West Coast Eagles
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| Full name | West Coast Eagles Football Club |
| Nickname | Eagles |
| Strip | Navy blue, white and gold vertical panels with flying navy and gold eagle, or royal blue with gold wings, with Eagles logo; navy blue shorts, navy blue or royal blue socks with gold hoop at top. |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Sport | Australian rules football |
| League | Australian Football League |
| First season | 1987 |
| Ground | Subiaco Oval |
| Club song | We're the Eagles |
| President/Chair | Dalton Gooding |
| Coach | John Worsfold |
| Captain | Chris Judd |
| 2006 | 1st of 16 |
The West Coast Eagles Football Club is an Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League.
The club is based at Subiaco Oval in Perth, Western Australia and was formed in August 1986 when the then Victorian Football League (now the AFL) expanded to include teams from Perth and Brisbane for the 1987 season. Since entering the competition, the Eagles have been one of the most successful clubs in the AFL, winning the 1992, 1994 and 2006 premierships, being runners up in 1991 and 2005, and competing in finals in all but four seasons. With the win in the 2006 Grand Final, the Eagles are the current reigning AFL premiers.
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[edit] History
[edit] 1980s: The Early Years
The West Coast Eagles were initially formed when the local West Australian Football League applied in 1986 to enter a West Australian team in the Victorian Football League due to concerns with the constant drain of the league's best players to Victoria. It was hoped that this would reinvigorate falling interest in the sport in Western Australia due to the fact that few of the best players in the land played in the local competition. The VFL, having its own financial problems, agreed to the proposal to gain financial relief, as well as the creation of an expansion team in Brisbane (the Brisbane Bears), with both teams to enter the competition for the 1987 season.
This provided only a six month period in which to set up the team, recruit a squad and get the club generally ready to play. Despite some hiccups along the way, the new club managed to draw a creditable squad together, mostly out of the WAFL, but also with a few players returning from Victoria to play for the new Perth based side. In a lavish function at the then Merlin Hotel (now the Hyatt Perth), in October of 1986, the club released its new colours, its inaugural squad, and announced the club's name would be the "West Coast Eagles".[1]
The club's reception in West Australian football circles was mixed, with many diehard supporters of the WAFL opposed to the entry of the VFL into Perth. But with a good array of local talent on board, including the return from Melbourne of 1983 Brownlow Medallist Ross Glendinning as the club's inaugural captain, the Eagles caught the attention of a majority of the football supporters of Western Australia. West Coast's first official match of any sort was a pre-season game against Footscray (now Western Bulldogs) on March 3, 1987, which the Eagles won.
The club's first official home and away match at Subiaco Oval against Richmond on March 29, 1987 was played before a respectable crowd of 23,897. The fledgeling Eagles, down by 33 points at the final change, somehow managed to outscore the visiting Tigers nine goals to one in the final term to run out 14 point winners - a club record last quarter comeback that lasted until round 10 of 2006.[2] By season's end, the club had split its games with eleven wins and eleven losses for a seventh place finish, but despite this quite respectable effort, inaugural coach Ron Alexander was sacked from the position and replaced with WA coaching legend John Todd.
The 1988 season saw the Eagles improve to become one of the strong teams of the competition, finishing the home and away season in fourth, before narrowly losing the Elimination Final to Melbourne by two points. Despite this loss, the mood was upbeat at the club for the future, although it was the last game of inaugural captain Glendinning.[3]
However, the 1989 season put the club under a lot of pressure. Injuries and poor form led to the club only winning two matches in the first fifteen rounds of the season, culminating in the "Windy Hill Massacre", where the Eagles lost by a club record 142 points to Essendon. In the nadir of this season, with major financial problems besetting the club and a bleak outlook, there was even talk of disbanding the club and reverting back to the WAFL as the senior competition in Western Australia. However, the Eagles rallied with five wins in the last seven weeks of the season, but while it was enough to stave off the wolves, it was not enough to keep John Todd in the role of senior coach, nor allow first year captain Murray Rance to retain the role.
[edit] 1990s: the Malthouse Years
As the VFL made way for the new AFL the Eagles entered the 1990s with a new coach, Mick Malthouse, a Victorian recruited from Footscray, and a new captain in Steve Malaxos who had won the club's first club champion award in 1987. The change in leadership, and the rise of a few younger players, led to a resurgence at the club winning sixteen games on the way to a third place finish at the end of the home and away season. This led to a berth in the Qualifying Final against Collingwood, which resulted in a famous draw,[4] but the Eagles could not win the replay, and despite beating Melbourne in the First Semi Final, bowed out a fortnight later to Essendon in the Preliminary Final.
As 1991 started, out of favour captain Malaxos was replaced with youngster John Worsfold. That didn't seem to affect the club as the season saw what was probably the most dominant Eagles side, winning the first twelve games of the season, a club-record nineteen games in the home and away series, and the Eagles' first minor premiership.[5] However, the young team struggled with the finals pressure exerted by such a dominant season, and while they made the Grand Final, it was lost to Hawthorn by 53 points in front of a crowd of 75,230. It was the only Grand Final ever to be played at Waverley Park, and the first in the AFL to feature a non-Victorian side.
| 1991 AFL Grand Final | G | B | Total |
 Hawthorn |
20 | 19 | 139 |
 West Coast |
13 | 8 | 86 |
| Venue: Waverley Park | Crowd: 75,230 [6] | ||
The Eagles weren't as strong through the 1992 season, but managed to get a reasonable spot in the finals, winning a classic final against Hawthorn[7] on the way to a Grand Final appearance, this time against Geelong at the MCG. The Eagles struggled early in the match, trailing by as much as four goals, but ended up over-running the Cats to win by 28 points and claim the club's first ever premiership, with Peter Matera winning the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground. The 1992 premiership was the first senior AFL premiership won by a team from outside Victoria.
| 1992 AFL Grand Final | G | B | Total |
| West Coast |
16 | 17 | 113 |
 Geelong |
12 | 13 | 85 |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground | Crowd: 95,007 [8] | ||
After a 1993 season that was a washout when the Eagles just never really got going (although still making the finals), in 1994 the Eagles again won the minor premiership at the end of the home and away season, and this time managed to carry the form through the finals series, despite a scare in the opening week of the finals when Collingwood nearly snuck over the line in a close game at the WACA ground. In the end the Eagles did not lose a match in the series, culminating in an 80 point thrashing of Geelong in the Grand Final for the club's second premiership. Dean Kemp was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground on this occasion.
| 1994 AFL Grand Final | G | B | Total |
| West Coast |
20 | 23 | 143 |
| Geelong |
8 | 15 | 63 |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground | Crowd: 93,860 [9] | ||
In 1995, a local AFL rival the Fremantle Football Club was introduced to the WA football market, heightening competition for the West Australian audience and forming a fierce rivalry to become the Western Derby, a twice yearly encounter between the two clubs. The derby was for much of the 90s a West Coast affair, with the Eagles winning the first nine encounters before the Dockers finally won the later derby of 1999.
Meanwhile the club's performances on the field slipped a little from the heights of the early 90s, but never so far as to not make the finals. After bowing out quietly in 1995, the Eagles won their opening final in 1996, resulting in what would normally have been a home semi final against Essendon. However, due to what Eagles fans saw as a poorly constructed contract between the league and the MCG, the game was scheduled to be played at the MCG instead of Subiaco.[10] In all the furore the Eagles were comprehensively thrashed. On a brighter note, young Eagle Ben Cousins won the club's first Rising Star award for the best rookie in the competition for 1996.[11]
The 1997 and 1998 seasons saw the Eagles mostly making up numbers in the finals, bowing out early both years, with the most notable incident being when captain John Worsfold was dropped for what would have been his final appearance in the 1998 Semi Final [12]; oddly mirroring what happened to his predecessor in the role, Steve Malaxos, who was dropped for the 1990 Preliminary Final and never played for the club again [13]. Worsfold was replaced in the captaincy by his vice captain, Guy McKenna.
In the second week of the 1999 season the Eagles again found themselves in the situation where they earned a home final (after beating the Western Bulldogs at the MCG in the first week), but once again the MCG contract denied the club the right to host the final, and the Eagles faced Carlton and lost on the road.[14] This rule later cost the Adelaide Crows the right to host a Semi Final in 2002, and the Brisbane Lions a Preliminary Final in 2004 before it was finally abolished.
The 1999 season is probably more remembered for the continual rumours that linked coach Mick Malthouse to the senior coaching role at Collingwood; the rumours ended up being proven correct when Malthouse was released from his contract to the club for the 2000 season, to be replaced with Ken Judge. Also notable in 1999 was the first (and currently only) Eagle to top the AFL goalkicking, when Scott Cummings won the Coleman Medal with 95 goals.[15]
[edit] 2000-2001: The Ken Judge Years
The Eagles might have started Judge's reign as coach impressively, thrashing reigning premiers North Melbourne in the opening game of 2000, and winning two games by over 100 points in three weeks against Adelaide and Fremantle, but it was to turn sour quite quickly in the latter part of the 2000 season. Sitting at six wins and five losses at the half way point of the season, injury struck, and West Coast slumped to win only one more match for the season, and missing the finals for the first time since 1989, and another change of captaincy, as McKenna retired to be replaced with Dean Kemp and Ben Cousins as co-captains.
However bad 2000 might have been, the 2001 season was the club's all time nadir. In a shocking season, crueled by injury, older players falling away, and general mutterings of dissatisfaction, the club won only five matches for the entire year, all against other bottom four sides; the fourteenth place finish by far the lowest in the club's history.[16] Against rumours of player dissatisfaction, and even revolt, Ken Judge was sacked from the coaching role,[17] to be replaced in turn by former premiership captain John Worsfold.
[edit] 2002 - current: The John Worsfold Years
It appeared to be the poisoned chalice that was handed to Worsfold in his first senior coaching role; a team that was widely tipped to slump further to the bottom of the ladder. Most fans would have been satisfied with just an improvement in performance, but Worsfold and his mostly young charges surprised many, being almost unbeatable at home, and sneaking a couple of crucial away wins to make an unexpected finals appearance on the back of an eleven win - eleven loss home and away season in 2002. The Eagles lost first up and were eliminated, but it was a sign of improvement to come.
The 2003 and 2004 seasons were opposites of each other. In 2003, the Eagles ran riot early, sitting in the high reaches of the ladder mid-season before injury took out the second part of the season and the club slumped to finish just inside the finals, and were bundled straight out; in 2004, the season was looking down the barrel early, but a dramatic late season recovery saw the Eagles steal a spot in the finals in the last week of the home and away season, only to be thrashed in a thunderstorm by the Sydney Swans first up.
2004 however saw the first ever Eagle to win Australian Football's highest individual award, when Chris Judd won the Brownlow Medal in a canter. Previous best West Coast performances had been runner up efforts from Craig Turley in 1992 and Peter Matera in 1996.
Season 2005 saw the Eagles start on fire, easily accounting for all opponents in the opening eight weeks before inexplicably losing to then-bottom-placed Collingwood. The Eagles however recovered to be as much as five games clear, before a poor run home saw the club lose the final week and surrender the minor premiership to the Adelaide Crows. Despite this, the Eagles turned it around in the finals to make the Grand Final against the Sydney Swans. However in reverse of the result in the 2005 Qualifying Final between the two sides, the Swans managed to hold out the Eagles to win a low scoring encounter by just four points. There was some consolation for Eagles fans with Chris Judd being awarded the Norm Smith medal, and with captain Ben Cousins already winning the Brownlow Medal, but as any footy fan will tell you, it means little to the team or its fans.
