Claremont Football Club
Encyclopedia
The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football
club in the West Australian Football League
(WAFL). Its official colours are navy blue and gold.
Formed as the Cottesloe Beach Football Club in 1906, the club entering the WAFL in 1925 as the Claremont-Cottesloe Football Club, changing its name to the present in 1935. Claremont have won 11 senior premierships since entering the competition, including the 2011 premiership. The captain and coach for the 2011 season
were Clancy Rudeforth
and Simon McPhee
respectively. However, Rudeforth retired at the end of the season and McPhee left to coach Sandringham in the Victorian Football League
(VFL), so both positions are currently vacant. The 2011 best and fairest
winner was Luke Blackwell
, who also won the Sandover Medal
for the best player in the competition.
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 four 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 successive premiership.
Between 1942 and 1944, owing to the demands of World War II
, the WANFL operated on a limited, under age only basis and after open age competition returned in 1945 Claremont commenced its longest period in the football wilderness. In 1945 it won only two games and finished last, kicked its lowest score ever against Perth, and had a losing streak of seventeen games into 1946, when it again was last with only three wins. Although it avoided the wooden spoon for the next eleven years, only in 1950 (fifth) and 1952 (fourth by one percent from East Fremantle) did it finish higher than sixth in an eight-team competition in the next seventeen years.
After claiming the wooden spoon in 1962 and 1963 Claremont appointed a complete outsider, former East Fremantle rover Jim Conway
as coach for 1964. At the end of that 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.
Claremont failed to follow this meteoric rise, and between 1966 and 1978 participated in the finals only twice. In 1971 they were knocked out easily by an Alan Joyce
-coached East Fremantle outfit, but in 1972 they lost only three home-and-away games and with players of the calibre of Graham Moss
, Bruce Duperouzel
, Colin Tully
and Daryl Griffiths, were firm flag favourites, only to be beaten in both the second semi and grand finals by a more physical East Perth side. Despite recruiting Essendon
full forward Geoff Blethyn
, the Tigers fell to last in 1973 with only four wins, and did even worse in 1975 with only three wins as Moss went to Essendon. When the champion ruckman returned in 1977 as captain-coach, he gradually moulded one of the most individually talented teams in WAFL history with such players as Jim
and Phil Krakouer
, Ken Hunter
, Wayne Blackwell
, John Annear
, and Warren Ralph
. In 1981 they kicked an Australian record 3,352 points in 21 matches, and won their fifth flag over an inaccurate South Fremantle
. Despite lacking the “enforcer” needed to win many flags under pressure, between 1979 and 1994 Claremont played in the finals every year bar 1985 and 1992, and under Gerard Neesham
’s extremely innovative coaching methods and “chip and draw” style, they won twenty and drew one of their last 21 games in 1987. Neesham’s skill was such that Claremont reached five successive grand finals for three flags despite the loss of most key players to the VFL (later AFL)
.
After 1994, Claremont’s fortunes declined somewhat, and financial difficulties threatened their existence in the middle 1990s. However, at WAFL level they managed to remain competitive throughout the 1990s and 2000s if never threatening for a premiership until 2004, when they were thrashed by Subiaco in the grand final, a fate which befell Claremont again in 2005 from South Fremantle.
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 has 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).
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.
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.
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.
.
The Reserves also claimed the minor premiership and set up a grand final clash with East Perth
.
Claremont dominated the home and away season finishing atop the table losing just twice and drawing once (a loss and a draw to the eventual Premiers Swan Districts and the final round defeat by East Perth). In the 2nd Semi Final Claremont crushed Swans at Claremont Oval by 50 points 17.17 (119) to 10.9 (69) with former Fremantle Dockers player Andrew Foster kicking 5 goals. Swan Districts then cruised to a win over East Perth in the Preliminary Final to set up a Grand Final for the ages between by far the 2 best sides in the competition in 2010. A classic contest it turned out to be too with the match swinging from one side to the other or the entire day, a pack mark by David Crawford deep into time-on was converted and seemed to give Claremont the flag for the first time in 14 years, but as the match wore on into the 32nd minute of the Final quarter Sandover Medallist
Andrew Krakouer popped up to put Swans back in front. This time there was no reply from the Tigers and they went down in one of the finest ever WAFL Grand Finals 14.16 (100) to 14.15 (99). Key match-ups included Krakouer's dominance over Kane Mitchell and the move of Simon Starling to the forward line where he was virtually ineffective.
