William Brian Dempsey

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 17 March 1942) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for the

Darwin Football Club The Darwin Football Club, nicknamed, Buffaloes, is an Australian rules football club, playing in the Northern Territory Football League. It is the third oldest football club in the Northern Territory. Darwin has won the second most premierships ...

in the

Northern Territory Football League The Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) is an Australian rules football semi-professional league operating in Darwin in the Northern Territory. The league is one of few (and the highest level) Australian Rules competitions played during ...

(NTFL) and the West Perth Football Club in the

Western Australian National Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WANFL). Dempsey is an inductee of both the AFL Northern Territory and the West Australian Football Halls of Fame. Dempsey's 341 premiership games for West Perth is second only to

Mel Whinnen Allan Melvyn "Mel" Whinnen MBE (born 6 October 1942) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Perth Football Club in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) from 1960 to 1977. Whinnen played 367 premiershi ...

's 367 as a club and WAFL record.

Career

indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

born in Birdum, a railway settlement in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

of Australia,West Australian Football Hall of Fame members
– West Australian Football Commission. Retrieved 20 May 2012. Dempsey began his career with the Buffaloes Football Club in the

. He played in premiership sides with the club in 1958–59 and 1959–60 before being recruited by in the WANFL.Bill Dempsey (Darwin & West Perth)
– FullPointsFooty. Retrieved 3 February 2012. Dempsey made his WANFL debut in 1960. Playing either as a ruckman or resting in defence – late in 1967

Bob Spargo Robert Leslie Spargo (born 15 October 1939) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Western Bulldogs, Footscray in the Australian Football League, Victorian Football League (VFL). Spargo started as a half forward but soon establi ...

used him successfully as a substitute for Brian France at centre half-back after the latter suffered a career-ending knee injury – Dempsey became a regular in the West Perth side, winning the Breckler Medal as the club's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

in 1966 and playing in premierships in 1969 and 1971. During most summers, Dempsey returned to play in the NTFL, where he captained Darwin during the 1964–65 season and was a member of their unbeaten premiership side during the 1967–68 season; he played 145 games for Darwin. Dempsey made his debut for

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in an interstate match against Tasmania at Subiaco Oval in June 1963, and went on to play 14 matches for the state, including two matches at the 1972 Australian Championships. Dempsey played 341 premiership games and two pre-season/night series games for West Perth before retiring at the end of the 1976 season. Dempsey was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in June 1976, for "services to sport", along with teammate

. In October 2000, he was named in a back pocket in West Perth's Team of the Century. He was an inaugural inductee of the

West Australian Football Hall of Fame The West Australian Football Hall of Fame was created in 2002 to recognise and enshrine those who have made a significant contribution to Australian rules football in Western Australia. People eligible for inclusion are players, coaches, umpires, ...

in March 2004, and in 2010, Dempsey was named as a "Legend" in the inaugural induction into the AFL Northern Territory Hall of Fame. Dempsey was named as a back pocket in the

Indigenous Team of the Century The Indigenous Team of the Century (Australian rules football) was selected to recognise the role of Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the eth ...

in 2005. One of the entrance gates at

Patersons Stadium Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood. Subiaco Oval was the high ...

is named after Dempsey, and a stand at

Arena Joondalup Arena Joondalup, known as HBF Arena under a commercial naming rights arrangement, is a multi-purpose sports complex in Joondalup, Western Australia, located on 35 ha of parkland approximately 25 km north of Perth. It was officially o ...

, West Perth's home ground since 1994, is named the Whinnen–Dempsey Stand in honour of the two players' contribution to the club. Dempsey's grandson,

Malcolm Rosas Jr Malcolm Rosas Jr (born 27 June 2001) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Rosas Jr was born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory. His mo ...

, is an AFL player for the

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

.Mal Rosas, grandson of WA great Bill Dempsey, to make debut for Gold Coast
– thewest.com.au. Retrieved 13 August 2021.

Notes

The

season is played during the

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

in the Northern Territory, which usually occurs between December and March. Hence, NTFL seasons are usually written to encompass two years e.g. the 1959–60 season refers to the season played between December 1959 and March 1960.
Buffaloes changed its name to the

for the 1962–63 season, having previously been known as Warriors (1917–18) and Vesteys (1918–26).

References

External links

William Brian (Bill) Dempsey
player profile page at WAFLFootyFacts {{DEFAULTSORT:Dempsey, Bill 1942 births Living people Australian rules footballers from the Northern Territory Darwin Football Club players West Perth Football Club players West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire