Australian rules football in Western Australia (WA) is the most popular
sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
in the state and
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
has the second highest number of
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
participants of any state.
Western Australia was the last Australian colony to adopt Australian rules in 1881, however it managed to overtake
Rugby union in Western Australia
Rugby union in Western Australia describes the sport of rugby union being played and watched in the state of Western Australia. First introduced some time in 1868 it was the most popular football code until it was overtaken by Australian rules foo ...
as the most popular code in 1885, and following the
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western A ...
, courtesy of pioneering junior and schools programs, grew faster than any other state. For much of the 20th Century the
West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...
was the third strongest state competition in the country. In 1967 the WAFL set a record season attendance of 960,169 and the 1981 WAFL Grand Final was attended by 55,517. While it is now a feeder competition for the more popular
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
, the semi-professional WAFL still attracts around 200,000 fans through the gates each year. The sport in Western Australia is governed by the
West Australian Football Commission
The West Australian Football Commission is the governing body of Australian rules football in the state of Western Australia.
Operations
The WAFC was formed in 1989 to manage the sport in Western Australia. The commission is registered as a not-f ...
which also runs the WAFL and owns the state's two AFL clubs.
The
state team (the "Sandgropers") has defeated every state including Victoria and were declared national champions in
1921
Events
January
* January 2
** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil.
** The Spanish lin ...
,
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 ...
and
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
(the second most national titles after Victoria) and underage national champions in 1999,
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
and
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
.
The state is home to two fully professional clubs:
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...
(1986) and
Fremantle Football Club
The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of ...
(1994), the former having the distinction of being the first non-Victorian team to compete in and win an
AFL Grand Final
The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. From its inception until 1989, it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league at that time was the Victori ...
in
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
. In 2021 it also had the highest membership of any club in the AFL. The combined membership of these two clubs is more than 150,000, making Western Australia second only to Victoria in terms of support for the national club competition. These two teams compete against each other in the
Western Derby
The Western Derby () is the name given to the Australian rules football match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, who both participate in the Australian Football League (AFL). As both teams are based in Perth, the capital ...
.
Three West Australians have been named
Australian Football Hall of Fame
The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...
legends:
Graham 'Polly' Farmer
Graham Vivian "Polly" Farmer (10 March 1935 14 August 2019) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the East Perth Football Club and West Perth Football Club in th ...
,
Barry Cable
Barry Thomas Cable MBE (born 22 September 1943) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. Considered one of the greatest rovers in the sport's history, he played in 379 premiership games in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL ...
and
Merv McIntosh
Mervyn Frederick "Merv" McIntosh (25 November 1922 – 3 May 2010) was an Australian rules footballer in the (then) West Australian National Football League (WANFL). A brilliant ruckman, he was awarded the Sandover Medal as the fairest and b ...
.
Lance Franklin
Lance Franklin (born 30 January 1987), also known as Buddy Franklin, is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 20 ...
holds the
AFL games and
goals records for a Western Australian, with 338 and 1045 respectively.
History
Early Beginnings
![Football match Fremantle Oval 1910](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Football_match_Fremantle_Oval_1910.jpg)
Organised football in the
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
/
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
region of Western Australia dates back to 1881. Back then though
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
was the dominant football code. Only one senior club, "Unions", played Australian Rules.
In 1883 a second club, "Swans", emerged, but Australian Rules' growth remained much subdued compared to that of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
and
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
.
However, in those days many young men of Perth's wealthier families were educated in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, the capital of South Australia. On returning home from there they naturally wished to play the sport they'd grown up with and no doubt exerted some influence on their less affluent peers as to such. Coincidentally, the press at the time reported there was a growing dissatisfaction with rugby as a spectacle.
During the 1880s, the discoveries of gold, firstly in the
Kimberley,
Pilbara
The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...
and
Murchison regions, led to a dramatic increase in WA's population, including many players and supporters of Australian Rules from the eastern colonies.
In 1885 one of the leading rugby clubs,
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
, decided to change to Australian Rules. It was quickly joined by three other clubs - ,
Victorians
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...