The Reserves would win the Reserve grade Grand Final over East Perth 13.6 (84) to 10.12 (72).
Midfielder Luke Blackwell
would cap another stellar season by winning the EB Cook Medal as the Best & Fairest player for the Tigers in 2010, he would also finish as Runner Up to Andrew Krakouer in the Sandover Medal count.
by 56 points, 19.13 (127) to 10.11 (71), with Beau Wilkes
of Claremont winning the Simpson Medal
as best on ground
. The 2011 Sandover Medal
was won by Luke Blackwell
.
Club Captain, Clancy Rudeforth
, announced his retirement from league football following the Grand Final victory.
Premierships: (11 total); 1938, 1939, 1940, 1964, 1981, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996, 2011
Runners-Up: (13 total) 1936, 1937, 1942, 1972, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1994, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010
WAFL
Wooden spoons: (14 total) 1926, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1945, 1946, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1973, 1975
Reserves Premierships: (9 total) 1937, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2011
Colts Premierships: (12 total) 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1986, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2009, 2011
Fourths Premierships: (2 total) 1966, 1968
Rodriguez Shield: (14 total) 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2007, 2010, 2011
, 1933–34: Sammy Clarke
, 1936: George Moloney
, 1949: Gordon Maffina
, 1967: John Parkinson
, 1984: Michael Mitchell/Steve Malaxos
, 2005: Jaxon Crabb
, 2007: Anthony Jones
, 2011: Luke Blackwell
Bernie Naylor Medalists: 1940: George Moloney
(129), 1943: Robin Farmer (97), 1976: Norm Uncle (91), 1981: Warren Ralph
(127), 1982: Warren Ralph
(115), 1983: Warren Ralph
(128), 1991: John Hutton
(100), 2001: Paul Medhurst
(78), 2009: Chad Jones
(77), 2010: Chad Jones
(85)
All Australians: 1966 & 1969: John McIntosh
, 1979 & 1980: Ken Hunter
, 1986: Steve Malaxos
, 1985 & 1986: Michael Mitchell
Tassie Medallists: (1 total) 1947: Les McClements
Lowest Score: Round 15, 1945 - 1.3 (9) vs. Perth at WACA
Greatest Winning Margin: Round 10, 2010 - 194 points vs. Peel at Claremont Oval
Greatest Losing Margin: Round 10, 1958 - 147 points vs. East Perth at Perth Oval
Most Games: Darrell Panizza
274 (1979-1995)
Record Home Attendance: Round 7, 1983 - 18,268 vs. South Fremantle
.
Record Finals Attendance: 1982 Grand Final - 50,883 vs. Swan Districts at Subiaco Oval
AFL Draftees: 64 (not including rookies)
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
club in the West Australian Football League
West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...
(WAFL). Its official colours are navy blue and gold.
Formed as the Cottesloe Beach Football Club in 1906, the club entering the WAFL in 1925 as the Claremont-Cottesloe Football Club, changing its name to the present in 1935. Claremont have won 11 senior premierships since entering the competition, including the 2011 premiership. The captain and coach for the 2011 season
2011 WAFL season
The 2011 WAFL season was the 127th season of the West Australian Football League and its various incarnations.The season opened on 19 March, with defeating by 15 points at Steel Blue Oval, and concluded with the 2011 WAFL Grand Final, with defeating by 56 points...
were Clancy Rudeforth
Clancy Rudeforth
Clancy Rudeforth is a former Australian rules footballer, who played for the Claremont Football Club in the WAFL...
and Simon McPhee
Simon McPhee
Simon McPhee is an Australian rules football coach, currently serving as senior coach of the Sandringham Football Club in the Victorian Football League...
respectively. However, Rudeforth retired at the end of the season and McPhee left to coach Sandringham in the Victorian Football League
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association , taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the premier Australian rules football league in Victoria The Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association...
(VFL), so both positions are currently vacant. The 2011 best and fairest
Best and Fairest
Best and Fairest is the term commonly used in Australian sport to describe the player adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition while not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.In the...
winner was Luke Blackwell
Luke Blackwell
Luke Blackwell is an Australian rules footballer currently playing for Claremont in the West Australian Football League . He formerly played for Carlton in the Australian Football League...
