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 and WAFL Women's. The team's home ground is East Fremantle Oval. East Fremantle are the most successful club in WAFL history, winning 29 premierships since their entry into the competition in 1898.

History

The East Fremantle Football Club was formed in 1898 and has won 29 league premierships in the West Australian Football League, making the club the second most successful in Australia, after Port Adelaide in the SANFL.
East Fremantle has a fierce rivalry with its Port cousin, South Fremantle, and the Foundation Day Derby between the two sides is a much anticipated highlight of the local football calendar. East Fremantle's success has thus far eclipsed that of South Fremantle, who have won just 13 WAFL premierships.
Up until 1987, Western Australia was immersed in WAFL culture and East Fremantle enjoyed a strong following. In 1987, a Perth-based club – the West Coast Eagles – joined an expanded Victorian Football League. West Coast's initial squad included many East Fremantle players and they were coached by former East Fremantle premiership player and coach, Ron Alexander. Interest in the semi-national competition saw attendances at WAFL games start to fall, with severe consequences for the club's support base and finances. By the middle 2000s, East Fremantle was in severe trouble on and off the field, winning only nineteen of eighty matches between 2003 and 2006 and suffering severe financial difficulties, though since then the clubs has substantially recovered without winning a thirtieth premiership. The Sharks once pulled on average 10,000 people to a home game. Now 1,500 people to a home game is considered a strong attendance.
East Fremantle was a foundation member of the WAFL Women's competition in 2019. They were the inaugural premiers of the competition, defeating Swan Districts in the grand final.

Club Song

The East Fremantle Football Club team song is sung to the tune of "Notre Dame Victory March".

Honours

Club honours

Sandover Medallists: 1931: Lin Richards, 1950: Jim Conway, 1957: Jack Clarke, 1961 & 1963: Ray Sorrell, 1971: David Hollins, 1974: Graham Melrose, 1977: Brian Peake, 1985: Murray Wrensted, 1995: Craig Treleven, 1998: Adrian Bromage, 2013: Rory O'Brien
Simpson Medallists : 1945: Alan Ebbs, 1957: Frank Conway, 1962: Ray Sorrell, 1964: Norm Rogers, 1965: Dave Imrie, 1947: Gary Gibellini 1979: Kevin Taylor, 1992: Clinton Browning, 1994: Mark Amaranti, 1998: Adrian Bromage
Simpson Medallists : 1962: Ray Sorrell, 1982: Kevin Taylor, 1991: Paul Harding, 1995: Craig Treleven, 1999: Rod Tregenza
Bernie Naylor Medallists: 1904: Ernest Kelly, 1905: Henry Sharpe, 1907: Henry Sharpe, 1908: Charles Doig, 1909: Charles Doig, 1917: Arthur Rawlinson, 1919:Joseph Lawn, 1923: Dinney Coffey, 1933: George Doig, 1934: George Doig, 1935: George Doig, 1936: George Doig, 1937: George Doig, 1941: George Doig, 1949: George Prince, 1966: Bob Johnson, 1979: Kevin Taylor, 1989: Neil Lester-Smith, 1999: Rod Tregenza, 2000: Rod Tregenza
Prendergast Medallists: 1954: Bill Taggart, 1977: Joe Angel, 1978: Kevin Taylor, 1994: Jon Stagg, 2002: Leigh Willison, 2007: Morgan Cooper, 2008: Conor Davidson, 2010: James Murray, 2011: Timothy Viney, 2017: Benjamin Harding
Jack Clarke Medallists: 1985: Mark Amaranti, 1989: Graham Ralph, 2000: Matthew Cremin, 2001: Andrew Green, 2013: Jacob Green
Chesson Medallists: 1972: Greg Brown, 1973: Doug Winning
All Australians: 1953, 1956, 1958 & 1961: Jack Clarke, 1958: Alan Preen, 1958: Norm Rogers, 1958 & 1961: Ray Sorrell, 1979, 1980 & 1986: Brian Peake, 1979: Tony Buhagiar, 1983: Kevin Taylor, 1986: Peter Wilson
Tassie Medallists: 1979: Brian Peake

Records

Highest Score: Round 17, 1944 – 33.23 vs. South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval
Lowest Score: Round 13, 1898 – 1.2 vs. West Perth at The WACA
Greatest Winning Margin: Round 17, 1944 – 201 points vs. South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval
Greatest Losing Margin: Round 10, 1981 – 178 points vs. West Perth at Leederville Oval
Most games: Brian Peake 304
Most goals: George Doig 1111
Record Home Attendance: Round 3, 1979 – 21,317 vs. South Fremantle
Record Finals Attendance: 1979 Grand Final – 52,781 vs. South Fremantle at Subiaco Oval
Most consecutive victories: 35, between 28 July 1945 and 17 May 1947, including the 1945 and 1946 premierships
Most consecutive losses: 13 1 between 18 May 1968 and 17 August 1968 2 between 11 April 1970 and 11 July 1970

Current squad

Hall of Fame

On Saturday 2 June 2012 the East Fremantle Football Club inducted 52 individuals into the inaugural East Fremantle Football Club Hall of Fame. 9 inductees were also given 'Legend' status. Only Players, Officials and Volunteers that served the club between 1898 and 1986 were deemed worthy to be inducted.
See: East Fremantle Football Club Hall of fame

Premiership teams

Team of the Century

In 1997 the East Fremantle Football Club named its Team of the Century, to coincide with the club centenary celebrations. The team includes many names that have become synonymous with East Fremantle.

Fremantle Team of Legends

In 2007 the East Fremantle and South Fremantle Football Clubs came together to select the Fremantle Team of Legends.
The Team consisted of players from East and South Fremantle that had played at least 100 WAFL games for either Fremantle club.

AFL/VFL players (including Rookies)

There is a list of past and present East Fremantle players who have played at AFL/VFL:
Former East Fremantle Football Club players killed in action include: