OPINION: "Yuppies walk their Dogs in the Late Afternoons on the Sacred Western Oval Turf: The Abandonment of the Traditional Victorian Suburban Grounds", by Jack Frost

The famous Western Oval in Footscray in Melbourne's west is now a public reserve where yuppies walk their dogs on weekday afternoons. This is an insult to Bulldogs' legends such as Dougie Hawkins and the late Ted Whitten who used to thrill the crowds at this reserve on winter Saturdays in a bygone era. The mighty grandstands now lie silent. The taxpayers are the losers or the April Fools (coincidentally and not by design the picture was taken on 1 April 2011). 

WO: Dictatorial sign left-over from AFL match days

I think the NRL [National Rugby League] has done a much better job than the AFL in keeping some games in authentic suburban venues [for example Brookvale Oval (Manly-Warringah), Campbelltown Sports Stadium (Wests Tigers), Endeavour Field (Cronulla-Sutherland), Kogarah Oval (St George Illawarra), Leichardt Oval (Wests Tigers), and Penrith Stadium (Penrith)], some of which still have areas of grassed banks and/or concrete terracing and hence retain appeal for the traditional fans. Partly this can be explained by the physical layout of Sydney meaning that fewer people regularly traverse from one section of the city to another section, not in the immediate area, than is the case in Melbourne. Small suburban grounds then have a role to play because many fans will not venture far from their local districts. Sydney separates because of its physical geography and especially its famous Harbour (Warby, 2011). Some might point out, perhaps with a mocking attitude, that NRL crowds are significantly smaller than AFL crowds. Therefore, the cosy suburban venues can much more easily accommodate NRL crowds. However, there is more to the story than this. The NRL appears to value tradition and community more than the AFL does at present. The AFL and its (now truly powerless) clubs have been completely unsentimental in their rapid and guiltless abandonment of the suburban grounds. Collingwood is not even based at Victoria Park anymore. I wonder whether, in a generation or two, this policy and culture will rebound upon the AFL and upon its clubs. A day may come when football supporters forget or never knew the AFL clubs’ traditional associations with certain districts. Then the competition’s appeal may be adversely impacted as clubs, all playing in shared mega-stadiums, become little more than names and jersey designs. Carlton, Collingwood, and Essendon, in a generation or two or three, may come to mean little more than Team A, Team B, and Team C. Dr Phil Griffiths, lecturer in politics at the University of Southern Queensland and a diehard Richmond supporter, has written as follows about the AFL’s attitude towards ground rationalization (personal e-mail communication to the author dated 24 January 2011):

“I’ve never really expressed an opinion on the move from suburban football grounds; not that I can remember. If anything, I think the move was a mistake, or at least the extent of it. Geelong have [sic] done well to keep their ground, and many people (including me) wish that Carlton had kept Optus Oval. Richmond’s move from Punt Rd was logical because the ground was too small, and couldn’t expand, and was next to the MCG. But at the same time, those grounds were pretty horrible places at times with minimal facilities. Kevin Sheedy discusses Essendon’s move in his autobiography”.

Hunt and Bond (2005, p. 97) make the following comments on ground rationalizations:

“With the changes in footy over the past 40 years, however, the suburban venues have disappeared. Geelong’s Skilled Stadium is really the only home ground left in Victoria, and the traditional suburban scrap is no more.

            The game has moved on, but it is disappointing that such a colourful part of the game’s history has only a small part to play in the modern competition”. 