, who also won the Sandover Medal
Sandover Medal
The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League...
for the best player in the competition.
History
It was formed as the amateur CottesloeCottesloe, Western Australia
-Transport:Cottesloe is served by Swanbourne, Grant Street, Cottesloe, Mosman Park and Victoria Street railway stations on the Fremantle line. Various bus routes along Stirling Highway and through the suburb's western and eastern sections link Cottesloe to Perth and Fremantle. All services are...
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
Subiaco Football Club
The Subiaco Football Club, nicknamed the Lions, is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League . It was founded in 1896, and admitted to the WAFL in 1901, along with North Fremantle...
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
Claremont Showgrounds
The Claremont Showgrounds were built in 1905 in the Perth suburb of Claremont. The Showgrounds are home to the annual Perth Royal Show. They were also the original home of Claremont-Cottesloe in its first year in the WAFL before moving to Claremont Oval....
, 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
South Fremantle Football Club
The South Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Bulldogs, is an Australian rules football club, based in Fremantle, Western Australia, playing in the West Australian Football League...
and Richmond
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
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
Claremont Oval
Claremont Oval is an Australian rules football stadium located in Perth, Australia. The capacity of the venue is 10,000 people and was opened in 1905 and is the home of the Claremont Football Club....
, 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
Subiaco Oval
Subiaco Oval , known colloquially as Subi, is the highest capacity sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia...
with the Subiaco Football Club
Subiaco Football Club
The Subiaco Football Club, nicknamed the Lions, is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League . It was founded in 1896, and admitted to the WAFL in 1901, along with North Fremantle...
.
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 four 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
Geelong Football Club
The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...
in Australian football's 'big league' the VFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
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
East Fremantle Football Club
The East Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Sharks, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League . The team's home ground is East Fremantle Oval...
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
East Perth Football Club
The East Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Royals, is an Australian rules football club that is a member of the West Australian Football League...
), 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
South Fremantle Football Club
The South Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Bulldogs, is an Australian rules football club, based in Fremantle, Western Australia, playing in the West Australian Football League...
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 successive premiership.
Between 1942 and 1944, owing to the demands of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the WANFL operated on a limited, under age only basis and after open age competition returned in 1945 Claremont commenced its longest period in the football wilderness. In 1945 it won only two games and finished last, kicked its lowest score ever against Perth, and had a losing streak of seventeen games into 1946, when it again was last with only three wins. Although it avoided the wooden spoon for the next eleven years, only in 1950 (fifth) and 1952 (fourth by one percent from East Fremantle) did it finish higher than sixth in an eight-team competition in the next seventeen years.
After claiming the wooden spoon in 1962 and 1963 Claremont appointed a complete outsider, former East Fremantle rover Jim Conway
Jim Conway (footballer)
Jim Conway was an Australian rules footballer who played 180 games for East Fremantle in the WANFL during the 1940s and 1950s. He also represented the Western Australian state team in 15 interstate matches....
as coach for 1964. At the end of that 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
Perth Football Club
The Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League . The club plays its matches at Lathlain Park.-History:...
) 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.
Claremont failed to follow this meteoric rise, and between 1966 and 1978 participated in the finals only twice. In 1971 they were knocked out easily by an Alan Joyce
Alan Joyce
Alan Joyce is a former Australian rules footballer who after playing 49 games for Hawthorn became a premiership winning coach for the club. Originally from Glen Iris, Joyce played in the ruck for Hawthorn and gained life membership in 1996.In 1988 when incumbent coach Allan Jeans became ill due to...
-coached East Fremantle outfit, but in 1972 they lost only three home-and-away games and with players of the calibre of Graham Moss
Graham Moss
Graham Moss is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, who was highly successful in both the West Australian Football League and the Victorian Football League . He was a Brownlow Medal-winning ruckman and played 343 senior games in the WAFL and VFL.Moss debuted for Claremont Football Club...
, Bruce Duperouzel
Bruce Duperouzel
Bruce Duperouzel is a former Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda and Footscray in the VFL.Duperouzel started his career at WANFL club Claremont, playing 86 games in his five seasons and winning their 1971 Fairest and best award...
, Colin Tully
Colin Tully
Colin Tully is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the VFL during the late 1960s.Although small in stature, Tully was a long kick of the ball...
and Daryl Griffiths, were firm flag favourites, only to be beaten in both the second semi and grand finals by a more physical East Perth side. Despite recruiting Essendon
Essendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
full forward Geoff Blethyn
Geoff Blethyn
Geoff Blethyn was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the VFL.A full-forward, Blethyn had a slim frame and was easy to spot on the field because he wore glasses. He kicked 4 goals in their 1968 Grand Final loss to Carlton and had his most prolific game up forward when he...
, the Tigers fell to last in 1973 with only four wins, and did even worse in 1975 with only three wins as Moss went to Essendon. When the champion ruckman returned in 1977 as captain-coach, he gradually moulded one of the most individually talented teams in WAFL history with such players as Jim
Jim Krakouer
James Gordon "Jim" Krakouer was an Australian rules footballer in the 1980s for North Melbourne and St Kilda in the VFL and Claremont in the WAFL...
and Phil Krakouer
Phil Krakouer
Phillip Brent "Phil" Krakouer is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club during the 1980s. Notable for his speed, freakish skills and an uncanny ability to pass the ball to his brother, Jim Krakouer, who also played for North Melbourne...
, Ken Hunter
Ken Hunter
Ken Hunter is a former champion Australian rules football player who played for the Carlton Football Club in the VFL ....
, Wayne Blackwell
Wayne Blackwell
Wayne Anthony Blackwell is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Claremont in the Western Australian National Football League and Carlton in the Victorian Football League from 1978 to 1990....
, John Annear
John Annear
John Annear is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood, Richmond and West Coast in the Victorian Football League during the 1980s....
, and Warren Ralph
Warren Ralph
Warren Ralph is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the Victorian Football League during the 1980s. He was recruited from Claremont in the West Australian Football League....
. In 1981 they kicked an Australian record 3,352 points in 21 matches, and won their fifth flag over an inaccurate South Fremantle
South Fremantle Football Club
The South Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Bulldogs, is an Australian rules football club, based in Fremantle, Western Australia, playing in the West Australian Football League...
. Despite lacking the “enforcer” needed to win many flags under pressure, between 1979 and 1994 Claremont played in the finals every year bar 1985 and 1992, and under Gerard Neesham
Gerard Neesham
Gerard Neesham is a former Australian rules footballer in the WAFL and VFL as well as coach in the WAFL and AFL. Today he is chief executive of the Clontarf Foundation.-Playing career:...
’s extremely innovative coaching methods and “chip and draw” style, they won twenty and drew one of their last 21 games in 1987. Neesham’s skill was such that Claremont reached five successive grand finals for three flags despite the loss of most key players to the VFL (later AFL)
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
.
After 1994, Claremont’s fortunes declined somewhat, and financial difficulties threatened their existence in the middle 1990s. However, at WAFL level they managed to remain competitive throughout the 1990s and 2000s if never threatening for a premiership until 2004, when they were thrashed by Subiaco in the grand final, a fate which befell Claremont again in 2005 from South Fremantle.
2007 season
Claremont ended the season strongly, claiming the minor premiership, but lost to SubiacoSubiaco Football Club
The Subiaco Football Club, nicknamed the Lions, is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League . It was founded in 1896, and admitted to the WAFL in 1901, along with North Fremantle...
in the WAFL Grand Final on 23 September 2007. Coach Ashley Prescott
Ashley Prescott
Ashley Prescott is a former Australian rules footballer. He played with the Richmond and Fremantle Football Clubs in the AFL between 1993 and 2001, was senior coachof the Claremont Football Club in the WAFL from 2004 to 2007 and is currently an assistant coach for the Essendon Football Club in...
left the club at the end of the season to take up an assistant coaching role with Essendon
Essendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
. Prescott's replacement is former assistant coach, Roger Kerr
Roger Kerr
Roger Lawrence Kerr, CNZM , a public policy and business leader, was the executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, a free-market think-tank based in Wellington, New Zealand.-Career:...
(former East Fremantle
East Fremantle Football Club
The East Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Sharks, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League . The team's home ground is East Fremantle Oval...
player and father of West Coast Eagles
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...
player, Daniel Kerr
Daniel Kerr
Daniel Matthew Kerr is an Australian rules footballer.Kerr was recruited from East Fremantle Football Club and made his AFL debut in 2001 with the West Coast Eagles. He is a hard-running midfielder who is a vital part of the midfield at the Eagles.-Background:Kerr is of Anglo-Indian descent...
