I don’t ever recall seeing a scoreboard (except when we played a game at Leederville Oval in 1975 and even then it wasn’t used) during my years playing WA amateurs for Graylands Teachers College. At three quarter time someone might say we might be three goals up or, more likely, three goals down but it didn’t seem to matter we just kept playing.
Despite that experience I felt just a little disappointment when I came across a game in Adelaide in June 2013 in the park near Adelaide Oval and there was no scoreboard.
The game was between Flinders and St Anne’s and was part of a uni house round robin event. The standard was delightfully low and the game was played earnestly. All the play was at one end but few goals were being scored in the slippery conditions. I got my information from the goal umpire at the no-action end.

Earlier I’d noticed two teams of mud splattered young women trudging homewards – no doubt to showers at their uni digs. They weren’t hurrying – footballers like to wear the grime they’re earned during a game in tough conditions. I managed to get a photo of a couple of stragglers – Cutie Pie and Armstrong – so that’s where the AFL got the names-on-jumpers idea from.
The young men didn’t have that much mud on them, maybe the game hadn’t been going for long.
I wonder if anyone kept the score…