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West Perth Football Club

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The West Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is an Australian rules football club located in Joondalup, Western Australia. West Perth competes in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW) and is the oldest existing Australian rules football club in Western Australia.[2] Originally located at Leederville Oval, the team was relocated in 1994 to Arena Joondalup, a sports complex in the northern suburbs of Perth. The team's club song is "It's a Grand Old Flag" and its traditional rivals are East Perth.

West Perth
Names
Full nameWest Perth Football Club
Nickname(s)Falcons, Cardinals, Garlic Munchers
Motto"Does Your Heart Beat True?"
2022 season
After finalsPremiers
Home-and-away season1st
Leading goalkickerTyler Keitel (38 goals)
Club details
Founded10 April 1891; 133 years ago (10 April 1891)
Colours  Red   Blue
CompetitionWest Australian Football League
PresidentNeale Fong[1]
CoachJason Salecic
Captain(s)Dean Munns
Premierships
List
    • 20 (1897, 1899, 1901, 1905, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1941, 1942, 1949, 1951, 1960, 1969, 1971, 1975, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2013, 2022)
Ground(s)Arena Joondalup (capacity: 16,000)
Uniforms
Home
Other information
Official websitewestperthfc.com.au

History

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Senior Football team premiers 1901
 
West Perth were known as "the Cardinals" from the early 1900s till 1981. The name came from the team being referred to as the "blue and cardinals" in the early days.

The Victorian Football Club was established at a meeting on 2 May 1885. The new team was to play its games at the Recreation Ground (now Esplanade Reserve) and wear the colours cardinal and navy.[3] Two weeks after the establishment of the new club it formed the WAFA together with Rovers and Fremantle. The three clubs, along with High School (now Hale School) were to play out the 1885 season, however High School dropped out after just two rounds.[4]

The West Australian Football Club was established in 1886 and were admitted to the competition for the 1887 season.[5] At a meeting of the two clubs on 16 April 1889, it was unanimously decided to amalgamate the two clubs – West Australian and Victorians – into a single club known as the Metropolitan Football Club for the 1889 season. The West Australian colours of black and red were to be maintained for the new club.[6] In 1891, a meeting of footballers was held to form a new team, to be called West Perth, which embraced the members of the then-defunct Metropolitan Football Club.[7][8] The new club was immediately granted entry into the WA Football Association (later called the WA Football League) and won its first premiership in 1897.

In 1915 the team became the original tenant of the newly built Leederville Oval where it would remain based until 1993, at which time the team moved to Joondalup to play games at Arena Joondalup from the 1994 season onwards. Since relocating, the Falcons have enjoyed relative success with five premierships from nine grand finals, the most recent flag coming in 2022.

In 2022 the club became the seventh active club to participate in the WAFL Women's (WAFLW), the premier state-based competition for female footballers.[9]

Since joining the WAFLW competition, the club celebrated real success with a Preliminary Final appearance in just their third season in the competition. Marking West Perth Football Clubs' Women's WAFLW side as the most successful expansion side since the WAFLW began.

West Perth Football Clubs' Rogers Cup side (U19s competition) is amongst some of the most successful teams in Australian sporting history. Winning the flag in an undefeated season in 2021, this was backed up by 2-undefeated seasons in 2023 and 2024, culminating in a further 2 premierships for the club. As at August 2024, the Rogers Cup team sit at 34 wins in a row - An impressive undefeated streak.

Club song

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"It's a Grand Old Flag"
"(Sung to the tune of "You're a Grand Old Flag")"
It's a grand old flag it's a high flying flag,
It's the emblem for me and for you,
It's the emblem of the team we love,
The team of the red and the blue,
Every heart beats true for the red and the blue,
And we sing this song to you,
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the red and the blue!

Honours

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Club honours

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Premierships
Competition Level Wins Years won
WAFL Seniors 20 1897, 1899, 1901, 1905, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1941, 1942, 1949, 1951, 1960, 1969, 1971, 1975, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2013, 2022
WAFL Reserves Reserves 7 1927, 1930, 1947, 1956, 1960, 2014, 2019
WAFL Colts Colts (U19) 2 1968, 1990
WAFLW Womens Seniors 0
Rogers Cup Colts (U19) 3 2021, 2023, 2024
Other titles and honours
Rodriguez Shield Multiple 4 1960, 1999, 2002, 2022
State Premiership (1904–1924) Seniors 1 1905
Finishing positions
WAFL Minor premiership 10 1897, 1899, 1901, 1905, 1942, 1948, 1960, 1975, 1993, 2022
Runners Up 20 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1898, 1903, 1906, 1911, 1922, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1953, 1973, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2015, 2018
Wooden spoons 11 1895, 1918, 1919, 1930, 1938, 1939, 1964, 1974, 1990, 1991, 1992

Individual honours

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Sandover Medallists: (12 total)

1922: Harold Boyd
1924: Jim Gosnell
1927: Jim Craig
1930: Ted Flemming
1940: Terence O'Keefe
1942: Laurie Bowen
1946: John Loughridge
1951: Fred Buttsworth
1959: Brian Foley
1992: Robert West
1993: Neil Mildenhall
2014: Aaron Black

