Round 16, 1984 - East Perth FC 19.15 (129) d West Perth FC 18.17 (125), Perth Oval.

Round 16, 1984 – East Perth v West Perth, Perth Oval

This was the second close and exciting finish to West Perth versus East Perth “Perth derbies” during the 1984 home-and-away season. It is often said that Fremantle derbies are usually tough contests regardless of the positions of the two teams on the league ladder. The same could be said for Perth derbies. However, East Perth was in a rebuilding stage in 1984, like South Fremantle, and it only just made the finals series. Although West Perth was in the final-four after the loss in this Round 16 clash it finished the season badly and failed to make the finals. Following West Perth in the 1980s was a disheartening experience as the club often defeated leading teams only to lose games it should have won. In this game Les Fong and Peter Menaglio, as usual, were outstanding for West Perth. Both should be regarded as legendary names across the WAFL today but sadly that does not appear to be the case. Why not a “Les Fong-Robert Wiley” trophy for Perth versus West Perth games? It might make more sense than Stephen Michael-Barry Cable Cup (for Perth versus South Fremantle games) as at least Wiley and Fong actually played against each other and played the same position!

We note in this game West Perth coach Dennis Cometti again playing players out of position. Phil Bradmore was named at centre-half-back rather than in his customary centre-half-forward position while David Marsh’s match report suggests the workmanlike but hardly charismatic ex-Swan Districts defender Graeme Comerford played at centre-half-forward! Craig Nelson was named at centre-half-forward rather than in the ruck. The 1983 Sandover Medallist John Ironmonger remained with East Perth in 1984 and he dominated West Perth’s inexperienced ruckmen Stuart Crole and Ramsay Bogunovich. Craig Nelson does not appear to have played in the ruck although he was in the starting side according to Saturday’s West Australian. The surprise success of country recruit Kim Rogers in the ruck for West Perth in 1985 is one factor which contributed to the club’s finals appearance that year.

However, in this 1984 game, it was the type of game West Perth really should have won if it wanted to play finals football. East Perth was in the rebuilding stage but the club mixed new players with the remains of the 1978 premiership side very well and the club was very competitive in 1984 and never disgraced. In this East Perth team old-hands such as Grant Campbell, Stan Magro, Peter Spencer, and Wayne Otway (the only remaining 1978 premiership player in the team that day) played alongside many exciting young players who would go on to have great careers in the VFL/AFL including Glenn Bartlett, Michael Christian, Richard Dennis (out injured for this game), and the one and only Alex Ishchenko.

The 1984 WAFL season was extremely tightly fought, few teams were uncompetitive, and few teams were far ahead of the pack. Only ten premiership points separated South Fremantle (second) from Claremont (seventh). Leader East Fremantle could hardly have claimed to have dominated the season with 11 wins and 5 losses and a percentage of 110.31% after Round 16. Only one club, South Fremantle, had a percentage exceeding 120% and only last-placed Perth had a percentage below 85% (but a still very respectable 82.16%). Claremont (seventh) had won 7 and lost 9. Even the struggling Demons had won 4 games by Round 16. It is to the credit of past and present WAFL administrators and club leaders that the competition was so evenly poised and it suggests the zoning system was working well at this point. The competition had eight strong, traditional, and well-supported clubs all playing out of their traditional home grounds. This is very unlike the present AFL where of the Victorian clubs only Geelong, Melbourne, and arguably Richmond still plays matches at the traditional home ground.

My 1984 season notes, written during the 1984 season, state:

“East Perth 19.15 d West Perth 18.17. Perth Oval. Michael [Blewett] lost lens at Claisebrook Station. Huge record cheer squad – talked to [West Perth coach Dennis] Cometti before the match. Timeclock wasn’t working – thrilling last quarter. Great games by [John] Gastev and [Derek] Kickett” [underlining in original].

There was a large group of people in the West Perth Cheer Squad that day. It was a fine day and the team was playing the traditional rivals. I think that the cheer squad had its complete contingent of around 15 dedicated members there that day, plus the many hangers-on you would get at away games. It was a happy carnival-like atmosphere as most away games for the group were. Dennis Cometti talked to the group members from across the fence before the match. The group probably had around 10 to 15 red-and-blue flags. It was a “thrilling last quarter”, I wrote in 1984, and the time clock was not working at this stage of the match. I listed John Gastev and Derek Kickett as West Perth’s best two players while David Marsh of The West Australian listed these two as third and fourth best respectively. The West Perth cheer squad members enjoyed the thrilling finish and we were not too distressed to lose the game. A large cheer squad group walked back through the old entrance (now gone) at the south-east corner of the ground and headed back to Claisebrook Station. My season notes record that the joint founder Mike B. lost his contact lens at Claisebrook Station after the match. Group members took a long time looking for it.

Ted "Square" Kilmurray, G. Farmer, Laurie Kennedy.

The whole group took up nearly one carriage on the city-bound train. At Perth station group members split up and the majority of the members went to take their various buses back to the northern suburbs. (This was before the building of the Clarkson train line.) Mike B. and I headed through the city streets to St George’s Terrace to take the Number 105 bus to Booragoon, still holding one giant red-and-blue flag each. Mike and I often met the Perth and Claremont cheer squads in the city-centre in those days and everyone from all groups would exchange friendly greetings and match results much like the Victorian cheer squads of that era used to do at Flinders Street Station. This day in 1984 was a fantastic match in the best tradition of the WAFL Golden Era, played between two traditional rivals with a good atmosphere and on a lovely fine day. Our cheer squad then was one of the largest groups we ever managed to assemble. This day was probably the first when the cheer squad existed in mature form and it was one of its best days. I remember a great atmosphere of camaraderie among the group increased by Dennis Cometti exchanging a conversation with group members before the game. The large Aboriginal pro-East Perth family groups that used to sit under the big trees behind the southern-end goals gave the cheer squad absolutely no problems nor we them. Bassendean Oval in 1985 would not be quite so welcoming.

To buy paperback book FUCKING HOSTILE: WEST PERTH FOOTBALL HOOLIGANS 1984-86: http://www.lulu.com/shop/philip-h-backshall/fucking-hostile-west-perth-football-hooligans-1984-86/paperback/product-23687935.html

To buy hardcover book FUCKING HOSTILE: WEST PERTH FOOTBALL HOOLIGANS 1984-86: http://www.lulu.com/shop/philip-h-backshall/fucking-hostile-west-perth-football-hooligans-1984-86/hardcover/product-23687900.html

Likely line-ups:

(Source: The West Australian, Saturday, 21 July, 1984, p. 189)

East Perth FC

Backs: Magro, Kohlmann, Christian

Half-backs: Fullarton, Bartlett, Sheldon

Centres: Carpenter, Blakely, Solin

Half-forwards: R Sparks, Campbell, D Morgan

Forwards: Ironmonger, Scott, Papotto

Rucks: Ishchenko, Spencer, Otway

Interchange: Cocker, Walsh

In: R Sparks, Ishchenko, Magro, Walsh

Out: K Sparks, Berry, Kavanagh, Dennis (ankle)

West Perth FC

Backs: Dayman, Hendriks, Comerford

Half-backs: O’Brien, Bradmore, J Morgan

Centres: Warwick, Michalczyk, Mifka

Half-forwards: D Kickett, Nelson, Gastev

Forwards: Bogunovich, Simms, Davis

Ruck: Crole, Menaglio, Fong

Interchange: Bell, Mountain

Selections:

KEN CASELLAS: East Perth

DAVID MARSH: West Perth

GARY STOCKS: West Perth

ROBERT WAINWRIGHT: West Perth

TIM GOSSAGE: East Perth

(Source: The West Australian, Saturday, 21 July, 1984, p. 189)

Match results – Saturday 21 July, 1984, Perth Oval

East Perth FC 2.5 9.9 14.12 19.15 (129) d West Perth FC 1.5 7.9 12.12 18.17 (125)

Scorers: EP: R Sparks 4.2, Papotto 3.3, Campbell 3.0, Otway 2.1, Solin 2.0, Scott 1.4, Spencer 1.2, Blakely 1.1, Carpenter 1.0, Ironmonger 1.0, Morgan 0.1, Fullarton 0.1.

WP: D Simms 5.1, Kickett 4.3, Gastev 3.2, Fong 2.0, Hendriks 1.1, Nelson 1.1, Bradmore 1.1, Warwick 1.0, Menaglio 0.3, Comerford 0.3, Mifka 0.1, Forced 0.1.

Weather: Fine, moderate southerly breeze.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 23 July, 1984, p. 85)

Attendance: 8,505 (from WAFL Online)

Free kicks: EP: 9, 8, 5, 5 – 27.

WP: 11, 9, 11, 4 – 35.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 23 July, 1984, p. 85)

Best players:

1 John Ironmonger (EP) – Was a dominant ruckman throughout. Knocked the ball intelligently, marked strongly and used constructive handball.

2 Peter Menaglio (WP) – A strong and creative ruck-roving performance, with a particularly brilliant second half.

3 Russell Sparks (EP) – An enterprising performance on a half-forward flank where he continually set up attacking moves.

Team rankings:

EP: J Ironmonger 1, R Sparks 2, G Campbell 3, W Otway 4, M Blakely 5, D Morgan 6.

WP: P Menaglio 1, L Fong 2, J Gastev 3, D Kickett 4, P Bradmore 5, D Warwick 6.

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 23 July, 1984, p. 85)

	P	W	L	D	%	Pts
E FREM**	16	11	5	-	110.31	44
S FREM	16	9	6	1	122.46	38
SwAN D*	16	9	7	-	115.97	36
W PERTH	16	8	7	1	96.29	34
E Perth	16	8	8	-	89.18	32
Subi	16	7	9	-	97.30	28
Clare	16	7	9	-	91.64	28
Perth	16	4	12	-	82.16	16

(Source: The West Australian, Monday, 23 July, 1984, p. 85)

*eventual 1984 WAFL premiers

**eventual 1984 WAFL runners-up

Match analysis:

Phil Bradmore

Quotes from DAVID MARSH:

“East Perth’s rush towards the 1984 final round [KJ note: echoes of 1978] gained momentum at Perth Oval on Saturday when they forced West Perth to stagger and then fall at the end of a contest that was survival of the fittest.

“East Perth, 10 points down late in the final quarter, recovered to win by four points – 19.15 to 18.17.

“It was a magnificent game in which the East Perth players, after appearing on the brink of being over-run by West Perth, showed tremendous character to fight back and snatch this thrilling victory.

“However, West Perth’s bid for success showed plenty of raw courage from a team which finished with only 15 fit men.

“West Perth lost veteran centreman George Michalczyk at the 12-minute mark of the first quarter with a dislocated shoulder, ruckman Ramsay Bogunovich at the six-minute mark of the second quarter with a knee injury, and centre-half-forward Graeme Comerford (elbow), full-back Geoff Hendriks (knee) and back-pocket player Wayne Dayman (ankle) [REST IN PEACE – the author] all carried injuries at the finish.

“Another shadow is over the club with brilliant half-forward Derek Kickett, Brian Perrin and John Morgan facing the tribunal tonight after being reported following separate incidents.

“It was not a happy day for West Perth. It was hard for them to accept the philosophy that the East Perth victory was what football needed to sustain more interest in which clubs will play in the 1984 final round.

Peter Menaglio

“East Perth led 14.12 to 12.12 at three-quarter time, which stemmed from excellent ruck work from John Ironmonger, livewire roving from Wayne Otway and a dominant half-forward line of Russell Sparks, Grant Campbell and David Morgan.

“Strongly built Mark Blakely worked hard in the centre to instigate several forward thrusts for the home side and ruck-rover Peter Spencer played well in patches.

“West Perth’s two best players were ruck-rover Peter Menaglio and rover Les Fong, who covered tremendous ground and were chief kick-getters.

“Fong finished the game with 27 kicks and Menaglio had 22 (with 14 in the second half). They provided West Perth with momentum on the ball and to a certain extent helped to nullify Ironmonger’s dominance in the ruck.

“West Perth’s half-forward flankers John Gastev and [Derek] Kickett were outstanding.

“Dean Warwick and Paul Mifka showed pace on the wings and Doug Simms kicked West Perth’s first four and their sixth goals from full-forward”.

