Fremantle Football Club, unofficially nicknamed
The Dockers and known informally as "Freo", is one
of 16 teams in the
Australian
Football League (AFL).
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.
Matthew Pavlich has been club
captain since the beginning of the
2007
season. 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,
Fremantle's favourite son and now radio presenter 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.
History
The AFL announced on
December 14 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
July 12
1994.
Their first training session was held on
October 31 1994 at Fremantle Oval
.
A commemorative plaque from Victoria
Pavilion, 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 and the city quickly became a
stronghold of the code, with Fremantle based teams winning 24 of
the first 34
WAFL
premierships . 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. 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".
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 & 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
(
September 15) 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 (September 22) 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.
In Round 15 2009, Fremantle achieved the lowest score in its
history, scoring only 1 goal and 7 points (13 total) to the
Adelaide Crows 19.16 (130). It was held to just one point in the
first half and the only goal scored came in the third
quarter.
The Western Derby
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 in Western Australia). West Coast were victorious
in the first nine games, before Fremantle won in round 16, 1999.
Since 2000, however, it has become more even, with Fremantle
winning 6 of the 14 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 four
matches between the two sides.
The Club
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
- 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 guernsey
Fremantle's Home and Away 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 alternative or clash guernsey is
all white with a purple anchor.
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[39861].
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. However he later confirmed that the
purple colour will be maintained as it had become synonymous with
Fremantle.
Club records
- Premierships: None
- Highest ladder position (after Rd 22): 3rd,
2006
- Wooden spoons: One (2001)
- Finals series reached: Two (2003, 2006)
- Biggest winning margin: 112 points, against
Collingwood, May 8, 2005, at Subiaco Oval,
28.12 (180) to 10.8 (68)
- Biggest losing margin: 117 points, against
West Coast on April 15, 2000, at Subiaco
Oval, 28.10 (178) to 9.7 (61); against Adelaide on July
11, 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, May 8, 2005, at Subiaco Oval
- Lowest score: 1.7 (13), against Adelaide, July
11, 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, March 30, 2003 at AAMI Stadium
v Adelaide
- Record attendance (home
game): 42,213, Round 6, May 6, 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.
The song is regarded with a great deal of derision from many
opposition supporters and equally fierce loyalty from many
fans.
Membership base
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
|
| 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 |
7677 (+21.52%) |
11th |
37,474
|
| 2008 |
43,366 |
23 (+0.05%) |
14th |
35,877
|
| 2009 |
39,206 |
4160 (-9.6%) |
14thth |
33,144 |
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.
The policy was soon changed to select a well-known Fremantle
identity for a two year period.
Other high profile fans include former premier
Alan Carpenter, author
Tim Winton and journalists and television
presenters
Dixie Marshall,
Simon Reeve
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.
Vice-Patrons
Mascots
- 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.
References
- Dockers set membership record; Sportal; 1 July
2008
- Pavlich takes over as Club Captain
- Harvey takes over AFL reins at Freo
- Connolly quits as Fremantle coach
- History of Fremantle Football
- List of WAFL league premiers
- Interim Decision; Trademark History
- Way to Go Lyrics; Docker Magazine Reference
- Australian rules football attendance
records
- List of Captains and Coaches
- For all past guernsey designs, see Mero's Footy
Jumpers website.
- Hagdorn,
Kim; Fremantle Dockers' anchor logo, song, colours under
review; PerthNow; 6 September 2008
- Clarke, Tim; Freo won't heave ho; Realfooty; 10 September
2008
- Freo Way to Go Club Song
- Katz, Danny; No rhyme or reason to what you fancy; The Age;
May 6, 2004;Retrieved on June 14, 2007
- Burrows, Toby Review: Way to Go: Sadness, Euphoria and the
Fremantle Dockers, by Matt Price; July 2004; Retrieved on
June 14, 2007
- Gervase A. Haimes (August 2006); Culture and Identity at FFC in PhD Thesis
Organizational Culture and Identity: A Case Study from the
Australian Football League, Victoria University
- Washbourne, Michael (17 March 2008); Fremantle Dockers ready for first game of the
season; PerthNow; Retrieved on 22 March 2009
- Chadwick, Justin (20 March 2009); O'Hern comes out swinging for Dockers; Sydney
Morning Herald; Retrieved on 22 March 2009
- Alan Carpenter - Premier-in-waiting
- Western voices
- Simon Reeve blog - A long-suffering Dockers
supporter
See also
External links
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