| 2005 AFL Grand Final | G | B | Total |
 Sydney |
8 | 10 | 58 |
| West Coast |
7 | 12 | 54 |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground | Crowd: 91,818 | ||
Despite promises to turn it around in 2006, the season started badly even before the season started, with Cousins stripped of the captaincy after the infamous Booze Bus incident (covered in the Wikipedia article on Cousins), while former All-Australian ruckman Michael Gardiner was relegated to play at Claremont in the WAFL for continued indiscretions and Ashley Sampi had some domestic trouble. Chris Judd was appointed to replace Cousins as expected, while Gardiner did make it back to the club to play a couple of games before a final indiscretion saw him made persona non grata at the club, and traded.
Despite all this, the Eagles started the season in fairly good form, winning eleven of the opening twelve matches, including a couple of massive comebacks particularly a club record recovery against Geelong from 54 points down in the third quarter. The Eagles then struggled for a few weeks, slipping off the pace, before good late season form enabled them to win the minor premiership at the end of the season over a slipping Adelaide Crows.
In the 2006 finals, the Eagles were favourites in every game and lost the opening match at Subiaco to Sydney by 1 point, but came back strong to thrash the Bulldogs in the Semi Final, and come from behind (again) against the Crows in the Preliminary Final to book a berth in the Grand Final, once again against the Swans. Like in 2005, the Grand Final ended up with a mirror of the earlier Qualifying Final clash between these two teams, the Eagles winning one of the great Grand Finals of recent years by a solitary point - the only AFL Grand Final decided by this margin, and the first in AFL/VFL history since 1966.[18] Andrew Embley was awarded the Norm Smith medal for best on ground.
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| 2006 Toyota AFL Grand Final | G | B | Total |
| West Coast |
12 | 13 | 85 |
| Sydney |
12 | 12 | 84 |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground | Crowd: 97,431 | ||
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This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. |
The Eagles 2007 pre-season has been the most turbulent in the club's history, with midfielder Daniel Kerr charged with assault for two separate incidents, and former captain and 2005 Brownlow Medallist Ben Cousins suspended from the club after continued breaches of team rules, most notably not turning up to training, leading to massive amounts of speculative reporting in the media. However they put it all behind when they defeated the Sydney Swans in the season opener, again by a solitary point, 11.8.(74) to 10.13.(73).
[edit] Club Awards
[edit] AFL Premiers
1992,1994,2006
[edit] McClelland Trophy
(Awarded for finishing the home and away season on top of the ladder)
1991,1994,2006
[edit] Runners Up
1991,2005
[edit] Club Honour Board
[edit] Individual awards
[edit] Best and Fairest
[edit] Brownlow Medal winners
(Awarded to the player rated best in the competition during the home and away series by the umpires)
- Chris Judd (2004)
- Ben Cousins (2005)
Runner up Brownlow Medal
- Craig Turley (1991)
- Peter Matera (1994)
- Daniel Kerr (2005)
[edit] Leigh Matthews Trophy winners
(Awarded to the player rated best in the competition during the home and away series by the players association)
- Ben Cousins (2005)
- Chris Judd (2006)
[edit] Sandover Medal winners
(Awarded to the player rated best in the WAFL competition)
- Ian Dargie (1991) (Subiaco)
- Robbie West (1992) (West Perth)
- Ryan Turnbull (2001) (East Perth)
- Matthew Priddis (2006) (Subiaco)
[edit] Norm Smith Medal winners
