{xtypo_quote}Extraordinary conclusion to the '63 carnival.  Vic 4pts in front  -the siren due - ball knocked out of the centre, kicked to full forward where "Foxy" Cunningham, heavily pressured of course, knocked the ball to the ground from a pack, grabbed the bouncing ball, spun, kicked it over his head for goal - siren with the ball in midair.  WA by 2 pts.  Coach Geoff Sinclair had already shaken hands with the Victorian coach before the siren as our cause appeared lost.  I believe that last goal could not have taken more than 10-15 seconds.{/xtypo_quote}

{xtypo_dropcap}T{/xtypo_dropcap}hese were the words of Western Australian manager Frank Hamilton after a tense finish to the 1963 State Schoolboys Carnival in Brisbane, the Sandgropers, with players like Cunningham, Glynn Williams, Hans Verstegen, Ken McAullay, Ian Miller, John Garnaut, Ian Penny, Ray Parry, and John Ovens in the side, taking the prize.

Cunningham was to go on to play a hundred and eighty two games with Subiaco, but it was as a close checking back pocket player that he would make his name rather than a forward.

Nicknamed “Foxy” by schoolmates,“because of the name, Cunningham,” his Subiaco career was delayed for a season because the under eighteens played on a Sunday, which was frowned on by his parents, so Ian lined up with Scarborough in the Amateurs for the 1966 season, before playing reserves at the Maroons the following year.

With the presence of Austin Robertson at full forward in the league side, opportunities were limited for a budding full forward, and Cunningham’s league career stalled for several seasons. Playing in the key forward position for the reserves, he was twentieth man for the league side on one occasion in 1967, and, moved to centre half forward, won the reserves fairest and best in 1968. Selected in the league side on six occasions in 1969,  Ian was a reserve for the first semi final of that season, which Subiaco lost by eight points to Perth.

His transfer to defence was a surprise.

“A few games into the 1970 season, the names were going up on the board before the game,” Ian recalled. “As they went through the lines my name wasn’t there, so I thought: “hell, I’ve been dropped.”  Then I.Cunningham appeared at full back. I don’t know if Bunts was behind it or not, but it made my footy career.” Six rounds later, Cunningham was selected in the league side as a back pocket player, and there he stayed for two seasons, and became one of the WAFL’s most resolute and determined back pocket players. A proficient spoiler and steady mark, he turned into a reliable defender for Subiaco.       

In 1972, Cunningham moved out to centre half back. “I‘d put a stone on, and lost a yard of pace, so the back pocket was out,” he said.

It was a cruel twist of fate that robbed Ian of a premiership with Subiaco. “After playing every game my hammy went in the second semi,” he said. “I did a man on man drill with Ross Smith on the Friday night and Ross gave me the OK to play, but as soon as I woke on Saturday morning I knew it was hopeless.”

Deputy to captain coach Brian Douge in 1977, Cunningham decided to call it quits in 1980, at the age of thirty one. “It was a tumultuous period for the club, with the sacking of Peter Burton, and the arrival of Ken Armstrong,” he said. “I reckoned it was time to go.”

Transferred to Bunbury in 1980, too late to pick up any coaching jobs, Ian was nevertheless snapped up by Carey Park as reserves coach, where an attempt to play proved disastrous when the hammy said enough was enough. After two years at the Park, a coaching offer from Carey Park didn’t tempt Cunningham, who returned to Perth.

Son Justin played a season with West Perth before captain coaching Nollamara Amateurs.

Cunningham was also a talented cricketer, opening the attack for Scarborough under sixteens with Mick Malone. A promising career was thwarted by the edict from coach Haydn Bunton  that it was football only.

These days, Ian Cunningham teaches at Wanneroo High School, a crook back preventing much active sport, but he gets to a couple of Subiaco games each season.  

Brian Adamson from West Perth got his vote as toughest opponent. “He could kick on either side and had a huge leap,” while Peter Featherby was best he’d played with.  He recalled the day Feathers was playing his first game. “At half time he hadn’t got a run, and I remarked on the possibility of him taking the field and getting injured. Sure enough, that’s what happened. He did an ankle.”

Ian Cunningham persisted in his pursuit of a football career and it was a change of position that saw him play a hundred and eighty two games of league football with Subiaco. A consistent defender, he was unfortunate not to be part of a premiership, but nevertheless was a good player for his club.