West Perth Football Club

  Red   BlueCompetitionWest Australian Football LeaguePresidentNeale Fong^[1]CoachDarren Harris^[1]Captain(s)Aaron BlackPremiershipsGround(s)Arena Joondalup (capacity: 16,000)Uniforms

Home

Other informationOfficial websitewestperthfc.com.au

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.

History

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]

Club song

"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

Club honours

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
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

Sandover Medallists: (12 total)

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

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

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

Grand finals

Last premiership team

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

Club captains

Current squad

As of October 2022:

Team of the Century

Team of the Century

B:	Wally Price	Ray Schofield	Bill Dempsey
HB:	Harold Boyd	Brian France	Ted Flemming
C:	Peter Menaglio	Mel Whinnen	Stan Heal
HF:	John Loughridge	Fred Buttsworth	Don Marinko, Sr.
F:	Bill Valli	Ted Tyson	Brian Foley
Foll:	Graham Farmer	Ed O'Keefe	Les Fong
Int:	Ken Ashdown	Jim Craig	Jim Gosnell
	Jack McDiarmid	Ray Scott	Max Tetley Alan Watling
Coach:	Stan Heal

AFL/VFL players (including rookies)

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

See also

• West Perth players

References and notes

External links

ClubsFormer clubsGroundsFormer grounds