TOPIC:

The sooner that West Perth joins Subiaco and East Perth at Leederville Oval the better. West Perth is struggling and Joondalup region is full of English expats that would never follow AFL over Football.

They find it insulting that Aussies call AFL Football and because of this they will never ever follow the AFL and variants such as the WAFL.

West Perth needs to get back into Leederville Oval before their entire membership dries up.

If you think that crazy young man shouting at every game is annoying, he only is because no one else supports the team. If the oval was packed you'd barely hear him.

3 teams at the one oval!!!! The leederville surface struggles with 2 clubs based there since the Eagles had the oval resurfaced some years back with a clay base to mirror eastern states ovals, never been the same since. The oval would need to be resurfaced with a deep sand base for drainage and that aint gunna happen soon.

WP aren't moving anytime soon, like Mandurah, too much taxpayer funds have been invested in the joint with the clubrooms and the bailout. Their zone will improve year by year and its vast, they are well set to reap the rewards over the next 20 or more years. The area will produce plenty of decent players so they wont have to spend too much on recruiting for the forseeable. Look at how well they are going this season, their list is pretty good and they are the likely opponent for SF in the granny.

I think you will find Durtle got his facts wrong. The Joondalup district boasts some of the largest junior clubs not just in the state but in Australia. Whitfords JFC and Joondalup Kinross are behemoth junior clubs that now have representation at board level at WPFC.

Any suggestions AFL is not big in the area can only be compared to Zac Clarke being a better recruit than Natinui. Utter crap.

Fair dinkum I have read some deadset tripe on here and footygoss over the last must be close to 20 years now but this Durtle bloke takes the cake.
You reckon having 3 teams based at 1 oval thats surface struggles as it is is a good idea? Sheesh
All teams have a League, Reserves, Colts & Futures team that play and train on the grounds for near on 10 months of the year then throw in the WAFLW (and WAWFL) girl teams now who also have 3 or 4 grades that utilise the ovals and they get a fair work out without even having to share these days.

Now onto the Joondalup region it is an absolute furphy that soccer is way bigger than footy up here. I have lived in this area for over 12 years now and had an involvement with a local club here and I can categorically tell you footy is as big if not bigger in the WP & SU district. West Perth (WAFL) aside there are some very big Amateur clubs based up here that have played in either A, B or C1 grade (the 3 top levels in the PFL) from Whitfords, Kingsway, Kingsley, Wanneroo, Ocean Ridge, Quinns plus also junior footy clubs in the area Sorrento/Duncraig, Woodvale/Edgewater, Warwick/Greenwood, Joondalup/Kinross, Brighton, Landsdale, Yanchep and watch the likes of Alkimos/Eglinton & Banksia Grove/Carramar explode this decade as well with new footy facilities being built. What are the big soccer clubs up here ECU Joondalup play NPLWA who else?
The club I have had an involvement with has that many teams and players they are forced to train and play across 3 or 4 grounds to accommodate them all.
Mark my words WP wil be very strong for decades to come with their zone an absolute goldmine in the Northern/Western Coastal corridor and plenty of expansion still to come.

Well said BH.

Even tho I don't like how the WAFL operates, dribbling utter crap should be assessed with a little more scrutiny unless it's in the Freo threads.

Unholytugboat wrote: Well said BH.

Even tho I don't like how the WAFL operates, dribbling utter crap should be assessed with a little more scrutiny unless it's in the Freo threads.

It is not often we agree Tugga but sheesh this Durtle has not got a clue.
As you would know up here West Perth aside Whitfords are a massive footy club so too Kingsway, Wanneroo, Quinns etc who all have clubs from Auskick/Juniors age to Ammos and then Masters then throw in other big clubs I named earlier and the only soccer club of any note is ECU Joondalup. One other thing that not many would realise is how many of the Poms up here actually love OUR footy and are involved in the local footy club, usually they have a son or daughter involved and once they have a grasp on the game they absolutely love it whilst still having an interest in their soccer team back in the ol dart.

the English kids have always played the game

ArkRoyal wrote: the English kids have always played the game

Very true AR.
Lets face it probably close to 80% of us here in WA have an English/UK background of some sort, and yet footy is the biggest sport in WA by the length of the Ascot, Belmont, Gloucester Park & Cannington straights put together.

bh: yep, had a grand father born in the UK whom followed Cl from 1928 to his death in the 80s; god parents whom came here in the 50s, whom followed Subi and WP; the old auntie used to catch four buses to and from the hills to watch WP into the late 80s; she was great and loved the club. Even my neighbour, whom used to take me to watch EF and Subi, here and there, was an Englishman.

The soccer lobby has always talked itself up about how they will take over Aussie Rules,and although they have impressive junior numbers its not reflected in the quality of the current national team,when you consider they had players like Viduka,Kewell,Bresciano,and Schwartzer running around 20 years ago.