, and a team of schoolboys from
The High School. The schoolboy side lasted just two matches, but the three other sides went on to contest what in retrospect was viewed as the first ever official Western Australian Football Association (WAFA) premiership, won by Rovers. And virtually overnight Australian rules football became the dominant code for the spectator as well.
Progress of Australian Rules in Western Australia still lagged behind the big football cities of Melbourne, Adelaide and Geelong however and is evidenced by the unstable nature of the clubs that participated in the early years.
In 1886 a new club Fremantle based club
Unions joined.
In 1887 Fremantle left the WAFA and the
West Australian Football Club
The West Australian Football Club, often referred to as West Australians or Wests, was an Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. Formed in 1886, the club was originally not associated with any competition, but entered ...
joined but they would only play two seasons before they disappeared.
In 1890 Unions would rename themselves Fremantle as those involved in the game saw the need to identify themselves with the region they were located in.
1891 saw two new clubs arrive, Centrals and East Perth, but they would be gone after one and two seasons respectively.
1899 would be the last season Fremantle would take part. Despite Unions/Fremantle being the most dominant club in the WAFA up to this point winning the competition 10 times in its 13 years of existence, problems with debt saw the club disappear and some people involved with the old entity formed
South Fremantle Football Club
South Fremantle Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Fremantle, Western Australia. The club plays in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) and the WAFL Women's (WAFLW), commonly going by the nickname the ''Bulldogs ...
in its place. Despite the fact that many involved with Fremantle moved onto South Fremantle the new club is not seen as a continuation of the old and did not lay claim to its proud records to that date.
1899 was also the last time Rovers would take part. The move to regionalisation which saw Unions take on the old Fremantle's name and colours made it difficult for this club that didn't represent a particular area to attract players. They folded and were immediately replaced by
Perth Football Club
The Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in Lathlain, Western Australia, currently playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).
Representing the south-east area of the Perth metropo ...
who were promoted from the Perth First Rate Association.
Major gold discoveries at
Coolgardie and
Kalgoorlie
Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...
, coupled with a major international economic depression, caused immigration from the eastern colonies to accelerate. These migrants included a large number of footballers including some celebrated players, and the Goldfields competition (later known as the
Goldfields Football League
The Goldfields Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Goldfields region of Western Australia. Founded in 1896 as Hannans District Football Association, the league enjoyed a seat and full voting rights on the Austra ...
) was comparable in status and standard to the Perth competition for many years. (This was shown by the fact that it had a separate seat on the
Australian National Football Council
The Australian National Football Council (ANFC) was the national governing body for Australian rules football in Australia from 1906 until 1995. The council was a body of delegates representing each of the principal leagues which controlled the ...
until 1919.) The higher standard of play that naturally followed, helped to increase the game's popularity and increased the professionalism of the WAFA.
By 1901, the WAFA had grown to have six teams. Up to this point, five sides at most had been in the competition, and this number had invariably changed from year to year, as clubs came and went. And by 1906 there were eight teams — being
West Perth,
East Perth
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from ...
,
East Fremantle
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
,
South Fremantle,
North Fremantle
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
,
Subiaco,
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
and
Midland Junction
Midland is a suburb in the Perth metropolitan region, as well as the regional centre for the City of Swan local government area that covers the Swan Valley and parts of the Darling Scarp to the east. It is situated at the intersection of G ...
.
In 1908 the WAFA was renamed the West Australian Football League (WAFL).
World War I and the WAFL's Youth Policy
Jack Simons
John "Jack" Joseph Simons (also widely known and referred to as J. J. Simons and J. J. "Boss" Simons (12 August 1882 – 24 October 1948) was an Australian businessman and politician, best known for establishing the Young Australia League.
Ear ...
(WAFL secretary between 1905 and 1914) believed that the future of the code was its introduction to schools. Senior player numbers were already beginning to wane and junior teams were suffering catastrophic loss of numbers. Simons believed the league could not continue without a younger generation. Simons was concerned with encroachment of
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
,
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
and other "non-Australian" sports was threatening the game at grassroots level. Along with several prominent Western Australians including Lionel Boas, Simons formed the
Young Australia Football League in 1905 as a development organisation. Confident that Australian Football offered the greatest game in the world, his work included overseas tours and invitational teams. These initiatives would lead to the game's establishment in the schools and provide a boom in junior player numbers which would see competition continue through the war and a generation of new players introduced to the game.
Unlike many other sporting competitions, the WAFL didn't go into recess during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, although two teams — North Fremantle and Midland Junction — were "casualties" of the war, competing for the last time in 1915 and 1917 respectively.
Between the Wars
![Claremont vs West Perth at Leederville Oval from The West Australian 19 May 1930 pg 18](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Claremont_vs_West_Perth_at_Leederville_Oval_from_The_West_Australian_19_May_1930_pg_18.png)
In 1921, the WAFL introduced the
Sandover Medal
The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant and be ...
, for the fairest and best player over a season, as voted by the field umpires. The medal has been awarded annually ever since.
Claremont entered the league in 1926, bringing the number of teams back to seven.
In 1932, the WAFL was renamed the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) - the "national" concept in the name being adopted by the SANFL and a couple of other leagues a few years earlier.
Swan Districts entered the league in 1934. The eight competing sides still remain today and are generally referred to as the "traditional eight clubs".
Because of World War Two, the league only ran an "under age" competition between 1942–44. However, the three premierships won during this time are given equal status to any other, in official records. All clubs competed, with the exception of Swan Districts who could not form a team in 1942, although they were back in 1943.
Post-war period
The 1960s saw crowds get bigger and bigger, as WAFL football captured the hearts and minds of the WA public like never before, and in the 1970s and early 80s it was easily the biggest show in town.
However, during this period more and more star WAFL players were looking to head to the
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...
(VFL), enticed by the bigger money and the fact that it was more and more gaining a reputation as the "big" league.
This is perhaps best evidenced in that Victoria (i.e. the VFL representative team) had by far the best record in interstate games for a long time. But in 1977, when the first proper
State of Origin
A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...
match was played, it saw Western Australia inflict its biggest defeat on a Victorian team.
In 1980, the WANFL dropped the "N" and the "ern" and reverted to being called the WAFL.
At this time crowds were as big as they ever were. Soon afterwards, however, interest in the WAFL began a slow decline, as it became increasingly obvious that even larger numbers of the WAFL's best players were going to head east.
Entering the National Competition
By 1987, the WAFL had decided that the future of the game in WA depended on it entering a team in the VFL. The
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...
were formed and entered the VFL (the VFL was renamed the
AFL
AFL may refer to:
Sports
* American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues:
** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...
in 1990). With many of Western Australia's best players now competing in a team that represented Western Australia on a national scale, it was suddenly apparent that the WAFL was now a second-class competition.
In 1990 the state league was renamed the Western Australian State Football League, but it had reverted to WAFL by 1991.
In 1992, the West Coast Eagles made history by becoming the first interstate club to win an AFL premiership. The win resulted in a huge boost to the side's popularity, put pressure on
Subiaco Oval
Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood.
Subiaco Oval was the high ...
to expand and ultimately led to demand for a second AFL licence for the state.
Another locally based AFL team, the
Fremantle FC were formed in 1995.
The popularity of the AFL with 2 sides, particularly with the
Western Derby
The Western Derby () is the name given to the Australian rules football match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, who both participate in the Australian Football League (AFL). As both teams are based in Perth, the capital ...
, cemented the position of WAFL as a second-class competition. WAFL clubs have struggled ever since with their sudden demise from being technically equal to any VFL club, to feeder club status. However, they have enjoyed some benefits, such as the funds flowing from the WA-based AFL teams and the influx of talented players from other states, attempting to make a name for themselves.
In 1997,
Peel Thunder
The Peel Thunder Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The team is based in Mandurah, Western Australia, with their home ground being Rushton Park. The ...
