Almanac (Country) Football – Northampton: a football factory, Part 1

 

 

 

There’s a small town perched on Western Australia’s picturesque coastline called Carnarvon. Carnarvon is 895 kilometres north of Perth and is known for its plantations, growing some of Australia’s best bananas and mangoes. Carnarvon was also lucky enough to be home to the Coales family between late 2010 and 2012.

I loved our time in Carnarvon and will look back fondly on the years we spent there.

Trips down to the big smoke of Perth were rare but when we did embark on the near 10-hour drive to Perth, one town we drove through always interested me.

Our first trip to Perth came in mid-2011. It was exciting for myself and my sister as it would be our first time in months having Hungry Jacks or McDonalds- Carnarvon only had a Chicken Treat, a West Aussie icon, but Chicken Treat doesn’t compare to the golden arches. Just before entering Geraldton, the biggest town between Perth and Carnarvon, we drove through a tiny country town called Northampton.

The drive had bored me so far, but Northampton sparked my interest in the trip again. I spotted a hardware shop along the main street with a familiar name.

‘Hasleby’s Home Hardware’

The last name Hasleby holds great significance to me as a Fremantle Dockers fan. Paul Hasleby was a 208-game player for Freo collecting four Glendinning-Allan Medals, an All Australian selection and a Rising Star award throughout his career.

Hasleby retired at the end of 2010 and is a Fremantle great.

I jokingly said to Dad, “Dad, do we need any tools? Maybe Paul will be able to sell us something!”

Dad, who I’m sure was just as bored with the drive as I was at that point nonchalantly said, “He could be there. It’s his family’s store.”

I laughed him off thinking he wasn’t serious. It didn’t make sense to me. How could a small town produce a player of Hasleby’s talent?

As soon as I got in front of a computer and researched Northampton, I realised Northampton’s footballing products were more than just Hasleby. The names Harry Taylor, Josh Kennedy and Andrew Lockyer appeared.

It seemed as if Northampton and WA footy were intertwined. There must be something special about Northampton.

Northampton is a town 465km north of Perth, home to the Amangu people in Yamatji country. Established as a town in 1884, Northampton was between two major copper mines and served as a settlement for miners. Northampton was a crucial farming area producing wheat for Western Australia.  It is one of Western Australia’s oldest towns and was classified as a ‘historic town’ by the National Trust of Australia.

According to the 2021 census, the town’s population is 830. Northampton is primarily a farming town, farming sheep, canola, wheat and grain.

Northampton is surrounded by some of the most beautiful sights in Australia. The famous pink lake at Port Gregory is only a 30-minute drive away and during the wildflower season in July and October, sprawling hills between Geraldton and Northampton are bathed in colours of yellow, purple and red wildflowers with the Elephant Hill lookout being one of the best spots in the mid-west to view the wildflowers. During canola season, vibrant yellow crops give life to the farmland and makes the drive down the coast more enjoyable. I maintain that outside of canola season the farms look lifeless and make that period of the drive feel like an eternity.

There is a lot that makes Northampton special. From the wildflowers to its historical architecture, Northampton is unlike any other country town in Western Australia.

To this day, over 10-years later, I still don’t know what it is that has helped Northampton produce so many talented footballers. Footballers that would go on to win Premierships, Coleman medals, Brownlow medals and just about any footy accolade in between.

Is it the brutal nature of West Aussie country footy?

Is it the lead tailings that are still around from Northampton’s lead mining days?

If the recipe for breeding successful footy players is country footy and lead, I suspect that half of Australia’s families with children under the age of six would be flocking to Northampton and surrounding towns with hopes their child will be the next Josh Kennedy or Julia Teakle, Northampton’s first AFLW player.

As we approach the commencement of a new Premiership season, my mind is usually fixated on Round 1. Will I get a perfect nine in my tips? Will Geelong be able to maintain their form and win back-to-back flags? Will the Dockers break my heart again?

This year I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Northampton.

How does a town of less than 900 people produce top-end footballing talent? I’ve tossed and turned and can’t find a conclusion myself. I must speak with the talent that Northampton has produced and get their take on what it is that makes Northampton a breeding ground for AFL success.

It must be something that only the people of Northampton can understand.

For me, a city slicker, to try and understand what makes Northampton such a special place for footballers is an impossible task. I have to seek expert opinion. I have been lucky enough to interview the man that made the Hasleby name famous outside of Northampton. Part 2 of this article will be about Paul Hasleby and why he thinks Northampton is such a successful place for AFL talent.

 

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