west coast,freo,crow and port fans over 30 years old - did you switch?

[Gavin Excell]

Having spent time in SA and WA during he early 1980's it was clear many people followed the VFL before it became a national competition and supported certain teams, some even more so than the WAFL or SANFL. What has happened to these people? Did they SWITCH and begin following the newly created franchises (don't include port in this) or did they stick fat with the teams they claim to have supported?

 

[ming65]

In my experience most people followed a WAFL team and a VFL team a distant second. When WCE came along they suddenly became interested in the VFL. People who followed a VFL team usually had a reason to; either they were expats or they had visited Melbourne etc. In my circle of friends the St Kilda and Collingwood people 'stuck fat' and the rest switched to WCE.

 

[Hollow Knight]

I half-heartedly supported Geelong until I switched to the Bears.

 

[Asgardian]

I am 48 and have only ever supported Port Adelaide.

I always watched as much footy as I could, wherever it originated, but if Port weren't playing, I was just an interested spectator.

 

[Quinz]

Not over 30, but my dad and his brother were both (and still are) mad West Perth supporters before the Eagles came around. They didn't really follow the VFL.

 

[hoogs]

Having spent time in SA and WA during he early 1980's it was clear many people followed the VFL before it became a national competition and supported certain teams, some even more so than the WAFL or SANFL. What has happened to these people? Did they SWITCH and begin following the newly created franchises (don't include port in this) or did they stick fat with the teams they claim to have supported?

There are plenty of people over here that still support old VFL teams. Many many more per capita than those over in Vic supporting interstate teams. Two of my good mates support Geelong. Lots of them support Essendon. Quite a few support Hawthorn, as well as Collingwood. Saints have a few. A lot of the clubs that had WA players in them still have a lot of supporters, as well as the larger clubs that had more success.

I don't appreciate the bit of yours that I've bolded...'claim'. You're implying that anyone who chooses to support a new club is some kind of traitor. For an East or South Freo supporter who also followed a Vic team, it can hardly be considered traitorous to support a Fremantle AFL team. Likewise with being West aussie (at the time of only one WA team) to support the Eagles.

Until I was 15 I supported the Eagles, but the moment I heard about the concept of the Fremantle Dockers, I knew who I would support. Had I decided a few years ago to support the Dockers, then you could consider me unloyal.

 

[SS_Fury]

im 27 and never really got into the WAFL. I was only 7 i think when the eagles were introduced and thats when i started to like footy so i ever really supported 1 club, although i have a soft spot for Freo because i like to see WA sides do well.....i think im the only one in Perth who doesnt mind either teams.

 

[Quinz]

Until I was 15 I supported the Eagles, but the moment I heard about the concept of the Fremantle Dockers, I knew who I would support. Had I decided a few years ago to support the Dockers, then you could consider me unloyal.

I knew I sensed some good in you..

Why did you switch, was it purely because of your location, or other reasons?

 

[panthers]

Living in aderlaide i have always followed the saints...hate the crows and port

 

[Ripper]

Not over 30, but my dad and his brother were both (and still are) mad West Perth supporters before the Eagles came around. They didn't really follow the VFL.

That is the same for most , unless they were ex pat Vic's .

 

[surfsup]

40+ years and took an interest in the Roos more than any other team, can't say I really supported them though. Just liked to see the WA players in the sides do well, ie Cable, Krakouers, Glendinning etc.
Supported the budgies when they started but became a solid Fremantle fan as soon as they came out. Couldn't stand the way West Coast was rammed down your throat in WA. Couldn't stand the way some of their supporters acted. Couldn't stand the way the players were treated like gods.

 

[Kram]

My brother supported the Saints until about 5 years ago, when he finally went to Melbourne he thought, I live in Freo and this is the first time I've even been to St Kilda, plus he liked watching live games which isn't that great when the Saints come over about once a year - so he switched over.

I give him a bit of crap about switching but I can understand his reasons. I'd say if the Dockers folded we would probably both follow the Saints, f### the Eagles.

 

[Rob]

In my experience most people followed a WAFL team and a VFL team a distant second. When WCE came along they suddenly became interested in the VFL.