— somewhat controversially — became the ninth WAFL club. Throughout their brief history, they have struggled to compete with the traditional eight clubs, which are generally opposed to their presence. This is partly because having an odd number of teams forces one team to have a bye each week.
Also in 1997, the WAFL was renamed Westar Rules, in a failed attempt to revamp the league's image. However the name again reverted to WAFL in 2001.
Recent years have seen the WAFL stabilise itself as a league a step down from the
AFL
AFL may refer to:
Sports
* American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues:
** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...
. Obviously the sudden player drain brought on by the expansion of the VFL into the AFL has lessened the standard of play, however this has recovered somewhat, with "veteran" AFL players returning and new players coming through.
Recent History
File:Dean Cox marks during a WCE vs SYD AFL match.jpg, AFL West Coast playing Sydney in Perth in 2006
File:Western Derby XXVII.jpg, Shaun McManus
Shaun John McManus (born 9 February 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer. He is one of the most popular players to ever represent the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and is often seen as an icon or f ...
' farewell game in Round 18 2008 Western Derby
The Western Derby () is the name given to the Australian rules football match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, who both participate in the Australian Football League (AFL). As both teams are based in Perth, the capital ...
Fremantle home game
File:AFL_WCE_VS_COLLINGWOOD.JPG, West Coast vs Collingwood at Subiaco Oval in 2014
File:2021_AFL_Grand_Final,_Perth_Stadium,_Simon_Goodwin_and_Max_Gawn_hoist_up_the_cup_together,_25_September_2021.jpg, 2021 AFL Grand Final at Perth Stadium
Western Australia was the first state to trial the derivative social game of
Rec Footy
Recreational Football (also known as ''Rec Footy'' or ''Recreational Footy'') was a non-contact version of the Australian rules football game first played in 2003 and later sanctioned by the Australian Football League's game development arm, it ...
in 2003.
Involvement and attendance in Australian Rules reached record levels in Western Australia 2004. The total attendance, including AFL games was a record 1,030,000. The 2005 WAFL grand final between South Fremantle and Claremont attracted 22,570 to
Subiaco Oval
Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood.
Subiaco Oval was the high ...
.
In 2006, the combined membership of Fremantle and West Coast AFL clubs was a record 79,804 members
Participation
In 2022 there were 94,318 registered players.
[Ausplay Sports Report 2022 - Australian Football](_blank)
/ref> This grew from 2007 when there were around 12,050 senior players and a total participation of 91,009, With a participation rate of around 4.2% per capita, Western Australia it the third most supported state (behind Victoria and South Australia).
Audience
Attendance Record
* 59,608 (2018). AFL
AFL may refer to:
Sports
* American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues:
** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...
Preliminary Final. West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...
v Melbourne Football Club, Melbourne. (Optus Stadium
Perth Stadium, currently known as Optus Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Burswood. It was completed in late 2017 and officially opened on 21 January 2018. The s ...
, Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
)
Major Australian Rules Events in Western Australia
*Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
Premiership Season (West Coast Eagles and Fremantle home games)
*Western Derby
The Western Derby () is the name given to the Australian rules football match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, who both participate in the Australian Football League (AFL). As both teams are based in Perth, the capital ...
*West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...
Grand Final
Notable Western Australian footballers
Graham 'Polly' Farmer
Graham Vivian "Polly" Farmer (10 March 1935 14 August 2019) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the East Perth Football Club and West Perth Football Club in th ...
was the first West Australian to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame
The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...
as a legend. He was also named as the ruckman in the AFL Team of the Century
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
. Barry Cable
Barry Thomas Cable MBE (born 22 September 1943) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. Considered one of the greatest rovers in the sport's history, he played in 379 premiership games in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL ...
(2012) and Merv McIntosh
Mervyn Frederick "Merv" McIntosh (25 November 1922 – 3 May 2010) was an Australian rules footballer in the (then) West Australian National Football League (WANFL). A brilliant ruckman, he was awarded the Sandover Medal as the fairest and b ...
(2021) have also been elevated to legend status.
