Round 6, 1984 - West Perth FC 15.15 (105) drew South Fremantle FC 16.9 (105), Leederville Oval

Mike B. (left) and Kieran J., West Perth cheer squad 1984-86 founders, 25 years on, Exchange Hotel, Kalgoorlie, 14 July 2011

Leederville Oval viewed from northern end goals, 6/7/2011

The author became aware, early in the 1984 WAFL regular season, that the earlier famed WPFC cheer squad, which had congregated behind the northern end goals at Leederville Oval for many years, had quit completely at the end of 1983. This cheer squad was interesting as, unlike nearly every other cheer squad in Australian Rules’ history in Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia, it was dominated by middle-aged females and young children. The legendary leader of this group was a woman known as “Fat Pam”. The leading women used to stand upright on the last row of wooden benches behind the northern goals thus placing considerable strain upon the said benches. Their cheer squad was large, committed, and dedicated; it had a huge collection of flags and floggers. However, with this cheer squad now disbanded by early in the 1984 season, the author sensed a gap and an opportunity. As far as the author was aware, in May 1984, Fat Pam’s group continued to make the banners that the players ran through at the start of each game (they may still make these banners today), and his group never attempted to get involved in this activity, mostly out of respect for Fat Pam’s group which was there long before it. The northern end at Leederville Oval in 1984 was strangely quiet, empty, and barren, now devoid of West Perth flags and floggers on home game days. The author felt that the WPFC team would be inspired by a vocal group of home supporters, with a colourful red-and-blue visual presence, at the northern end of Leederville. A Melbourne Knights’ soccer fan puts forward her view (below) that her team has been inspired and encouraged on occasion by the vociferous, noisy, and colourful support of the club’s hooligan firm Melbourne Croatia Fans or MCF:

“From what I can gather, the MCF is largely made up of young men who are passionate about their club, its heritage and its importance to the Croatian community. They are loyally devoted to their team and will often travel great distances in order to show their support. The songs, chants and banners have (according to the players) been known to lift our team in crucial moments during the match” [personal e-mail communication with the first-mentioned author, 23 August 2010].

Laurie James, Leederville Oval, looking south towards city

The author was inspired to set up a new unofficial cheer squad to replace Fat Pam’s group at the northern end goals at home matches and to travel to select away games. The cheer squad was started by the author (aged fifteen years) and his high-school friend Mike B. (aged sixteen years). The author is fairly sure that his group already had two large red-and-blue homemade flags on day one (West Perth versus South Fremantle, Leederville Oval, 5 May 1984). His group would add significantly to the two flags over the next two years ending up with around fifteen flags at one point or approximately one flag per core member. On this first day of the new cheer squad Mike B. and the author both wore their long-sleeved West Perth replica playing jerseys. Although these were not the height of fashion even in the mid-1980s the author and his friend were very proud to show their club loyalty. Contemporaneous newspaper reports confirm that the match, which was day one for the cheer squad, was the thrilling draw against South Fremantle on 5 May 1984 also described by Atkinson (2008, p. 201) in his It’s a Grand Old Flag. Atkinson (2008, p. 201) recounts that the slender Aboriginal forward flanker Ron Davis kicked two goals out of three for WPFC in the last five minutes to draw the game with only fifteen seconds remaining. The final score was: West Perth 15.15 (105) drew South Fremantle 16.9 (105) (Atkinson, 2008, p. 334) and the official attendance was 7,790. The author certainly does remember a joyous mood that day commensurate with an exciting come-from-behind draw. It was the perfect on-field start to begin the cheer squad era. The author also remembers that the weather was fine but cold. It was the first drawn match in the WAFL since 20 April 1974. It is remarkable that the games the author classifies now as the first and last games for the cheer squad were both draws, versus South Fremantle at Leederville Oval on 5 May 1984 and versus Perth at Lathlain Park on 29 March 1986.

