BOOK REVIEW: "Goodbye Leederville Oval" - More than an Oval, by Chris Egan, 12/9/2017

Chris Egan (left) and friend @ Dorrien Gardens Soccer Ground, North Perth. Neither Chris nor Kieran James have much time for code-wars.

Dr Kieran James’ book – Goodbye Leederville Oval is a unique and credible insight into Perth’s sporting culture. It covers three major themes – the fluidity of Perth’s sporting culture, the pain of transition in Australia of sports moving from semi-professional to professional pathways and one that is currently being further examined across the state. What is it to be a Western Australian?

James uses soccer to elicit his supporter group as part of an intimidatory force and uses the literature from the United Kingdom soccer scene to introduce his supporter group. It is the fluid connections that come through that are the highlight of the experiences of Kieran’s youth. There is a transient connection to the WAFL by boys of his generation, especially when compared to the intensity of support in the VFL.  This is challenged by the ‘parochialism’ at state level which superseded the interest in metropolitan clashes. 

Dedication came with the ‘cultural’ acceptance that kids would be ‘permissed’ to wag school to watch the WA state team play Victoria. That this was something that ‘everyone’ did. This is where the real heart of sporting culture comes alive, something that saw little ability to be transient. The pride of their Western Australian identity was at a peak, school was nowhere near as important and there was a ‘tactful’ acceptance of this by the Education Department with not cracking down on it.

For Kieran, there is ever-lasting pain from the transition as he has a strong engagement to the league and the game. But he is also part of the fluidity, he sees no difference between his love of Dorrien Gardens and Leederville Oval, the culture he critiques allows him to create a book with no code hostility. He crosses over League, Soccer and Australian Rules throughout this book, framed by a city which as a whole allows people to pick and choose what elements of Western Australian society that you engage with.

It doesn’t require you to stay with West Perth and the Eagles. It doesn’t require you to ignore academic literature from soccer to frame the experience of an Australian Rules cheer squad. There is a freedom of affiliation that is bound by the cultural and social freedom to interact in the many world’s of Perth – with no social, academic or economic punishment.

It is expertly sourced, referenced and memorialised. He transects a critical lense on Western Australian societies ‘either/or’ rather than ‘yes/and’ which he suggests is framed by the West Coast Eagles who were able to delineate the attachment to the Western Australian State of Origin side when it was created in 1987.  James challenges this with how Queenslanders supported their Rugby League club sides and their State of Origin heroes. That in Perth this eroded and the passion of the state was transferred to its club side.

The processes of the construction of this period is critical for future studies into the game, including my present book on Perth Glory which utilised the passion behind the WA state side which was then transferred into the ground-breaking records that Perth Glory attracted when it entered into the National Soccer League in 1996. It provides further understandings that sport in WA is fluid, it is about state pride at its heart – not the code of sport you play.  

Kieran James @ Leederville Oval

What is the highlight though is the insight into mid 80s supporter culture in Western Australia, the lack of class, political and social friction within James supporter group is similar to my experience when part of the home end at Perth Glory. The group I sung with was from all walks of life, but our connection was our united passion for the Glory, which is shaped by our shared strength of Western Australian identity.

If there is any critique of the book, is that it did not look at the clash points within Leederville Oval when Perth Glory tried to transfer the ground into a rectangular venue. With so much insight and academic theory being integrated from a soccer background, this would have been a valuable area to analyse by James.

The book is integral for anybody that is interested in Perth’s sporting and social history, it engages with the reader a mixture of memoir/analysis of the pain of reform. It crosses code boundaries and defines the characteristics of Western Australian society.

Dr Kieran James should be congratulated on a text that will have long-standing benefits to the study of sports history in Western Australia.

[This review was first published at Australianrules.com.au and is used here with the kind permission of Chris Egan.]

To buy paperback edition:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/kieran-james/goodbye-leederville-oval-history-of-west-perth-cheer-squad-1984-86/paperback/product-23296331.html

To buy hardcover edition:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/kieran-james/goodbye-leederville-oval-history-of-west-perth-cheer-squad-1984-86/hardcover/product-23511884.html

Also available on Amazon (type the book title into the search function). 

ARTICLE: "The Divergence of Sporting Culture in Perth's Inner Eastern Suburbs", by Chris Egan

State premier league soccer @ Frank Drago Reserve, Bayswater. (Bayswater SC plays in the blue-and-black shirts which is a reference to Inter Milan and not to East Perth.) Chris Egan argues that Bayswater was historically a soccer town whereas neighbouring Maylands was an Australian Rules town and this difference is because of divergent immigration patterns in the early days.

The divergence of sporting culture in Perth’s inner eastern suburbs

The author Chris Egan

Sport in Western Australia is traditionally analysed on a state-wide perspective rather than a suburb by suburb approach. This skews our understanding on a rather complicated sporting environment which modern Perth is founded on.

Attitudes towards codes is variant depending on what ‘village’ of Perth you lived in. This article is to explore Maylands' fervent support of Australian Rules Football in juxtaposition to its minority status in neighbouring Bayswater.

While a British Association team was played out of Bayswater in the Great War and was allocated part of Bayswater Oval in 1928 (Changes They’ve Seen – The City and People of Bayswater 1827-2013), it did not enter East Maylands Primary School until 1973 (A History of East Maylands Primary School 1954-2003, by Laura Nolan).  While Australian Rules football was an entrenched part of Maylands' social fabric, it did not enter the City of Bayswater until 1948 when Bedford and Inglewood RSL clubs started one up for the children of returned servicemen (Changes They’ve Seen – The City and People of Bayswater 1827-2013).

This divergence shows how sporting culture is as divided on a town by town approach as in the north of England. That class, employment and social fabric was insular and cross cultural influences were constrained. Oral recounts are being supported by the historical archives to substantiate this.