Other great players from WA to have been inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame are Jack Clarke, George Doig
George Ronald Doig (25 May 1913 – 27 November 2006) was an Australian rules footballer who played for and later coached the East Fremantle Football Club in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL). A member of the Doig sporting ...
, Ross Glendinning
Ross William Glendinning (born 17 September 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the East Perth Football Club in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL) and for the North Melbourne Football Club and the West ...
, Denis Marshall, Merv McIntosh
Mervyn Frederick "Merv" McIntosh (25 November 1922 – 3 May 2010) was an Australian rules footballer in the (then) West Australian National Football League (WANFL). A brilliant ruckman, he was awarded the Sandover Medal as the fairest and b ...
, Stephen Michael
Stephen Albert Michael (born 15 March 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer. More recently, Stephen is the patron of the Stephen Michael Foundation, supporting disengaged, at-risk and disadvantaged youth across Western Australia.
Playin ...
, George Moloney
George Michael Moloney (7 August 1909 – 5 January 1983) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Claremont Football Club in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL) and for the Geelong Football Club in the Victor ...
, Graham Moss
Graham Frank Moss (born 14 May 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the Claremont Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).
A ...
, Wayne Richardson
Wayne Richardson (born 8 December 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer in the (then) Victorian Football League.
Collingwood Football Club snared Wayne Richardson from South Fremantle Football Club in 1965 before he had made his se ...
, Jack Sheedy, William 'Nipper' Truscott
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
and Bill Walker Bill Walker may refer to:
Australian rules football
* Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon
* Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy
* Bill J. V. Wal ...
. In the 1980s and 90s players such as Brad Hardie
Bradley John Hardie (born 10 October 1962) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented , , and in the Australian Football League (AFL) as well as in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). Stocky built with bright red hair, Ha ...
, Nicky Winmar
Neil Elvis "Nicky" Winmar (born 25 September 1965) is a former Australian rules footballer, best known for his career for and the in the Australian Football League (AFL), as well as in the West Australian Football League.
Growing up in Pin ...
, Jim
Jim or JIM may refer to:
* Jim (given name), a given name
* Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James
* Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy
* OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism
* ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring
* ''Jim ...
and Phil Krakouer
Phillip Brent Krakouer (born 15 January 1960) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club during the 1980s. Notable for his speed, freakish skills and an uncanny ability to pass the ball to his brothe ...
, Mark Bairstow, Glen Jakovich
Glen Darren Jakovich (born 24 March 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Jakovich was recruited from South Fremantle in the West Australian Football Leag ...
, Guy McKenna
Guy Lindsay McKenna (born 11 May 1969) is a retired Australian rules football player and the former senior coach of the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). McKenna played 267 games for the West Coast Eagles, inclu ...
, Dean Kemp and Peter Matera
Peter Matera (born 3 April 1969) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Hailing from the West Australian country town of Wagin, Matera was born of an Italian fat ...
starred in the AFL. More recently high-profile Western Australian players in the AFL have included Ben Cousins
Benjamin Luke Cousins (born 30 June 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for and in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Cousins is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the fifty greatest players of ...
, Lance Franklin
Lance Franklin (born 30 January 1987), also known as Buddy Franklin, is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 20 ...
, Simon Black
Simon Black (born 3 April 1979) is a former Australian rules football player and current assistant coach, who played his whole career with the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Black was a midfielder with a reputation fo ...
, Patrick Ryder
Patrick Ryder (born 14 March 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the , and St Kilda Football Clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Ryder was noted for his speed, agility and leap for someone of his size and it ...
, Peter Bell, Jeff Farmer, Aaron Sandilands, Dean Cox
Dean Michael Cox (born 1 August 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer and current assistant coach of the Sydney Swans who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Dampier, Western Austr ...
, Daniel Kerr
Daniel Alan Kerr (born 16 May 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played 220 games for the club between 2001 and 2013, as a hard-running inside midfie ...
, Nic Naitanui
Nicholas Mark Naitanui (; born 4 May 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was born in Sydney to Fijian parents, and his family moved to Perth, Western Austra ...
and Nat Fyfe
Nathan Fyfe (born 18 September 1991) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He has served as Fremantle captain since the 2017 season. Fyfe is a dual Brown ...
