HE captained the club to two premierships playing alongside greats including Ken Obst, Bob Quinn and Allan ‘Bull’ Reval and was twice its best and fairest, so you might think Jack Dermody would be a household name at Port Adelaide.
That his name is not as easily recognisable amongst the Port Adelaide faithful is in part the reason behind a labour of love for club historian Professor Mark Shephard – a 710,000-word 1600-page definitive history of the club’s first 150 years.
Titled The Complete Chronological History of the Port Adelaide Football Club 1870-2020, the book is available as a four-volume, thesis-bound set and will initially be produced as a limited edition of 150 copies.
The book represents the culmination of five years of detailed evidence-based research and analysis conducted by Mark, with support from the Port Adelaide Football Club History Committee. So, you might wonder the motivation behind such a massive undertaking. Put simply for Mark it comes down to passion. Passion for the club, passion for history and a passion for facts.
“I’ve followed Port Adelaide since I was six years old and I’ve been lucky to see, I think, 17 premierships in that time, so the club has been an incredible part of my family’s life and given us all some life-long memories,” he explained.
“When I got the opportunity to become the club historian in 2017, I asked myself how best I could contribute to that role and I guess I’ve always had a passion for research and for writing so what I decided to do, with the support of Matthew Richardson, was to focus my attention on trying to accurately document and write the 150-year chronological history of the club from 1870-2020 in one complete volume of work for the first time.
“It's been a massive project. It’s taken five years.”
The book traces every season, game by game, year by year and decade by decade across the club’s first 150 years from 1870 to 2020 and covers both the SANFL and AFL eras.
Sections of the colourful prose found in the early newspapers have been retained as part of the text to transport readers back to the time and perhaps most impressive is the level of detail, and the effort that has gone into fact checking every element of the club’s journey including the use of more than 1100 references.
Football clubs are notorious for stories being embellished with myths created over generations but seeking the truth was important for Mark and the club’s history committee.
“One of the key features of the book is the amount of evidence-based analysis and research that has gone into the book because every fact and figure that has been quoted in the book is supported by a traceable source,” Mark said.
“When I first became club historian, one of the first key tasks was to reform the history committee so the book is really a typical Port Adelaide effort – based on teamwork and not the individual.
“I took up the task of writing the entire club’s history but there was a loyal band of history committee members working tirelessly to gather information, particularly on the games played by the club through endless newspaper searches. It was a massive undertaking and I’d particularly like to thank Peter Thornton, who helped with so many aspects of the book, Jim Crabb, Will Cheffirs, Margaret Robinson, Andrea Thornton and Margie Gill.”
Despite his interest in history and his life-long association with Port Adelaide, Mark still found himself learning about unsung heroes with feats perhaps lesser known than others.
Dermody was among those who caught his interest. Among his 108 games in black and white including many as captain, he won just about everything on offer and led a side containing a number of other celebrated club champions.
“There are so many stories of unsung heroes over the years; players who have really influenced the club’s success in a particular era but perhaps haven’t received the plaudits they deserved,” Mark shared when referencing Dermody.
“Jack Dermody stuck out in my mind. He played in a really successful era in the 1930s alongside players like Bob Quinn, Bull Reval and Ken Obst but Dermody didn’t get the recognition he probably deserved.
“He was born at Kapunda, came down to play for Port but travelled back and forth twice a week the whole time he was with the club. He captained Port in the 1936 and 1937 premiership sides, he won two fairest and most brilliant player awards in ’34 and ’35 and was third in the 1933 Magarey Medal.
“He represented South Australia 16 times, captained the state in the 1937 carnival and he was a really fast and skilful wingman.
“It was really clear from the newspaper reports of the day that he was really popular with both teammates and opponents alike, and was always scrupulously fair.
“He retired after the 1937 Grand Final, I guess due to the heavy toll of travelling, but he was coaxed out of retirement and did play late in 1938, including in the Grand Final but that was his last game.”
Fortunately, Jack Dermody’s son Peter has kept alive his father’s memory, donating important memorabilia pieces to the club including his scrapbook and lace-up guernsey – the latter now on display in the club’s new interactive museum at the Precinct at Alberton.
The book’s release, soon after the museum’s launch, is particularly timely. The Port Adelaide history committee has spent countless hours cataloguing the club’s memorabilia collection with the museum displaying around 130 items – a small portion of the over 1200 items in its inventory.
100% of all proceeds from the book will go directly to a fund to support the club’s new museum and the activities of the PAFC History Committee.
“We’ve now got a really solid complete analysis of the history of the club in one volume, supported by the impressive museum where people can see and read about, through the captions, incredibly important pieces of memorabilia,” Mark explained.
“It’s a perfect complimentary set of detailed written information and then a display of some of the most valuable pieces of memorabilia in our collection.”
With the museum up and running and the complete history book in print and available to purchase you might think Professor Shephard and the history committee would put their feet up for a while.
But that is certainly not the case.
“There’s always something new. Even since 2020 we’ve had Ollie Wines win the Brownlow Medal and the formation of our new AFLW side,” Mark smiled.
“Some people look at history as an old and staid pursuit associated with a musty smell of outdated books but really, I’ve learnt that nothing could be further from the truth.
“History is really dynamic, vibrant, ever-changing and all-encompassing.”
The Complete Chronological History of the Port Adelaide Football Club 1870-2020, is available for $299 ex postage and is and available through this special pre-sale offer.
If you have any queries about the order process, please contact our membership team on 8447 9900 between 10am-4pm.
