In 1962, Port Hedland was a sleepy little port with around 1,500 residents. A new postal officer arrived in town. It was none other than Colin Peter Matheson.
Shortly after he arrived, Colin set about meeting the locals to start a football match. Originally an umpire, he organised games for the locals until 1967 when the Port Hedland Football Association was formed between three clubs:
- Finucane Island
- Rovers
- Towns
Included among the matches were challenge games against Marble Bar and Goldsworthy. It was after one of these matches that Colin Matheson and the President of the Marble Bar Football Association discussed the possibility of forming one association.
Port Hedland Rovers 1967 with umpire Colin Matheson
In 1969 the De Grey Football Association was formed with five teams:
- Port Hedland Rovers (The Esplanade)
- Port Hedland Panthers (Pier Hotel)
- Goldsworthy Tigers
- Marble Bar
- Finucane Island
In 1971 Marble Bar disbanded.
In 1975 two other teams were admitted:
- South Hedland Swans
- Shay Gap Hawks
In 1977 the De Grey Football League (formed by Colin Matheson) and West Pilbara Football League combined to form the De Grey West Pilbara Football League under separate constitutions.
In 1983 one constitution was agreed to and the name changed to the North Pilbara Football League.
Find out more about history of #Pilbara #football in Colin Matheson’s book “Johnny Come Lately”,1997, available by post for $20. Contact the editors of this site for more information.
Also see this website dedicated to Pilbara football: http://northpilbarafootballleague.wordpress.com/