.
Representative teams
The Western Australian Australian football team is nicknamed alternatively the "Sandgropers" or the "Black Swans" and have played representative matches, either as State of Origin
A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...
or as a state team representing the WAFL against all other Australian states.
Governing Body
The governing body
A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...
for Australian rules football in WA is the West Australian Football Commission
The West Australian Football Commission is the governing body of Australian rules football in the state of Western Australia.
Operations
The WAFC was formed in 1989 to manage the sport in Western Australia. The commission is registered as a not-f ...
.
Leagues & clubs
Professional clubs
*West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...
(Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
)
*Fremantle Football Club
The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of ...
(Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
)
Open
Perth metropolitan leagues
*West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...
(semi-professional)
*Western Australian Amateur Football League
The Perth Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in Perth, Western Australia. It is the largest Australian rules football competition in Western Australia.
History
The competition began in 1922 with five teams as the M ...
* Metro Football League (was Mercantile Football Association)
* Sunday Football League (defunct)
Regional leagues
*West Australian Country Football League
The Australian Country Football League (WACFL) is the governing body for the sport of Australian rules football in the non-metropolitan areas of Western Australia. The organisation was founded in 1973 as the Western Australian National Country F ...
*Avon Football Association
The Avon Football Association is an Australian rules football competition in the Avon Valley region of country Western Australia.
History
The AFA was formed in 1959 through the merger of the East Avon FA (EAFA) and Avon Valley FA (AVFA).
In ...
*Central Kimberley Football Association
The Central Kimberley Football League is an Australian rules football competition in the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The league was formed in 1991, and a number of the clubs represent local Australian Ab ...
* Central Midlands Coastal Football League
*Central Wheatbelt Football League
The Central Wheatbelt Football League is an Australian rules football competition in the Wheatbelt (Western Australia), Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.
History
The Central Wheatbelt Football League (CWFL) was formed at the end of the 1 ...
*East Kimberley Football Association
The East Kimberley Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, with some clubs also located across the border in the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly ab ...
*Eastern Districts Football League
The Eastern Districts Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the eastern Wheatbelt (Western Australia), Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The league stretches from Southern Cross, Western Australia, Southern Cross ...
* Esperance District Football Association
*Fortescue National Football League The Fortescue National Football League, named after the Fortescue River, is an Australian rules football competition based in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It features three clubs (Panthers, Tigers, Townsite Eagles) from the town of To ...
*Gascoyne Football Association
The Gascoyne Football Association is an Australian rules football competition based in Carnarvon, Western Australia, Carnarvon and Exmouth, Western Australia, Exmouth in Western Australia. The association was formed in 1908.Mott, Derek, ''Weste ...
*Goldfields Football League
The Goldfields Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Goldfields region of Western Australia. Founded in 1896 as Hannans District Football Association, the league enjoyed a seat and full voting rights on the Austra ...
*Great Northern Football League
The Great Northern Football League is an Australian rules football league centred on the city of Geraldton
Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of We ...
* Great Southern Football League
*Hills Football Association
The Hills Football Association is an Australian rules football leagues based in Western Australia. The association was formed in 1946. The inaugural clubs were chidlow, Western Australia, Chidlow, Mundaring, Western Australia, Mundaring, Parker ...
*Lower South West Football League
The Lower South West Football League is a country Australian rules football league incorporating teams from towns located within the South West (Western Australia), South West and Great Southern (Western Australia), Great Southern regions of We ...
*Mortlock Football League
The Mortlock Football League is an Australian rules football competition based around 8 clubs in the south-west region of Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western perce ...
*Newman National Football League
The Newman National Football League, named after the mining centre of Newman, Western Australia, is an Australian rules football competition based in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
History
The league was founded in 1972 with three c ...
*North Midlands Football League
The North Midlands Football League is an Australian rules football leagues based in Mid West (Western Australia).
The league was formed in 1921 as the North Midlands Football Association. The five founding teams were Three Springs, Carnamah, ...
