ARTICLE: "Lathlain Oval: Where Perth Football Club found success in fresh fields", by J. Townsend, 19/9/17

ARTICLE: The name Pat Fogarty barely resonates in WA football circles now but it is doubtful that West Coast Eagles would be preparing to move to Lathlain Park next year without the Perth secretary’s foresight more than half a century ago.

Perth were based at the WACA Ground for most of their first 60 years but Fogarty, who was secretary for nearly 20 years before having two stints as president, was long convinced the club would only thrive by moving into the heart of its growing district.

It was a strategy later replicated with great success by West Perth in their shift to Joondalup but a move that attracted significant opposition from Perth supporters in the tough years after World War II.

But Fogarty was adamant — Perth had to move or perish.

He had identified the rudimentary ground at Goddard Street, the geographic centre of a new housing development, as the ideal site for the club and spent much of energies convincing the Perth city council of the value of his vision.

Merely delighted when Perth ended a 48-year premiership drought by winning the 1955 grand final, Fogarty was fulfilled four years later when the club moved to Lathlain Park and took possession of the magnificent grandstand fully funded by the council and named after then president EW Jones, a prominent Perth dentist hence his nickname “Brusher”, and himself.

It meant the club could now have their own liquor licence, a significant financial development given their tenancy at the WACA meant they kept little of the bar takings, a fact noted by the cricket association in 1955 when it congratulated Perth on their flag but regretted their imminent departure. The move to Lathlain could barely have been more successful.

Lathlain, Carlisle and surrounding suburbs were developing rapidly and under the energetic management of colts coach Jack Ensor, who would assemble and organise some of the greatest talent in the State’s history as part of his six premierships in seven seasons, Perth would soon enter the most glorious period of their existence.

The tough and inspirational Mal Atwell was convinced to leave East Perth to coach the club, outstanding players Barry Cable, Bob Shields, Greg Brehaut and Frank Pyke emerged as stars, and Perth became a WAFL powerhouse.

A hat-trick of flags was delivered from 1966 to 1968, with Cable living up to his big game reputation by winning the Simpson Medal in each grand final, while the individual honours flowed on Sandover Medal night with Cable (three times), Neville Beard, Pat Dalton, Ian Miller and Bryan Cousins saluting within two decades of the move to Lathlain.

The 1970s were barely less successful, with consecutive flags in 1976-77 and a heart-breaking two-point loss a year later, but the golden age was coming to an end.

The relationship with the council soured to the extent that Perth returned to the WACA for two seasons in the mid-1980s but the move didn’t work and was soon abandoned.

The Demons have been back at Lathlain for the past three decades with their current 20-year absence from finals the longest in WAFL history, but hopeful that Pat Fogarty’s foresight and the imminent arrival of the Eagles may foreshadow another golden era.

[By John Townsend for The West Australian. This article was first published at the following link: https://thewest.com.au/news/perth/demons-found-success-in-fresh-fields-ng-b88604804z] 

The ground opening of Lathlain Park in 1959.

Claremont are 99-points behind Perth in the final quarter of this July 1965 match.

Mal Brown marks for East Perth at the back of Bob Shields while Barry Cable looks on.

All the colour Lathlain Park pictures were taken by Kieran James at Perth versus Swan Districts, 2 July 2011.

The old Victoria Park station (since demolished) in April 2005. The new station is 230 metres to the south of the old station making it very close to where the former Lathlain station was located. 

As WAFL travelling fans will remember it, Lathlain station (pictured here just after its closure in February 2003). It was opened on 2 May 1959 to serve fans attending Lathlain Park and it closed on 3 February 2003.

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.]

WAFL Golden Era Grand Final DVDs (1972-86) - Where to buy them

Merchandise Store at Lathlain Park (2/7/2011) where you can buy 1976 and 1977 WAFL Grand Final DVDs, the Perth FC official history book From Redlegs to Demons, and other home team gear. The store opens for all Perth FC WAFL home games. Visit Lathlain Park and imagine it is 1976 again! 

1972 Grand Final - East Perth Football Club, Leederville Oval (office hours).
1973 Grand Final - Subiaco Football Club, Leederville Oval (office hours).

1974 Grand Final - East Fremantle Football Club, East Fremantle Oval (office hours).

1976 Grand Final - Perth Football Club, Lathlain Park (office hours) and Merchandise Stand at Lathlain Park on match-days (located in north-western corner of the ground just inside the main entrance gates).

