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Gerard Neesham
Gerard Joseph Neesham (born 11 December 1954) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the East Fremantle Football Club, Swan Districts Football Club and Claremont Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). Hailing from a famous Western Australian sporting family, Neesham enjoyed a very successful football career both as a player and coach, and was recognised for his achievements in 2004 when he was inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame. Since 2000, Neesham has served as chief executive officer of the Clontarf Foundation. His services to indigenous youth and to football were recognized in 2011 when he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia as part of the Australia Day Honours List. Playing career In the WAFL, Neesham played for East Fremantle in 79 games, Swan Districts in 97 games, and Claremont in 42 games. He also represented Western Australia th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reserves men's team in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The club's origins trace back to 21 March 1873, when a meeting was held at the Clarendon Hotel in South Melbourne to establishing a junior football club, to be called the South Melbourne Football Club. The club commenced playing in 1874 at its home ground; Lakeside Oval in Albert Park. Playing as South Melbourne, it participated in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) competition from 1878 before joining the breakaway Victorian Football League (VFL) as a founding member in 1897. Originally known as the "Bloods" in reference to the red colour used on players' guernseys, the Swan emblem was adopted in 1933 after a journalist at the time referred to them using the moniker following ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clontarf Foundation
The Clontarf Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that assists in the education and employment of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men. Overview With support from the corporate/philanthropic sector, state/Territory governments and the Federal Government, academies now operate in 141 schools in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. The founder and Chief Executive Officer is Gerard Neesham, former coach of Fremantle Football Club. Staff include former teachers, youth workers, professional football players and people from a range of industries. The original Clontarf Football Academy was established in 2000 at the Clontarf Aboriginal College site in Waterford, Western Australia. Since then, Clontarf academies have expanded to the Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Locations Academies now operate in the following locations: Western Australia – * Broom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1993 WAFL Season
The 1993 WAFL season was the 109th of the various incarnations of the West Australian Football League. It saw an extraordinarily even competition amongst all the teams except Perth, with only three and a half games separating first and seventh and the smallest dispersion of winning percentages in the WAFL since 1921. West Perth's 13 wins and a percentage marginally under 100 is the fewest wins and lowest percentage to take top position in a major Australian Rules league: indeed no team had headed the ladder with a percentage nearly so low at any stage of a season except Hawthorn during May of 1969Rogers, Stephen, ''The Complete Book of VFL Records''; p. 278. and Perth during June and July 1963. After early pacesetters Swan Districts and the inconsistent if at times brilliant South Fremantle collapsed in the second half of the season, the bottom two clubs of 1992 in West Perth (already decided on a move to JoondalupCasellas, Ken; ‘Falcons Nestled in Promised Land’; ''The West ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1991 WAFL Season
The 1991 WAFL season was the 107th season of the various incarnations of the West Australian Football League. With the West Coast Eagles still pushing attendances down and club finances into the red, the league made further experiments. Following on from the VFL and SANFL it introduced a ‘final five’ to replace the final four in use since 1905, but this did not produce the hoped-for financial benefits and was abandoned after four seasons. A more enduring result of this chance was a ‘double-header’ system of playing finals, whereby the two senior semi-finals were played at Subiaco Oval on the same day, with the first game starting just before noon and the second at the traditional time for playing finals. As a consequence of the double-headers, reserves finals were played at Fremantle Oval and colts at Bassendean. The league also reverted to the ‘WAFL’ moniker after the change to ‘WA State League’ or ‘WASFL’ was regarded as a failure. At the end of the home-an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1989 WAFL Season
The 1989 WAFL season was the 105th season of senior football in Perth. It saw Claremont continue its dominance of the competition with a third successive minor premiership under Gerard Neesham, despite having lost most of their top players of previous seasons to the VFL, and their 1988 conquerors Subiaco fall to third last with a mere six wins – their worst performance since the dark days of 1983 when the club had not played in the finals for nine years and had been wooden spooners four times in eight seasons. Coach Bunton had to promote many young players and knew 1989 was to be a year of rebuilding,Lewis, Ross; ‘Subi on Slippery Slope’; ''The West Australian'', 12 June 1989, p. 112 though only a second (and last as of 2014) Colts premiership under Eddie Pitter showed Subiaco did possess much resilience. Perth, who in 1988 had had their best record since 1978 and returned to Lathlain Park after the experiment of playing at their pre-1959 home of the WACA Ground was regar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1987 WAFL Season
The 1987 WAFL season was the 103rd season of the West Australian Football League in its various incarnations. This season saw a Western Australia-based team, , was one of two interstate teams (along with the Gold Coast-based Brisbane Bears) to make their debut in the Victorian Football League (VFL), which had profound effects on the WAFL competition. The Eagles took away thirty-five of the competition's best players, severely reducing attendances and club revenue, the latter of which was further affected by the payment of the Eagles’ licence fee to the VFL. The WAFL budgeted for a 30 percent decline in attendances, but the observed decline was over fifty percent, and they were also hit by Channel Seven telecasting the Round 17 versus match, breaching agreements to ''not'' telecast non-Eagles VFL matches to Perth. As small compensation, Claremont under captain-coach Gerard Neesham developed an innovation possession-oriented “chip and draw” style of football that allowed th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1985 WAFL Season