We also see an evangelical rivalry. Australian Rules Football in Maylands was played by a Protestant majority, while the Church of England was also very influential in both junior and senior soccer circles in Perth. Victorian Protestants who had come over with the gold rush were fervent supporters of Australian Rules Football, while Western Australian/ British Protestants, particularly those in high positions within government/clergy, would have soccer as their code of choice.

Bayswater was on the outskirts with farms and bush a majority. Its history has been said to be ‘unconstrained’ by Western Australian fabric because the suburb was essentially a suburb of new migrants. It had little of the entrenched class system that existed in other parts of Perth with tennis and athletics being more popular than any of the ball sports (Changes They’ve Seen – The City and People of Bayswater 1827-2013, by Catherine May). With a large British migration into the suburb its sports choices began to reflect the pastimes of tennis and athletics – sports which were individual by nature. Soccer became a pastime later on, with Australian Rules Football a minority sport. This is a story that is played out throughout the different villages of Perth, not dissimilar to what occurs in the north of England.

So what occurs in Maylands, which in the 1890’s was called Falkirk?  (Original Crown grants and locations within the City of Stirling, Gordon and Olga Sherwood, 1988)

Mephan Ferguson is largely influential in the establishment of the suburb of Maylands, the name has been changed because of his daughter May Ferguson who became Mephan’s housekeeper after his wife passed away. (Original Crown Grants and Locations with the City of Stirling, Gordon and Olga Sherwood, 1988).

Ferguson was a renowned engineer and won the contract to build the Water Pipeline from Perth to Coolgardie. A Scotsman who came out to Australia during the Gold Rush and did his apprenticeship in Ballarat, he went on to develop a large engineering workshop in Footscray. After winning the contract to develop the water pipeline he established a workshop in Maylands. Migration and skills in a full employment city would have come from a Victorian economy entering recession. Skills that had been developed in Footscray would have been transferable to the ‘state building’ of Western Australia.

This development would have seen the sport of choice Australian Rules Football to be infiltrated within this community by the residents who came and clustered. We see the insularity of the region with it not infiltrating into the region immediately east. So this Australian Rules cluster which had been seen as a sport of religion in the Victorian colonies came head to head with it being given a ‘working class’ typecast in the Western Australian society.

While Mephan Ferguson donated two pounds to the Footscray Football Club in 1895 (Independent, 11^th May 1895), his role in Perth fitted into the class structure where he as an influential member of society was a patron of British Association Football (The Daily News, 23^rd March 1906). This social and class structure that had seen him move from an influential backer of Australian Rules Football to Association Football.

Ferguson’s workers however would have seen their sport of choice Australian Rules Football ingrained by their social class. Joe Barbaro said even with post-war migration, Italians within Maylands adapted to this entrenched Australian Rules culture in the early 70’s.  

“We used to play football and it was probably the only reason I came to school. We used to have a division between Perth supporters and East Perth supporters. We’d get into a few fights with kids calling us ‘dings’ in particular…but it wasn’t a regular thing. I did take on a lot of the Anglo-saxon type things. Like I didn’t play soccer, I played footy…basically we assimilated pretty well because I think we had to” (A history of East Maylands Primary School, 1954-2003, Laura Nolan).

So how does this relate to today? Well with council amalgamations being a hot topic, we see why there is such great opposition within metropolitan Perth. In 1997 Maylands residents did not want to be part of the greater City of Bayswater and wanted to maintain its links to the old Perth Roads Board – City of Stirling. In the documentation of the meeting held to discuss the proposal to amalgamate Maylands to Bayswater, a 700 strong petition was delivered stating that historical links with Stirling were stronger than they were with Bayswater.

We see the great difference in culture between the regions, Maylands established within class and economic developments linked into Perth’s culture and Bayswater developed with British and more general interstate migration, not simply working class tradesmen building the great engineering feat of the water pipeline.

Frank Drago Reserve (Bayswater City SC)

In Bayswater, the council allows soccer a part of ‘the rec’  in 1928. It becomes the headquarters for soccer in Perth in 1953. Catherine May touches on the underlying tension between amateur and professional sport within the town and that the council’s desire to bring soccer to the region was a ‘welcome move to commercialisation of sport’ (Changes They’ve Seen – The City and People of Bayswater 1827-2013, Catherine May).

This had been a driver of sport in both Perth and Fremantle. Councils such as Bayswater which had a past not defined by any of the traditional Western Australian social structures would give the round ball game its first home. Bayswater Oval was first a facility for athletics, tennis, lawn bowls and more gentle sport.

The Landscape Archaeology of suburban grounds from Fremantle to Bayswater are often around commercial hubs. This is no accident, sport defined how the city moved and breathed. Merchants would see increased trade on days where sporting events were hosted. While today we see state governments seeing the benefits of hosting events, in regions throughout Perth, businesses wanted sporting events to get the visitors to stimulate their economies.

Bayswater’s move in the 1950s was a movement to stimulate commercial activity in their town centre which was not far away from Bayswater Oval. Sporting grounds in Perth are close to town nodes and commercial activity because of the economic trends that delivered gain to the business community on game days.

In this essay I’ve elicited the juxtaposition between two suburbs that although are geographically close have a cultural and economic divide that shapes their sporting culture. While post-war migrants found it socially acceptable to play the world game in Bayswater, which had this as its football code of hegemony, Italians were forced to assimilate to Australian Rules Football in a suburb [Maylands] which lived and breathed the ‘Australian’ game.

By Chris Egan

@perthforever 

[This article is published here with the kind written permission of Chris Egan.]