(Source: David Marsh (1984), “East Perth’s rush picks up”, The West Australian, Monday, 23 July, 1984, p. 84)

South-west corner gates, Perth Oval, for Glasgow Celtic versus Perth Glory friendly match, 9 July 2011.

Kick-off for the first-half, Glasgow Celtic versus Perth Glory friendly match, 9 July 2011.

The south-east corner of Perth Oval, Lord Street, 9 July 2011. There used to be an entrance gate here during the 1980s and WAFL football supporters arriving from Claisebrook train station would enter the ground here.

BOOK REVIEW: "The Death & Life of Australian Soccer (Joe Gorman)", by Kieran James, 23 August 2018.

BOOK REVIEW: The Death & Life of Australian Soccer (Joe Gorman), by Kieran James, 23 August 2018.

According to the book’s front cover, Tracey Holmes says that this is a “remarkable book”. For me, I would not call it “remarkable” but I would call it interesting, important, colourful, detailed, thoughtful, and complete. It basically traces the history of Australian soccer from the post-war migrant boom through the National Soccer League (NSL) (1977-2004) era and on to the A-League and FFA Cup; as well as various matches involving the Socceroos at various stages in their history. It looks at soccer through the dual lens of economics and ethnicity, refusing to bow down to the dominant ideology promulgated around 2003-2005 that ethnic clubs and the NSL were uniformly and unambiguously terrible and that all soccer history before the A-League should be removed from consciousness.  This ideology can be termed “ground zero” or “scorched earth” ideology and the term “ethnic cleansing” has even been used by various people at various times to describe the fact that the A-League refused to accept traditional ethnic soccer clubs (Melbourne Croatia, South Melbourne Hellas, et al.).

A strength of the book is its almost dialectical (to describe the philosophical way of argumentation aimed at by Karl Marx, V. I. Lenin, and other communists over the years) writing style where two facts or aspects or perspectives of a situation, which appear to be almost or even completely contradictory, are presented side by side; and often there is no attempt made to harmonize or integrate the opposites which leads to an unresolved but informative tension. For example, the formation of the A-League and the fate of the ethnic clubs is told from different perspectives side by side, one pro-the A-League or seemingly so, and then the next bemoaning the destruction of the ethnic clubs’ cultures (e.g. pages 273-274, 338-339, 353-354). (The dialectical style is also used effectively in the Iron Maiden songs “22 Acacia Avenue” and “Run to the Hills” where, respectively, the perspective of a prostitute’s mentor / parent and client (first song) and Native Americans and White settlers (second song) are presented back to back.)

Usually this writing style is effectively used but there are times in the book when the contradictions become almost too much to bear and the reader cries out for at least an insertion of opinion from the author. Although the writing is colourful and descriptions detailed (of people and events), we get very few actual real personal opinions offered by the author. Is he on the “side” of the ethnic clubs? Or is he “against” the ethnic clubs? Is he “pro” the ethnic clubs as long as they play in the state leagues only? Is he “pro” the ethnic clubs but only if they can pay their own way? Is he “pro” the ethnic clubs but against ethnic names? Narrowing it down to key events, Gorman discusses Collingwood Warriors and Carlton Blues but we don’t get his heartfelt opinion on either these two interesting ventures. All we get are histories and descriptions which could have come from earlier books on Australian soccer or even from Wikipedia. What does he think of Lowy pulling Sydney City Slickers (Hakoah) out of the NSL after one round (page 140)? What does he think of St George Budapest’s axing from the NSL (pages 169-170)? He may feel he was too young to have experienced these events first-hand and so does not want to comment; but I would have loved to have heard his opinions. To me, Lowy was totally unethical as the basic ethical rule of even junior football is that your team must complete the season. Why not withdraw before the season began? His decision showed zero regard for the other clubs, players, and supporters, and angered even some Hakoah people. Yet this was the person who people were begging to take over management of the game again around 2003.

