Obituary: Tribute to one-of-a-kind community member and elder Allan Headland

Allan Headland was one-of-a-kind and took everything in his stride, even after losing both legs. The avid sports lover and elder died last month, aged 73. Allan Headland loved cricket and football and would attend matches whenever he could. Being a friendly good-natured man blessed with a great sense of humour, he never lacked for company. The last time I saw him was at a Young Motors T20 game in February and as always, it was lovely to catch up with him and have a chat. He was better known in football circles and was a more than handy player but pretty much any sport attracted his attention. He was born in Subiaco but when still a baby his family moved to Moora and later to Mukinbudin and then Merredin before, over 50 years ago, he settled for good in Geraldton. He also married Rose more than 50 years ago, an enduring and loving partnership. In Geraldton he initially worked for Beaurepaires Tyres for seven years and then Geraldton Meat Exports for another three and finally spent 28 years toiling for the Geraldton council until he retired in 2008. His body was as active as his mind. Even when he lost a leg to diabetes in 2008 and the other leg a few years later because of poor circulation, he remained on the go. He was fitted with prosthetic limbs and learnt to use them so adeptly that if you didn’t know about his artificial pins, you’d presume his gait was a little stiff due to advancing years. In a story written by Tamra Carr that appeared in the Geraldton Guardian in January 2019, he recalled being provided with a wheelchair so he could stay mobile if the prosthetics weren’t suitable. “I was sitting there watching them install the ramp at home and when they were finished, I was like ‘Yep, nice,’” he said. “Then I picked the wheelchair up and put it in the back - never used it.” Headland was a member of several sporting groups including the Geraldton 8-Ball Association, where he was involved for more than three decades, the Geraldton Bowling Club, the Geraldton Italian Club (a director for 12 years), the Mercantile Club, the Geraldton RSL and was a life member of the Geraldton Darts Association. He also served for many years on the Bundiyarra Aboriginal Community Aboriginal Corporation Board and was delighted with how that organisation has become the success it is. In addition, he was Campus Elder at Geraldton’s TAFE college. He played league and reserves football for Towns, where he was a life member, from 1968 to 1973 and then for Brigades from 1975 to 1977. For Towns, he booted 45 goals including six in finals. Two of those finals’ goals were in the 1972 first semi against Rovers, a game Towns won by nine points despite trailing by 18 at half-time and 17 at three-quarter time. Towns went on to make the grand final. His last season for Towns in 1974 was his best. He booted 26 goals to be fourth in the club’s goalkicking list. Four of those goals were in finals, one in the first semi, a 52-point win over Rovers, two in the preliminary final, a 20-point win over Northampton, and the other in a seven-point grand final loss to Chapman Valley. That defeat hurt all the more because Towns led by 20, 17, and 25 points at the breaks. It was a game, Allan once told me, that Towns had in their pocket but “threw away”. Headland had more impact at Brigades with 62 goals in 1975, the next best was Francis Khan’s 34 but the Hawks, having finished fifth in 1975 were as a club going backwards finishing last in 1976 and second last in 1977. All up he kicked 83 goals for Brigades for career figures of 128 league goals and five best player listings — very respectable numbers with plenty more in reserve grade. His son, also Allan but usually called ‘Cobber’, was to Allan and Rose’s delight a gifted player and lucky enough to play in premiership teams. He finished with 346 league goals including 10 in finals and nine best player listings, one of them in a final. Back to Allan senior and he remained firmly and devotedly connected with Towns long after his playing days were done, helping run bingo and club raffles for more than 20 years and managing the reserves for 11 years. He was also the club’s interchange steward for many years which, back when I was writing footy for the Guardian, meant a chance for me to sit and chat with him as the team lists, he had were accurate, the ones in the Budget were not. Plus, he knew his footy and if I wanted to know where a player was recruited from, who he was related to or can he kick with his other foot, he would always know. He played B-Grade cricket for Chapman Valley until he was in his mid-50s and while he was better at football, he loved cricket and the friends he made from it. Allan Headland will be greatly missed. He was sharp-witted and industrious and not even a misfortune such as losing his legs could dent his innate ability to realise there’s usually humour to almost everything. “I’ll tell you a funny story,” he related to Ms Carr in the above-noted Guardian story. “I was kicking the footy around at Towns (football oval) with my great-nephew. “I gave the ball a real hard kick and one of my (prosthetic) legs came off and I fell down in front of 300 people up in the grandstand. “There was no chanting from the crowd, they didn’t think it was funny – it was sort of funny to me though but believe me, we only played handball after that.” Allan Headland, his alert eyes peering happily at the world above his long white beard, was a memorable man. He was proud of what he had achieved and of who he was. He took life in his stride, even when that stride was on prosthetic legs and never took life more seriously than needed. He was one-of-a-kind. His funeral drew a massive crowd, so many people wanted to do him the honour of saying thanks as well as goodbye. Vale, Allan Headland.