Omnia   

Bendigo FNLHarold ‘Hassa’ Hall who passed away in early February this year was an administrator who served the league and his beloved Northern United club with great distinction.
There’s no doubt the toughest assignment he took on was the presidency of the fledgling Bendigo Golden City Football League in the early 80s.

Hassa stepped up from being president of the GCFL to become the newly elected head of the new amalgamated competition.

The 1981 BGCFL season comprised the six former BFL clubs in Division 1 (the major Bendigo group) and eight clubs in the second tier structure: the district division.
The VCFL investigation committee had recommended that two clubs would be promoted from the district division to the top rung for the 1982 season.

Harold Hall’s election to the No. 1 job followed a secret ballot at the Newmarket Hotel and was to usher in a tempestuous time at league meetings.
Harold had to display much patience and use a lot of energy trying to ease the bickering and name-calling which filled the room at BGCFL meetings.
There was no board of management back then. Each club nominated two delegates with the city club representatives the most outspoken about what should be done.

I well remember covering those stormy meetings for the Advertiser. As I recall it, Castlemaine’s Jack Jefferies provided a calming influence after South (in particular), Square and Sandhurst delegates had harangued Mr. Hall, secretary Jack Smith and their officials over the issues and thorny points of the day.
And then as it turned out Sandhurst defeated the Maine in the 1981 Division 1 grand final while Kangaroo Flat downed Northern United in the grand final of the Golden City division.

The Roos were elevated to the top Bendigo division for the 1982 season and of course have remained there ever since while every other BGCFL second tier club has long left the BFL behind.

Hall had one other major card to play, this time as the 1982 season drew to a close.
Eaglehawk had sought a break from the time-honoured BFL tradition of playing every final at the QEO.
It was the Two Blues’ centenary season and they wanted to host a semi-final at Canterbury Park.
After a tied vote on the issue Hall used his casting vote as BGCFL boss to grant the Eaglehawk officials their wish.

The gate takings far surpassed the second semi-final takings from the corresponding QEO final of the previous year.

Eaglehawk went on to win the 1982 Div. 1 flag while YCW won the premiership in the Golden City grade (Div. 2).
And then before the start of the ’83 season Hall, Smith and their officials had to wave goodbye to Marong and Provincial who both headed out to district leagues, but they consolidated the remaining 12 clubs left in the BGCFL into one division: under the time-honoured name, the BFL.

With the exception of Hall’s beloved Northern United, most of the remaining former Golden City clubs had miserable 1983 seasons and they were regularly thumped by the six top BFL clubs.

However the Swallows had become a real threat to the traditional BFL powers after they’d enticed two Bendigo footy legends in Tony Southcombe and Ron Best out to Raywood to lead United.

And when their former Golden Square teammate and on-ball leader Garry Mountjoy also joined, United was headed to real glory.

Mountjoy was not the only star lured by coach Southcombe to United. He recruited talented on-ballers, key position players such as Peter Fyffe to man the full-back spot plus Ron Couchman at CHB along with Gavin Exell in the forward line.

The Swallows even recruited outstanding running half-back flankers and wingmen from the Goulburn Valley as well as central Victorian district leagues.
Speedy Darren Trickey stands out as one of Southcombe’s major recruiting coups. Tony Doran and Rod Lea remain in my memory, also.

Exell, of course, went on to win the BFL goalkicking award in 1986 with 87 majors.

The Swallows made the finals in the opening season of the one-division structure. And then in one of the most amazing feats in Victorian country footy history, United defeated Eaglehawk (three times) and Sandhurst (once) in the next four grand finals to take out a quartet of consecutive BFL flags --- not only a slice of BFL history but of VCFL history, as well.
Hall was always there at Raywood (and for the occasional United fixture at Kamarooka) as the Swallows etched their name into BFL history.

I had many Saturday evening talks around 5 pm with Hassa, ‘Bluey’ Southcombe and John Mulqueen about who should figure in the Swallows’ best player lists after Raywood home games.

On the administrative side, there was just the BFL and a board of management in place for 1984 as Hall’s three-year tenure as league boss (1981-83) came to a sudden end.

The delegate system of management was scrapped, the board headed by Councillor Dick Turner was introduced and Hall went back to club administration.

Let’s look back to Hall’s playing and administrative roles with the Swallows.
He came to Northern United in 1960 and played his 200th game in 1971.
He played 229 games in total.

Hassa served as United secretary from 1976 to 1978 and when his league duties had been concluded worked again as Swallows’ secretary from 1986 to 1990.

He had been awarded life membership at United in 1972 and also received GCFL life membership and a VCFL medal.
BFL footy had started for Hassa as an under-18 player at Golden Square in the late Fifties. He later returned to Wade Street as the Dogs’ secretary from 1991 to 1996.
But out at Raywood it was a real Hall family concern as Hassa’s wife Helen was also honoured as a NUFC life member in 1992.

Their sons Damien and Scott also pulled on the maroon and gold United guernsey and between them won best and fairest awards at under-13, under-16 and under-18 levels.

Hall’s footy commitments didn’t end with the BGCFL presidency and roles at Northern United and the Square, however.

He served on the Loddon Valley Independent Tribunal for a number of years and in later life was the secretary of North Bendigo when the Atkins Street Dogs were a real power club -– and premiership winners --- in the Heathcote DFL.

With thanks to country footy historians and statisticians Paul Daffey and Trevor Ludeman.
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By Richard Jones