Yeah, that was pretty much it. Most people would have followed a VFL side, but it was more based on players from their WAFL side going over and playing for that club. I was an East Fremantle fan as a kid, and I used to follow Hawthorn - probably on the basis that quite a lot of East Fremantle players went over to Hawthorn. The fact they would have been on TV in the grand final every year wouldn't have hurt - it was the only VFL game we got on TV from memory, all we got other than that was the Winners on the ABC. So it wasn't anywhere near as keenly followed as the local league.

 

[Crow-mo]

Having spent time in SA and WA during he early 1980's it was clear many people followed the VFL before it became a national competition and supported certain teams, some even more so than the WAFL or SANFL. What has happened to these people? Did they SWITCH and begin following the newly created franchises (don't include port in this) or did they stick fat with the teams they claim to have supported?

is there any part of your observations you didn't make up?

 

[ImperialPurple]

40+ years and took an interest in the Roos more than any other team, can't say I really supported them though. Just liked to see the WA players in the sides do well, ie Cable, Krakouers, Glendinning etc.
Supported the budgies when they started but became a solid Fremantle fan as soon as they came out. Couldn't stand the way West Coast was rammed down your throat in WA. Couldn't stand the way some of their supporters acted. Couldn't stand the way the players were treated like gods.

Pretty much my story in a nutshell... except I am <40....

Have always lived in or around Freo, and my first love was always South Fremantle in the WAFL... there was never a question that I would support a Freo team at the highest level. A "calling" you could say - I was a FFC supporter as soon as it was annouced... before the decision was made on colours, nicknames etc. I signed up as a Foundation Member in 1994 for the inaugural season in 1995 and have been a fully fledged purpleite ever since.

 

[Father Jack]

I followed the family team until one day in a fit of early-teen rebellion, I decided to go for the new team in the competition. And that was that. I am not Western Australian either, so that had nothing to do with it.

 

[HitEmHardFreo]

40+ years and took an interest in the Roos more than any other team, can't say I really supported them though. Just liked to see the WA players in the sides do well, ie Cable, Krakouers, Glendinning etc.
Supported the budgies when they started but became a solid Fremantle fan as soon as they came out. Couldn't stand the way West Coast was rammed down your throat in WA. Couldn't stand the way some of their supporters acted. Couldn't stand the way the players were treated like gods.

Pretty much spot on but not the bit about ever supporting the Budgies.

WAFL reigned supreme for me. Just loved how the WAFL produced great football and great footballers. Even as a kid I could understand this. Plus the fact I personally knew players from my home town making it in the WAFL.

Always followed Claremont from when I was little.

It tore me up when the Krakouers left for Norf.

Hated it when West Coast joined (by then I was a cynical teen): despised the name, the colours and the concept, and how that affected the WAFL's standing.

And how it was expected that EVERYONE in WA should support them.

And how the VFL stole our best (even though now I understand that players could earn more for themselves and their families).

And then to see Hawthorn, Essendon, Carlton in every freaking grand final throughout the 80s. It all turned me off footy for quite a while. Became jaded with it all.

By the time the idea of a second WA-based (not WA) team would join the AFL I had mellowed somewhat. This, and the fact this new team had a strong Tigers component to it initially, and with its timing, conspired to lure me in.

I've been Proud, Purple and Passionate ever since!

Thank you for your time.

 

[Tripped up]

VFL was always The Winners on a Sunday night, straight after Countdown.

In my household, it went something like this... crouched around the two bar heater, in your flannie jim-jams straight after a shower and with a bowl of soup.

You had your old man who was a fan of the Dees, thanks to a couple of years growing up in Melb as a kid, telling Drew Morphett how to commentate. Your old lady was banished to the other end of the house to do "womanly" things. You sat there quietly and wondered if you would ever take a grab as good as the "Buzz" man or run as hard as Peake in that black Melbourne sludge they called a track.

You barracked for any and all Sandgropers. You didn't understand what it meant. You didn't care. You knew we were better than the rest.

We had a god given right to play and win footy games. We won SOO. Beat the Croweaters and hammered the Vics (without their WA imports).

We were footy's chosen people with the genes of Nipper Truscott, Doig, Farmer and Cable running through our veins.

You knew that Mossie was a champ, that Beasley was a pretty-boy joke or that Kenny Hunter might kill a bloke if he got a decent enough hit on him.

But, at the end of the day, you ALWAYS, ALWAYS, barracked for your WAFL team.

And let us take a moment and thank God for Steve Marsh, John Todd, Bernie Naylor, John Gerovich, Steven Michael and Noel Carter.