Kieran J. (centre), Pave Jusup (right), Melbourne Knights SC

If the author’s memory serves him correctly two fourteen-year-olds, Courtney and his friend Rohan H., both joined the group on the first day. Both were to form part of the core for the next two years with Courtney arguably filling a role as deputy leader, along a second rank, with his suburban junior football friend Mark “Thommo” Thompson (aged fourteen years) who may also have joined the group on that first day. In the group tiny sub-gangs emerged following the same pattern, but with much smaller numbers, as Portsmouth’s 6.57 Crew or the Peruvian barras bravas of Lima (Panfichi and Thieroldt, 2002). The sub-gangs operated along the lines of friendships formed prior to joining the group and based on suburbs of residence. The sub-gangs had two or three people each, and each sub-gang had a particular relationship with the unofficial joint-leaders, Mike B. and the author, and with the group as a whole. Courtney, Rohan, and Thommo (the “Carine group”) were a sub-gang, as were the “Balga group” of P.A. and Dave S. (name changed) (joined later, in 1985, by Robbie, who also knew Thommo and hence was a key link between the sub-gangs). People from the same districts were viewed as sub-gangs since they would habitually take the same buses or trains to and from games together. It was soon possible to see a shaky organizational chart emerge of the core since the two blonds, Courtney and Mike B., had always had a strong relationship, while the author naturally related well with the red-haired Thommo.

LO grandstand, only red-and-blue is Medibank Private sign

Although the group, sadly, did not grow much over its two-year life, the core fifteen members were loyal and dedicated, and, on good days of fine weather and interesting opponents, large numbers of hangers-on and drifters of various ages used to join them. This was especially so at away games where WPFC fans had no definite habitual place to sit and were wary of the home team supporters. WPFC fans, especially at away games, would tend to look for and congregate with groups of people wearing the club colours and looking like an authentic and believable gang of supporters. This is why the club colours were so important and why, with the exceptions of Mike B. (replica playing jersey excluded), Courtney, and Rohan, the group did not follow the designer dressing style of the 1980s English soccer “casuals”.

LO: Tin shed and Technical School at rear, northern end

Regardless of his background, everyone in the group was treated and valued equally, and the author believes that each member experienced and enjoyed the camaraderie of the group. Without these positive factors each individual in the fifteen-member core would not have stuck with the group for two full years when there were no legal, economic or moral ties to bind anyone to the group. People had to enjoy sitting with the group or the group would lose them. Everyone made the effort to create a warm and cheerful atmosphere, to welcome newcomers, and to encourage each other amidst the usual teasing and insults that readers might expect from the male group situation. Everyone certainly was a dedicated West Perth supporter and the core members regarded the group as important in their lives and vital in their match-day experiences of fandom. No-one in the group was like those English soccer hooligans who, allegedly, are not interested in the actual game or in the club. Leaders felt responsible for providing the group with a minimum of organization, resolving the few disagreements, and making sure that teasing and insults were in a good spirit (especially when young members such as eight-year-old Michael aka “Half” were on the receiving end). It would be impossible to argue that continuing membership in the group was something not freely chosen by the core members for that two-year period. Pave Jusup (aged 22), a leader and founding member of the MCF firm at Melbourne Knights, states, consistent with the “loose ties” theory, that the only things MCF members have in common is: (a) attending the games; (b) drugs and alcohol; and (c) Croatian heritage (group interview with author, 11 January 2011). However, he also suggests that the MCF is more organized than the firm at fellow Melbourne-based Croatian club, St Alban’s (at date of interview a Victorian Premier League (VPL) club), in that the MCF is organized sufficiently to arrange bus trips interstate. In Pave’s words (group interview, 11 January 2011): “The supporters of St Alban’s are not like us but they [also] do silly stuff. They are not organized like us. We are a proper group. They are just people that turn up at games and sing and drink a lot. We organize time at the pub and away trips”. The author’s WPFC group lacked the obvious ethnic heritage in common that the MCF has and drugs and alcohol were not part of its routine. However, it was definitely, in Pave’s words a “proper group” just like the MCF is today. It was a “group-for-itself” not just a “group-in-itself”. The theoretical distinction between “group-for-itself” and “group-in-itself” appears to characterize the difference between the MCF and the St Alban’s hardcore support [by Kieran James, 8 January 2012].

Round 6, 1984 – West Perth v South Fremantle, Leederville Oval

Likely line-ups

(Source: The West Australian, Saturday, 5 May, 1984, p. 193)

West Perth FC

Backs: Dayman, Comerford, O’Brien

Half-backs: Hendriks, Mugavin, Morgan

Centres: Warwick, Perrin, Mifka

Half-forwards: Simms, Lockman, Gastevich

Forwards: Bell, Alderton, Bogunovich

Ruck: Nelson, Menaglio, Fong

Interchange from: Kickett, Michalczyk, Davis, D Falconer

South Fremantle FC

Backs: Barrett, Hayes, G Carter

Half-backs: Mosconi, Henworth, Cornell

Centres: Keyner, Hardie, Grljusich

Half-forwards: Michael, Dorotich, Vigona

Forwards: Matera, Mount, N Carter

Ruck: Edwards, Vasoli, Hart

Interchange from: Rawlinson, Gillica, Winmar, Amoroso

Match results - Saturday, 5 May, 1984, Leederville Oval

West Perth FC 3.5 6.811.15 15.15 (105) drew South Fremantle FC 3.4 8.7 9.7 16.7 (105)