* North Pilbara Football League
* Ongerup Football Association
*Peel Football League
The Peel Football League (PFL) is a country football league based in the Peel region of Western Australia. The competition was formed in 1992 when teams from the Metropolitan Football League and Murray Districts Football League merged. There ar ...
* Ravensthorpe & Districts Football Association
*South West Football League
The South West Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the South West (Western Australia), south-west of Western Australia. The league is affiliated to the West Australian Country Football League.
History
The idea of cr ...
*Upper Great Southern Football League
The Upper Great Southern Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the state of Western Australia, incorporating teams from towns located within the Great Southern, Wheatbelt and Peel regions. The league was formed in 1 ...
*West Kimberley Football Association
The West Kimberley Football Association is an Australian rules football competition in the far North West of Western Australia.
The league covers an area from Bidyadanga in the west to Derby in the east. Games are played during the day in Br ...
Women's
* West Australian Women's Football League
The West Australian Women's Football League (WAWFL) was the governing body of women's Australian rules football in the state of Western Australia from 1987 until its dissolution in 2021.
It organised the premier women's football league in Wes ...
br>Official Site
Masters
* Masters Australian Football WAbr>Official Site
Principal Venues
The following venues meet AFL Standard criteria and have been used to host AFL (National Standard) or AFLW level matches (Regional Standard) are listed by capacity.[AFL PREFERRED FACILITY GUIDELINES](_blank)
Aflcommunityclub.com.au
Historic Venues
* Subiaco Oval
Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood.
Subiaco Oval was the high ...
(1930s-2017)
* WACA Ground
The WACA (formally the WACA Ground) is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association.
The WACA has been referred to as Wester ...
(1899-2000)
Modern AFL Standard Venues
* Perth Stadium
Perth Stadium, currently known as Optus Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in A ...
(2018-)
* Fremantle Oval
Fremantle Oval, also known by naming rights sponsorship as Fremantle Community Bank Oval, is a stadium in the centre of Fremantle, Western Australia, located on Parry Street. It currently has a capacity of 17,500 with terracing and a members ...
(1890s-)
* Arena Joondalup
Arena Joondalup, known as HBF Arena under a commercial naming rights arrangement, is a multi-purpose sports complex in Joondalup, Western Australia, located on 35 ha of parkland approximately 25 km north of Perth. It was officially o ...
* Leederville Oval
Leederville Oval (known as Medibank Stadium under a naming rights agreement between 2006 and 2016) is an Australian rules football ground located in Leederville, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The ground is used as a home ground by two c ...
* East Fremantle Oval
* Claremont Oval
Claremont Oval, also known by naming rights sponsorship as Revo Fitness Stadium, is an Australian rules football stadium located in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium, opened in as "Claremont Recreation Ground", seats . It is the home of th ...
* Bassendean Oval
Bassendean Oval currently known as Steel Blue Oval for sponsorship reasons, is a sports stadium, located in Bassendean, Western Australia. The capacity of the venue is 22,000 people.
It usually hosts Australian rules football matches and is t ...
* Lathlain Park
Lathlain Park (also known as Mineral Resources Park under ground sponsorship arrangements) is an Australian rules football ground, located in Lathlain, an inner-eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Since its opening in 1959, it has been ...
* Rushton Park
Rushton Park (also known as Lane Group Stadium under ground sponsorship arrangements) is an Australian rules football ground located in Mandurah, Western Australia. Having been in use as a football ground since the early 1960s, the ground is c ...
* Wonthella Oval, Geraldton
* Collingwood Park, Albany
* Centennial Stadium, Albany
See also
*West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...
*Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
*West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...
*Fremantle Football Club
The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of ...
* List of Australian rules football in Western Australia
*
*West Australian State Championship
The West Australian State PremiershipSeveral different names were used in contemporary sources for the matches, including "state premiership", "state championship" and "the football championship". was an Australian rules football match contested ...
References
External links
Western Australia Team of the Century (from Full Points Footy)
{{Aussie Rules Playing Nations links
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
History of Australian rules football