WO: Old outer wing terraces now grassed

Even now I would argue that the name “Collingwood” has become an empty signifier (Ferguson, 1999, p. 121) in the sense that people no longer generally think of the actual suburb of Collingwood when they use the club’s name. The same comment applies also to Essendon and St Kilda. Only Geelong is different in that the club name still brings with it a generally accepted signified of the town of Geelong which is, in itself, a signifier with its own set of geographic and socio-economic signifieds. Geelong has not yet become disattached to place or community in the way that Collingwood has. The phrase “Kill for Collingwood” now becomes ironic or sarcastic as the signifier has become empty. What does “Collingwood” mean now other than Mick Malthouse, Eddie "Everywhere" McGuire, and the black-and-white stripes? It is no wonder Eddie will not let Port Adelaide wear its famous prison-bar jerseys in the AFL! (Eddie "Everywhere" tried to argue that Collingwood has some form of legal trademark over the black-and-white stripes. How completely ridiculous. What is he going to do? Go to Africa and sue a zebra? Sue Newcastle United Soccer Club? Sue Juventus? If only one club can wear black-and-white stripes in the AFL perhaps it should be Port Adelaide which was formed in 1874 whereas Collingwood was formed only as late as 1892.) 
      I recently visited the Western Oval in Footscray - the impressive stands are empty, the perimeter seating has been removed, and the concrete terracing has been replaced with a grassed bank (see pictures on this page taken by the author on 1 April 2011, quite appropriately April Fools’ Day, the fools being the taxpayers). The old tin sheds on the outer wing, on the city side of the ground, are gone and the outer fence has been removed so people can freely walk into the oval using a concrete footpath at the northern or Barkly Street goals end. In the late afternoons double-income yuppies walk their dogs on the once hallowed turf. Although the ground is still the training base for the Western Bulldogs, it can be argued that the AFL has cheated the taxpayers since the empty grandstands will never be full again nor is the ground used anywhere near as often as it should be. We have what urban sociologists term the “privatization of public spaces” (see, for example, Ferguson, 1999, p. 124). The West Footscray train station will never again accommodate thousands of fanatical football followers every second Saturday afternoon in winter. Without wanting to disparage dog-walking, is dog-walking truly an activity suitable for the great Western Oval where Ted Whitten, Dougie Hawkins, Kelvin Templeton, and Simon Beasley used to perform their mighty feats? Is dog-walking respectful of the generations of great deeds and memories that the ground still contains and rekindles?

WB players train on Western Oval, 1/4/11

Hunt and Bond (2005, pp. 107, 113) refer to the demise of VFL/AFL Park in Glen Waverley. The present article is not the place for a detailed discussion of the VFL/AFL Park issue but the following quote is worthy of consideration:

“Between 1969 and 2004 we saw 85 hectares of grazing and market garden land in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs become the site for a magnificent stadium and end up as a housing estate. ... Emotional Hawthorn president Ian Dicker fired a parting shot in his pre-match address [for the last match at Waverley, Hawthorn versus Sydney, 29 April 1999], saying the fans would never forgive the AFL for the demise of the ground as a league venue”.

FOOTNOTE: I was pleased to hear recently that the Footscray VFL team has started to play matches at the Western Oval and its opening match there attracted 7,000 people.

[By Jack Frost, 11 October 2012; footnote added 21 April 2015]

DVD REVIEW OF: 1979 WAFL Grand Final DVD, East Fremantle 21.19 (145) d South Fremantle 16.16 (112).

Port Adelaide Magpies supporters, Foxtel Cup versus Claremont, Subiaco Oval, 16/7/2011. The group are seated in the two-tier stand which was opened on 27/4/1981. The older three-tier stand at the southern end (opened 31/8/1969) is behind them at centre rear. The stand at the extreme left of the picture is a much newer monstrosity and it postdates the formation of West Coast Eagles. How long will the three-tier stand last the perpetual redevelopment at what is now called by some people (but not by me) Paterson's Stadium?

The late great Maurice Rioli

I should have written this review during the recently ended 2012 WAFL final round series but I didn't get the free time necessary to be able to do it. Last night [6 October 2012] I watched the DVD of the 1979 WAFL Grand Final, East Fremantle v South Fremantle. I picked up the DVD from the East Fremantle Football Club office on Moss Street for AUD25.00 so if you are motivated and inspired to watch this great game of WAFL football either go to the club office during ordinary business hours or shop online at the EFFC official website (see link at the foot of this article).

