How many of you are ex-Eagles supporters?

[Admiral Byng]

I went to watch Claremont every week in my school years. Was a Tigers fan in every sense. Couldn't stand the Eagles despite mates playing there. Followed my mates very closely but never the Eagles. Used to go to games to see the champs from the Eastern states as a lover of footy. Went to more Dockers games when they joined because of all the Claremont boys and always considered them my genuine 2nd team. Never thought that would happen but glad it did.

Just curious - did you ever feel like a bit of a social outcast in those days for not supporting the "WA team"?

 

[Brown Bottle]

Just curious - did you ever feel like a bit of a social outcast in those days for not supporting the "WA team"?

Nope. There were plenty of us

 

[Brown Bottle]

And I did support the WA team. State of Origin was unbelievably good

 

[ydraw]

Hated West Coast from day 1, was a WAFL fan and a young me blamed West Coast for destroying the WAFL.

Grew to hate them even more when Malthouse started coaching them.

Followed South Freo and then Fremantle. West Coast have always been my most hated team even before Fremantle had a team.

More than anything I dislike West Coast supporters for the same reason I dislike Wildcats supporters. Most of them had zero interest in football until WA had a team, and they are the collectively the least knowledgable group of fans in any non-expansion city. Just like Wildcats supporters who never cared about basketball before or since the Wildcats were the best team in the league in the early 1990s.

 

[Van_Dyke]

I am

Join Mt Buller than I'll agree

 

[Keys]

WAFL on a Saturday. The Winners on a Sunday.

Junior footy Saturday morning, listen to the VFL game on ABC radio in the car whilst driving to the WAFL, watch the WAFL analysis on ch7 Sunday morning, winners and a few sips of dads beer on Sunday night

When I got a little older started playing on Sunday afternoons and had school footy on Friday afternoon which changed to Saturday morning

Dad was on the board at east Freo for a bit in the early to mid 80's so Saturday night was in the club rooms annoying the players for autographs on beer coasters

 

[Brown Bottle]

Junior footy Saturday morning, listen to the VFL game on ABC radio in the car whilst driving to the WAFL, watch the WAFL analysis on ch7 Sunday morning, winners and a few sips of dads beer on Sunday night

When I got a little older started playing on Sunday afternoons and had school footy on Friday afternoon which changed to Saturday morning

Dad was on the board at east Freo for a bit in the early to mid 80's so Saturday night was in the club rooms annoying the players for autographs on beer coasters

That's so bang on, except that club footy was a Sunday morning in the northern suburbs. VFL on ABC720 on the way to the WAFL

 

[Smithy06]

I remember sitting around the dinner table with the family in 1994/95 (can't remember exactly when). We were all Eagles supporters and had memberships but Dad said he would buy Freo memberships if we wanted them. My two older brothers (one of whom is a freo forum member on big footy) chose Freo and I stayed with the WCE. So dad bought himself and them Freo memberships and kept his and my Eagles memberships. It's only now that realised dad obviously just wanted to go the footy every weekend haha. Cheeky. Dad has remained aligned firstly with WCE though which is funny as he's one of the inaugural "Harbour Masters". However we all support both teams. We're not one eyed like others we just want success for both WA clubs and love sticking it up the Vics. I was gutted when Freo lost in 2013 just as my brothers were when WCE lost last year.

It's weird, I know.

 

[Hilton71]

Was a mad keen South Freo supporter growing up and followed all lots of the players as they headed over to the VFL to ply their trade - Rioli at Richmond, Winmar at St Kilda, Hardie at Footscray and Bairstow at Geelong.

Was envious when the Eagles took so many South and East Freo players during their formative years as from memory South and East Freo had held some talks about merging and becoming the first WA club in the VFL expansion - not sure why it didn't proceed, whether they couldn't work together due to animosity or it was stopped by the WAFL? Some posters on here would know more about it I'm sure.

Always followed the VFL but never felt I had a team until Freo joined in '95 and that was that. Disdain for the Eagles didn't crystallise until the first Derby and since then have loved every bump, punch and shirtfront we have dished out since.

Do sometimes wonder at what could have been had Old Easts and the Bulldogs joined forces but that's history and I'm sure my Grandfather would be turning in his grave at the mention of it.