The 1985 WAFL season was the 101st season of the West Australian Football League and its various incarnations. The season opened on 30 March and concluded on 21 September with the 1985 WAFL Grand Final contested between and . It was highlighted by the rise of Subiaco, who had nearly become extinct in the late 1970s due to financial problems and had won only 25.2 percent of its games between 1975 and 1984. The Lions recovered from a mid-season slump to win their last seven games before the finals – their longest winning streak in one season since 1915 – and challenge East Fremantle. The Sharks came off their 1984 Grand Final loss to win their first twelve on end, gain favourable comparisons with their unbeaten 1946 counterparts, and be quoted at odds of 25/1 to achieve a perfect season.Christian, Geoff; ‘Sharks Have a Touch of Greatness’; ''The West Australian'', 20 May 1985, p. 81 The blue and whites sealed the minor premiership with four games remaining and defeated th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1984 WAFL Season
The 1984 WAFL season was the 100th season of the West Australian Football League and its various incarnations. The season opened on 31 March and concluded on 22 September with the 1984 WAFL Grand Final contested between and . It saw Swan Districts record their sixth WAFL premiership, and its third in a row, after a slow start that had it win only half its games in the first fourteen rounds. East Fremantle returned to the Grand Final after four disappointing seasons with only 28 wins from 85 games. After an unsuccessful decade, Subiaco recalled former coach Haydn Bunton, Jr., and despite not improving their position in the seniors, were generally considered to have made major improvement with five more victories and a young reserves side winning the club's first premiership in any grade since their 1974 colts win. South Fremantle, who began with a number of spectacular performances fell away from second place with five losses in their final six games. Claremont lost three-time c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1983 WAFL Season
The 1983 WAFL season was the 99th season of the West Australian Football League in its various incarnations. The season opened on 31 March and concluded on 17 September with the 1983 WAFL Grand Final contested between Claremont and Swan Districts. South Fremantle, after a disappointing 1982, and Claremont dominated the competition for most of the year before Swans – after a slow start due to numerous injuries with four losses from eight matches – came home very strongly for a second premiership win in a row. East Perth, with a new coach and required to play fourteen men new to league football, missed the finals for only the second time in eighteen seasons and indeed only the fifth since their dynasty between 1956 and 1961, though a reserves premiership after a drawn preliminary final was partial compensation. The continuing fall in WAFL attendances despite the growth of Perth's metropolitan population, loss of many star players to the VFL, and resultant financial difficultie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1982 VFL Season
The 1982 VFL season was the 86th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 20 March until 25 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs. The season saw the VFL establish its first permanent interstate presence, as the South Melbourne Football Club (which was known after June just as the Swans, being renamed Sydney the following year) played all of its home games on Sunday afternoons in Sydney, New South Wales. The premiership was won by the Carlton Football Club for the 14th time and second time consecutively, after it defeated by 18 points in the VFL Grand Final. Notable events * South Melbourne, affected by limited finances and loss of its inner-city support base ever since World War II, relocated to Sydney after experimental matches played by the VFL there since 1979. Early in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1980 WAFL Season
The 1980 WAFL season was the 96th season of the West Australian Football League in its various incarnations. The season saw the league drop the word ‘national’ from its official name for the first time in fifty years, reverting to the title in use from 1908 to 1930. It also saw reigning premiers East Fremantle embark on the most rapid slide by any reigning premier since went from first to last in 1916. Handicapped by the loss of Mario Turco to North Melbourne and Doug Green to retirement, along with injuries to Jim Sewell, Graham Carter, Swan Districts recruit Mark Olsen and Rod Lester-Smith and form lapses by Tony Buhagiar and Ian Thomson,See Hopkins, Colin; ‘Swans Live Up to Their Promise’; ''The West Australian'', 8 April 1980, p. 87 the blue and whites also lost classy Essendon recruit Darren “Daisy” Williams who returned to Victoria for personal reasons after two matches.Carew-Reid, Andrew; ‘East Fremantle Throw Off the Blues’; ''The West Australian'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1979 WANFL Season
The 1979 WANFL season was the 95th season of the West Australian National Football League in its various incarnations, and the last of forty-nine (including three under-age wartime seasons) under that moniker. The season set many records for high scoring due to the still-ongoing drying of Perth's climate and the new “interchange’ rule. The all-time record aggregate score of 60.18 (378) was set in the third last round between and and has never been approached since. However, the overall average score of 112.52 points per team per game was not nearly so high as in the following few years under the ‘WAFL’ moniker. A major highlight of the 1979 season was the all-time record attendance for local West Australian football of 52,781 in the Grand Final, beating narrowly the previous record of 52,322 set in the 1975 decider.Devaney; ''Full Points Footy’s WA Football Companion''; pp. 126-129 The 1979 season was a critical turning point in the fortunes of many WANFL clubs. Pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
