"Barefoot and
Brilliant"
INTRODUCTION
When I wrote my first article 'Footy in Review'
for the Broome News, I was unaware that it would balloon into
a major undertaking. Since the League possessed no records
at all, I began my research at the Battye library in Perth and
was surprised to find that football in Broome began in an organised
way in 1921 and was recorded
in great detail in the Nor West Echo. In fact, the first football
club committee had no less than 5 vice presidents. Before this, the odd social
game was played between the 'Cabbages' and the 'Sprouts' in 1917. Over-all, there
were three eras:- 1921 -
1929, 1949 - 1964, 1969 to the present day. After 10 years
of compiling this information, I am happy to finally complete
the job.
When I first came to Broome I attended the
Annual General Meeting of the Association in 1979 which was held
at the Civic Centre. I was very surprised that one of the main
items discussed that evening was whether players should be forced
to wear football boots. The motion was defeated and so the flair,
agility and speed of the Kimberley footballers was not hindered. "Barefoot and Brilliant" was a title suggested to me
by Kevin Lawton, and I think it sums up my experience of involvement
in Broome footy. In 1989, Sun/Herald photographer Ian Stevenson
from Melbourne was visiting Broome. He was enthralled at the enjoyment
and raw talent of the footballers here, and his series of photographs
appeared later as the centre spread in that newspaper. Hence,
I have used one of these photos on the opening
page.
From a personal point of view I consider the
highlights and major contributions of Broome Footy from 1921 to
the present day to be:
- Towns
Football Club winning 24 premierships
including 5 in a row from 1974
- 1978
- The top 5 in WKFL history: 1.
Gavin Mitchell, 2. Peter Talman,
3. Patrick Cox, 4.
Joseph Dann, 5.
Lyle Buck
-
Peter Talman - first legend of the Kimberley to play
footy at the State level in the 1960's. Played in 8 Premierships.
-
Gordon
'Baldy' Lawford played in 7 winning Grand Finals with 4 different Clubs in
Broome - (Towns 1, Bulls 3, Bombers 1 and Saints 2). Baldy also played for
Cable Beach.
-
Stewie Gregory
played in 7 Premierships with Towns.
-
Gavin
Mitchell (won the ABC award
in 1992, 1993, won the Best and Fairest in 2001, represented WA in State Football on 3 occasions, played for the
AFL Clubs: Dockers and St. Kilda.
-
Cable Beach Football Club were the first team
for 54 years to win all games in the 2007 season. Cable Beach cleaned the trophy cabinet out winning the Premiership, Best and
Fairest (Jo Dann), Leading Goal kicker (Neil Marshall
40goals), the Father Mac Medal for best in the GF (Brett Claudius) and the
Reconciliation Cup held pre season..
-
Lewis Broome played with in the winning Claremont Colts Grand Final 2009 and was judged
best on the ground with 5 goals to his name.
-
Patrick
Cox (won the Association Best
and Fairest on three occasions: 1991, 1992 and 1996, played for
Claremont 1993)
- Cox's have won the Best and
Fairest 8 times: John (Saints), Patrick (3), Brendan (2) Davo, Stephen - all
Peninsula Bombers)
-
Don
Gibbs who
captained Towns for 8 years winning 5 premierships.
-
Shaun
'muddy' Waters (Bulls) who
kicked 22 goals in a fixtured game during 1998 against Bidyadanga.
- Lenny
Molan (Bulls/Meatworks) who
kicked 16 goals in the Grand Final of 1950.
- Dave Johnson who umpired 225 games in Broome including 6 Grand
Finals.
- Ron
Buckey: umpired 12 Grand Finals
in Broome, including 7 in a row.
- Derby
Hawks Football Premiership
team of 1984. Only lost one game for the season against the Roos
and I consider them the best team to have played on the Male
Oval.
- Teams to win all games in a season including finals: Towns won all games in
1953 including the Grand Final - Sergeant Bob
Stephens kicked 14 goals of the the 15 goals scored in that game.