1977 Grand Final - Perth Football Club, Lathlain Park (office hours) and Merchandise Stand at Lathlain Park on match-days (located in north-western corner of the ground just inside the main entrance gates).

1978 Grand Final - East Perth Football Club, Leederville Oval (office hours). I was sold my copy for $10 (but that might have been because the regular administrator was out-for-lunch - typical old-school amateur WAFL approach - love it).

1979 Grand Final - East Fremantle Football Club, East Fremantle Oval (office hours). Also check out EFFC's official website if you live far away from the club. You may be able to order and pay online.

1980 Grand Final - South Fremantle Football Club Merchandise Store (inside the main grandstand with entry at street level from the footpath just across the road from the Fremantle Markets' exit) (office hours).

1981 Grand Final - Claremont Football Club, Claremont Oval - I was told at the club that this DVD is the best-seller of all the Claremont premiership DVDs. (It is sold in a two-disc set - one disc is the game itself and one disc has bonus features. Yes it includes all the fights in the opening minutes.)

1985 Grand Final - East Fremantle Football Club, East Fremantle Oval (office hours).

1986 Grand Final - Subiaco Football Club, Leederville Oval (office hours).

Note: I am guessing the reason that neither West Perth nor Swan Districts sell Grand Final DVDs for their premiership years is because these two clubs have not purchased the reproduction rights from ABC TV. (Yes I have made inquiries at both clubs during office hours. No, I didn't actually drive to Joondalup, I emailed the club.)

Interesting fact: The box cover for the 1977 Grand Final DVD says: "Perth versus East Perth" whereas the DVD inside correctly is for the 1977 match between Perth and East Fremantle. For Perth supporters I'm sure it is preferable to imagine that it was East Perth also defeated in 1977! [Note, interesting fact, and research by Jack Frost.]

Round 3, 1979 - Swan Districts FC 11.12 (78) d Perth FC 11.8 (74), Lathlain Park

Perth v Swan Districts @ Lathlain Park, 32 years on, last quarter in the can bar, 2/7/2011. The famous members' and public stand is at left. All or most of the guys pictured here are probably that generation which began to support Perth during its glory years of the mid-1970s. When / if Perth win aother premiership the celebrations will be unbelievable. If you see yourself in this picture please post a comment below so we can acknowledge you!

P v SD, last quarter, 2/7/2011, viewed from can bar

Without a doubt Swan Districts was the club of the early-1980s in the WAFL, i.e. the club had and has the privileged position of being the Golden Club of the Golden Era. (However, Swan Districts of 1982-83 versus Perth of 1976-77 would have been a brilliant contest.) After being easy-beats for most of the late-1970s, with a bottom two position nearly assured, Swans, under the expert coaching of the disciplinarian John Todd, began a rapid ascent up the premiership ladder to the extent that the club played in (but lost) the 1980 Grand Final against a brilliant Mal Brown coached South Fremantle team that included Basil Campbell; Brad Hardie; Stephen Michael; Joe McKay; the late Maurice Rioli; Tony Morley; and Benny Vigona. Fullpointsfooty.net comments as follows regarding the coaching style of John Todd:

“Whereas the best Western Australian teams have traditionally been renowned for producing highly-skilled, open, flowing football Todd tended to favour a more ‘Victorian’ approach. His teams were tough and determined, capable of brilliance, but more typically achieving victory by relentless running supplemented with substantial amounts of vigour. It is probably no coincidence that Todd went on to become the first coach to steer the West Coast Eagles into the finals as his style was eminently suited to the dog eat dog desperation of the [then] VFL” [http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/Swan_Districts.htm, accessed 5 January 2011].

