Graham Dempster (born 14 January 1955) 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL) during the 1970s. Recruited from

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFA) club Springvale, Dempster spent much of his time at South Melbourne in defence but was also used up forward to good effect later in his VFL career. After making his debut as a 17-year-old in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, Dempster played only 25 games in his first four seasons, but made 18 appearances in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

.AFL Tables: Graham Dempster
/ref> He kicked a career best five goals in a win over Footscray at

Western Oval Whitten Oval (also known as Mission Whitten Oval under a naming rights agreement) is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Barkly Street, Footscray. It is the training and administrative headquart ...

in 1977, having also kicked four goals the previous week. His last game of the year was an elimination final, the only final he would play for South Melbourne. He then ruptured a medial ligament in his knee during the opening round of the 1978 season and missed the rest of the year as a result. The 1979 season was his last at South Melbourne and he played just seven games. Dempster would go on to become a premiership-winning player with Springvale and was still competing for the club in the early 1990s, captaining them in 1991. He is the father of Sydney and St Kilda footballer

Sean Dempster Sean Dempster (born 20 January 1984) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans and St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Born in 1984, Dempster grew up in the Victorian town of ...

, who was drafted under the

father–son rule The father–son rule is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the club in Australian rules football, most notably in the Australian Football League. The rule ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dempster, Graham 1955 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Sydney Swans players Casey Demons players Living people 20th-century Australian sportsmen