TOPIC:

It's official

and yes I have tears in my eyes, the FERALS are back and we are just East Perth once again, to succeed or fail on our own merits.

The Official Statement
East Perth Football Club has given the Western Australian Football Commission (WAFC) a Notice of Termination after mutually agreeing with the West Coast Eagles to conclude our current partnership agreement.

After careful consideration, the Board have decided that it is in East Perth’s best interest to leave our arrangement with The West Coast Eagles to ensure fairness with regards to WAFC Zoning and Funding Reviews that are imminent.

East Perth has been the partner club of the West Coast Eagles since 2013 after it was agreed by the WAFC that the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers would not be allowed to field standalone teams in the WAFL competition.

While the partnership has been successful for both clubs, we agree that it is appropriate to now move in separate directions.

Whilst the partnership has not been without challenges, these have arisen because both clubs were focused on getting the best results from the partnership.

Our relationship with the West Coast Eagles is a strong one and one I hope continues long into the future.

To our sponsors, members and supporters who have continued to support us through this period, thank you. By staying true to the course, we have been able to give our great club its best chance to be sustainable for generations to come.

I would encourage all our members and supporters to reconnect with the club. Your support is as important as ever. Our current squad of East Perth listed players is a tremendous group of young men. The club will need to put into place future support structures and resources to ensure they can become the best players they can be.

There are still many details to work through to finalise our standalone arrangement. East Perth, the West Coast Eagles and the WAFC are working together to establish what the exit strategy is and what the timeline for this will be.

Dean Turner
CEO
East Perth Football Club

Grump wrote: and yes I have tears in my eyes, the FERALS are back and we are just East Perth once again, to succeed or fail on our own merits.

No time frame given.Some light at the end of the tunnel.

Fan-bloody-tastic news!
Commonsense has prevailed.
Full credit to all parties responsible for ending the alignment.

Archie Duda Goal Machine wrote: Fan-bloody-tastic news!
Commonsense has prevailed.
Full credit to all parties responsible for ending the alignment.

A lot of credit to members who have stayed put.All those questions at the Agm were not wasted after all.

The WAFC response

The West Australian Football Commission (WAFC) has been informed by the East Perth Football Club of its intention to terminate its partner agreement with the West Coast Eagles.

East Perth FC provided notice of the termination following extensive internal discussion and consultation, with the East Perth FC Board voting unanimously to return to a traditional WAFL club structure.

Having met with both the West Coast Eagles and East Perth FC this week, WAFC CEO Gavin Taylor said significant work will be required to determine the right model going forward.

“Football is a continually evolving sport and so too are the needs of our WAFL Clubs and AFL Clubs,” Taylor said.

“We respect the decision of East Perth Football Club wanting to return to a traditional WAFL Club structure and are committed to having our AFL teams participating in the WAFL competition.”

Taylor emphasised that the partnering model has provided significant benefits for WA football since it was introduced in 2013.

“The model has served WA football well for the past five years, with both AFL clubs making grand finals and an additional $4.5 million invested by our AFL Clubs into the WAFL over that period,” Mr Taylor said.

“Feedback from both Fremantle Football Club and Peel Thunder Football Club is that the partnership model is serving both parties well and they would be keen to participate in any high level reviews of the competition.

“The WAFC is undertaking significant work to ensure our WAFL competition remains a highly competitive and successful competition through our reform strategies and looks forward to engaging with all WAFL Clubs and our AFL Clubs through this important review process.”

Both East Perth Football Club CEO Dean Turner and West Coast Eagles CEO Trevor Nisbett emphasised that the strong relationship developed by the two clubs will ensure all parties work in partnership to ensure a smooth transition from the agreement.

The WAFC will now turn its focus to the process for reviewing the future options for the WAFL competition and the role of AFL clubs within it. This will include:

How the WAFC assists EPFC through the transition process, the rebuilding of their list and coaching structures.
How the WAFC supports WCE through either establishing a new partnership with a WAFL Club or operating a standalone team in the competition.
How the WAFC maintains and protects the integrity of the WAFL competition and its history while focussing on the competition’s long term sustainability.
The timing for any changes
Developing a long term view of the WAFL competition structure.
The WAFL is an important competition for the WA football participation pathway, talent development, local communities and the long time loyal fans of WAFL Clubs. With the WAFL State team beating every other State in the last five years, whilst also producing some of the Nation’s best talent from the Colts and League competition reinforces the strength and quality of the WAFL.

Karl Langdon is talking about this on the radio. Karl said the current agreement is suppose to last till 2020.Karl's mail is the West Coast will have there own Wafl side next year.Taking the Wafl to a 10 team competition. The Adelaide Crows have there own side in the Sanfl and Port have the Magpies.Will the Eagles Wafl side be the new Ferals,lol.The final word with this will be with the WAFC.

I guess the message has finally got through to the East Perth hierarchy by this simple quip from Turner:

“I would encourage all our members and supporters to reconnect with the club.”

The light has finally been switched on.

EP thru the WCE alliance should have a healthy bank balance enabling them to do a bit of recruiting.....will be interesting to see who they snare......a lot of ex EP guys around and about.....can see a bit of competition now for attracting some players v other WAFL clubs.....great news for the loyal EP fans too.....

Welcome back Royals.Now we can hate you again for all the right reasons......