This game was for many people of my generation the highlight of the WAFL Golden Era. I was ten years old when the game was played but I was not at the ground because my dad would only take me to qualifying round matches until I reached high-school age. (The first grand final I watched at the ground was 1981.) On the 1979 GF DVD, expert commentator Steve Marsh often talks about the 1954 Grand Final and other grand finals of his era. Back in 1979 those games were still in the living memory of most people just as the 1980s games are today. However, I was too young to have experienced the 1950s, 1960s, and early-1970s. For people of my generation this game was the greatest game and most significant game that we are able to personally remember. It was an even contest with East Fremantle only sealing the game when it went four goals ahead around the 20-minute mark of the last quarter. It was of course the day a record Grand Final crowd of 52,781 entered Subiaco Oval with the gates being shut at 2pm. Before the official crowd figure came through after half-time the commentators were suggesting 54,000 plus people. This attendance of 52,781 was not bettered in the period 1980-86 and obviously in today's environment of the WAFL as a second-tier league the record will never be beaten. It will stand for eternity or as long as the WAFL continues to exist (whichever is the shorter, God bless the WAFL)! 

Tony Buhagiar (Essendon days)

East Fremantle started strongly with Tony Buhagiar making several fast breakaway moves and East Fremantle scored the first goal. From that point on South never gained the lead except for once early in the final term. Buhagiar was a stand out player for Old Easts this day and his bursts of speed over ten to twenty metres were so efficient they gave him time to get the ball, weave around two or three players, and then dispose of the ball calmly and with time to spare. Mario Turco played a similar role in defence. Even backman Merv Carrot, who was in excellent form, managed to play the role of attacking defender. On a few occasions he ran with the ball through the half-back line working in combination with Buhagiar or the youthful and bearded Brian Peake to move the ball forward. Kevin Cornell and Simon Outhwaite played similar roles for South Fremantle and both players were major contributors for the Fremantle Oval-based team. [Cornell played 130 games for South from 1976-84 while Outhwaite played 158 games from 1973-82.] On the DVD three players wear long-sleeve jerseys: Kevin Cornell for SFFC and Ken Judge and Rod Lester-Smith for EFFC. Peake was targeted early for rough treatment but overall he managed to play a superb game of long kicking, fast running, and skilful ball control. Peake was one of those few players that always had an aura of self-confidence and inner strength about him even when he didn't have the ball or was not doing something extraordinary with it. You certainly get that impression watching the tape from the vantage point of the year 2012. I remember watching him play for EFFC in his twilight years in the 1988 WAFL season and he still had that aura and he could still dominate a game. Steve Marsh said on the 1979 Grand Final DVD that he (Peake) received three elbows, two intentional, early in the game. Although a fight only broke out once in the game and that was in the second-half SFFC was the most physical side overall. EFFC's team of that era looked very statesmanlike and even upper-class with Doug Green's height and classic good looks being typical of that so-called EFFC look. Green also played well, taking some fine marks at centre-half-back, and helping his team on many occasions with his long clearing kicks out of the half-back line. As mentioned, Kevin Cornell and Simon Outhwaite played similar roles for SFFC although neither had the aristocratic look of Doug Green! Somehow "Monkey" Brennan with his moptop of hair managed to replicate that look in the EFFC defence ten years later. What is it about this club?

South was able to keep pace with EFFC for the first three quarters with the margin sometimes closing to just a few points and at other times blowing out to a few goals. This was certainly not the sort of game where one team always looked like it was going to win. The result was uncertain at three-quarter time and the players and crowd really only began celebrating when EFFC kicked the margin out to four goals at the 20-minute mark of the final term. Remember this was the era where all quarters were 25 minutes long plus time-on. Some skilful and brilliant work by Stephen Michael, Benny Vigona, and Maurice Rioli kept SFFC in the game and generally the SFFC defence was reliable and workmanlike. Kevin Taylor and Ken Judge always threatened to blow the game apart up forward but this only happened towards the end of the final term. Ruckman Graeme Carter was a towering rock for EFFC in defence where he took many strong marks. Stephen Michael was effective in the first half playing as a loose man a kick behind the play across half-back. One bouncing run of his out of defence was especially memorable. It is a surprise to see how lacking in height Michael was for a ruckman. He was just around six foot (183cm.) and about the same height as the average ruckrover or centreman. That he could contest at centre bounces against ruckmen a few inches taller than him shows his amazing leap. However, I'm sure Michael found contesting ruck contests against the gentle giant Laurie Keene (Subiaco FC) during the years 1981-85 to be very challenging indeed. [Michael played 243 games for SFFC from 1975-85 while Keene played 140 games for Subiaco from 1981-94.] Noel Carter was there and thereabouts for SFFC this day in 1979. He had a number of possessions but it could not reasonably be said that he dominated the game. [Carter played 155 games for SFFC from 1978-85.]

