A further meeting was held to formally establish the structure of the committee and guidelines for conducting the competition along with delegation areas from which the teams were to be derived from.

i.e., The Hill Football club was composed of players who worked in the actual pit area, Crushers from the Crushing and Screening and rail operations, Centrals from the Mine administration, workshop and supply areas and Towns employees from town services staff, banks, post office, catering, airlines and retail establishments.

The inaugural BP Championships was held in Mt Newman in 1976 for North West Leagues and was won by Fortescue who went on to repeat their success in 1978 and 1979 They were runners up in 1977 and 1980.

In 1979 Ken Turner, Russell Schumacher, Reg Dube’ and Alan Stott with cooperation from Bob Cramer and others provided financial assistance to purchase premises to establish the Crushers Football and Sporting Club.

This move established Crushers football team, by now known as Tigers as formidable force in the competition, winning their first premiership in 1983 (coached by Geoff Baldock) and repeating it in 1984.

These included Don Newman, Clem Thompson, Drew Schapel, Ray Sellars, Leon Warren, Robert Foan, David Jackson and Barry Peters.

He, sadly, like so many of the people who contributed to football in the North is no longer with us passing away in unfortunate circumstances and laid to rest with the 1989 premiership flag at his side.

Barry Peters, Ben Jenke, Barley Bogar, Chris Clowser, Roger Nancarrow, David Schumacher, Lance White, Terry Hutton, Bob Foan and Colin Cooke (umpire and convenor today), all giving valuable service in the middle.

The league tribunals always had more twists than a Perry Mason courtroom with many players believing they had been wronged, claiming to have a better knowledge of the rules than the esteemed members of the panel.

Kevin Hagan, the local Justice of Peace sat regularly on tribunals and quickly earned the reputation of “The Hanging Judge”.

Australian Football since its inception 1970 in Tom Price has broken down divisions that had emanated in the workplace and many new friendships were created across the working environment in the region.

Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd (now Rio Tinto) and the Shire of Ashburton must be acknowledged for the provision and maintenance of the wonderful facilities that football in the communities enjoy.