In the eighties and nineties, the Perth Football Club seemed to be a stepping stone to VFL club, Carlton, for their star forwards, with Peter Bosustow, Earl Spalding, and Alan Montgomery all furthering their careers at the Blues.Alan Montgomery became the 900th player to represent Carlton when he made the trek East in 1982. A strongly built centre half forward at Perth, Blues coach David Parkin transformed him into a defender, where his safe marking and good use of the body made him well suited for the centre half back position.“It was a big transition, going to the VFL,” he recalled  “I found it much tougher than I reckoned it would be.” Montgomery went on to play 33 games over his four year stay.A junior with the Centrals club, Alan Montgomery had been recruited by Perth at the age of seventeen, and played in their colts side in 1977, following up with the reserves in 1978. Making his league debut in 1979, he soon made his mark at centre half forward for the Demons, with his high marking being a feature of his game. He showed such promise that after only two years at Lathlain, he was enticed to Princess Park with one of the VFL power clubs.Montgomery returned to Perth in 1987, where he played out the last two seasons of his career at centre half back.  He retired at the age of twenty nine after the 1989 season, after 89 games with the Demons. Alan Montgomery played finals football at Carlton, but he told us that the highlight of his career was “just playing league footy.” “Playing with blokes like Bruce Doull, Mike Fitzpatrick, and Kenny Hunter were definitely the highlights of my career,” he said. “Just playing with players like that was something to remember.  Also, to play on guys like Dermott Brereton and Robert Diperdiermenico was an experience in itself.”Alan had bouquets and brickbats when asked about the state of the game now. “I enjoy the speed, the skills, the across the board sharpness of the modern day AFL players.”he said. “In our day the skills were there with a lot of the good players, but these days a greater percentage of the players have them.” “But the game has deteriorated as a spectacle, it’s boring, similar to organised circlework, chip and run, not much one on one these days is there?” he went on to say.A plumber by trade, Alan Montgomery ‘s days of setting the game alight with a big grab have gone and now he’s putting fires out as a member of the WA Fire Brigade. He still enjoys a day at the footy, and is optimistic that the Demons will emerge from the wilderness this season.