 

[scon]

I tend not to travel without a decent reason.
The Bulldogs to the Dockers was a short trip and a decent reason.

 

[Keys]

I tend not to travel without a decent reason.
The Bulldogs to the Dockers was a short trip and a decent reason.

This is the sort of reason I'd expect from im_a_lazy_sod

 

[im_a_lazy_sod]

This is the sort of reason I'd expect from im_a_lazy_sod

Except I'm north of the river haha but yeah if it wasn't for not having to change trains I'd be less inclined to go to subi or freo oval

Long story short my old man was living near midland way and stuck up for someone who was getting bullied about her team choice thinking it was east freo. It wasn't. And since then he was an east freo fan despite having never lived in the area or even south of the river (ever)

Good call though

 

[DanWA]

You are not true East "Fremantle" supporter.

Definitely not, one of the generation that inherited their parents local team. Much like lots of friends of mine that have been dressing their kids up from babies in Freo's gear...

 

[mightymouse75]

Definitely not, one of the generation that inherited their parents local team. Much like lots of friends of mine that have been dressing their kids up from babies in Freo's gear...

Evil parents . Hehe

 

[Dockerguy59]

Supported Claremont as a kid, lived down the road from Claremont Oval so when Neesham became coach it was natural to follow Freo
Never supported WCE even though plenty of my family did
Fortunately my 4 sons and nephew all follow our team as well and for the last 17 years we have been proud and passionate members going to the games together
Loved the journey both bad and good and all the guys around us in block 119 wouldn't change it for anything

 

[Alfonz]

Was a South Freo supporter first and foremost. Peter Matera was my favourite player. Eagles came in when I was 7, and I sort of flipped and flopped with going for them. But the WAFL was still where my priorities were as a kid. Hang on the boundary behind the goals, bang the fence, run on the ground after the game, get autographs, kick the footy around, muck around on the hill beneath Freo jail, etc.

If I had to pick a VFL side before Freo came in, it was maybe St Kilda, as my favourite player by far was Plugger and Winmar also played for them. Plugger decking McKenna like he was swatting a fly is one of my strongest memories of watching football back in the day. And I thought it was funny, I had no allegiances to WC at that point, that's for sure.

What baffles me is there are a large number of South/East supporters who got on board with WC from the start, but still detest the Dockers.

 

[Freo Quokkas]

Yes, I was a non WA based former fan of West Coast, until the drugs controversy. I decided by 2007 to not follow them. Though the club has since changed and different players have been there since.
In addition I originally followed Freo for their first four seasons as club 2.

What do you call a Tasmanian who follows the AFL?
A Refugee.

 

[freo84]

I was a RAAF brat from QLD (1990) and had no interest in this stupid aerial ping pong that Western Australians seemed to love.

I wore Geelong colours in 92 and 94 to school to annoy everyone not caring about the result as Rugby League was my favoured sport.

Slowly over the years my West Coast mates would invite me around to watch the derbies and I wouldn't care about the result. But I felt really bad for the solitary Freo supporter who got so much crap every derby.

In 05 and 06 I wore Sydney colours, this time to annoy my mates and my boss who was as mad a west coaster as you could get. But I kinda developed a soft spot for Freo and would watch their games from time to time.

In 07 my workplace had a function in Feb and I was asked very publicly by my boss which AFL team I actually go for. I laughed and said I don't follow it but if there was a team I'd follow it would be Freo. The office staff all groaned but the warehouse boys/girls were predominately Freo all cheered.

I fell in love with the game in 09 and almost haven't missed a game since.

I roped into going for the Swannies in the WAFL by my missus Uncle who loves his WAFL more than the AFL but have since switched to Peel due to the alignment.

 

[PerthBoy86]

I'm not really surprised at the Eagles hate by the Dockers faithful. Like I said lot of Dockers fans seem to have a chip on their shoulder, an inferiority complex about being the 'second team', and perhaps rather envious of our success, and their lack of it. I honestly haven't really noticed it as much from Eagles fans towards the Dockers, not saying it doesn't exist. I've been to a few Derbies and haven't seen Eagles fans being any worse than Dockers fans. There are ferals from both sides. I do like to joke that the Western Derby is basically Freo's GF, while West Coast are too busy trying to win finals. I was actually going for Freo in the 2013 GF, it's that anti-Vic bias I guess. I don't hate the Dockers, I generally feel rather neutral regarding them. Whether I go for them when they play depends on the team and the situation. But truth be told, when they're way down the ladder their matches just aren't worth watching.

I may sound like an arrogant 'Egos' supporter, haha, but I certainly wasn't a bandwagon jumper. I was a young kid and the Eagles were the WA team, so it was a default. I was also a Wildcats supporters. I was quite into footy and basketball regardless. I don't have any long family history of being into footy, but my dad did very casually follow them on telly. I mean so what if a lot of Eagles fans aren't knowledgeable footy fans? The West Coast Eagles were inevitable with the emerging AFL, I think a lot of young Dockers fans don't remember what a big deal it was for a WA team to 'take back' the cup to WA, it was like the America's Cup. I think it's cool WA has two teams, and I'm not saying you've no right to dislike the Eagles, by all means, but personally part of me still supports WA footy. I was getting into the WAFL a bit more until I moved to Melbourne. That's not to say sometimes I do like to rub it into Docker's fans about their lack of any real success when they get a bit lippy lol.

 

[PerthBoy86]

But anyway thanks for all your stories, I'm finding them really interesting.

 

[Dump Truck]

Supported Eagles until half way into the first western derby, I was 8 years old. My sweet old innocent mum supported freo as she liked the colours. We were at a bbq and everyone was supporting weagles and they dominated the game. They abused my mum, called her really hurtful things, were racist and she is the sweetest woman alive. She didn't say a thing back and just smiled and said oh well while trying not to cry.

So by half time I had an intense hatred of the weagles, the supporters and everything it stands for. I was then purple for life from that point onwards and stuck up for mum proudly

Man.... You log on to BF to read about footy and the likes but every now and then you get a post that just angers you and makes you sad. Hopefully all that bs is in the past and Freo has made you happier throughout life then that moment!

 

[Tonga Bob]

When the Eagles joined the VFL I was in Year 9, so it was all a bit new and exciting. So much to to learn, I didn't even know all the team names let alone what colour their jumper was, or who their star players were. Only the hard-core footy followers really knew much about the VFL. The following year at school we had an Eagles players as a sports teacher - back in the days when many of them had day jobs, so there was kind of a cult following in the school and a personal interest how he went each week, so I guess I became an Eagles bandwagonner.

Yeah we had an Eagle as a sports teacher in high school as well. He even got our school footy team an Eagles curtain raiser game at the WACA.

 

[mightymouse75]

I was so proud of my daughter when the afl came to her school. Dad. She said. They were only eagles players so Sarah and I just sat in the classroom.

 

[wafti123]

Guilty as charged. Like many of you, I remember going to Souths games as a little chap. When the Eagles arrived, they represented W.A.'s interests and given that there were heaps of South players in the squad, I followed them by default.

Having said that, I always had a stronger liking for south and thought that it would be amazing if a combined South/East side would join the AFL. Given that the best players were already taken by 1995 (and South weren't always amorous neighbors) , and Freo were a bit Claremont centric, I took a lukewarm interest in them. The intention was to follow both teams - after all they are both ultimately owned by the WAFC.

The thing that tipped me over was the smug, arrogant and entitled nature of some of the WC supporters. This combined with a seeming lack of knowledge or sportsmanship in general (that comes from playing sport at any level) led me to completely tip to Freo. I should say that I acknowledge that we have supporters like this as well but it was the general vibe I got from their supporters and the gushing media (I also find Wildcats fans to be like this)

Hearing statements like 'we had 2 premierships in our first 8 years' while not acknowledging that they are comparing apples with oranges can be trying at times.

Having said all that, maybe we should feel sorry for them for needing to project the success of their choice of footy team as somehow virtuous. Also, our links to specific WAFL clubs are loose now at best and more people are increasingly choosing their team based on success or style of play rather than any regional allegiance (new supporters).

 

[PurpleWizard]

I have similar story... I was very young when only the Eagles existed and My Dad never supported Eagles because he was a passionate Subi supporter and hated that WCE destroyed the WAFL. By the time that Fremantle joined the comp the WAFL had pretty much lost it's credibility and my Dad started following Freo and consequently I became a fan.