Joe Barbaro is quoted here as saying that East Maylands Primary School in the early-1970s was divided into gangs of Perth and East Perth supporters without soccer being a visible presence at the school. This is despite the Italian-based Baywater City (formerly Bayswater Inter) playing in neighbouring Bayswater. Now of course the East Perth WAFL club has moved to Leederville Oval (see above picture).

The author Chris Egan (left) and friend Reuben enjoying watching state premier league soccer at Dorrien Gardens, home of Perth Soccer Club (formerly Perth Italia), August 2012.

ARTICLE: "The Forgotten Story of Cottesloe Beach Oval", by Chris Egan

Mann Oval today viewed from Lochee Street, Mosman Park

The forgotten story of Cottesloe Beach Oval

Posted by cegan on January 21, 2014

Davis Oval today, adjoining Mann Oval on the eastern side

When I was first trawling Trove and came across Cottesloe Beach Oval, I instantly thought it would be a venue in what is presently known as Cottesloe. I then assumed it would be Cottesloe Oval, and beach had just been dropped off the end over time as the name was too long.

Then when researching I saw that in the 1920s there were two venues that sport was played at: Cottesloe Oval and Cottesloe Beach Oval. The historical record in publications such as Soccer Anzacs said Caledonians played at Mann Oval, there was no note of it being called Cottesloe Beach Oval. I needed more evidence to find out what and where Cottesloe Beach Oval was located.

It wasn’t until a photo on trove titled Cottesloe Beach (now Mosman Park) that I looked further afield and didn’t look for evidence of a soccer pitch on the world famous Cottesloe Promenade. 

In a long forgotten story the town of Mosman Park was called The District of Cottesloe Beach, much to the disdain of the government at the time. It was named after Cottesloe Beach Railway Station, which is now called Mosman Park Station on the Fremantle Line. Mosman Park was called Cottesloe Beach for 21 years from 1909-1930 before eventually being renamed along with the ground.

I used spatial archaeology to confirm that Mann Oval, named after the President of Cottesloe Beach Council, was in fact Cottesloe Beach Oval, a name long forgotten by supporters and historians alike. The field is more square shaped than oval and is quite compact compared to ovals such as Fremantle Oval.

The archaeological spatial boundaries show a ground that held rectangular codes and Australian Rules in the 1920s as Cottesloe Beach Oval did. Williamson noted community acceptance of both codes in the 1930s at the ground. However, the major football code of the region was Association Football.  Australian Rules Football was not hated, but it knew its place, that it was not as popular as the world game in many parts of the western suburbs.

Davis Oval, looking east to Hope St

Caledonians' success in the 1920s relates to the community and local decision makers' passion for the game which carries on for much of the early 20^th century.

On the 31^st March 1933 the council had allocated a Caledonians home game ahead of a WAFA fixture which had to be rescheduled to the following weekend. The opposite occurred in other parts of Perth such as Leederville and Subiaco where soccer would often be kicked out of or denied entrance to sporting fields showing the pre-eminent position held by the code in this part of Perth.

Today Mosman Park’s major football code is Australian Rules Football not soccer.

Preliminary research on how this occurred leads back to the entrance into the WAFL of Claremont Tigers in 1925. Due to the strength of soccer the Tigers were very weak at the same time Caledonians were at their peak.

In John Williamson’s Soccer Anzacs, Williamson argues that local councils defined how Perth interacted with sport. A particular election would change the attitudes, rates and access to a particular ground depending on which councillors had been elected.

The decision by the neighbouring Claremont Council in 1925 to spend 5000 pounds on Claremont Oval and evict Claremont Soccer Club from the ground is evidence of a council decision that changed a community's sporting interest.

So why did the Claremont Tigers get established in a region that was an island of British Soccer hegemony?  

Much like the establishment of Greater Western Sydney Giants, Claremont Tigers came into the WAFL based on being an untapped population, despite other sides based on talent and interest being more applicable to join the top league. It was an Australian Rules Football administration decision to be represented in every district and thus Claremont was the only district which was not represented in the top competition.

This administration decision changed the region from Association Football to Australian Rules Football and thus a ground that used to hold three football codes, with soccer being given priority has only the Australian game being played on it today. The name of Cottesloe Beach Oval, when soccer was at its peak, is long gone.

But grounds such as Cottesloe Beach Oval have stories to tell; its spatial shape shows the legacy and prominence of the rectangular codes in the region.

As in my other articles on my blog, spatial archaeology can be used in sports history to interpret stories not written down in the historical record.

Mosman Park looking westward

The WACA Ground went from an oval suited to Australian Rules Football, to squared off boundaries in its last redevelopment because it wanted to be home to Perth Glory after its contract with the AFL had finished. The growth of soccer in the late 1990s is reflected in the spatial archaeology of the WACA.

Field spaces are simply an expression of a community and sports will adapt venues according to the social demands of the time. Grounds and stadia are often the creation of a surrounding community, whether at a regional or a more city bound level.

  

The lost name of Cottesloe Beach Oval, from both memories and historical interpretations in the region, reflects a community that no longer sees Association Football as its most popular football code. However the archaeological footprint remains to elicit the fact that in this region, in the early part of the 20^th century, the world game reigned supreme. 

