William Brian Dempsey MBE (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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

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 premiership ...

in the

Northern Territory Football League The Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) is an Australian rules football competition, operating in Greater Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and the Northern Territory, formerly run by the Northern Territory Football League Incorporated a ...

(NTFL) and the

West Perth Football Club The West Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is an Australian rules football club located in Joondalup, Western Australia. West Perth competes in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW) and is the oldest exis ...

in the

Western Australian National Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") 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 f ...

(WANFL). Dempsey is an inductee of both the

AFL Northern Territory AFL Northern Territory Limited (AFL NT) is a subsidiary company of the Australian Football League (AFL) which operates some Australian rules football competitions and teams in Northern Territory (NT) of Australia (see also Australian rules f ...

and the West Australian Football Halls of Fame. Dempsey's 341 premiership games for West Perth is second only to Mel Whinnen's 367 as a club and WAFL record.

Career

indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

born in Birdum, a railway settlement in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

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. – 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 used him successfully as a substitute for

Brian France Brian Zachary France (born August 2, 1962) is an American businessman and the former Chief executive officer, CEO and Chair (official), chairman of NASCAR. He served in the post from 2003 to 2018, following his grandfather (and NASCAR co-founder) ...

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 (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

in an interstate match against Tasmania at

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

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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in June 1976, for "services to sport", along with teammate Mel Whinnen. 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 significant contributors to Australian rules football in Western Australia. Candidates are players, coaches, umpires, administrators and media representatives. The induct ...

in March 2004, and in 2010, Dempsey was named as a "Legend" in the inaugural induction into the

Hall of Fame. Dempsey was named as a back pocket in the

Indigenous Team of the Century The Indigenous Team of the Century was selected in 2005 to recognise the role of Indigenous Australians in Australian rules football. Graham Farmer was named as the team's captain, while Barry Cable was selected as the team's coach. Eight of t ...

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 is a multi-purpose sports complex in Joondalup, Western Australia, located on of parkland approximately north of Perth. Opened in 1994, Arena Joondalup is a super complex with many facilities including an outdoor sports grou ...

, 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, is an AFL player for the

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the ...

.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 or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

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

* * {{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 Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees