 8 | |
| Works | 0 | 3 | 12 | 563 | 1844 | 28.20 | 0 |
| Final | Team | G | B | Pts | Team | G | B | Pts |
| 1st Semi | Koolymilka | 7 | 18 | 60 | Centrals | 6 | 18 | 54 |
| 2nd Semi | Norths | 21 | 18 | 144 | Mt Gunson | 12 | 13 | 85 |
| Preliminary | Mt Gunson | 31 | 24 | 210 | Koolymilka | 13 | 10 | 88 |
| Grand | Norths | 26 | 11 | 167 | Mt Gunson | 21 | 22 | 148 |
Grand Final: Woomera North defeated Mt Gunson 26.11 (167) to 21.22 (148).
Premiership Coach: Dave Thomas. Premiership Captain: Dave Thomas.
Best in Grand Final: John Shepherdson – Norths, Kelly Hill – Mt Gunson.
League Best & Fairest – Area & Mail Medals: 1st Andrew Thompson – Norths 33, 2nd Dave Thomas – Norths 31, 3rdPhillip Waite – Koolymilka 20.
Leading Goalkickers: 1st Bryan Hughes – Norths 58, =2nd Kelly Hill – Mt Gunson 48, =2nd John Shepherdson – Norths 48, 3rd Barry Gerhardy – Mt Gunson 46.
Life Membership: Pat Cullinan.
Player Life Membership: John Shepherdson – Centrals, Works, and Woomera North.
League President: Laurie Braid. League Secretary: M A Walsh.
Woomera North Football Club – Premiers 1979
1980
Works did not seek registration in 1980 so the competition was back to 4 teams.
The coaches were Centrals – Phil ‘Turkey’ Turner, Koolymilka – John Payne, Mt Gunson – Butch Harding, and Norths – John Shepherdson.
The Area & Mail medals were won by Kelly Hill of Mt Gunson with 30 votes; second was Ross Lambert of Woomera North with 26 votes; and third was Barry Gerhardy, Hill’s cousin, of Mt Gunson with 20 votes.
Kelly Hill was also the league’s top goalkicker with 50 goals and the best Under-17 player was T Reeks of Koolymilka.
Points at the end of the minor round were Centrals 17, Koolymilka 13, Mt Gunson 10, and Woomera North 8.
The finals went as expected with Centrals winning their third premiership since inception.
| Team | Wins | Byes | Losses | Draws | For | Against | % | Pts |
| Centrals | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1029 | 1096 | 48.42 | 17 | |
| Koolymilka | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1037 | 1099 | 48.55 | 13 | |
| Mt Gunson | 5 | 7 | 1241 | 1136 | 52.21 | 10 | ||
| North | 4 | 8 | 1055 | 1161 | 46.40 | 8 |
| Final | Team | G | B | Pts | Team | G | B | Pts |
| 1st Semi | Mt Gunson | 11 | 30 | 96 | Norths | 12 | 18 | 90 |
| 2nd Semi | Centrals | 21 | 11 | 137 | Koolymilka | 20 | 11 | 131 |
| Preliminary | Koolymilka | 20 | 15 | 135 | Mt Gunson | 12 | 14 | 86 |
| Grand | Centrals | 20 | 15 | 135 | Koolymilka | 14 | 9 | 93 |
Grand Final: Centrals defeated Koolymilka 20.15 (135) to 14.9 (93).
Premiership Coach: Phil “Turkey” Turner. Premiership Captain: Phil “Turkey” Turner.
Best in Grand Final: Jim Richards – Centrals, Chris Foster – Koolymilka.
League Best & Fairest – Area & Mail Medals: 1st Kelly Hill – Mt Gunson 30, 2nd Ross Lambert – Norths 26, 3rd Barry Gerhardy – Mt Gunson 20.
Leading Goalkickers: 1st Kelly Hill – Mt Gunson 50.
Life Membership: Laurie Braid (RIP), John Payne.
Player Life Membership: Gary Smoker – Centrals, John Byrad – Village, and Woomera North.
League President: Laurie Braid. League Secretary: Unknown.
Centrals Football Club – Premiers 1980 – Phil Turner Captain/Coach
1980 WJFL
A successful attempt was made to introduce a competition for boys 7 to 15.
Three teams Centrals, Koolymilka and Mt Gunson competed and the competition did not seem to be plagued by lack of players.
In the grand final Mt Gunson 5.6 (36) defeated Koolymilka 3.6 (24).
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