), who has 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 PerthWest Perth Football Club
The West Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is an Australian rules football club located in Joondalup, Western Australia, competing in the West Australian Football League . It is the oldest existing Australian rules football club in Western Australia. It competes in the West Australian...
at Claremont Oval
Claremont Oval
Claremont Oval is an Australian rules football stadium located in Perth, Australia. The capacity of the venue is 10,000 people and was opened in 1905 and is the home of the Claremont Football Club....
, which Claremont won by 14 points. It was Roger Kerr
Roger Kerr
Roger Lawrence Kerr, CNZM , a public policy and business leader, was the executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, a free-market think-tank based in Wellington, New Zealand.-Career:...
'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
Daniel Bandy
Daniel Bandy is a former Australian rules footballer. He played as a ruckman for Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League . He last played for West Australian Football League club Claremont in 2007....
(retired), Rowan Jones
Rowan Jones
Rowan Jones is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League....
(retired), Luke Toia
Luke Toia
Luke Toia was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Dockers between 1996 and 2003. He was drafted from Subiaco in the WAFL as a predraft selection in the 1994 AFL Draft and played mainly as a rover. He last played for Claremont in the WAFL.-External links:...
(retired), as well as Mitch Morton
Mitch Morton
Mitch Morton is an Australian rules football player for the Sydney Swans in the AFL.-Career:Morton was initially drafted by the West Coast Eagles under the father-son rule as he is the son of Noel Morton, who played 171 WAFL games for Claremont.At the end of the 2007 season, West Coast traded...
(Richmond) and Cale Morton
Cale Morton
Cale Morton is an Australian rules football player, recruited at pick 4 in the 2007 AFL Draft by the Melbourne Football Club....
(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
Brisbane Lions
The Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...
midfielder Marcus Allan
Marcus Allan
Marcus Allan is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. He played for WAFL club Claremont in 2008. He is currently playing for the Old Xavarians in the VAFA....
.
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, during which they 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 McPheeSimon McPhee
Simon McPhee is an Australian rules football coach, currently serving as senior coach of the Sandringham Football Club in the Victorian Football League...
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.
The Claremont Colts side showed a great future for the league side, by defeating Peel Thunder
Peel Thunder Football Club
The Peel Thunder Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League . The team is based in Mandurah, Western Australia, with their home ground being Rushton Park...
in the Colts Grand Final, by over 8 goals.
Another positive was that Chad Jones won the Bernie Naylor Medal
Bernie Naylor Medal
The Bernie Naylor Medal is an Australian rules football award which is given to the leading goalkicker at the end of each home and away season in the West Australian Football League. It is named after South Fremantle full-forward Bernie Naylor...
, kicking 77 goals.
2010 season
Claremont capped off a fantastic season in 2010, claiming the Minor Premiership. The also reached the Grand Final against Swan DistrictsSwan Districts Football Club
The Swan Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Swans, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League . The club is based at Bassendean Oval, in Bassendean, an eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia...
.
The Reserves also claimed the minor premiership and set up a grand final clash with East Perth
East Perth Football Club
The East Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Royals, is an Australian rules football club that is a member of the West Australian Football League...
.
Claremont dominated the home and away season finishing atop the table losing just twice and drawing once (a loss and a draw to the eventual Premiers Swan Districts and the final round defeat by East Perth). In the 2nd Semi Final Claremont crushed Swans at Claremont Oval by 50 points 17.17 (119) to 10.9 (69) with former Fremantle Dockers player Andrew Foster kicking 5 goals. Swan Districts then cruised to a win over East Perth in the Preliminary Final to set up a Grand Final for the ages between by far the 2 best sides in the competition in 2010. A classic contest it turned out to be too with the match swinging from one side to the other or the entire day, a pack mark by David Crawford deep into time-on was converted and seemed to give Claremont the flag for the first time in 14 years, but as the match wore on into the 32nd minute of the Final quarter Sandover Medallist
Sandover Medal
The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League...