Another reviewer sees Kimon Taliadoros as one of the themes holding the book together in the sense that he started his playing career with a semi-professional ethnic club, South Melbourne Hellas, but was involved in the efforts of the players’ association to gain improved wages at national-league level; he annoyed many administrators of the game and his career ended without fanfare. He failed to share in the benefits he later obtained for others through his efforts, making him an almost priest-like figure in Gorman’s book which is strangely appropriate given the Greek Orthodox Church heritage and background of most people associated with South Melbourne and other Greek clubs. I respect this view of Taliadoros but I choose to read Gorman’s book through another lens. To me, Taliadoros is not as interesting as some other characters in the book; in most industries it is commonplace for union organisers, shop stewards, and workers to strive for improved wages and better working conditions; it is not interesting or different in and of itself; rugby-league and Aussie Rules also moved from semi-professionalism to full professionalism over the same period as soccer (just without the ethnic club factor and the NSL / A-League distinction).

To me, the most interesting figure in the book is Andrew Howe (pages 164ff.); and he is the answer to the principle dilemma of Australian soccer which Gorman grapples with: even when the ethnic clubs tried to become more “mainstream”, Anglo supporters still would not support them (e.g. pages 103, 165, 198). Because of this, the A-League had to be formed (although other solutions were possible, e.g. an A-League of eight plastic franchises plus the biggest four ethnic clubs). Howe was the exception: a 19-year-old Anglo-Australian from the Sutherland Shire who supported Cronulla Sharks in the National Rugby League (NRL). One day, he and his mates (for reasons that seem to be lost in the mists of time) decided to go to Italian club APIA Leichardt to watch a game of ethnic soccer in the NSL. He was completely hooked as I was in 1990 when (aged 22) I started watching Perth Italia games at Dorrien Gardens. Here was something unique and, in some ways, totally foreign but, in other ways, tied up forever with the immigrant experience and hence completely Australian. Rugby-league and Aussie Rules could not replicate such atmospheres. There were few Anglos like Howe unfortunately (exactly how many is unclear). If there had been thousands of Howe-type figures, the NSL would not have had to die. I know Melbourne Knights still has non-Croatian supporters. Vice-President, Pave Jusup, told me in 2011 of the Melbourne Croatia Fans (MCF) group member who stood, in his West Ham United shirt, for two years on the terraces at Knights’ Stadium before people found out that he was not ethnically Croatian!

Howe is hilarious and took the ethnic soccer aspect to extremes not even imagined by the ethnic people themselves: one wonders if a Steel Panther-type irony was intended or whether Howe was in fact just “taking the mickey”; his total passion for ethnic soccer makes the latter possibility seem unlikely. The book tells of Howe starting a Croatian soccer club in the Southern Sydney Churches competition (page 166), wearing red, white, and blue, despite the fact that there were no ethnic Croatians involved (apparently). He informally renamed the clubs in his competition to take on ethnic names (“St Philips was ‘Filipino’[;] St Giles became ‘Macedonian’” etc. (page 166)). Although this is all hilarious, one serious question remains: Why did Australia have so few Andrew Howe-types back in the NSL era? I used to love entering the world of ethnic soccer for an afternoon back in the early-1990s. Three memorable matches were: Perth Italia versus North Perth Croatia at Perry Lakes around 1991 (great atmosphere); a thrilling 0-0 draw between Perth Italia and Sorrento Gulls at Dorrien Gardens around 1990; and a 3-3 cliff-hanger between Italia and Croatia (then called Western Knights) in 2003 or 2004 also at Dorrien Gardens. I knew that I could retreat to Aussie Rules if I wanted an Anglo-atmosphere. I could come and go as I chose. Ethnic clubs were no threat to me, I revelled in them. I broke one “rule” of ethnic soccer which I could as an Anglo-Australian: my teams were Perth Italia and Melbourne Croatia. I recall watching the Melbourne Croatia team of 1990 on SBS on a Sunday evening, when Francis Awaritefe was up front and Alan Davidson was marshalling the mid-field.

There are certain other weaknesses of the book. The author expresses the modern left-wing views about the European colonization of Australia as being an “invasion” and the White Australia Policy being disgraceful. However, he fails to condemn (although here and there he does despair at the narrow-mindedness of Anglos who run a mile from any club perceived as ethnic) the banning of ethnic clubs from the A-League when this can be viewed as similar in spirit to the White Australia Policy. It banned clubs purely because of the ethnic origins of the clubs’ founders and it is very hard to see how this constitutes anything other than racism or discrimination. All are welcome as individuals, Gorman points out, but you can’t bring your clubs with you into the closely policed world of Modern Football.

