1984 - Stealing footballs from the Technical School grounds / A Tribute to "Half" (Michael) (WP fan), Leederville Oval

The old tin shed in the north-western corner of Leederville Oval in Perth, 6 July 2011. This shed has basically remained unchanged since the 1970s. The Technical School is visible behind the barbed-wire fence. The eight-year-old West Perth football hooligan Michael ("Half") stole many match footballs from the Technical School grounds during one memorable 1984 WAFL game.

I now move on to mention our most important and famous younger member, Michael or “Half” as we christened him because he was one-half the height of the other people in the group [West Perth FC cheer squad, 1984-86]. Half was an eight-year-old whose parents were financial members of the club who sat in the grandstand on the western wing of Leederville Oval. They allowed Half to set his own agenda, go his own way, and make his own friends during the games as long as he didn’t leave the oval. His parents were never seen by us but I suppose we viewed them as spectral support from the more respectable section of the West Perth supporter base. Certainly they gave us a certain amount of trust and we did feel some obligation and responsibility regarding Half’s welfare. Half was a very passionate West Perth supporter although I believe he lived in the East Perth district in either Bayswater or Maylands.

The sandy-brown haired eight-year-old "Half" or "Halfy" joined the cheer squad for every home game for two years (1984-86) and he always joined us on the playing surface after games for the informal kick-to-kick sessions among the group members. He was always regarded as an important part of the group and his nickname was a sign of affection. He was a carefree extrovert who liked chatting and laughing and would get very excited during significant moments of play when West Perth was doing well. At such times he would run around and climb up on to empty seats, waving his flag furiously. He would enjoy the insulting cheer squad chants and enjoy negative discussions about other teams and verbally jousting with rival fans of his own age if any of them came too close. Like all of us, he genuinely loved and admired the playing group, the team, and the club but in the innocent way you would expect of an eight-year-old.

Kieran James (author), LO northern end, 6/7/2011

Mike B. reminded me recently (personal conversation, Kalgoorlie, 14 July 2011) of an incident involving Half which had not risen to the top of my memory and so had not made the first draft of this article. At one particular game at Leederville Oval, one of the teams was on a scoring spree and the football would repeatedly sail over the wire fencing which was and is only around eight metres behind the boundary fence at the Technical School end of the ground. Half knew the quickest way from the oval into the Technical School grounds and, due to his knowledge of this route combined with his pace and alertness, he was always first through to the Technical School to recover the footballs. As Mike recounts the story, Half used to put the footballs under his jumper, re-enter the ground, and then give the footballs to his mother seated in the grandstand who was complicit in the thefts. One can only imagine the height and width of his perpetual cheeky grins on this particular afternoon! Mike says this occurred at many of the games but at one game in particular there was a scoring spree at the Technical School end and Half stole many footballs on this day alone. This article has a picture (above) of me standing in our cheer squad’s behind-goals area at the Technical School end of Leederville Oval. In the redevelopment of the ground over the past ten years the seats behind the goals and on the scoreboard wing have all gone but those in front of the tin shed, in the north-western corner of the ground, still remain today as they were in 1984 [by Kieran James, 30 December 2011]. 

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

Kieran James, West Perth cheer squad 1984-86 joint-founder (left) pictured here with Brian Atkinson, former West Perth FC President and official club historian, Perth, 8 July 2011

Curtin University sports historian Dr Sean Gorman (left) and Kieran James, West Perth cheer squad joint-founder 1984-86, pictured here at Curtin University, 5 July 2011. Dr Gorman wrote the excellent book BrotherBoys about Jim and Phil Krakouer which includes a detailed and historically important section on the 1981 WAFL Grand Final between Claremont and South Fremantle.

Leederville Oval, looking west from the northern-end goals, 6 July 2011. During the 1980s West Perth could be unbeatable here at home especially on fine sunny days like this one with the home crowd in full voice. However, the period 1976-86 disappointed West  Perth fans as the team never played in a Grand Final. Although the team often defeated the eventual premiers (e.g. Swans twice in 1982 and 1984 and East Fremantle twice in 1985) it also lost many games against lowly-placed teams which it should have won. An interesting fact which most people are not aware of is that in Swans' triple-premiership years of 1982-84 West Perth beat it 5 times out of 9 in the qualifying rounds. This demonstrates how potential went unfulfilled at West Perth in this era.

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].