Andrew Krakouer popped up to put Swans back in front. This time there was no reply from the Tigers and they went down in one of the finest ever WAFL Grand Finals 14.16 (100) to 14.15 (99). Key match-ups included Krakouer's dominance over Kane Mitchell and the move of Simon Starling to the forward line where he was virtually ineffective.
The Reserves would win the Reserve grade Grand Final over East Perth 13.6 (84) to 10.12 (72).
Midfielder Luke Blackwell
Luke Blackwell
Luke Blackwell is an Australian rules footballer currently playing for Claremont in the West Australian Football League . He formerly played for Carlton in the Australian Football League...
would cap another stellar season by winning the EB Cook Medal as the Best & Fairest player for the Tigers in 2010, he would also finish as Runner Up to Andrew Krakouer in the Sandover Medal count.
2011 season
The club were once again the dominant side in the competition completing the season at the top of the league ladder winning 14 from 19 games and this time were successful in claiming the premiership. In the Grand Final Claremont defeated SubiacoSubiaco Football Club
The Subiaco Football Club, nicknamed the Lions, is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League . It was founded in 1896, and admitted to the WAFL in 1901, along with North Fremantle...
by 56 points, 19.13 (127) to 10.11 (71), with Beau Wilkes
Beau Wilkes
Beau Wilkes is an Australian rules footballer currently listed with the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League...
of Claremont winning the Simpson Medal
Simpson Medal
The Simpson Medal, a prize for Australian rules football, has been donated by Dr. Fred Simpson and family since 1945. It is awarded to the best player in a WAFL Grand Final and the best player in an interstate game involving Western Australia....
as best on ground
Man of the match
In sport, a Man of the Match or Player of the Game or Man of the Series award is given to the outstanding player, almost always the one who makes the most impact, in a particular match or series. The term was originally used more often in cricket before being adopted by other sports. This can be a...
. The 2011 Sandover Medal
Sandover Medal
The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League...
was won by Luke Blackwell
Luke Blackwell
Luke Blackwell is an Australian rules footballer currently playing for Claremont in the West Australian Football League . He formerly played for Carlton in the Australian Football League...
.
Club Captain, Clancy Rudeforth
Clancy Rudeforth
Clancy Rudeforth is a former Australian rules footballer, who played for the Claremont Football Club in the WAFL...
, announced his retirement from league football following the Grand Final victory.
Club Honours
WAFLWest Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...
Premierships: (11 total); 1938, 1939, 1940, 1964, 1981, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996, 2011
Runners-Up: (13 total) 1936, 1937, 1942, 1972, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1994, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010
WAFL
West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...
Wooden spoons: (14 total) 1926, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1945, 1946, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1973, 1975
Reserves Premierships: (9 total) 1937, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2011
Colts Premierships: (12 total) 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1986, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2009, 2011
Fourths Premierships: (2 total) 1966, 1968
Rodriguez Shield: (14 total) 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2007, 2010, 2011
Individual Honours
Sandover Medalists: 1932: Keith HoughKeith Hough
Keith Hough was an Australian rules footballer who played 120 games for Claremont in the WANFL during the late 1920s and 1930s.A half back flanker from Bunbury, Hough made his league debut in the 1928 season with Claremont, who at the time were called Claremont-Cottesloe...
, 1933–34: Sammy Clarke
Sammy Clarke
Sydney Campbell "Sammy" Clarke, Jr. was an Australian rules footballer. He played 133 games with /The Claremont Football Club were known as the "Claremont-Cottesloe Football Club" before 1935...
, 1936: George Moloney
George Moloney
George "Specka" Moloney was a highly-regarded Australian rules footballer in both the West Australian National Football League and the Victorian Football League ....
, 1949: Gordon Maffina
Gordon Maffina
Gordon 'Sonny' Maffina was an Australian rules footballer who played 114 games for Claremont in the West Australian National Football League from 1948 to 1958....
, 1967: John Parkinson
John Parkinson (footballer)
John Parkinson is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Claremont in the West Australian National Football League and Collingwood in the Victorian Football League ....
, 1984: Michael Mitchell/Steve Malaxos
Steve Malaxos
Stephen "Steve" Malaxos is a former Australian rules footballer and coach from Western Australia. While playing for Claremont in the WAFL, he won the 1984 Sandover Medal. Malaxos was an All-Australian with Claremont in 1986 and while he was with the West Coast Eagles in 1988...
