Fremantle Football Club

Fremantle Football Club

Names
Full name	Fremantle Football Club
Nickname(s)	Dockers
Season 2010
Leading Goalkicker	Matthew Pavlich
Best & Fairest	Aaron Sandilands
Club Details
Founded	1994
Colours	Green      Purple      Red      White
Competition	Australian Football League
Chairman	Steve Harris
Coach	Mark Harvey
Captain(s)	Matthew Pavlich
Premierships	Nil
Ground(s)	Subiaco Oval (1995–present) (Capacity: 43,500)
	WACA Ground (1995–2000)
	Fremantle Oval (Training)
Other information
Official website	www.fremantlefc.com.au
Guernsey:

Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed Dockers, is an Australian Football League club. The club is based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia. In 1995 it became the second team from Western Australia to be admitted to the national Australian rules football competition, honouring the rich footballing tradition and history associated with Fremantle. Despite enduring some tough times in the AFL, particularly early on in the club's history, fans have continued to show loyalty and passion for the club and Fremantle is one of the most well supported clubs in the AFL, despite being the only team currently in the league to have never played in an AFL Grand Final or won a premiership.^[1]

Matthew Pavlich has been club captain since the beginning of the 2007 season.^[2] High profile players since the club inception include the league's tallest player Aaron Sandilands, former captain Peter Bell, former number one draft pick Clive Waterhouse, Shaun McManus, the winner of the 2008 AFL Rising Star award Rhys Palmer, Luke McPharlin and Jeff Farmer. The club is coached by Mark Harvey following the resignation of Chris Connolly midway through the 2007 season.^[3][4]

History

The AFL announced on 14 December 1993 that a new team would enter the league in 1995 and be based in Fremantle. The names "Fremantle Football Club", "Fremantle Dockers" and club colours were announced on 12 July 1994. Their first training session was held on 31 October 1994 at Fremantle Oval.

The decision to base the new club in Fremantle was primarily due to the long association of Australian rules football in Fremantle. The first match to be played in Fremantle occurred in the 1880s ^[5] and the city quickly became a stronghold of the code, with Fremantle based teams winning 24 of the first 34 WAFL premierships.^[6] For over 100 years it has been represented by two strong clubs in the West Australian Football League: East Fremantle and South Fremantle. However it was not represented in a national club competition until 1995, eight years after the initial expansion of the then Victorian Football League in 1987 with the creation of rival Western Australian football team, the West Coast Eagles.

In February 1996, Levi Strauss & Co., which produces the Dockers brand of clothing, challenged the club's right to use the name "Fremantle Dockers", specifically on clothing.^[7] As a result, the club and AFL discontinued the official use of the "Dockers" nickname in 1997. However, the team is still known unofficially as "The Dockers", both inside and outside the club, including in their official team song "Freo Way to Go" and the official club magazine "Docker".^[8]

A commemorative plaque from Victoria Pavilion, Fremantle Oval.

The team endured some tough years near the bottom of the premiership ladder, until they finished fifth after the home and away rounds in 2003 and made the finals for the first time. The elimination final against eighth placed Essendon at Subiaco Oval was then the club's biggest ever game, but ended in disappointment for the home team, with the finals experience of Essendon proving too strong for the young team. They then missed making the finals in the following two seasons, finishing both years with 11 wins, 11 loses and only 1 game outside the top 8.

After an average first half to the 2006 season, Fremantle finished the year with a club record 9 straight wins to earn themselves 3rd position at the end of the home and away season, a club record 15 wins in a year and a double chance for their September finals campaign. In the qualifying final against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium, the Dockers led for the first three quarters before being overrun by the Crows. The following week (15 September) saw the club win its first and only finals game in the semi-final against Melbourne at Subiaco Oval. The club subsequently earned a trip to Sydney to play in its first ever preliminary-final the following Friday night (22 September) at Telstra Stadium against the Sydney Swans, where they lost by 35 points.

Fremantle is currently the only team in the league that has not won a premiership (or played in a Grand Final), following Port Adelaide's win in 2004.

The club is also the only team never to have played in a drawn match, despite a controversial Round 5 match against St Kilda at Aurora Stadium in Launceston, Tasmania in 2006. The Saints trailed by a point when the final siren sounded, but the field umpires failed to hear the siren which many commentators had noted as being "dangerously quiet" during the game. St Kilda's Steven Baker then scored a behind, levelling the scores, before the siren was sounded a second time. Baker was awarded a free-kick for an infringement after he kicked the point and was allowed to take the kick again – which he also scored a behind from. Immediate protests from Fremantle players and officials failed to have any effect, causing controversy throughout Australian rules circles. However, the AFL overturned the result the following Wednesday—the first time this had occurred since 1900—and awarded the win and four premiership points to Fremantle.

New coach: 2007—present

In 2007, following Chris Connolly's resignation midway through the season, Mark Harvey, 3-time premiership player with Essendon, was appointed caretaker coach for the club. During his seven matches for 2007, Harvey coached the Dockers to four wins and three losses.^[9]:123 The club came 11th that year. The following year saw the club slumped to 14th.^[9]:123

In Round 15 2009, Fremantle achieved the lowest score in its history and of the noughties, scoring only 1 goal and 7 points (13 total) to the Adelaide Crows 19.16 (130).^[9]:123 It was held to just one point in the first half and the only goal scored came in the third quarter. Earlier that year, in Round 4 they scored their lowest ever score in Melbourne, 4.4.(28),^[9]:123 against eventual runners-up St Kilda.

The Western Derby

Fremantle players warming up prior to a game

Fremantle's biggest rivalry is with the other Western Australian team, the West Coast Eagles, who they play twice each year in the home and away season, in fiercely contested "Western Derby" matches (Derby is pronounced /ˈdɝːbiː/ in Western Australia). West Coast were victorious in the first nine games, before Fremantle won in round 16, 1999. From 2001 onwards, however, Fremantle has been the more successful team, with Fremantle winning 11 of the 19 games and in 2006 the Dockers won both derbies in a season for the first time, they also knocked West Coast off late in the 2007 season in one of the toughest derbies ever. These games are reminiscent of the Fremantle Derby games between East and South Fremantle in the WAFL. A Fremantle Derby Grand Final in 1979 holds the WAFL and Subiaco Oval attendance record of 52,781. In recent years, the Fremantle Dockers have held a long streak in western derby victories, winning the last seven matches between the two sides.^[10]

The club

The raising of an anchor is the culmination of the pre-game ceremony at Subiaco Oval

Fremantle Football Club has its training and administration facilities at Fremantle Oval.

The club encourages fans to attend Monday night training sessions, when players remain on the field after training to meet their supporters and sign autographs.

The team's home games are played at Subiaco Oval. Between 1995 and 2000 they also played home games at the WACA Ground.

Current squad (2010)

See also Fremantle Football Club drafting and trading history for the complete list of Fremantle's draft selections, delistings and trades

Leadership

Club awards

The Doig Medal is the Fremantle Football Club's annual fairest and best award. Currently, after each of the 22 home and away matches, the Fremantle coaching staff rate each player from 0–7 (with 7 being the best). At the end of the year the votes are tallied and the Doig Medal Night is held to announce the winner. Variations on the voting system have been used in past years. The awards ceremony has been held at the Fremantle Passenger Terminal (1995), Challenge Stadium (1998–1999), Fremantle Oval (2000–2001), the Grand Ballroom at Burswood Entertainment Complex (2002–2005, 2008–2009) and the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre (2006–2007).

The Beacon Award is presented to the club’s best new talent. To be eligible, a player must be under the age of 21 years on or before 31 December of the previous year and have played less than 10 games at the start of the season (matching the AFL Rising Star criteria).

Club jumper

Fremantle's Home and Away/Clash jumpers

The Fremantle Football Club uses the anchor symbol as the basis for all of their guernseys or jumpers (unlike other sporting codes it is rarely called a jersey, shirt or kit). The home jumper is purple, with a white anchor on the front separating the chest area into two panels, which are coloured red and green to represent the traditional maritime port and starboard colours. The current away or clash guernsey is all white with a purple anchor.^[12]

One game each year is designated as the Purple Haze game, where an all-purple jumper with a white anchor is worn. This game is used to raise money for the Starlight Foundation.

Since 2003, the AFL has marketed one round each year as the Heritage Round. Until 2006 Fremantle wore a white guernsey with 3 red chevrons, to emulate the jumper worn by the original Fremantle Football Club in 1885. However in 2007, the selected round had Fremantle playing Sydney, who also wear red and white. An alternative blue and white striped design was used, based on the jumper worn by the East Fremantle Football Club in their 1979 WAFL Grand Final win over the South Fremantle Football Club. This Fremantle Derby still holds the record for the highest attendance at a football game of any code in Western Australia, with 52,781 attending at Subiaco Oval[1].

In September 2008, newly appointed CEO Steve Rosich confirmed that the Fremantle Football Club would undergo a through review of all areas, including the club's team name, song, guernsey and logo in a bid to boost its marketability.^[13] However he later confirmed that the purple colour will be maintained as it had become synonymous with Fremantle.^[14]

Club records

Fremantle players enter Subiaco Oval, by running through a celebratory banner before a game in 2004.

• Premierships: Nil
• Highest ladder position (after Rd 22): 3rd, 2006
• Wooden spoons: One (2001)
• Finals series reached: Three (2003, 2006, 2010)
• Biggest winning margin: 112 points, against Collingwood, 8 May 2005, at Subiaco Oval, 28.12 (180) to 10.8 (68)
• Biggest losing margin: 117 points, against West Coast on 15 April 2000, at Subiaco Oval, 28.10 (178) to 9.7 (61); against Adelaide on 11 July 2009, at AAMI Stadium, 19.16 (130) to 1.7 (13)
• Longest winning streak: 9 games (Round 14, 2006 – Round 22, 2006)
• Longest losing streak: 18 games (Round 22, 2000 – Round 17, 2001)
• Highest Score: 28.12 (180), against Collingwood, 8 May 2005, at Subiaco Oval
• Lowest score: 1.7 (13), against Adelaide, 11 July 2009, at AAMI Stadium

Individual awards and records

• Brownlow medallists: None
• Coleman medalists: None
• AFL Rising Star award: Paul Hasleby, 2000; Rhys Palmer, 2008
• All Australians: Matthew Pavlich 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008; Peter Bell 2003; Paul Hasleby 2003; Aaron Sandilands 2008, 2009.
• International rules representatives: Heath Black 2005; Matthew Carr 2003; Ryan Crowley 2006; Robert Haddrill 2004; Paul Hasleby 2003; David Mundy 2006; Matthew Pavlich 2002, 2003; Brett Peake 2006; Clive Waterhouse 1999
• Most games: Shane Parker, 238 games (as of end of 2008)
• Most consecutive games: Matthew Pavlich, 160 games (Rd 15 2001 – Rd 16 2008)
• Most goals: Matthew Pavlich, 379 goals (as of end of 2008)
• Most goals in a season: 72 Matthew Pavlich, 2007
• Most goals in a game: 10 Tony Modra vs Melbourne, Rd 10 1999, MCG
• Mark of the Year winners: Tony Modra 2000; Luke McPharlin 2005
• Goal of the Year winners: Winston Abraham 1996

Attendance records

• Record attendance (home and away game): 45,436, Round 1, 30 March 2003 at AAMI Stadium v Adelaide
• Record attendance (home game): 42,213, Round 6, 6 May 2006 at Subiaco Oval v West Coast Eagles.
• Record attendance (finals match): 61,373, Preliminary Final, Sept 22, 2006 at Telstra Stadium v Sydney.

Club song

The official song of the club is Freo way to Go. It was written in the mid 1990s by Ken Walther and unlike many of the other Australian rules team songs, it is played to a contemporary rock tune but is based on a traditional Igor Stravinsky arrangement of a Russian folk song, Song of the Volga Boatmen.^[15]

The song is regarded with a great deal of derision from many opposition supporters^[16][17] and equally fierce loyalty from many fans.

Membership base

Membership slogan on a banner before the 2006 NAB Cup Quarter Final

Supporters cheer on the Dockers

Despite a relative lack of on-field success, Fremantle has surprised many with record membership figures. The club in 2005 had the fastest growing membership in the AFL competition with home crowds growing at a similar rate. The club's recent membership slogans have emphasised the passion of Fremantle fans for their team.

Season	Members	Change from previous season	Finishing position	Average home match crowds[18]
1995	18,456	—	13th	23,361
1996	19,622	1166 (+6.32%)	13th	22,473
1997	19,949	327 (+1.67%)	12th	21,982
1998	22,186	2237 (+11.21%)	15th	23,104
1999	24,896	2710 (+12.21%)	15th	23,972
2000	24,925	29 (+0.12%)	12th	22,357
2001	23,898	1027 (−4.12%)	16th	21,258
2002	23,775	123 (−0.51%)	13th	26,359
2003	25,347	1572 (+6.61%)	5th	30,681
2004	32,259	6912 (+27.27%)	9th	36,258
2005	34,124	1865 (+5.78%)	10th	35,224
2006	35,666	1542 (+4.52%)	3rd	36,569
2007	43,343[19][20]	7677 (+21.52%)	11th	37,474
2008	43,366[21]	23 (+0.05%)	14th	35,877
2009	39,206[22]	4160 (−9.6%)	14th	33,144
2010	39,854	-	-	36,047[note 1]

Note 1: ^ As of round 17 in the 2010 AFL season.

Fremantle Football Hall of Legends

The Fremantle Football Hall of Legends was inaugurated by Fremantle Football Club in 1995, in recognition of the new AFL team’s links with its home city’s football heritage. The inductees are nominated by the two clubs from the Fremantle area in the WAFL: East Fremantle and South Fremantle. In time, players who represented Fremantle in the AFL will join their predecessors in this prestigious Hall.

Ceremonial positions

Number 1 Ticket Holders

It is traditional for each club to recognise a prominent supporter as the #1 Ticketholder. Fremantle originally chose to award this to the sitting member for the Federal Seat of Fremantle. This was roundly criticised as the member may or may not be a Fremantle football supporter and unnecessarily linked politics with sport.^[23] The policy was soon changed to select a well-known Fremantle identity for a two year period.

On 23 April 2010 Eskimo Joe were announced as the number one ticketholder for the Fremantle Football Club, replacing golfer Nick O'Hern.^[24] Quartermain hinted [jokingly] that they might pen a new theme song for the club

We'll give it a crack. We're back here this winter writing our new record so, while we're at it, we may as well knock off a new theme song.

—Joel Quartemain, ^[24]

Other high profile fans include former premier Alan Carpenter,^[27] author Tim Winton^[28] and journalists and television presenters Dixie Marshall, Simon Reeve^[29] and the late Matt Price.

Patrons

Since 2003, the Fremantle Football Club has been honoured to have the Governor of Western Australia as its patron.

• 2003–2005: John Sanderson
• 2006 – present: Ken Michael

Vice-Patrons

• David Malcolm – Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia (retired)
• Syd Corser
• Con Regan
• Steve Marsh
• Jack Sheedy

Mascots

Johnny "The Doc" Docker, Fremantle's official mascot since 2002

• 1995–1999: Grinder – A cartoon-like docker man, in a similar style to Popeye, with a permanent snarl, oversized jaw and muscular arms.
• 2000–2001: The Doc – a straggly blonde-haired mascot, similar in appearance to Fremantle players Clive Waterhouse or Shaun McManus.
• 2002 – present: Johnny "The Doc" Docker – a blonde haired surfer with a surfboard under one arm is the Docker's official mascot in the Mascot Manor promotion for kids.

See also

• List of Fremantle players – Alphabetical
• List of Fremantle Dockers league players – Ordered by debut
• Australian rules football in Western Australia
• Fremantle Football Club drafting and trading history

References

External links

• Official Website of the Fremantle Football Club