By Chris Egan

@perthforever

[This article was first published by Chris Egan at: http://cegan.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/the-forgotten-story-of-cottesloe-beach-oval/. The article is reproduced here with the kind permission of Chris Egan. Jack Frost did some additional minor editing. If you would like to submit an article to this website please send to Jack Frost on Facebook (busukwebzine@y7mail.com)]

Kieran James (left) and Chris Egan, Mandurah, Western Australia, August 2012

Chris Egan and friend Rueben at Dorrien Gardens (Perth Soccer Club), West Perth, August 2012

Chris Egan at Rushton Park, Mandurah (Peel Thunder Football Club), August 2012

Chris Egan at Rushton Park, Mandurah (Peel Thunder Football Club), August 2012

ARTICLE: "From Ovals to Rectangles – A Case Study on how Sporting Fields change their Archaeological Footprint over time, by Chris Egan

Perth Oval, kick-off, Glasgow Celtic versus Perth Glory, 9 July 2011. The main grandstand, the Fred D. Book Stand, was built in 1956 for East Perth Football Club and of course spent most of its life as an Aussie Rules' grandstand. It is still named after East Perth footballer Fred Book (1905-90) although the oval is now a soccer ground (a "symbolic message" as Chris Egan writes).

From ovals to rectangles – A case study on how sporting fields change their archaeological footprint over time

by Chris Egan (Perth Glory historian), 15 July 2013

Woodville Reserve, North Perth

Over the past one hundred years, code rivalry has been a common research topic for sports historians in Australia. Most of the time it has focussed on Sydney and Melbourne with very few interpretations incorporating the cultural artefacts (The Sports Fields). The recent change in function of Perth Oval from Australian Rules Football to Soccer in 2004 is part of a trend that has been going on for over a hundred years in various parts of Australia. 

The two case studies I will use are Woodville Reserve and South Hobart Recreation Ground and their change in function. It begins a theoretical understanding of how soccer has already won hegemony at a suburban landscape and how it has maintained this interest at a suburban level. 

The first example I will use is Woodville Cricket Reserve in North Perth, the ground has held soccer since the late 1920s. It is not far from Perth Oval, and was developed primarily for cricket. But in 1927 the use of the ground is changed from Australian Rules Football to soccer in the winter. 

Frank Drago Reserve, Bayswater

At the same time soccer’s interest within Western Australia has increased, but the archaeological footprint today also tells us that the cultural features of the ground and the region has been shaped by human adaptation to a new sporting interest.

It is a long rectangle and cricket played on this ground till 1979 before moving to the northern suburbs. Soccer remains present, and the ground has held many battles in the 50’s between power house sides Azzurri and North Perth. 

Today Woodville Reserve is soccer because the local community changed the function of the ground in the winter and thus changed the social environment of the region. There is little infrastructure development and today is still just a long expanse of grass. Its spatial landscape shows little evidence of its past use as a cricket or Australian Rules Football facility. 

What would have happened had the 1915 Perth City Council not refused goal posts to be erected at the ground? 

Bayswater City SC plays at Frank Drago Reserve

I have not found this unique in Western Australia, with Bayswater Oval also changing function in 1953 in response to the next period of football’s growth and again not far away from Woodville Reserve in 2004 after Perth Oval changed to Association Football. The grounds change their purpose and spatial landscape with the communities change in attitudes. 

It also occurs at the South Hobart Recreational Ground, which with a complex history is bought for 1000 pounds by the state government in 1887 upon demands by the local communities. The initial town planners of Hobart had not put recreational pursuits as a priority and other regions had to buy privately owned land for recreation as well, through the parliamentary system. But from 1887- 1912 the ground is primarily a cricket ground, it is not till 1912 that we see the cultural characteristics change because of the growth of interest in soccer. 

In a newspaper report in the Mercury in 1912, the ground is shortened as a cricket ground in order to better accommodate the round ball code, the commentary suggests it will no longer be able to be used for first class cricket. It is clear that cricket is struggling in Hobart in this era and the ability to make it less adapt for cricket is a sign of the world games drawing power in the suburb. Australian Rules Football games are replaced with many Soccer fixtures. 

Fred D. Book Stand (1956), Perth Oval

In 1930 the ground by council has funded with built infrastructure and South Hobart Recreation Ground is known as the centre of soccer in the region. There is a letter to the editor that mentions that it has come into the hands of a private manager and that kids are prevented from playing football on the ground by the grounds keeper and that it only holds soccer and cricket for adult men. Australian Rules Football has lost access to this ground in the winter. 

In 1974 South Hobart District Cricket Club also moves to a larger ground as South Hobart Recreation Ground is no longer responsive to its needs and has become culturally empowered by the world game, not cricket. 

The spatial landscape today shows little resemblance of its former sporting pursuits. 

Adaptations are often seen in the archaeological record and are often driven by factors such as immigration, class and access to new ideas/technology. In a sporting context, the establishment of two new soccer clubs changes human behaviour which leads to adaptations of the cultural infrastructure within the region. 

East Perth FC legends in Fred D. Book Stand

In 1910 South Hobart FC are established, in 1996 Perth Glory are established on Perth Oval. As the interest generates more power for the code, the archaeological landscape is changed to what we currently see at both venues in Tasmania and Western Australia. 

Symbolic messages are still etched into the grounds, despite both being rectangles are commonly known as South Hobart Oval and Perth Oval. 

Is this a sign of the power of Australian Rules Football in both cities? Or a respect to the past? It is probably a combination of both. 

Woodville Reserve, Bayswater Oval (now Frank Drago Reserve), Perth Oval and South Hobart Oval are grounds that changed because of the communities interest in the world game. It is unlikely that Australian Rules football will ever reverse the spatial changes undertaken. 

This is a powerful symbol in 2013, that once a ground in a region changes its archaeological footprint to the world game, it never retreats back to its initial purpose of recreational pursuit. 

[First published at http://cegan.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/from-ovals-to-rectangles-a-case-study-on-how-sporting-fields-change-their-archaeological-footprint-over-time/#comment-113 and reproduced here with the kind written permission of the author.] 