The team had no less than 7 policemen - possibly the best side
to have played on the Civic Centre oval.
- Alan
Bishop - Coached 3 different
teams to their first premiership: (Bardi 1987, Bidyadanga 1990
and Cable Beach 1996)
-
Terry
Cox (Beagle Bay) winner of
the Goal kicking award on 4 occasions and best and Fairest 1988.
- Four Dann brothers
- 17 Premierships with Cable Beach: Vernon 3, Joseph 10 (from 2007-2023), Leon 3 and Ashley 1.
- WKFA Football team: winner of the Rio Tinto Championships
1996, 1997 and 1998.
- Tony
(torpedo) Hutchinson (Premiership
player in 1979) and over 20 continual years of playing for Saints.
He is a Life Member of Saints Football Club.
- The Kimberley Aboriginal Football team's
win against Bathurst Island on the MCG as a curtain raiser to
the Eagles/ Geelong Match in 1992.
- Most draws in one season: Cable Beach played four drawn games in 2010
-
Ross
Highway - played for 19 seasons
in Broome. He only missed the 1974 fixture when he worked in
Wyndam. However, he was flown back for the Grand Final of that
year which Bulls subsequently lost. He is a life member of Bulls
Football Club.
- 1987 - the first time two Community teams played off in the Grand Final - Bardi V Beagle Bay.
- Joel Hamling Debut game
Round 9 May 30th 2015 with
Western Bulldogs against GWS. PLAYED IN WESTERN BULLDOGS SUCCESSFUL GRAND FINAL
2016. The 23 year old graduated from Broome High School. He marked Lance
Franklin restricting him to just 16 disposals, 8 marks and 1 goal. Hamling
played in the 2009 Cable Beach Premiership. He is
the first AFL Premiership player with his beginnings in Broome.
- 'Red
Ruffansore' for his prolific
articles in the Broome News.
- ABC
radio - the sporting panel
on Saturday morning and live coverage of the local Grand Finals
from 1990.
- The most exciting Grand Final win: Towns beat Saints by
two points with a kick after the siren in 2002 and
were
1 point winners over Saints in 1983.
- Most goals scorers in a single game:
Cable Beach had 13 separate goal kickers round 6
in 2013 :
FINAL SCORE 28 .17. 185 V Bombers 2. 2.14
-
Cable Beach won their first Premiership after
finishing 4th in the home and away games in 1996
- The contribution of "Captain Catholic" to Broome: Fr. Michael Mc Mahon.
(President of the Association for 6 years). Fr. Mac coached Saints
to Premierships in 1971, 72 and Towns in 1974.
(Sunday Times article by Peter
Sweeney May 28th 2006)
WKFL GRAND FINAL STATS:
Highest score in a Grand Final : 1950 Bulls
(Meatworks) 30.19.199
Greatest winning margin in a Grand Final: 1950
Bulls (Meatworks) 30.19.199 defeated Towns 8.7.55 by 24 goals.
Lowest score in a Grand Final : 2014 Looma
2.3.15
Highest number of goals kicked in a Grand
Final : 1950 Lenny Molan (Meatworks) kicked 16.
Closest Grand Final: 1983 Towns defeated
Saints by 1 solitary point.
Most memorable Grand Final: 2002 when Lindsay
Dean (Towns) kicked a goal after the siren to defeat Saints by two points.
8 players in the Bidyadanga Premiership side of 2016
had the same surname. Angelo won the Best and Fairest for the season and
Rowan won the McMahon Medal for best on the ground in the Grand Final.
(That family can play football!!!)
I hope that the enjoyment and interest I experienced
by meeting such personalities as Bob Noble, Norm Back, Don Gibbs,
Sid Tolentino, Pete Matsumoto and others is passed on to the readers
of these articles and that they act as a contribution to the sporting
history of Broome. Originally, I had planned to put this material
together in book form but, with the advent of technology, I have
found that this web site will be easier, more convenient and will
be more interactive. I welcome any comments, suggestions and additional
information for this page.
Brian Kane