LP: PFC merchandise stall, 2/7/2011

I was actually there at the moment in 1979 when there was a symbolic “changing of the guard” between declining Perth (1976 and 1977 premiers and 1978 grand finalists) and emergent Swans (premiers in 1982, 1983, and 1984 and 1980 grand finalists). I was sitting high up in the visiting fans’ section of the Lathlain Park grandstand with my late grandfather Herbert Arthur Acott (1906-99) and his best mate Ernie Henderson on this day in 1979. In a tense finish, the emergent Swans held on to win by four points to symbolize the end of the Perth era and the start of the Swans’ era. East et al. (2005, p. 251) report that the date was Monday 16 April 1979 and the final score was: Swan Districts 11.12 (78) defeated Perth 11.8 (74). The official attendance was 11,046. The picture on p. 166 of Dawson’s (2004) book John Todd: Six Decades of Footy shows John Todd embracing his chairman of selectors Bob Manning at the end of the game. Dawson (2004, p. 166) writes that: “There was palpable relief in John’s face on the final siren, with Swans kicking only six points in the last term as Perth fought back from a three goal deficit”. Although never a Swans’ supporter, I was nonetheless caught up in the emotion of the game, and remember running down to the visiting team players’ race (just a wire-chain fence on both sides and over the top) to cheer the Swans’ players as they left the ground. Years later, in the 1998 season when my grandfather was 92-years-old and I was 29, I took him to a Perth versus East Fremantle game at Lathlain Park (either on 4 April or 8 August; East et al., 2005, p. 254). It took forever for me to help him walk up and down the grandstand steps. He enjoyed the game and especially the speed and skill of East Fremantle, the eventual premiers that year. East Fremantle’s team included the veteran Steve Malaxos whom my grandfather remembered for his earlier stints at Claremont and West Coast. The last part of my grandfather’s memory to disappear was that part that stored up the names of football players! On a sunny day, the view from the top of the Lathlain Park grandstand is magnificent with the tree-tops in the middle distance, the blue sky above, and the hills of the Darling Ranges as the backdrop. It is one of WAFL football's truly iconic views [by Kieran James, this revised version is dated 20 November 2013].  

LP: P v SD, 2/7/2011, viewed from can bar

Round 3, 1979 – Perth v Swan Districts, Lathlain Park

Likely line-ups

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 16 April, 1979, p. 69)

Perth FC

Backs: Noack, Quartermaine, Fotheringhame

Half-backs: Inman, Cook, Roberts

Centres: Watt, Wilson, Johnson

Half-forwards: Currie, Montgomery, Bosustow

Forwards: Kimberley, Farrant, Turner

Ruck: Rosbender, Gibellini, Doyle

Reserves: Lawrence, P Smith

In: Quartermaine, P Smith, Lawrence

Out: Mitsopoulos (injured), Couper, B Smith

Swan Districts FC

Backs: Comerford, Mullooly, Bell

Half-backs: Fogarty, Cransberg, O’Rourke

Centres: P Narkle, Holden, K Narkle

Half-forwards: Casey, Beasley, Bauskis

Forwards: Frost, Olsen, Dikolli

Ruck: Boucher, Nowotny, Neesham

Reserves: Smith, Langsford

In: Bauskis, Bell, Fogarty, Dikolli, Smith, Langsford

Out: Skwirowski (knee), Parker (heel), Reid, Holmes, Chidlow, Richardson

Match results – Monday 16 April 1979

Swan Districts FC 6.1 7.6 11.6 11.12 (78) d Perth FC 2.0 4.2 8.6 11.8 (74)

Scorers: SD: Olsen 4.1, Beasley 3.1, Bauskis 2.1, Dikolli 2.0, Neesham 0.2, Langsford, Casey, Smith, P Narkle, Frost 0.1, Forced 0.2.

P: Bosustow 2.2, Kimberley 2.1, Lawrence 2.0, Gibellini 1.2, Farrant, Doyle, Smith, Currie 1.0, Johnson 0.1, Forced 0.2.

Free kicks: SD: 9, 11, 13, 6 – 39.

P: 5, 11, 12, 7 – 35.

Official attendance: 11,046 (from WAFL Online)

Weather: Fine with moderate north-easterly winds.

(Source: The West Australian, Tuesday, 17 April, 1979, p. 74)

Best players:

1 Simon Beasley (SD): The focal point for the Swan Districts attack all day. Marked brilliantly and kicked strongly and with purpose.

2 Alan Montgomery [Kieran James' note: correct spelling is Allan Montgomery] (P): A brilliant aerialist who covered plenty of ground and was the key man in the Perth forward moves.

3 Gerard Neesham (SD): A damaging rover who worked hard midfield, but spoilt his work with poor disposal.

Team rankings:

SD: S Beasley 1, G Neesham 2, K Narkle 3, G Frost 4, R Boucher 5, P Narkle 6.