[Read Jack Frost's interview with Chris Egan at the following link: http://waflgoldenera.blogspot.com/2012/08/my-interview-with-chris-egan-peel.html]

INTERVIEW: My interview with Chris Egan (Peel Thunder and Perth Glory supporter, Perth Glory historian, and former WAFL radio commentator, age 25), by Kieran James, 14/8/2012

"Come on you Glory Boys!!" Chris Egan - Peel Thunder and Perth Glory supporter, Perth Glory historian, and former WAFL radio commentator. Chris's father Stewart Egan played five games and kicked two goals for Swan Districts in its 1982 premiership season.

My interview with Chris Egan (Peel Thunder and Perth Glory supporter, Perth Glory historian, and former WAFL radio commentator, age 25), Mandurah, Western Australia, 14 August 2012, by  Kieran James

Chris Egan on Peel Thunder Football Club: “Despite our crowds having nothing much to celebrate, the crowds are not far from the WAFL average. You have a loyal base of supporters. The club continues to exist and it has been resistant to hindrances. It shows it is a club of resistance and fight that will not lie down although it had many aspects that led to its current status in the game”.

Chris Egan on young WAFL supporters aged 13-30 years: “Now the young people are looking at WAFL as an entertainment product and they don’t get as emotionally involved. A lot of my mates are emotionally involved in their WAFL clubs. It depends on what circle of friends you are in”.

Chris Egan on Perth Football Club supporters: “Perth fans are very nostalgic!”

  

Rushton Park, Mandurah 

Kieran James Question 1: Hi Chris, thanks very much for agreeing to meet with me and for the tour we just did of the Peel Thunder home stadium Rushton Park. First of all can you tell me how you became a Peel Thunder and WAFL supporter?

Chris Egan Question 1: I was always interested. My dad [Stewart Egan] took me to the first Peel Thunder game in 1996. A year or two before that (I was six) my dad took me to South Fremantle versus West Perth. The year before Peel joined the WAFL there was a South Fremantle game here. My dad and granddad would take me to Rushton Park. I would request to go with my dad and granddad to all Rushton Park [local league] games. My granddad lived in Morfitt Street near the ground; I was extremely close to him. I would go to three to four [Peel Thunder] home games a year from 1996 to 2004. During my first year of uni, 2005, there was an email [I received] saying “would you like to do around-the-grounds reporting in WAFL?” At 990AM. I would get the stats for the WAFL games. I went to all the WAFL grounds in the comp. After around-the-grounds, I was assistant producer for the radio.

KJ: So what was your perception about the WAFL games you saw?

Chris E: I found it was more enjoyable. I had issues with the unfairness of the AFL draw. It was manipulated to bigger clubs and crowds. I found I was drawn to the WAFL style of play. It was less scientific. I gradually got interested in the football through that; I got more enjoyment from the WAFL [than from AFL].

One of my friends, a Dockers’ and Eagles’ member, I got involved in around-the-grounds reporting. My mate, a South Fremantle supporter and Perth Glory fan, would do around-the-grounds for South Fremantle. I got other friends involved. These people were doing sports management or journalism in uni. I grabbed a bigger group going to the WAFL games and it developed a social side as well. I was around-the-grounds before I was associate producer.

That was how I got involved. My dad was a Swan Districts fan and former player so there was a WAFL connection in the family. [KJ note: Chris's father Stewart Egan played five games and kicked two goals for Swan Districts in its 1982 premiership season. At a weaker club he may have played more senior league football.] He is now a Peel Thunder member; he hasn’t missed a game this year. AFL is still his main priority but if his son was not interested in WAFL he would not be. I have friends all through the WAFL including my past lecturer who I go to games with. I have a wide social group.

Chris Egan supporting Perth Glory FC

KJ: The social group is at Peel Thunder games?

Chris E: I don’t have as large a group at Peel Thunder as when I go to away games as my mates are opposition fans. I have been to every Peel Thunder game this year except for three when I was either going to A-League [soccer] finals outside Perth or when the Peel Thunder and Perth Glory starting times clashed.

KJ Question 2: What are some of the most memorable WAFL games you have seen?

Chris E Question 2: My most memorable game was in the year [2002] when Danny Wells played. It poured with rain in the first half. It was the most memorable game, it was 2002. Danny Wells completely dominated the game. It was the year Allistair Pickett won the Sandover Medal and Wells finished third. [JF note: Allistair Pickett won the 2002 Sandover Medal with 33 votes. In 2004 he won his second Sandover Medal whilst playing for Subiaco.] We were eight goals behind at three-quarter time...

KJ: Playing against whom?

Chris E: It was versus East Fremantle at Rushton Park [JF note: Round 18, 3 August 2002, Peel Thunder 13.17 (95) d East Fremantle 13.13 (91)]. This year we also beat Claremont at Claremont Oval [KJ note: Round 11, 2 June 2012, Peel Thunder 14.14 (98) d Claremont 11.18 (84)]. Also in 2010 I remember we beat West Perth by seven goals which stopped them getting into the finals [KJ note: Round 8, 9 May 2010, Peel Thunder 16.17 (113) d West Perth 11.6 (72), Rushton Park]. We played an amazing game of football.

Chris Egan supporting P Glory (centre, white t-shirt)

KJ Question 3: Do you follow the AFL as well as following WAFL?

Chris E Question 3: I think I do watch games still. I am still an Eagles’ supporter but I don’t feel upset when they lose. I don’t have a strong emotional connection to them. It does not affect my feelings when they lose. I’m probably more of a band-wagon jumper. I hope they do well but I don’t get upset if they don’t. This is not my attitude in relation to other teams I support.

KJ: What do you think of the AFL leadership and strategic direction? You know I have made a few comments about this on the website...

Chris E: I don’t like Demetriou. I think it [AFL] has been way too concerned about getting the largest crowds although they have changed it in the last year. I think GWS [Greater Western Sydney] is going to be a financial disaster. First-year crowds are below what they expected. They said they had a 20-year plan but it needs to be revisited. Sydney Swans also does not have a large supporter base. Other codes are not spending nearly as much as AFL in Sydney. Sydney Swans have a base support of only 20,000. They got 13,000 to one game in inclement weather this year. There has been an over-emphasis on the non-traditional states over the traditional states. Port Adelaide Power is doing poorly because the players are going to regions which can’t create their own players. Other clubs are weaker too.

KJ: And the AFL has, very disappointingly, allowed State of Origin football to die...

Chris E: You would have a lot of state [football] interest if players could play where they choose rather than the draft. Victoria versus The Rest did not make many people happy except for the Victorians.

KJ Question 4: Can you give us your comments about Peel Thunder’s on-field performance since its WAFL debut and is it correct to label the club as a failure given it has never played finals?

Chris E Question 4: I said this to you before [during our walk around Rushton Park earlier in the day]. There are multiple factors involved. We had our best players siphoned off. We lost Pickett two seasons after his Sandover Medal win and Wells that season. Pickett won four premierships with Subiaco. We lost our best coach Peter German that year. Our midfield was ripped out. The club never had concessions to start with and had no revenue to improve facilities. When Peel came in there was dilapidated facilities and no funding unlike with West Perth at Arena Joondalup. Building a new grandstand was so important for the club and effort was put into this rather than into the on-field side. We are constantly rebuilding. We didn’t have the greatest administration.

Mandurah is not a huge hub of employment, we have three training bases, Mandurah has higher unemployment, and it is not easy to attract players. We lost Rory and Brock O’Brien to East Fremantle, two integral players. Good players often leave to achieve success. David Hynes (Fremantle Dockers) got injured for many years. Two full-time coaches – Garry Hocking and Chris Waterman – were not there for the club but for the [prospects of future] AFL appointments. We have geographic issues, player issues (Hayden Ballantyne, David Wells – they are recognized as the best talent to come into the WAFL in the last ten years). Once we have good players they are wanted by other clubs who can give them better employment closer to uni.

KJ: Being based in Mandurah then is somewhat of a double-edged sword?

Chris E: Yes and the AFL knew this was a fast-growth area. AFL wanted a team here. South Fremantle did not look after the area as well as they should have.

KJ: So you regard the future of Peel Thunder Football Club in the WAFL as now assured?

Chris E: The talent development for the AFL is the main reason the club will continue.

KJ: As a feeder club for WAFL / AFL?

Chris E: It is not so much a feeder club but it’s why the club was admitted ... and the club is producing good players. If you take the club away it is to the detriment of all WAFL clubs. As long as the players are in the comp [somewhere] then the entertainment is there.

I have heard we are paying too much to Victorian and South Australia players. Having impediments for success in 1996 has created revolving issues for the club. A bad season creates further worse seasons due to lack of money and attendances. Success breeds success as they say.

KJ: So, returning to our original question, would it be fair to call Peel Thunder a failure given it has never reached the finals?

Chris E: For me I think the impediments prevented Peel Thunder from being anything other what it is today. If you don’t invest in expansion clubs they won’t do well. You can see it in NSL [former National Soccer League, 1977-2003], A-League, and NRL. Despite our crowds having nothing much to celebrate, the crowds are not far from the WAFL average. You have a loyal base of supporters. The club continues to exist and it has been resistant to hindrances. It shows it is a club of resistance and fight that will not lie down although it had many aspects that led to its current status in the game.

KJ Question 5: Can you tell me more about the Peel Thunder supporters?

Chris E Question 5: There are a few hardcore supporters. You have different audiences at different games – more at the Fremantle away games [than at away games further away from Mandurah]. A dozen or so would go to every game. Fremantle Oval [versus South Fremantle] would get 200-250 away supporters especially if Peel Thunder is in good form. It can be 20-30 for a more distant away game. I’m probably one of the few dedicated fans of my age. I don’t think there is anyone else aged in their mid-20s who will dedicate themselves to go to every game. Those who do [go to every game] are 45-60 years, middle-class – they have a son or nephew in Colts and they will stay for the league game. Only a few of us will go to every game that don’t have a [family or friendship] connection to the players.

KJ: Is there any cheer squad at Peel Thunder?

Chris E: There is one guy who will shout in front of the Members at home games and he will sing “Let’s go, Thunder, let’s go” and really gee them up. There is no cheer squad. He has a Docker tattoo on his arm as well. He is well known within the club; he does create that chant and get everyone involved. He does get the whole crowd involved. He does not stand behind the goals. There is no other cheer squad.

Patrick Mirosevich, SFFC cheer squad

KJ Question 6: What cheer squads presently exist in the WAFL as far as you are aware? As you know, this WAFL Golden Era website focuses on the mid-1980s when Perth, Claremont, West Perth, and Subiaco had sizeable cheer squads.

Chris E Question 6: There is really only one cheer squad which has flags and that is South Fremantle cheer squad in my opinion. [KJ note: See my interview with Patrick Mirosevich of South Fremantle Football Club cheer squad on this website.] There is one guy at Subiaco but there is not an organization of people who sit in one place with chants and flags. Only South Fremantle has this group.

At Swan Districts under the beer shed especially in bigger games there is lots of chanting including soccer themes. They are more vocal, they don’t have flags. [JF note: This group is called the Abuse Crew.] I went to East Perth versus Swan Districts; they had a lot of chants under the tin roof.

KJ: Is this tin roof in the Members’ area?

Chris E: There is a public bar; it is not restricted to members. They were very loud. They were quite organized. They had their own shirts. I was told one of the Perth Glory Shed members was in that group which is another link between WAFL and Perth Glory.

