The
Claremont Football Club is an
Australian rules football club in
the
West Australian
Football League (WAFL). It is nicknamed the "Tigers", and its
official colours are navy blue and gold.
History
It was
formed as the amateur Cottesloe
Beach Football Club in 1906, and joined
the peak amateur competition, the Western Australian
Football Association the following year. The club
dominated the WAFA from the outset, winning premierships from
1907-1910, and in 1908 it beat WAFL club
Subiaco in a challenge match.
Applications by the club to join the WAFL were rejected for many
years.
In
1919, the Cottesloe Beach club merged with a consortium from
Claremont which was also attempting to gain entry to the WAFL and
had no contracted players, but claimed to have secured use of the
Claremont
Showgrounds
, as a home ground. In 1921, the club was
admitted to the WAFL "B" Grade competition, as
Claremont-Cottesloe, using the same blue and gold
colours as the local swimming club. It was finally admitted to the
senior league in 1926.
The inaugural captain-coach was former
South Fremantle and
Richmond player
Norm McIntosh, who was the only player with
senior experience. McIntosh's young squad could only win one game
in their first season.
In 1927,
the club moved to Claremont
Oval
, where it has been the club's home ground, with the
exception of 1945 and 1946, where, due to the grandstand burning
down in 1944, and the condition of the playing surface, the club
shared with Subiaco
Oval
with the Subiaco
Football Club.
Between 1926 and 1935 Claremont won just 40 and drew 2 of 183 games
for an overall success rate of 22.4%. The nearest they came to
qualifying for the finals was in 1929 when, with 8 wins and 10
defeats, they finished just 4 points plus percentage behind 4th
placed Subiaco. Even when Swan Districts was admitted to the
competition in 1934 Claremont-Cottesloe continued to underachieve,
ending up with the wooden spoon for the 7th time in 9
seasons.
In 1935 the club officially dropped 'Cottesloe' from its name,
becoming simply 'Claremont', and with the return of George Moloney
in 1936 following his five seasons with
Geelong Football Club in Australian
football's 'big league' the
VFL Claremont
enjoyed its best WANFL season to date, winning 12 and losing 8 of
its home and away matches to qualify for the finals in 2nd place. A
5 point 2nd semi final defeat of minor premier
East Fremantle Football Club
then earned Claremont premiership favouritism, a state of affairs
which intensified still further when it was learned that their
grand final opponents would not be Old Easts, but the Royals
(
East Perth Football Club),
which had finished the minor round in 4th place, but had
surprisingly overturned East Fremantle in the preliminary final by
a solitary point. The 1936 WANFL grand final attracted 20,874
spectators to Subiaco Oval, who witnessed East Perth reaching a
11.5 (71) to 9.6 (60) victory.
Claremont again finished runners-up a year later after raising
hopes, first by finishing the home and away rounds with a 13-5-1
record to qualify for the finals as minor premiers, and then by
overcoming East Fremantle in the 2nd semi final by 14 points.
However, when the stakes were raised a fortnight later against the
same opponent Claremont was found lacking, eventually going under
by 10 points.
In 1938 the club replaced coach Dick Lawn with Johnny Leonard, a
former Sandover Medallist, who had already coached successfully at
Ballarat, Geelong and West Perth. The club qualified for the finals
in 2nd place and scored a 2nd semi final victory over East
Fremantle, winning, 17.19 (121) to 13.18 (96). The grand final,
again against East Fremantle however resulted in a draw, only the
second time in WA(N)FL history. In the subsequent grand final
replay Claremont won by 22 points, 14.17 (111) to 11.13 (79),
breaking their premiership drought. 1939 although the club lost the
2nd semi final against East Perth it won the preliminary final
against East Perth saw the club win its second premiership, 10.17
(77) to 11.5 (71). In the grand final re-match with East Fremantle,
Claremont went on to win 14.11 (95) to 11.10 (76) obtaining its
second premiership.
1940 saw Claremont again reach the finals, losing the 2nd semi
final against the
South
Fremantle Football Club before the club prevailed against East
Fremantle in the preliminary final. In the grand final Claremont
went on to beat South Fremantle obtaining their third premiership.
Due to the war making greater and greater inroads into clubs'
playing resources (between 1942 and 1944 the WANFL operated on a
limited, under age only basis) Claremont's best finish was 4th
place in 1941.
Between 1953 and 1963 Claremont never finished higher than 6th,
never won more games in a season than it lost, and finished last on
three occasions.
In 1964 after claiming the wooden spoon in 1962 and 1963 Claremont
appointed a complete outsider as coach, former East Fremantle rover
Jim Conway. At the end of
the season Claremont scraped into the finals in 4th place. The club
went on to beat Subiaco in the 1st semi final, which was then
followed by a win against the Demons (
Perth Football Club) in the preliminary
final, with Claremont winning 14.18 (102) to 15.8 (98) against East
Fremantle in the grand final and securing the club's fourth
premiership.
2007 season
Claremont ended the season strongly, claiming the minor
premiership, but lost to
Subiaco in the WAFL Grand Final on 23
September 2007. Coach
Ashley
Prescott left the club at the end of the season to take up an
assistant coaching role with
Essendon. Prescott's replacement is
former assistant coach,
Roger Kerr
(former
East Fremantle
player and father of
West Coast
Eagles player,
Daniel Kerr), who was
been given a two year contract. Claremont also won the 2007
Rodriquez Shield (the team which has the best League, Reserves and
Colts record combined).
2008 season
Claremont's 2008 campaign kicked off on
22 March against West Perth at Claremont Oval, which Claremont won by 14 points. It was
Roger Kerr's first game in charge of the
club. He took the reins of the club, following the loss of
experienced players such as
Daniel
Bandy (retired),
Rowan Jones
(retired),
Luke Toia (retired), as well as
Mitch Morton (Richmond) and
Cale Morton (Melbourne). Other less notable
losses include Luke Dwyer (retired), Darren Harper (retired), Aaron
Jarvis (retired), Trent Martin (East Perth), Tim Nelli (East
Fremantle), Tom Matson (overseas) and Rory Walton (overseas). The
Tiger's only gain this year was former-
Brisbane Lions midfielder
Marcus Allan.
The Tigers finished the season second last, saving themselves from
the wooden spoon with a victory on the last day of the
competition.
2009 season
Claremont lost their first match of 2009 and things were starting
to look a bit wobbly, after they lost their second match. The
losing streak continued, to which they had lost nine games in a
row. At the end of April the club decided to cut short Kerr's two
year coaching contract. Claremont appointed
Simon McPhee as a caretaker coach, becoming the
club's 30th league coach. McPhee had been the coach of Claremont's
Colts team for the last three seasons. Under the new coach the
Tigers started to win a couple of games. They finished in eighth
place on the ladder, with seven wins from twenty matches.
But the Claremont Colts side showed a great future for the league
side, by defeating
Peel
Thunder in the Colts Grand Final, by over 8 goals.
Another positive, was that Chad Jones, won the
Bernie Naylor Medal, kicking 77
goals.
Club Song
Tigerland is the official club song of the
Claremont Football Club.
Lyrics
- Oh! We're from Tigerland
- A fighting fury, we're from Tigerland
- In any weather you will see us with a grin
- Risking head and shin
- If we're behind then never mind
- We'll fight and fight and win
- For we're from Tigerland
- We never weaken 'til the final siren's gone
- Like the Tigers of old, we're strong and we're bold
- For we're the Tigers, the old gold and blues
- We're from Tigerland
Club Song
Achievements
WAFL
Premierships': 10; 1938-40, 1964, 1981, 1987, 1989, 1991,
1993, 1996
Sandover Medalists: 1932:
Keith Hough, 1933-34:
Sammy Clarke, 1936:
George Moloney, 1949:
Gordon Maffina, 1967:
John Parkinson, 1984:
Michael Mitchell/
Steve Malaxos, 2005:
Jaxon Crabb, 2007:
Anthony
Jones
All Australians: 1966 & 1969:
John McIntosh, 1979 & 1980:
Ken Hunter, 1986:
Steve Malaxos, 1986; 1985 & 1986:
Michael Mitchell
AFL Draftees: 64 (not including rookies)
League Top Goalkickers: 1940:
George Moloney (129), 1943: R. Farmer (97),
1976: N. Uncle (91), 1981:
Warren Ralph
(127), 1982: Warren Ralph (115), 1983: Warren Ralph (128), 1991: J.
Hutton (100), 2001:
Paul Medhurst
(78)
Highest Score: 39.20 (254) vs. Perth at Claremont
Oval in round 17 1981
Most Games: 1979 to 1995:
Darrell Panizza (274)
Record home attendance: 18,268; May 7, 1983; v.
South Fremantle.
Current squad
As of 19 March, 2008:
|
|
|
- 26 Andrew Browne (FFC listed)
- 28 Matt Sofoulis
- 29 Simon Nimmo
- 31 James
Thomson (WCE listed)
- 32 Nic Chidgzey
- 34 Lewis
Stevenson (WCE rookie listed)
- 33 Preston O'Keefe
- 35 Patrick McGinnity (WCE
listed)
- 36 James Staples
- 38 Henry Roberts
- 37 Matt Clarke
- 39 Michael Warren
- 40 Kane Mitchell
- 41 Tom Nelson
- 42 Beau Wilkes (WCE rookie
listed)
- 43 Guy Boudville
- 44 James Reagan
- 45 Michael Pracilio
- 46 Michael Bartley
- 47 Gabe Orr
- 48 Tom Willett
|
|
- 49 Tom Morrison
- 52 Justin Wood
- 53 Jeremy Kennedy
- 54 James Read
- 55 Ben Woodall
- 56 Tim Whyte
- 57 Todd Nisbett
- 59 Brett Eades
- 60 Michael Taylor
- 61 Scott Walker
- 62 Tom Ayton
- 63 Bernard Wearden
- 64 Tom Kineen
- 65 Zaphine Skinner
- 67 David Wright
- 68 Hudson Wheeler
- 69 Trent Bennell
- 70 Darren Slater
- - Adrian Curley
- - Byron Schammer (FFC
listed)
- - Brett Jones (WCE listed)
- - Beau Waters (WCE listed)
|
Roster Changes for 2009 season
See also
References
- WA Football.
http://www.wafootball.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=19&task=view&id=952
- Bouncedown (2008). "Official Guide to the 2008 Season", pg.
71.
- FootyGoss.
http://www.footygoss.com/main/club_news/claremont/view/tigers_demons_notch_up_wafl_wins/
- Pike, Chris (24 August 2009); Claremont Tigers thriving under new coach Simon
McPhee; Perth Now
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