(Awarded to the player rated best on ground in the AFL Grand Final)
- Peter Matera (1992)
- Dean Kemp (1994)
- Chris Judd (2005)
- Andrew Embley (2006)
[edit] Coleman Medal winners
(Awarded to the player who kicks the most goals in the AFL competition during the home and away series)
- Scott Cummings (1999) - 87 goals
[edit] AFL Rising Star winners
(Awarded to the best rookie player in the competition)
- Ben Cousins (1996)
See the AFL Rising Star award page for the full criteria
[edit] Goal of the Year winners
- Mark Merenda (2001)
- Daniel Kerr (2003)
- Chris Judd (2005)
[edit] Mark of the Year winners
- Ashley Sampi (2004)
[edit] All Australian selection
| Year | Eagles players selected |
|---|---|
| 1987 | Ross Glendinning |
| 1988 | John Worsfold |
| 1989 | Guy McKenna |
| 1990 | John Worsfold, Chris Lewis |
| 1991 | Guy McKenna, Chris Mainwairing, Peter Matera, Craig Turley |
| 1992 | Dean Kemp |
| 1993 | Peter Matera, Guy McKenna |
| 1994 | Peter Matera, Guy McKenna, David Hart, Glen Jakovich |
| 1995 | Glen Jakovich |
| 1996 | Peter Matera, Chris Mainwairing, Mitchell White |
| 1997 | Peter Matera, Fraser Gehrig |
| 1998 | Ben Cousins, Ashley McIntosh |
| 1999 | Ben Cousins |
| 2000 | No West Coast Eagles players were selected in 2000 |
| 2001 | Ben Cousins |
| 2002 | Ben Cousins |
| 2003 | Michael Gardiner, Phil Matera |
| 2004 | Chad Fletcher, Chris Judd |
| 2005 | Ben Cousins, Dean Cox, David Wirrpanda |
| 2006 | Ben Cousins, Chris Judd, Dean Cox, Darren Glass |
[edit] Current squad
As of February 28, 2006:
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Rookies:
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Note 1: Suspended indefinitely by the club
[edit] Membership and attendance
In 2005, the Eagles had 42,406 members (seating capacity), a waiting list and an average homeground attendance of 39,750, making them the second most supported team in the AFL behind the Adelaide Crows.
| Year | Members | Finishing position | Average crowd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 37,496 | 7th | 34,473 |
| 1999 | 36,212 | 5th | 30,777 |
| 2000 | 38,868 | 13th | 33,191 |
| 2001 | 38,649 | 14th | 32,674 |
| 2002 | 34,880 | 8th | 35,928 |
| 2003 | 36,234 | 7th | 38,084 |
| 2004 | 40,792 | 7th | 39,037 |
| 2005 | 42,406 | 2nd | 40,243 |
| 2006 | 44,138* | 1st | 40,506* |
[edit] Team of the Decade
In 1996, when the AFL was celebrating its 100th year, the West Coast Eagles were celebrating their 10th, and so named a team of the decade:
| Backs: | David Hart | Michael Brennan | Ashley McIntosh |
| Half Backs: | Guy McKenna | Glen Jakovich | John Worsfold |
| Centres: | Peter Matera | Dean Kemp | Chris Mainwaring |
| Half Forwards: | Brett Heady | Mitchell White | Craig Turley |
| Forwards: | Chris Lewis | Peter Sumich | Tony Evans |
| Ruck: | Ryan Turnbull | Don Pyke | Dwayne Lamb |
| Interchange: | Chris Waterman | Steve Malaxos | Peter Wilson |
[edit] Team 20
In 2006 the West Coast Eagles were celebrating their 20th anniversary, and a best team of the club's history was chosen. Consideration was based on 100 games played for the West Coast Eagles, career longevity, finishes in the Club Champion Award, impact and other individual accolades.:
| Backs: | David Wirrpanda | Ashley McIntosh | Michael Brennan | ||
| Half Backs: | Guy McKenna | Glen Jakovich | John Worsfold | ||
| Centres: | Peter Matera | Dean Kemp | Chris Mainwaring | ||
| Half Forwards: | Brett Heady | Mitchell White | Chris Lewis | ||
| Forwards: | Phillip Matera | Peter Sumich | Tony Evans | ||
| Ruck: | Dean Cox | Chris Judd | Ben Cousins | ||
| Interchange: | Chris Waterman | Drew Banfield | Don Pyke | Dwayne Lamb | |
| Coach: | Michael Malthouse |
[edit] Club Song
We're the Eagles is the official anthem of the West Coast Eagles.