Simpson Medallists: (11 total)

Bernie Naylor Medalists: (20 total)

All-Australians:

1961: Ray Gabelich
1972: Alan Watling

300 games

Mel Whinnen (371)
Bill Dempsey (343)

200 games:

(*) Indicates current listed players

Club records

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Highest score:

Round 10, 1981, 37–17 (239) vs. East Fremantle at Leederville Oval
Round 10, 1987, 37–17 (239) vs. South Fremantle at Leederville Oval

Lowest score:

Round 1, 1912, 0.3 (3) vs. Subiaco at WACA

Most games:

Mel Whinnen 367[10] (1960–1977)

Highest goal kicker (season):

E. Tyson 143 goals (1934)
R. Scott 143 goals (1953)

Highest goal kicker (game):

E. Tyson 17 goals v. Swan Districts (1934)

Highest goal kicker (career):

E. Tyson 1196 goals

Longest serving captain:

Les Fong, 7 Seasons (1980–1986)

Longest serving coach:

Bill Monaghan, 10 Seasons (2009 – 2018)

Most club champion awards won:

Mel Whinnen, 9

Record home attendance:

Round 21, 1978, 24,567 vs. East Perth at Leederville Oval

Record finals attendance:

1975 Grand Final, 52,322 vs. South Fremantle at Subiaco Oval

WA Football Hall of Fame

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West Perth players who have been inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame:

Player Year inducted
Fred Buttsworth 2004
Bill Dempsey 2004
Brian Foley 2004
Barney Grecian 2004
Stan Heal 2004
Fred McDiarmid 2004
Ray Schofield 2004
Ray Scott 2004
Max Tetley 2004
Ted Tyson 2004
Mel Whinnen 2004
Jim Craig 2005
Les Fong 2006
Brian France 2006
Jim Gosnell 2007
Alan Watling 2009
Wally Price 2010
Don Marinko, Sr. 2011
Frank Hopkins 2013
John Wynne 2015
Derek Kickett 2017
John Loughridge 2019

Premierships

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Grand finals

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Last premiership team

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2022 premiership team
B: Tyson Moulton (VC) Sam Rotham Zac Guadagnin
HB: Dean Munns (C) Noah Pegoraro Ben Johnson
C: Tristan Hobley Luke Meadows Aaron Black (C)
HF: Sasha Kernutt Anton Hamp Conal Lynch
F: Mitchell Dobson Tyler Keitel Keegan Knott
Foll: Troy Yukich Mitchell Peirce Shane Nelson
Int: Corey Rundle Nathan Alexandre Aidan Lynch
Joseph Hinder
Coach: Darren Harris

Club coaches

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Club captains

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Current squad

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As of October 2022:

Team of the Century

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{{Aussie rules team | title = Team of the Century | backpocket1 = Wally Price | fullback = Ray Schofield | backpocket2 = Bill Dempsey | halfbackflank1 = [[Harold Boyd (footballer, born 1900)|Harold Bo | centrehalfback = Brian France | halfbackflank2 = Ted Flemming | wing1 = Peter Menaglio | centre = Mel Whinnen | wing2 = Stan Heal | halfforwardflank1 = John Loughridge | centrehalfforward = Fred Buttsworth | halfforwardflank2 = Don Marinko, Sr. | forwardpocket1 = Bill Valli | fullforward = Ted Tyson | forwardpocket2 = Brian Foley | ruck = Graham Farmer | ruckrover = Ed O'Keefe | rover = Les Fong | interchange1 = Ken Ashdown | interchange2 = Jim Craig | interchange3 = Jim Gosnell | interchange4 = Jack McDiarmid | interchange5 = Ray Scott | interchange6 = Max Tetley
Alan Watling | coach = Stan Heal }}

AFL/VFL players (including rookies)

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This is a list of West Perth players who have played at AFL/VFL level:

See also

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References and notes

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  1. ^ "Board of Directors, Staff and Volunteers". West Perth Football Club. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  2. ^ "West Perth – Part One: 1885 to 1944". AustralianFootball.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  3. ^ "Sporting". West Australian. 5 May 1885.
  4. ^ FOOTBALL. – The West Australian. Published Wednesday, 13 May 1885. Retrieved from Trove, 1 July 2012.
  5. ^ NEWS OF THE DAY. – The Daily News. Published Saturday, 17 July 1886. Retrieved from Trove, 27 June 2012.
  6. ^ FOOTBALL. – Western Mail. Published Saturday, 27 April 1889. Retrieved from Trove, 27 June 2012.
  7. ^ [1] The West Australian. Published Friday, 15 April 2016.
  8. ^ Cowan, Sean (18 April 2015). "Historian debunks West Perth claim". The West Australian.
  9. ^ Eliza Reilly (23 January 2022). "West Perth league debut, rivalries and finals headline WAFLW fixture release". The West Australian.
  10. ^ This tally refers to premiership (home-and-away and finals matches) only.
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