Scorers: WP: Kickett 4.1, Davis 3.0, Gastevich 2.1, Simms 1.4, Lockman, Menaglio, Nelson 1.1, Fong, Perrin 1.0, Mifka 0.3, Michalczyk 0.1, Warwick 0.1, Forced 0.1.

SF: Hart 4.0, Winmar 3.1, Hardie, Matera 2.1, Dorotich 2.0, Edwards 1.3, Hayes 1.1, Vasoli 1.0, N Carter 0.1, Forced 0.1.
Official attendance: 7,790 (from WAFL Online)

Best-on-ground rankings: B Perrin (WP) 1, W Mosconi (SF) 2, G Michalczyk (WP) 3.

Team rankings:

WP: B Perrin 1, G Michalczyk 2, D Warwick 3, J Gastevich 4, P Mifka 5, D Kickett 6.

SF: W Mosconi 1, D Hart 2, B Hardie 3, W Matera 4, R Barrett 5, P Vasoli 6.

B Perrin: “Gave a brilliant ruck-roving performance. Had 18 kicks, took six marks and made nine handpasses”.

W Mosconi: “Improved as the game progressed. Started on the half-back line, but played mainly on the ball and on a wing”.

G Michalczyk: “In his first league match for five weeks, dominated the centre”.

Source: The West Australian, Monday, 7 May, 1984, p. 81.

Match analysis

Quotes from DAVID MARSH:

“One of the first decisions made by Dennis Cometti after his appointment as West Perth’s coach before the 1982 season was to promote West Australian junior players.

“This is paying dividends, as evident when five first-year men played leading roles in helping West Perth to rise from almost certain defeat.

(The five first-year players were: Derek Kickett from Tammin; John Morgan from Merredin; local juniors Ron Davis and Paul Mifka; and Brendon Bell from Karratha.)

Ron Davis “played superbly to kick the last two goals of the game from difficult angles in a forward pocket”.

Brian Perrin is “one of the few Victorian players to excel in WA football in recent years".

“The former Footscray player [Perrin] gave a brilliant ruck-roving performance to continually set up attacking moves through sheer hard work.

“Stephen Michael [SF] played steadily without having a major influence on the game”.

Source: David Marsh (1984), “Cometti’s plan is paying off”, The West Australian, Monday, 7 May, p. 80 [archival research by Kieran James].

Round 1, 1986 - Perth FC 13.15 (93) drew West Perth FC 13.15 (93), Lathlain Park

Lathlain Park today, Perth v Swan Districts, 2 July 2011. This picture was taken from the concrete terracing in front of the can bar just to the left of the main grandstand where you get a good match-day atmosphere. The young guy in the dead centre of the picture looks like the late Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols - it couldn't be could it?

Lathlain Park, northern end, PFC cheer squad area 1984-6

The Perth FC cheer squad, operating under the capable hands of the suave “metrosexual” Nick, was the leading cheer squad among the WAFL clubs in 1984 and 1985. My personal 1984 WAFL season notes, compiled during 1984, state: “Humbled by Perth cheer squad” at the West Perth v Perth match at Leederville Oval on 14 July 1984. Being “humbled” here must refer to the respective size of the two groups and the respective numbers of flags, floggers, and banners both groups had on display. There was a combined Perth-Claremont cheer squad which represented WA at the 17 July State of Origin match versus Victoria so clearly these were the two largest and hegemonic groups in 1984. It was at Lathlain Park that all the cheer squads met one night (probably in 1984) to discuss the making of the banner for the upcoming state game. I don’t recall how our group [West Perth FC unofficial cheer squad 1984-86] contributed to the making of the banner but we all appreciated the warm and fraternal atmosphere generated by the host club and the host club’s cheer squad. I am very sure that Nick had had some prior experience with a Victorian or South Australian cheer squad as he had a clear understanding of how a cheer squad should be organized and cheer squad ethics. For Lathlain Park home games in 1984 and 1985 they always had a large and fine-looking group of people with flags, banners, and floggers congregated behind the northern or city end goals. 

