{xtypo_dropcap}A{/xtypo_dropcap}lthough he never won a fairest and best award at Subiaco, Reg Hampson was one of the best rover/half forwards to represent the club, with his contributions recognised with selection in a Subiaco Champions Team 1946-76.

Star full forward Austin Robertson has acknowledged Hampson's influence on his career, saying that Reg, along with Cam Blakemore, George Young, Peter Metropolis, and Haydn Bunton, were instrumental in many of the goals he kicked. “Austin was an easy man to kick to,” was the typically low key response from Hampson. “He knew where to lead, and knew my game better than I did. He was a terrific reader of the play.”

Winner of the Curlewis Medal for fairest and best in the Avon Football Association's under sixteen competition, Hampson was a member of Northam Towns' senior side at the age of sixteen. Harry Western, a keen Subiaco supporter, and brother of Albert “Nails” Western, a South Fremantle great, had an influence on the young Hampson's football leanings, and when contacted by coach Charlie Tyson, he had no hesitation in donning the Maroon guernsey.

In 1958,  Reg played one reserves game with Subiaco to tie him to the club. It was against East Fremantle, and his opposite number was Ron “Trizzie” Lawrence. 

Lining up for the league side in round one of the 1959 season, it was dejavu for Reg, with Lawrence once again at his side for the first bounce. “I must have done alright, because I was there again for round two,” he quipped. The two have since become firm friends, and it was to be the start of a fine career of two hundred and twenty four games for Hampson.

Hampson exploded onto the WAFL stage, and his form helped propel Subiaco into the grand final, where they were valiant in defeat at the hands of a star studded East Perth, who dominated the competition in the late fifties.

The State selectors were taking notice, and selected the eighteen year old to represent Western Australia against Victoria at Subiaco Oval in June, 1960. Starting on the ball, with West Perth's Peter Medhurst as co rover, and another Cardinal, Joe Fanchi, on the bench, Hampson kicked four  of his side's twelve goals, and was named in the best players. “We had some tough opposition, with Skilton and Aylett running around,” he recalled. Aylett was awarded the Simpson Medal, but Reg could hold his head high.

He went on to make eight appearances for his State. Elusive and hard working, Hampson was a team oriented  player, who was an exemplary deliverer of the ball, especially by foot, and his exquisite combination with Robertson was a delight to watch.

Although Hampson's name doesn't appear on the Subiaco honour board as fairest and best, he was always a leader in the count, the closest he came to winning the coveted trophy being one vote behind winner Wally Martin in 1963.

Captain of the Maroons during the sixties, Hampson retired in1970, at the age of twenty nine. “I felt it was the thing to do, the vibes were there,” he said. Travelling to the wheatbelt, he captain coached Wongan Hills to a grand final and semi final in 1972 and 73 respectively, then guided Midland to a final the following season. Returning to Subiaco Oval, he was an assistant with Ross Smith in 1974 and later David Parkin. When Peter Burton went to Wanneroo as coach, Reg joined him as assistant plus reserves mentor, with the two achieving a double premiership.

Burton was subsequently appointed coach of Subiaco, and he took Hampson with him in a similar capacity.

Reg had no hesitation in naming his hardest opposition and the best he'd played with. “Billy Walker and Laurie Kettlewell.”

A life member of Subiaco, Reg Hampson is more likely to enthuse about son Damian's football feats than his own. Damian was a hundred and fifty game player at Subiaco, winning their fairest and best in just his second season, and was on both Carlton and West Coast's AFL squads.

When Damian Hampson represented Western Australia, he was the fourth generation of the family to do so, with Reg playing eight times, Albert Western junior five times in a 102 game career with South Fremantle, and Albert Western senior being selected on twenty one occasions during a 158 match stint at East Perth in their champion team of the twenties.

Reg recalled a moment of humour on the field involving Swan Districts tough man, Tony Nesbit. “We had a young bloke playing in his first game who had a quite outstanding pair of ears,” he related. “Taking a mark in the square, he deliberately lined up, and as he was slowly running in to take his shot, Nesbit loudly spruiked: “Kick it with yer ears, Jumbo!”

“The ball sailed out on the full.”

Employed by an  Industrial Chemist company for many years, Reg’s allegiances on a Saturday afternoon switched from Subiaco Oval to Ascot and Belmont, where he was a keen racegoer.

Reg Hampson gave the Subiaco Football Club great service during the late fifties and sixties, and was one of the WANFL's best rovers over that time, in a period of roving excellence in this State. His career was one of consistency and quality throughout.