NORTH
WHYALLA FC

The club’s 1954 and 1955 premiership victories were achieved under the coaching of one of football’s all-time greats in Neil Kerley, who was then on a brief sabbatical from league football. Kerley won North’s best and fairest award in both years, and in 2001 was selected as vice-captain of the official WFL ‘Team of the Century’.

Among the other Magpie stars to make that team was Barrie Robran, whom some have rated the most gifted individual ever to play the game. In 1966, Robran helped North Whyalla to its first flag since the Kerley Era, and was a joint winner of the Whyalla News Medal. Barrie’s brother Rodney was also a fine footballer: he topped the WFL goal kicking list with 52 goals in 1969, and emulated Barrie by winning the Whyalla News Medal the following year. Both siblings enjoyed highly successful SANFL careers with North Adelaide.

After winning a trifecta of senior grade flags in the late 1970s the Magpies tended to struggle somewhat for the better part of three decades before breaking through to claim their fourteenth senior grade flag in 2008. Opposed in the grand final by West Whyalla, North trailed by 13 points at the last change, before coming home with a wet sail to add 4 goals to nil and win by 10 points, 11.7 (73) to 9.9 (63).

The Magpies have since claimed another three senior grade premierships, these coming in 2011 still under the guidance of David ‘Freddy” Freeman. In 2014 they accounted for West Whyalla in the grand final by 102 points, 18.18 (124) to 3.4 (22) with both League and Reserves teams notching up undefeated Premierships.

The 2015 season brought another grand final appearance against opponents West Whyalla, West proved to have the Magpies’ measure and after blitzing them in the opening term, Norths went on to procure a comfortable win. Both 2014 and 2015 were under coach Chad Bourke’s reign.