It was written in the 1980s and so unlike many of the other AFL traditional songs, it is played to a contemporary rock tune.
[edit] Lyrics
Hey Eagles
Hey Eagles
We're flying high ...
We're flying high ...
We're the Eagles - the West Coast Eagles
And we're here to show you why
We're the big birds, Kings of the big game
We're the Eagles, We're flying high!
The Pride of South Australia (Adelaide) | The Pride of Brisbane Town (Brisbane) | We Are The Navy Blues (Carlton) | Good Old Collingwood Forever (Collingwood)
See the Bombers Fly Up (Essendon) | Freo Way To Go (Fremantle) | We Are Geelong (Geelong) | We're a Happy Team at Hawthorn (Hawthorn)
Join in the Chorus (North Melbourne) | It's a Grand Old Flag (Melbourne) | The Power to Win (Port Adelaide) | Tigerland (Richmond)
When The Saints Go Marching In (St Kilda) | The Red and the White (Sydney) | We're the Eagles (West Coast Eagles) | Sons of the West (Western Bulldogs)
Beware the Mighty Bear, The Greatest Team of All (Brisbane Bears) Here we go, Camry Crows (Adelaide)
[edit] Club guernsey
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Home Jumper
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Away Jumper
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These are the 2007 guernsey designs. The club's current major sponsors are SGIO (Home), Hungry Jacks (Away) and Puma.
[edit] Club Mascot
West Coast's mascot is Rick "the Rock" Eagle. Named after the Daddy Cool hit song that is played at home games, "Eagle Rock".
[edit] Famous Supporters
Eagles have many local, national and international supporters, including Australian TV personality Ernie Dingo and international stars Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger and James Caan. West Coast are also supported by many professional athletes from other sporting codes including WA cricket legend Dennis Lillee (who is a former number 1 ticketholder for the club), Champion Boxer Danny Green and respected Melbourne Cup winner Damien Oliver. The current number 1 West Coast ticketholder is Channel 7 news and weather presenter Jeff Newman (Channel 7 are also one of the clubs major sponsors).
[edit] See also
- West Coast Eagles players
- List of coaches of the West Coast Eagles
- Australian rules football in Western Australia
[edit] External links
- Official Website of the West Coast Eagles Football Club
- Full Points Footy History of the West Coast Football Club
- EaglesFlyingHigh (Unofficial fan site & forum)
- Corkintheocean (Unofficial West Coast Eagles blog)
| Clubs in the Australian Football League |
| Adelaide | Brisbane Lions | Carlton | Collingwood | Essendon | Fremantle | Geelong | Hawthorn Kangaroos | Melbourne | Port Adelaide | Richmond | St. Kilda | Sydney | West Coast | Western Bulldogs Former clubs: Brisbane Bears | Fitzroy | University |
| Governing Body | |
| Professional Clubs (AFL) |
West Coast Eagles, Fremantle Football Club |
| Perth Metropolitan Leagues |
WAFL, Sunday Football League, Western Australian Amateur Football League |
| Regional Governing Body |
West Australian Country Football League |
| Regional Leagues |
Avon, Central Kimberley, Central Midlands, Central Wheatbelt, East Kimberley, Eastern Districts, Esperance District, Fortescue, Gascoyne, Goldfields, Great Northern, Great Southern, Hills, Lower South West, Mortlock, Newman, North Midlands, North Pilbara, Ongerup, Peel, Ravensthorpe, South West, Upper Great Southern, West Kimberley |
| Women's Leagues | |
| Masters Leagues |
Masters Australian Football WA |