LP southern end goals: few people venture here nowadays

I can recall only one game we [West Perth FC unofficial cheer squad 1984-86] attended at Lathlain Park, the first game of the 1986 season. The game was played on the Saturday of the opening split round on 29 March 1986 and West Perth drew Perth with both sides scoring 13.15 (93) (Atkinson, 2008, p. 335; East et al., 2005, p. 252). Although Perth started very strongly and led for most of the match West Perth opened up a seven point lead in the last quarter until Perth hit back to secure the draw (Stocks, 1986). The match was played on the same day as only one other game, a replay of the 1985 Grand Final between East Fremantle and Subiaco (won this time by Subiaco 18.9 to 12.11, The West Australian, Monday, 31 March 1986, p. 68). The official attendance at Lathlain Park for the Perth versus West Perth match is recorded as 8,121 fans. By 1986 WAFL crowds had already begun to trend slowly downwards (because of the spectre of an expanded VFL) as on a fine Saturday, on a split round with only one other game on and on the opening day of the season, you might have expected the crowd to be over the 10,000 mark or even above the 12,000 mark. I recall that we had a very large group present; we sat behind the southern end goals with Perth’s cheer squad congregated behind the northern end goals. We probably didn’t meet the Perth squad on that day as the main entrance gate at Lathlain Park was and is now positioned only around 30 metres to the north of the main grandstand, on the western side of the oval, and you could (and still can today) reach the southern end goals by walking down the undercover passageway underneath the grandstand. It was a very hot day, as you might expect being March in Perth, and people had their replica West Perth jerseys tied around their waists. Everyone was wearing tee-shirts but most of us still had the obligatory tight black or blue jeans. We were all classic 1980s Bogans except for Mike B., Courtney, and Rohan H., our football “casuals”. P.A., for one, was never seen in shorts which is probably something to be thankful for! Dave S. (name changed) and the C. brothers also never wore shorts and the same applied for me and Thommo. 

LP: final quarter, P v SD, 2/7/2011, can bar view

We were all very happy to see each other again after the long summer of no contact. It was as if everyone had put in a major effort to keep the cheer squad in some part of their minds, conscious or unconscious, over the summer. The cheer squad could only survive based on collective memories because nothing else, apart from the will of the members, was holding us together. We had no official name or HQ or business cards or stationery or telephone number. No-one minded very much that this game was a draw. Although Perth had not been a powerhouse, up until that point in the 1980s, Mal Brown was now in his second year at the helm as coach of Perth (East et al., 2005, p. 207) and people naturally expected that he would continue to inject discipline, purpose, and soul into the team as he had done previously at South Fremantle. We hoped that West Perth could continue on in 1986 in the same style as in 1985 and secure at least a final-four position. However, we were drought-era West Perth youth and I don’t think anyone really ever expected a premiership! East Fremantle and Subiaco were both expected to be strong again in 1986. However, to balance this, it did appear to be the end of a great era at Bassendean Oval as most of Swans’ premiership era stars had moved on or had retired. John Todd was effectively back where he had started with Swans ten years previously although people’s confidence in his ability to work miracles with a depleted squad had never been higher.

LP: PFC merchandise stall, 2/7/2011

I can remember people staying on the ground at Lathlain Park until dark or near-dark kicking footballs around among the [WPFC] cheer squad group. All or nearly all of the core members of our group were there with the possible exception of Mike B. After we had exhausted all the possibilities of kick-to-kick, we walked together as a gang back to the Victoria Park train station. Everyone had to head north-west on the Armadale line back to the city-centre and then most people would transfer to buses to take them to the northern suburbs. I can recall that it was dark by the time we reached the train station. It must have been as late as 7.30pm or 8pm as 29 March is closer to summer proper than to winter proper. I decided, on the spur of the moment, not to cross over to the western side of the track to catch the city-bound train. Instead I stayed with the much smaller group of people waiting to take the train in the south-easterly direction towards Armadale. I remember talking with some Aboriginal boys at the Victoria Park station and telling them that I lived near Applecross and knew “Raymond D.” who was the only recognizable Aboriginal at our high-school and a good friend of Roy G. In fact I had probably only talked once to Raymond meaning that I was a “namedropper”. I had actually left high-school and was at university by this time. The Aboriginals welcomed the name, or maybe just my friendliness. There was a good atmosphere there. I waved and shouted across the track to the other West Perth fans on the other side before our respective trains took us away.