South Fremantle cheer squad has six main members; half are regular Perth Glory fans that will go to [Perth Glory] home and away games. The South Fremantle cheer squad will go to the end where South Fremantle is kicking. Their ages are 21, 28, 22, 15, one in his fifties, and one of the dads in his fifties as well. They have flags as well as chants.

There is another one, East Fremantle. They stand behind the goals, mostly at the southern end. They are all aged between 20 and 40. It varies in numbers. They have 10-15 people at other grounds [for away games]. One guy called Hank has a flag and he is a Glory supporter. The cheer squad know him and like him but he does not sit in the same vicinity as them. He is an aboriginal guy.

SFFC cheer squad - Patrick second left, Wayne far right

KJ Question 7: In various places on the WAFL Golden Era website I have said how the WAFL needs to attract more people in the 13-30 years age range. These are the people with no personal experience of the pre-West Coast era in Perth. However, as I’m now living in Queensland and in recent years have only attended Lathlain Park games I may be getting the wrong impression of WAFL overall. What are your comments on this?

Chris E Question 7: I see that there is quite a few that will go. [However] I don’t see many at Rushton Park. At East Fremantle, South Fremantle, and Claremont you get quite a few males in that age range and a few females who have boyfriends playing in that game. In terms of the supporters and members some are the older base. The Claremont after-match presentation had an average age of 75 when I was there! Younger ones would sit on the grassed banks [at Claremont Oval] and regard it [WAFL] as a valid entertainment option. They see it that they can pick and choose. Older ones see it as a loyalty, fan, and pride issue. Younger ones are attracted but they see it differently as cheap entertainment.

KJ: So because I have seen recent WAFL games only at Lathlain Park do you think I’m not getting an accurate picture of the situation across the WAFL?

Chris E: I have not seen as many [younger ones] at Lathlain Park. At East Fremantle Oval you will see some trendy young people. At the Foxtel Cup Grand Final [2012], Claremont versus Werribee, there were many young trendy people there.

SFFC cheer squad, Patrick has red jacket & flag

KJ: What was the total crowd at that game? I think the Foxtel Cup is really a great development. I went to the Claremont versus Port Adelaide Magpies game last year...

Chris E: The total estimated crowd was 1,500 on a Thursday night. You will see at WAFL your young Aussie mates who just want to hang out for the day.

KJ: In one comments piece on the WAFL Golden Era website the author suggested free admission to WAFL games for children and concession pass holders and for full-time students less than 25 years. What is your opinion of this idea?

Chris E: The WAFL does a lot of marketing for families but the student and young adult market is quite competitive. I don’t think you need free adults, you need social media. I told Peel Thunder they are telling people things [online] but not engaging with their community or understanding what they want. Are they really looking at their demographics? Resources for social media can be enhanced. I don’t think you need to devalue your product by free entries. There are 2-for-1 concession entry tickets in the Football Budget. The WAFC should really promote social media although it has improved this year. Peel Thunder says there are a lack of resources and funding to utilize social media more extensively. They have the opportunities but they don’t have the time and people to take advantage of it. You don’t want much central direction [of social media]. The WAFC could direct money to clubs for social media.

KJ: I have been posting links to WAFL Golden Era posts on the Facebook pages of the WAFL and the various clubs. South Fremantle, East Perth, West Perth, and Perth seem to have the most active and popular Facebook pages of all the clubs.

Chris E: Perth fans are very nostalgic!

Mike B. & Kieran J., WP cheer squad founders, 1984-86

KJ: Yes!

Chris E: Some of these regions, such as Claremont and Peel Thunder could have pensioner days or include a [match] ticket with a lunch / dinner or have a bus in from the country zone. They do this a lot on the east coast. There are opportunities to expand the supporter base in all demographics. It is business as usual [unfortunately] for some WAFL clubs. There are further factors to increase growth. Social media will not grab everyone. It is only one factor to bring supporters in. Now the young people are looking at [WAFL] as an entertainment product and they don’t get as emotionally involved. A lot of my mates are emotionally involved in their WAFL clubs. It depends on what circle of friends you are in.

KJ Question 8: What do you think should be the WAFL’s strategic direction? In particular do you think there should be new expansion teams perhaps based in country regions? An author wrote on this website about the Intrust Super Cup model of active expansion. Intrust Super Cup is the Queensland second-tier rugby-league competition which is the local equivalent of the WAFL being one tier below NRL.

Chris E Question 8: Strategic direction of the WAFL? One area I am interested in is regionalization. West Perth is trying to attract the British element in their area by the Union Jack on their jersey. However, this may offend or alienate people who don’t see the Union Jack as a positive thing...

KJ: Yes we may need to create a new club called West Perth Celtic [smiles].

The over-30s crowd at Lathlain Park, 2/7/11

Chris E: Yes [also smiles]. There are better ways to do it than West Perth has done. Peel Thunder can link in better to its region. A bus from Waroona [to Peel Thunder home games] two to three times a year could grab the youth. Clubs need to look at the community and demographics and aim the club in that direction. They need to have regard for other cultures. West Perth did not do that as some people see the Union Jack as an offensive emblem.

There is a big debate at East Fremantle as to whether they should move to Fremantle Oval and whether Claremont should move to the Agricultural Showgrounds. It is cheaper for Claremont to redevelop their own ground. For East Fremantle it comes down to politics between them and South Fremantle regarding the leasing arrangements. I don’t know how keen South Fremantle is about East Fremantle coming to Freo Oval. East Fremantle wanted 50% of the gate and alcohol sales if the Foundation Day Derby was to be played at Freo Oval each year but South Fremantle said “no”. It depends on their individual situation as to how they think the club can best grow. East Fremantle Council presently get one-third of the gate and they may not want East Fremantle there. The land [East Fremantle Oval] is owned by the council and they could make a lot of money by selling it off. They are using financial penalties to drive them out, subtle means. I have a feeling South Fremantle do not want them there [at Fremantle Oval]. I know an East Fremantle fan who does not mind if they move back to their original home.