B Peake, young & bearded, 1981

In the second half EFFC gradually looked more and more threatening although this is most likely because of the benefit of hindsight. For those people at the ground I'm sure they would have been hard pressed to pick a winner for three-and-a-half quarters. Kevin Taylor was extremely dangerous up forward for EFFC and he kicked seven goals mostly from running starts. He was much less competent at taking set shots for goal and these set shots often resulted in points or out-of-bounds. During the match Taylor reached his 100th goal for the season which at that time was a feat which had never been equalled by any rover in any major league in Australia. His blistering pace, great ball-skills, and unfailing accuracy from shots on the run were ultimately devastating for SFFC. Both Buhagiar and Taylor could dominate small sections of play in this manner in the spirit of the Richmond great Kevin "KB"/ "Hungry" Bartlett.

In what was surprising but totally expected in terms of the spirit of this game the SFFC full-forward Ray Bauskis came to life in the second-half playing a traditional full-forward's role of wrestle, lead, mark and kick, similar to Tony Lockett or Jason Dunstall but perhaps one notch in class lower (which is not to call Bauskis a bad player, he was one of a long list of great SFFC full-forwards from Gerovich and Naylor to Sumich and Dorotich). He marked well, out-wrestled and outran his immediate opponents and scored well from set shots (unlike Taylor at the other end). He looked genuinely dangerous and it seemed SFFC might be able to kick a winning score through Bauskis. [Bauskis played 120 games for SFFC from 1972-80.] However, as the game wore on, Peake played a more important role as did Judge and Taylor up forward, Turco and Green in defence, and Robbie Johnson (Percy Johnson's son) around the ground. Geraldton player Graham Kickett came on to the ground in the last quarter and was placed on the wing. His fresh legs and passion were obvious and he was involved in a few great passages of play as the minutes ticked away at the end. His very presence with his fresh legs probably was enough to cause discouragement among the SFFC players. However, this was one grand final where just based on its performance on the day you can say SFFC would have been worthy winners and worthy premiers. Of course SFFC won the following year's 1980 Grand Final against Swan Districts and that was poetic justice of a sort.

B Peake, 1982 VFL Scanlens card

At the end of the game, we see on the DVD Brad Smith, first-year EFFC coach, celebrate with the players and we see one Malcolm Gregory Brown (SFFC coach), in bright red SFFC jacket, stride on to the ground, obviously frustrated and disappointed. The tape cuts off quite early and viewers do not get to see the cup and trophy presentations which would have been held in the old grandstand. In the 1976 and 1977 Grand Final DVDs, available from PFC at Lathlain Park, Perth fans get to watch the after-match presentations before the tape ends.

What can you see of the crowd? Obviously it was a packed venue that day. This was the era of the three-tier stand all on its lonesome at the southern end (opened 31/8/1969), concrete terracing on the Roberts Road wing, grassy bank at the city end, and the old grandstand on the western flank. The two-tier stand was not opened until 27/4/1981 (according to the Paterson's Stadium page at www.Austadiums.com). The public admission areas obviously were extremely full. The gates were closed at 2pm for the 2.20pm start. You can see about ten people sitting on the roof of a fast-food van at the top of the grassy bank. The old tin shed and scoreboard can be seen on the eastern flank. Progress scores for North Melbourne v Carlton (VFL) can be read on the board. The crowd was very much pro-South Fremantle. If you look at people in the crowd wearing the club colours I would estimate 80%-90% was South and only 10%-20% was East. This shows the huge dormant followings clubs such as South Fremantle, West Perth, and East Perth had back in this era. At the ground alone there must have been around 30,000 to 40,000 SFFC fans and 5,000 to 15,000 EFFC fans. EFFC even then had fewer supporters than many other clubs probably in part because its urban territory was and is a closed square, bordered by SFFC to the south, PFC to the east, and the Swan River to the north. Many red-and-white flags were obvious at the city end and there were one or two EFFC young people with flags in the middle of them. One of these guys stood on the fence and waved his flag when EFFC scored and did what appeared to be a two-fingered salute each time SFFC scored. That particular salute seems to have died out now and I can't say that is a bad thing. It is hard to be sure whether all these South flags at the city end on the DVD were part of an organized cheer squad or they were just carried by isolated individuals who all just happened to sit behind the goals.