Old Victoria Park station (prior to renovations)

I decided that I would visit my grandparents who lived within walking distance of the Beckenham station further down the track on the Armadale line. This was a totally spur of the moment decision. They were both very surprised to see me standing on the front porch in the semi-darkness carrying my West Perth flag. Years later, after they had both passed away, I lived in that house for two years (2003-04) before moving to New South Wales.

Old Lathlain station (now demolished), looking south

I have mentioned elsewhere that this was the last time our West Perth cheer squad existed in recognizable form. It was like the saying that it is always darkest before the dawn. It was as if the collective mental and emotional effort involved in keeping the group together psychologically, or in other words in people’s head space, over the long summer had simply been too exhausting. Once we stopped expanding this effort the group just ceased to exist. It was quite remarkable or even magical. I cannot recall subsequent games at Leederville Oval. We may have kept the flags and floggers in action for a few more home games but I personally regard the Perth game as being the last game for our cheer squad. In what was a remarkable outcome, our first game together was a drawn match (Round 6, 1984, versus South Fremantle at Leederville Oval) and our last game together, nearly two calendar years later, was also a drawn match. No-one made a deliberate decision to end the group as far as I can recall. I had become more of a loner and a dedicated student after entering university and I may simply have stopped putting in maximum effort to keeping the group going. Mike B. was probably in the same position in 1986 in terms of his mind drifting elsewhere. I can’t even remember if Mike B. was at the Perth game. He may never have returned to our group in 1986. We no longer saw each other daily at high school in 1986 as had been the case in 1984 and 1985 [by Kieran James, 25 December 2011].

          Round 1, 1986 – Perth v West Perth, Lathlain Park

Match results

Perth FC 6.3 10.8 11.10 13.15 (93) drew West Perth FC 1.2 6.7 9.11 13.15 (93)

Scorers: P: Rea 5.7, Wiley 3.0, Ryder 2.4, Cousins, Spalding, Santostefano 1.0, Stasinowsky, Zaikos 0.1, Forced 0.2.

WP: D Bewick 3.4, Bradmore 3.2, Michalczyk 1.2, C Bewick, Fong, Kickett, Evans 1.1, Stockley, Warwick 1.0, Menaglio, Mifka, King 0.1.
Official attendance: 8,121 (from WAFL Online)

Weather: Fine.

The picture that speaks a thousand words

Best on ground rankings FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR AWARD:

P Menaglio (WP) 5 votes, D Laidley (WP) 4 votes, R Wiley (P) 3 votes, M Rea (P) 2 votes, C Smith (P) 1 vote.

Team rankings:

P: R Wiley 1, M Rea 2, C Smith 3, M Watson 4, M Higgins 5, J Lucas 6.

WP: P Menaglio 1, D Laidley 2, P Bradmore 3, K Rogers 4, L Fong 5, G Michalczyk 6.

P Menaglio: “An outstanding display in the uncustomary role of half-back”.

D Laidley: “Combined with Menaglio on the half-back line to thwart many Perth attacking moves”.

R Wiley: “A hard-working display and was at his best when Perth needed him to claw their way back into the match”.

M Rea: “Gave Perth an early lead with a brilliant first-half five-goal haul”.

C Smith: “Given the difficult assignment of checking live-wire West Perth half-forward Derek Kickett and he did the job admirably”.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 31 March 1986, p. 68)


To watch the last six minutes of this P v WP (1986) match on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-WUGr-lBLM

A literary classic, search for it on eBay

Match analysis

Quotes from GARY STOCKS:

“It became obvious on Saturday that Perth have improved this season.

“There is more depth to the club than there has been since 1978 when the Demons lost the grand final to East Perth.

Perth “unlucky not to win”, “opened in brilliant style” with Mick Rea “in superb touch at full-forward”. Wiley “asserted control midfield” in the first quarter. At the same time Jack Lucas “eliminated” WP centreman Darren Bewick.

“West Perth are widely regarded as league football’s most skilful team...

West Perth “force[d] their way into the match” through half-backs Laidley and Menaglio, captain Fong, ruck-rover Michalczyk, and centre-half-forward Bradmore.

“A pleasing aspect from Perth’s point of view was that they did not surrender when West Perth hit the front for the first time in the match at the 15-minutre mark of the last quarter".

(Source: Gary Stocks (1986), “Smith gives Demons more grit”, The West Australian, Monday, 31 March, p. 68) [archival research by Kieran James].