KJ: What do you think of the idea of expanding the WAFL by bringing in new teams?

Chris E: I think you really have to see whether a town can sustain a new club as two new AFL clubs are draining players out of South Australia and Western Australia. You don’t want to dilute the playing standard. A population of around seven million [i.e. Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia] is supporting eighteen AFL clubs and bringing in other clubs will only increase the dilution of the WAFL and SANFL. Now the zoning system has a [WAFL] club in every part of the metro area. Before Peel was involved it was easier to miss players because of the size of population of the zone. The club represents 250,000 people from Rockingham to Waroona. You are [now] less likely to miss young players out.

KJ: What do you think about a team based in Bunbury? The town has produced some fine WAFL footballers over the years...

Chris E: I can’t see Bunbury getting in unless they have a population of 100,000 and there is a desire to be in the comp. The mistake is wanting a team in rather than they want to be in. The SWFL [South West Football League] clubs are paying as much as the WAFL clubs. Carey Park is upgrading their facility. It may be that people there are happy to have their own league. I will wait to see whether they want to be in it and have a strong business case. Swan Districts relies on a turnover of AUD4.6 million. You need a large turnover to compete with the WAFL clubs.  You need to turnover this amount of cash to compete at the top end.

Danny Wells (Peel Thunder & North Melbourne)

KJ: How about a new team in the Goldfields region?

Chris E: I think Goldfields may be a bit far away. Being brought up in the Pilbara it has a very transitional community in the mining sector. Lack of crowds in Canberra shows transitional communities are not able to sustain clubs. I haven’t actually been there [Goldfields] so I can’t comment much. Being seven hours from Perth may not make it a functioning addition to the WAFL and the population may not be able to support it. Also, like Bunbury, do they want to be in it or not?

KJ Question 11: What do you think of the WAFL’s prospects for the future?

Chris E Question 11: I see it in a positive limelight obviously. Since I’ve been going to the WAFL from 2005 I’ve noticed a big change in the size of crowds. I went to a final with 11,000 crowd at Swan Districts [preliminary final versus East Perth on 11 September 2010 which drew a crowd of 11,251 people] and a Foundation Day Derby crowd of 11,000 at East Fremantle Oval [Monday 1 June 2009 game which drew 11,051 people to East Fremantle Oval]. That experience at Bassendean Oval was quite amazing. It felt like a really big game. Half the crowd was Swan Districts, half was East Perth. You had merchandise sales for both teams. People were still coming into the ground at quarter-time. The same thing happened at East Fremantle Oval. I think people there did not expect that. I think when you have already smashed [i.e. exceeded] people’s expectations of what the WAFL will become there is the ability to continue to smash expectations. Western Australians now see WAFL in a totally different limelight from when it was Westars Rules. I think now Dennis Cometti wants to protect the WAFL and John Worsfold says he does not want to ruin the WAFL comp and he will leave it [entry of AFL reserves teams into the WAFL] to the WAFL presidents.

There is real camaraderie across the nine clubs. There is more government funding. It is becoming increasingly popular for corporates. Since we left Subiaco Oval crowds are rising for finals. People are not seeing the WAFL as on its death-bed like in the Westar era. People are happy to go to it as an entertainment option. The price has risen but people are still going. It is not cheap now but the demand has shown itself to be inelastic. It has shown you don’t need pokies to sustain your footy clubs. SANFL clubs rely on poker machines but WAFL clubs have been able to stay within their market demands and not [have their profitability] distorted by pokies.

Danny Wells (PTFC & NMFC)

KJ: Do you expect WAFL attendances will rise further?

Chris E: I think it depends on how WAFL clubs go about it. There is an issue where we have Claremont always on top of the ladder as they don’t have a large supporter base. Top of the ladder clashes get bigger crowds whereas in the early-2000s [this did not happen because] there was not the hype. Before you would get only an extra 200 but now crowds are doubling. The Subiaco versus West Perth day [11 August 2011] was International Community Day with the Union Jack, they got 6,000 [official attendance 6,044 according to WAFL Online]. They will regard it as a success and it may make that Union Jack continue. If they get 6,000 for that they may continue to go in the same direction as Central District Bulldogs [SANFL club which has an upfront British image].

KJ Question 12: Lastly, can I ask for your comment on WAFL Golden Era website and have you suggestions for how we can expand or improve it?

Chris E Question 12: I think it’s good. My dad played in the 1980s, my grandpa watched games in the 1980s. It’s good to have an understanding of what they had. To have that history recorded is invaluable to those people such as me who were not around to experience it.

KJ: Possible future directions for our website?

Chris E: No, I have no suggestions. You should just build it as you see fit. I will let you decide upon future direction. Whatever you do to create added information and interest in the WAFL is a good thing.

KJ: OK, thanks very much for your time Chris and for your very detailed and insightful observations about many topics relating to WAFL football. It is great in particular to talk to a dedicated, new-generation WAFL fan in his twenties such as yourself.

Chris E: Thank you!        

Kieran James (left) and Chris Egan @ Cicerello's Mandurah, 14 August 2012

Chris Egan (left) and friend Reuben @ Dorrien Gardens Soccer Ground, West Perth, watching Perth Soccer Club play in the State League, August 2012

Chris Egan @ Rushton Park, Mandurah, home of Peel Thunder Football Club, 14 August 2012

Chris Egan @ Rushton Park, Mandurah, home of Peel Thunder Football Club, 14 August 2012