P: A Montgomery 1, D Farrant 2, N Fotheringhame 3, J Doyle 4, G Gibellini 5, W Rosbender 6.

	Round 3	Table	WAFL	1979
	Played	Won	Lost	%	Points
EAST FREM*	3	3	0	134.62	12
EAST PERTH	3	2	1	156.70	8
CLAREMONT	3	2	1	127.65	8
SOUTH FREM**	3	2	1	109.81	8
Perth	3	1	2	118.84	4
Swan Dist***	3	1	2	84.04	4
West Perth	3	1	2	62.63	4
Subiaco	3	0	3	49.08	0

*Eventual 1979 WAFL premiers

**Eventual 1979 WAFL runners-up and 1980 premiers

*** Eventual 1980 WAFL runners-up

(Source: The West Australian, Tuesday, 17 April, 1979, p. 74)

Match analysis

Quotes from COLIN HOPKINS:

Old Victoria Park station (prior to renovations)

“Swan Districts pulled off the confidence-booster they needed so badly when they hung on to beat Perth by four points to bring up their first win for the season in the match at Lathlain Park yesterday.

“Swans won this fiery, bruising encounter 11.12 to 11.8 to show that they are a force to be reckoned with in the race for places in the top four this season.

“The young Swans side had trouble finishing off their work in the first two matches of the season – and it almost looked likely to be the same story yesterday.

“Their inexperience almost cost them the game as Perth came back with everything they had.

“Swans deserved their win. They were 25 points ahead at quarter time, 22 at half-time and 18 points at three-quarter time.

“Perth played with great purpose and put their opponents under pressure in the final quarter. But they just could not reduce the deficit and paid the penalty for their slow start in the opening quarter.

“The match was dominated by the performances of rival centre-half-forwards Simon Beasley (Swan Districts) and Alan Montgomery (Perth).

“Beasley showed all the attributes of a future state player to provide the focal point in the Swans’ attack for most of the day.

“Montgomery, who marks brilliantly, played with flair and purpose and he is improving with every game.

“The move of Gerard Neesham to the side’s No. 1 roving position turned into an outstanding success for Swans coach John Todd and he was one of the heroes of the victory.

“Neesham was the busiest rover on the ground. He was a prolific kick-getter and was well supported by Skender Dikolli.

“They made the most of the feast of opportunities provided by ruckmen Greg Frost and Ron Boucher.

“The two Swan Districts big men continually thumped the ball forward and it was left to [Wim] Rosbender to try to counter the pair. Rosbender worked hard, but lacked support and the Perth rovers were clearly beaten by their opponents.

“Perth now lack a touch of brilliance in the small-man department. Former Essendon player Andy Wilson was a dismal flop yesterday.

“John Doyle started in the centre, one of eight positional changes made by Perth coach Ken Armstrong to the pre-match line-up.

“Barry Kimberley battled hard all day as a rover, but he did not do the damage of Neesham, who looks likely to be a tremendous acquisition for Swans.

“Swans received great drive from wingmen Keith and Phil Narkle and it was only in the second half that [Alan] Johnson started to come into his own.

“Perth are going to find it much harder to force their way into the final four this season.

“Swans have the ability to go on with the job. They are a side with the physical capacity to test most combinations and they have a neat balance in their team.

Old Lathlain station (now demolished), looking south

“Beasley is a fine player and the high-marking Mark Olsen, who kicked four goals yesterday, represents real danger in front of goals.

“However, Olsen must learn to fight harder when the ball hits the ground and yesterday Neil Fotheringhame overcame a slow start to outpoint him.

“Perth were well served by Doug Farrant, and ruck-rover Gary Gibellini weighed in with a solid second half.

“Tom Bell [SD] made an encouraging return to league ranks in a back-pocket, Tom Mullooly managed to contain the brilliant bursts of Peter Bosustow and Graeme Comerford continues to show great potential in the other pocket.

“Todd would have been happy with the performances of half-back flankers Glenn O’Rourke and Jon Fogarty, who will improve with experience.

“Swans finally learnt how to win a match yesterday and this should act as a stimulus in coming weeks.”

(Source: Colin Hopkins (1979), “Swans learn how to win”, The West Australian, Tuesday, 17 April, 1979, pp. 74, 76) [archival research by Kieran James].

Perth v SD, Lathlain Park can bar, 2/7/2011