, 2005: Jaxon Crabb
Jaxon Crabb
Jaxon Crabb is a former Australian rules footballer who played as a midfielder for the West Coast Eagles and Port Adelaide Football Club.-Football career:...
, 2007: Anthony Jones
Anthony Jones (Australian rules footballer)
Anthony Jones is a former Australian rules footballer. He was the winner of the 2007 Sandover Medal.- Fremantle career:...
, 2011: Luke Blackwell
Luke Blackwell
Luke Blackwell is an Australian rules footballer currently playing for Claremont in the West Australian Football League . He formerly played for Carlton in the Australian Football League...
Bernie Naylor Medalists: 1940: George Moloney
George Moloney
George "Specka" Moloney was a highly-regarded Australian rules footballer in both the West Australian National Football League and the Victorian Football League ....
(129), 1943: Robin Farmer (97), 1976: Norm Uncle (91), 1981: Warren Ralph
Warren Ralph
Warren Ralph is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the Victorian Football League during the 1980s. He was recruited from Claremont in the West Australian Football League....
(127), 1982: Warren Ralph
Warren Ralph
Warren Ralph is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the Victorian Football League during the 1980s. He was recruited from Claremont in the West Australian Football League....
(115), 1983: Warren Ralph
Warren Ralph
Warren Ralph is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the Victorian Football League during the 1980s. He was recruited from Claremont in the West Australian Football League....
(128), 1991: John Hutton
John Hutton (footballer)
John Hutton is a former Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League with the Brisbane Bears, Sydney Swans and the Fremantle Football Club....
(100), 2001: Paul Medhurst
Paul Medhurst
Paul Medhurst is a former professional Australian rules football who played for the Fremantle Football Club and the Collingwood Football Club....
(78), 2009: Chad Jones
Chad Jones
Chad Jones is an Australian rules footballer currently playing for the Claremont Football Club in the West Australian Football League...
(77), 2010: Chad Jones
Chad Jones
Chad Jones is an Australian rules footballer currently playing for the Claremont Football Club in the West Australian Football League...
(85)
All Australians: 1966 & 1969: John McIntosh
John McIntosh (footballer)
John McIntosh is a former Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda in the VFL and Claremont in the WAFL. He is the father of West Coast footballer Ashley McIntosh and son of Dave McIntosh who played with East Perth....
, 1979 & 1980: Ken Hunter
Ken Hunter
Ken Hunter is a former champion Australian rules football player who played for the Carlton Football Club in the VFL ....
, 1986: Steve Malaxos
Steve Malaxos
Stephen "Steve" Malaxos is a former Australian rules footballer and coach from Western Australia. While playing for Claremont in the WAFL, he won the 1984 Sandover Medal. Malaxos was an All-Australian with Claremont in 1986 and while he was with the West Coast Eagles in 1988...
, 1985 & 1986: Michael Mitchell
Tassie Medallists: (1 total) 1947: Les McClements
Les McClements
Les McClements was an Australian rules footballer who played for Claremont in the West Australian National Football League and in Tasmania with Clarence....
Records
Highest Score: Round 17, 1981 - 39.20 (254) vs. Perth at Claremont OvalLowest Score: Round 15, 1945 - 1.3 (9) vs. Perth at WACA
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
Greatest Winning Margin: Round 10, 2010 - 194 points vs. Peel at Claremont Oval
Greatest Losing Margin: Round 10, 1958 - 147 points vs. East Perth at Perth Oval
Most Games: Darrell Panizza
Darrell Panizza
Darrell Panizza is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. Panizza played for the Claremont Football Club and Woodville Football Club. He is a member of the West Australian Football Hall of Fame-Claremont:...
274 (1979-1995)
Record Home Attendance: Round 7, 1983 - 18,268 vs. South Fremantle
South Fremantle Football Club
The South Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Bulldogs, is an Australian rules football club, based in Fremantle, Western Australia, playing in the West Australian Football League...
.
Record Finals Attendance: 1982 Grand Final - 50,883 vs. Swan Districts at Subiaco Oval
AFL Draftees: 64 (not including rookies)
Club Song
Oh, We're From Tigerland is the official club song of the Claremont Football Club and is sung to the tune of "Row, Row, Row".- 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
See also
- Wikipedia listing of Claremont Football Club players