B Peake in recent years

Behind the ground that red brick block of flats made famous in many grand final pictures is clearly visible on the DVD as is another green-topped block of flats further to the city side. Apart from that there were few high-rise or medium-rise buildings in the background. A row of about five pine trees can be seen over in Subiaco proper around 600 metres away and to the left of the three-tier stand.

On the DVD you can see that around 30% or 40% of the boundary fence had no sponsorship signs on it. At the city end goals people were allowed to leave their flags hanging over the boundary fence when not in use. Imagine that being allowed in the hyper-corporate and politically-correct AFL of today! Clearly these were simpler and less politically-correct times when the football public rather than the sponsors were still perceived to be the most important stakeholder within the footballing community. Around the half-forward flank at the city end in front of the tin shed you can see on the DVD a Red Rooster advertising sign on the boundary fence. I can remember this company used to advertise its meals frequently in the Football Budget including mouth-watering photographs of the Hawaiian Pack so that football patrons could start to get hungry during the last quarter and then head directly to Red Rooster straight after the game. Red Rooster was an integral part of the WAFL football match-day experience for many people in the late-1970s. At Bassendean Oval in the 1980s supporters would get half-time pass-outs and go to the Red Rooster shop across the street (on the corner of West Street and Extension Street) and then bring the food back into the ground. Bassendean Oval was such an intimidating place for West Perth fans back in that era that you learnt to appreciate little things at the ground such as the Red Rooster meals which you couldn't access easily at any of the other suburban grounds.

SFFC aboriginal legends - Vigona, Roe & Rioli

Overall, this remarkable DVD captures a brilliant grand final from a brilliant era and part of the childhood memories of so many thousands of people today aged in their forties, greying, and overweight (well yours truly ticks all three of these boxes anyway). Get your copy now. It is part of a unique sporting and social history of Perth that in this era of AFL, Naitanui, and pages of West Coast Eagles in the morning newspaper each day (whether you want it there or not) will never come back again. Watch it for two hours and re-enter a world when the WAFL was King everywhere west of the South Australian border. How I wish it had always remained so [by Jack Frost, 7 October 2012, revised on 16 April 2015].

SFFC coach Mal Brown (a mongrel I never met)!

WAFL joke: Q: Where would you be if you tried to put a carrot through the eye of a needle?
A: At an East Fremantle FC training session circa 1979!

Facebook comment by Marco Melia (11 September 2018): "Brian Peake was my apprenticeship officer when I was doing Panel beating at Carisle Tech, ripper bloke".  

Facebook comment by Doug Winning (11 September 2018): "Played under 16's cricket with Brian Peake at the South Perth Cricket Club. He was our opening bowler. At South Perth at the time, all playing under 16's at the same time were a plethora of talented kids. They included Sandover medallist Peter Spencer; West Coast, Perth and Richmond star Robert Wiley; Australian Hockey representatives Greg and Craig Davies; and former East Fremantle league footballer Paul Bennett." (Note: Doug Winning's cousin Dean Winning played 13 senior games for Claremont in 1984-85.)

Link to buy Grand Final DVDs at EFFC's official website (valid as at 7 October 2012):
http://www.effc.com.au/team-store/match-dvds/ 

The prices are AUD25.00 plus shipping for all individual DVDs (as at 7 October 2012).