OPINION: "Why not hold WAFL Grand Finals at the Suburban Grounds?", by Jack Frost

Fremantle Oval: my first preference for an alternative WAFL Grand Final venue

Bassendean Oval: My second preference

I would like to suggest that the WAFL considers shifting the WAFL Grand Final to suburban traditional grounds in the future and away from the AFL corporate megastadium of Subaco Oval. (I refuse to use any sponsor's names in naming grounds unless the sponsor pays me personally.) Nothing is sacred in the WAFL these days and the move should be considered. Playing the Grand Final at Subiaco Oval made sense when the three minor finals were played there and it was the home ground of Subiaco Football Club. Now the ground is firmly within the AFL corporate sphere and has no logical or necessary connection with second-tier football. Whatever Subiaco Oval may have meant to the WAFL and to WAFL supporters in the past I believe is now forever lost.

Last week West Perth played East Perth in front of 20,000 people in the 2013 WAFL Grand Final. Perhaps the crowd was reduced somewhat by bad weather. Not living in Western Australia anymore I have no first-hand knowledge of this. However, WP v EP is a major traditional clash and I doubt that any other match is as important in WAFL football other than the Fremantle derby. If WP v EP can only attract 20,000 people then it is unlikely a WAFL Grand Final crowd in the future will reasonably exceed (say) 23,000 or 25,000 people even in fine weather. The largest of the traditional suburban grounds, such as Bassendean Oval, Fremantle Oval, East Fremantle Oval, and Lathlain Park have accommodated crowds of 20,000 people at home-and-away games before and could do so again. I accept that Claremont Oval and Leederville Oval are much smaller grounds now than they were 20 years ago and perhaps they could not accommodate 20,000 mostly standing-room patrons. I would appreciate if anyone could give me full capacity figures for those two grounds at the moment. I was at Claremont Oval for the 4 May 2013 clash with Perth Demons and much of the old north-east corner of the ground (the bank to the left of the scoreboard if viewed from the members' stand) seemed to have been removed or was in the process of being removed.

Lathlain Park: My fourth preference

The atmosphere at Fremantle Oval or Bassendean Oval with 20,000 mostly standing patrons would be amazing and give younger people an insight into what big home-and-away games were like in the WAFL in the 1960s, 1970s, and early-1980s. We would need a rule like the ground used for the Grand Final could not be the home ground for either of the two competing clubs. My preferred grounds (in order of preference) would be: 1 Fremantle, 2 Bassendean, 3 East Fremantle, 4 Lathlain, 5 Claremont, 6 Rushton Park, 7 Leederville, 8 Joondalup (Joondalup is last because part of my aim here is re-creating the old WAFL big-match atmosphere at a traditional WAFL ground). Please leave me your comments below.

[By Jack Frost, 24 September 2013.]