The year 1956 was a big one for the East Perth Football Club. Premiers for the first time in open competition since 1936, and heralding a period of domination for the Royals, star ruckman Graham Farmer won Simpson, Sandover, and Tassie Medals in the same year.. It was also a good enough omen for those smart enough to be on that year’s Melbourne Cup winner, which sported the same initials…Evening Peal, at fifteen to one. For a young wingman from Pemberton, it was the highlight of a century of league games with two clubs.  In his third season of league football, Kevin Crowd was a pacy and stylish wingman who was part of that premiership. Formerly a West Perth supporter, his displays with the Aquinas College first eighteen, of which he was captain, had attracted the attention of South and East Fremantle and Perth, but as with many Aquinas boys, East Perth had the inside running through Mick Cronin, who was coaching at the College. Despite attempts from former schoolmate Frank “Dickie” Walker to join him at the Demons, Crowd decided on Lotons as his football home in 1954, an injury to State wingman Frank Allen opening the door for his first league game midway through the season. He recalled one of his early appearances, when a big, burly Perth player was noticeably more intent on doing damage to his appearance than where the ball happened to be. “Colin Pestell grabbed the bloke by the front of his guernsey and said: “Touch that little bugger and I’ll flatten you.”A Head of the River Rower while at Aquinas, Kevin’s fitness and pace suited him to the wing and half back positions, and he soon  became a regular in the side, with players such as Tom Everett, Paul Seal, Ned Bull, Charlie Walker, and Jimmy Washbourne flanking him. The thirteen point win over South Fremantle in the 1956 grand final was a forerunner of the power the club was to become, with further flags in 1958 and 59.Crowd played in only the first of the three, transferring to Claremont in 1958, and notched up another fifty games with the Tigers.Married in 1961, he retired from league football at the end of that season and spent two years with Harvey-Brunswick in the South West League, where he enjoyed another premiership. After many years with the Community Welfare Department, Kevin is now happily retired and enjoying the greens at Hartfield Golf Course. Wife Brenda is a sister of East Perth and State full back Jack Leadbitter, and daughter Elizabeth Gubbay was a winner in the 2009 Rottnest Marathon and finished third in 2010. Kevin and Brenda’s daughters, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Joanne have provided them with five grandchildren.Perth and State captain Keith Harper was the man Kevin always found a tough nut. “He had the knack of drawing you into conversation then getting away with the ball,” he reminisced. There was no competition for best he’d played with, even considering the number of stars he played with. “Polly Farmer.”There were many big names in the East Perth premiership side of 1956 and they were complemented by others who didn’t reach the same heights but were fine players in their own right. Kevin Crowd is one of those and he should be more than satisfied with the contribution he made to that flag.