View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Research Repository and Portal - University of the West of Scotland UWS Academic Portal Goodbye Leederville Oval James, Kieran Published: 28/11/2017 Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication on the UWS Academic Portal Citation for published version (APA): James, K. (2017). Goodbye Leederville Oval: History of West Perth Cheer Squad 1984-86 . (1st ed.) Paisley, Renfrewshire: Kieran James. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the UWS Academic Portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 17 Sep 2019 Kieran James Goodbye Leederville Oval by Kieran James* University of the West of Scotland, Scotland [email protected] and [email protected] English language version 28 November 2017 *Corresponding Author. Address for Correspondence: Dr Kieran James, School of Business and Enterprise, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley campus, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland PA1 2BE, tel: +44 (0)141 848 3350, e-mail: [email protected] and [email protected], Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kieran.james.94 1 Kieran James © Copyright Kieran James 2017, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland ISBN 978-0-244-62411-8 (hardcover version) ISBN 978-0-244-03235-7 (discounted hardcover version) ISBN 978-0-244-05204-1 (hardcover version alternative cover) ISBN 978-0-244-65385-9 (hardcover version alternative cover2) ISBN 978-0-244-05788-6 (hardcover version alternative cover3) ISBN 978-0-244-06588-1 (hardcover version alternative cover4) ISBN 978-0-244-07454-8 (hardcover version alternative cover5) ISBN 978-0-244-92726-4 (hardcover version alternative cover6) ISBN 978-0-244-02642-4 (paperback version) ISBN 978-0-244-05570-7 (paperback version alternative cover) This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it was published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher. The moral right of Kieran James to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted. 2 Kieran James Table of Contents Table of contents 3 Author biography 4 Acknowledgements 5 Abstract 7 Foreword – by Brian Atkinson 9 Chapter 1 – Introduction 11 Chapter 2 – Literature review 26 Chapter 3 – Formation & key characters 64 Chapter 4 – The opposition & big matches 105 Chapter 5 – Opinions on later developments in WA football 154 Appendix A – WPFC cheer squad sub-gangs 184 Appendix B – WPFC selected match results 185 Appendix C – Author’s WPFC all-stars teams 230 Appendix D – Sandover Medal & WA Footballer of Year 231 3 Kieran James Author bio Dr Kieran James is a Senior Lecturer in Accounting at the University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. He was formerly Accounting Professor at University of Fiji from 2013-15. He has published scholarly articles in the following journals: Accounting Forum, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, International Journal of Critical Accounting, International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, Musicology Australia, Pacific Accounting Review, Punk & Post Punk, and Sporting Traditions. Alongside his high-school friend Michael “Mike” Blewett, he was co-founder of the West Perth Cheer Squad (WAFL), 1984-86. He is also the founder of the WAFL Golden Era website (established 18 December 2011) which has had over 130,000 unique page-views as at 30 October 2017. Kieran is also a regular contributor to the Say NO to any AFL clubs in the WAFL Facebook group. He is presently researching Fiji Soccer History 1980-89. 4 Kieran James Acknowledgements I would like to thank: Mr. Brian Atkinson (official historian of the West Perth Football Club and the author of It’s a Grand Old Flag); Michael “Mike” Blewett (co-founder of the WPFC cheer squad 1984-86); John Devaney of Full Points Footy website and Full Points Publications; Chris Egan (Australian Society for Sports History Perth chapter member, Perth Glory historian, and Peel Thunder supporter); Professor Lionel Frost (Monash University and editor of Sporting Traditions); Dr. Sean Gorman (Curtin University academic and the author of BrotherBoys); Professor Chris Hallinan (Monash University); Pave Jusup, Kova, and Sime (MCF hooligan firm at Melbourne Knights Soccer Club); Ben (West Perth cheer squad member 1984-86); Patrick Mirosevich (present-day South Fremantle cheer squad member); Mark Whiting (East Fremantle supporter); posters to the Lost WAFL Facebook page; and members of the Say NO to any AFL clubs in the WAFL Facebook group. Disclaimer The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily the same as those of Brian Atkinson; West Perth Football Club (WPFC); West Perth Football Club cheer squad 1984-86 or any of its members; Swan Districts Football Club (SDFC); Australian Football League (AFL); West Coast Eagles Football Club (WCEFC); Western Australian Football Commission (WAFC); Western Australian Football League (WAFL); and / or any of the book’s interviewees. 5 Kieran James Dedication This book is dedicated to my maternal grandfather / Swan Districts’ supporter, the late Herbert Arthur Acott (1906-99), who instilled in me a love for Aussie Rules Football and the WAFL over and above loyalty to any one club; to my family Jenny, Anna & Lucky; and to my dear parents Laurie and Eunice. Other Books by the Author Sydney’s construction union strategy and immigrant worker issues: a Roman Catholic-Marxist perspective (with Jenny Leung), Spire Publishing, Toronto, 2010. 6 Kieran James Abstract This book is my memoir, and details my experiences as co-founder of West Perth Football Club’s unofficial cheer squad from 1984 to 1986. Our West Perth Football Club unofficial cheer squad (hardcore support) operated in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) from 1984- 86. The sections about the cheer squad are written by me (co-founder Kieran James) with input and support from the other co-founder Michael “Mike” Blewett. Using Marsh’s theory of the “illusion of violence”, I link the cheer squad to the academic literature on British soccer hooligans, Italian ultras, and other soccer supporter groups from around the world. The book details “traditional”, “hot” support for West Perth Football Club among teenaged supporters from middle-class and working-class backgrounds. The findings conform to Armstrong and Hughson’s idea of fluid “post-modern” “neo-tribes” where affiliations are very loose and people can easily adjust their degree of commitment to a group and / or leave the group when their personal priorities change. The book shows how, because of neo-liberal ideologies and the corporatization of football, the new national league (the “expanded VFL” / AFL) relegated the WAFL to a second-tier league in 1987. This move took place over the heads of ordinary football supporters and two WAFL club presidents. Moves to bring the game closer to the people in 1984, such as holding the best-and-fairest award count night at Perth Entertainment Centre, should be seen in this light. The book will allow supporters to relive great teams, great players, and great matches from a wonderful era in WA football. KEYWORDS: Australian Rules Football; Marxism; Soccer Hooliganism; Sports History; West Perth Football Club; Western Australian Football; Western Australian History. 7 Kieran James NOTE 1: An abridged version of this book based on Chapters 1-4 only has been published as a journal article as follows: James, K., “Working- class youth supporters of a decimated football league: The West Perth unofficial cheer squad, 1984-86”, Sporting Traditions, Vol. 31, No. 2, (November) 2014, pp. 51-67. Sporting Traditions is the official journal of the Australian Society for Sports History (ASSH). NOTE 2: This book was written mostly during calendar year 2011. It has only been updated to take into account changes in factual circumstances between 2011 and 2017. It does not directly address contemporary issues such as the AFL alignment model or the Claremont Oval and Lathlain Park redevelopments. 8 Kieran James Foreword, by Brian Atkinson This is a book with a difference. It recounts primarily the memories and reflections of a then 15-year-old school boy who jointly founded a cheer squad for the West Perth Football Club (WPFC) in 1984 to succeed the previous one that was disbanding. These memories and reflections cover the 1984-1986 period. The nature of social relations within the group is also examined. The book commences with a review of the extensive literature covering “hooliganism” associated with soccer “cheer groups” in the United Kingdom and Europe in those times and up until the hooligan scene wound itself up in the late-1980s. It examines the intersection between punk rock music and soccer hooliganism. The author recalls commencing to follow West Perth in 1976 at the age of seven, and describes some of his early memories. The performances of the West Perth team and of many of the players from 1984 to 1986 are then recounted. Readers will enjoy recalling many team and individual highlights from that period in particular. Some interesting exchanges with cheer squads from the other Western Australian Football League (WAFL) clubs are described. This book will appeal to WAFL traditionalists who mourn the demise of the then elite suburban based tribal football competitions, as they were, within the states.