The best parts of the book to me are about ethnicity and the NSL. I loved the season-by-season history of the NSL which has not been done before with this level of rigour. However, I feel that the author probably tries to do too much. I think everything about the Socceroos could have been left out for example. The Socceroos’ campaigns are not covered as rigorously as the NSL seasons; the 1990 World Cup is ignored, and Fiji’s shock 1-0 win over Australia in Nadi in 1988 is not mentioned (nor the 5-1 return game back in Australia). (Fiji is not even in the book index.) Gorman seems to have subconsciously adopted the current worldview that only Asia matters and that Oceania’s history (which included Australia) and its present are to be ignored (for more on Fiji soccer see my blog “Nadi Legends Club” at http://nadilegendsclub.blogspot.com). It was also not really interesting to me to hear how Ayr United fan Roy Hay switched from supporting Scotland to supporting Australia in the middle of a World Cup match. It might be important to Hay but, sociologically, I don’t view it as being as important as the killing off of the NSL.

I would have also liked to have read a bit more on Western Sydney Wanderers and the FFA Cup, but we can’t have it all and space limitations are always an issue. Perth domestic soccer is also totally ignored when Richard Kreider has written history books on this topic which could have been consulted (Kreider, 1996, 2012); club football history post-1945 is not all about Sydney and Melbourne. The Perth Kangaroos’ venture could have had a longer treatment as this interesting and bold venture was 20 years ahead of its time. (It is a pity that the administrators realized only too late that it is the Malaysian league that gets the crowds, not the Singapore league.) Gorman talks about spending time with Melbourne Knights’ Pave Jusup, but that treasure-trove of wisdom and information about his club is not quoted in the actual book (unlike in my two published articles).

Nowadays, we have mostly plastic franchises in all national-leagues in all codes and the ethnic atmosphere of soccer has been destroyed. Yes, we have the same clubs playing at state-league level in front of a few hundred fans but atmosphere is based on crowd size and the old Croatia-versus-Hellas-in-front-of-8,000-people type atmosphere is, sadly, gone forever (unless, as Knights’ president, Ange Cimera, has said, they decide to stop ethnic cleansing). Perth Glory versus Melbourne Knights in the A-League? I would like to see that!

On page 143, Gorman calls Hakoah’s new Sydney City name “utterly meaningless”; in fact, I would argue that the name is overloaded with unintended meaning; Mr. Lowy himself was and is the “Sydney City Slicker” personified, surely?

Despite the criticisms, this is a worthwhile and important book which refuses to ignore or suppress or repress the ethnic history of Australian soccer. More historical work should follow, from fan, journalist, and academic perspectives [by Kieran James, 23 August 2018].

References cited in this review:

Kreider, R. (1996), A Soccer Century: A Chronicle of Western Australian Soccer from 1896 to 1996 (Leederville: SportsWest Media).

Kreider, R. (2012), Paddock to Pitches: The Definitive History of Western Australian Football (Leederville: SportsWest Media).

My published articles on Australian soccer:

James, K., Tolliday, C. and Walsh, R. (2011), Where to now, Melbourne Croatia? Football Federation Australia’s use of accounting numbers to institute exclusion upon ethnic clubs, Asian Review of Accounting, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 112-124. 

James, K. and Walsh, R. (2018), The expropriation of goodwill and migrant labour in the transition to Australian football’s A-League, International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, Vol. 18, No. 5, pp. 430-452 [to be published soon].

Book review author contact details:

Kieran.James@uws.ac.uk

Kieran.James99@yahoo.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/kieran.james.94 (Kieran James).

Henry Dyer (left) and Lote Delai @ Fiji Football Veterans' Dinner, Nadi, Saturday, 4 October 2014. Henry Dyer was dropped from the Fiji team for the first 1988 game (versus Australia) due to an alleged connection with a motor vehicle which was involved in a robbery in Suva. Lote Delai set up the goal in the first game and scored the only Fiji goal in the second game.

Perth Glory historian Chris Egan and friend Reuben @ Dorrien Gardens, home of Perth Italia Soccer Club.