Amen

 

[zero]

well i was right on the borderline, but my dad was a saints supporter before the eagles, so i sort of was one too, though i was young

im still hoping they can break their long duck and win a premiership with this squad

 

[thebaxters]

VFL was always The Winners on a Sunday night, straight after Countdown.

In my household, it went something like this... crouched around the two bar heater, in your flannie jim-jams straight after a shower and with a bowl of soup.

You had your old man who was a fan of the Dees, thanks to a couple of years growing up in Melb as a kid, telling Drew Morphett how to commentate. Your old lady was banished to the other end of the house to do "womanly" things. You sat there quietly and wondered if you would ever take a grab as good as the "Buzz" man or run as hard as Peake in that black Melbourne sludge they called a track.

You barracked for any and all Sandgropers. You didn't understand what it meant. You didn't care. You knew we were better than the rest.

We had a god given right to play and win footy games. We won SOO. Beat the Croweaters and hammered the Vics (without their WA imports).

We were footy's chosen people with the genes of Nipper Truscott, Doig, Farmer and Cable running through our veins.

You knew that Mossie was a champ, that Beasley was a pretty-boy joke or that Kenny Hunter might kill a bloke if he got a decent enough hit on him.

But, at the end of the day, you ALWAYS, ALWAYS, barracked for your WAFL team.

And let us take a moment and thank God for Steve Marsh, John Todd, Bernie Naylor, John Gerovich, Steven Michael and Noel Carter.

Amen

Amen indeed. Very similar experiences here... I grew up following my WAFL team (who have never changed), but loved my footy and used to watch the VFL Sunday nights on the Winners with Dad. We each had our favourite VFL team, but it was based on players for me - I liked several teams because of favourite players in them, but I wasn't passionate about any of the teams; that was reserved for the games of WAFL I went and saw my team play in.

Then came the WCE - a team made up of players from the WAFL I knew, and even more importantly, a team not from the east. So I supported the Eagles, I went to their games. Then the Dockers came, and being a lifelong south of the river boy, living in Freo, they were the obvious choice to become my team.

As to "...Did they switch and begin following the newly created franchises (don't include port in this) or did they stick fat with the teams they claim to have supported?", I really don't get it. Supporting a new team is a reasonable reaon to change teams. There is no established bandwagon to be accused of jumping onto (ie new Lions fans earlier this decade), and let's face it, if the oft quoted "you can't change your football team after the age of 10" rule was applied, you wouldn't have any members of the new club for the first ~8 years, because not many 10 year olds have the dosh for a membership. My desire to see non-Victorian teams win over Victorian teams still stays to this day (while not begrudging the Cats a win this year after a long drought, I've loved seeing non-Vic teams in the GF for the last few years), and my desire to see my "south of the river team" beat the "north of the river team" is the same.

What, me? Parochial?

 

[thebaxters]

VFL was always The Winners on a Sunday night, straight after Countdown.

In my household, it went something like this... crouched around the two bar heater, in your flannie jim-jams straight after a shower and with a bowl of soup.

You had your old man who was a fan of the Dees, thanks to a couple of years growing up in Melb as a kid, telling Drew Morphett how to commentate. Your old lady was banished to the other end of the house to do "womanly" things. You sat there quietly and wondered if you would ever take a grab as good as the "Buzz" man or run as hard as Peake in that black Melbourne sludge they called a track.

You barracked for any and all Sandgropers. You didn't understand what it meant. You didn't care. You knew we were better than the rest.

We had a god given right to play and win footy games. We won SOO. Beat the Croweaters and hammered the Vics (without their WA imports).

We were footy's chosen people with the genes of Nipper Truscott, Doig, Farmer and Cable running through our veins.

You knew that Mossie was a champ, that Beasley was a pretty-boy joke or that Kenny Hunter might kill a bloke if he got a decent enough hit on him.

But, at the end of the day, you ALWAYS, ALWAYS, barracked for your WAFL team.

And let us take a moment and thank God for Steve Marsh, John Todd, Bernie Naylor, John Gerovich, Steven Michael and Noel Carter.

Amen

Amen indeed. Very similar experiences here... I grew up following my WAFL team (who have never changed), but loved my footy and used to watch the VFL Sunday nights on the Winners with Dad. We each had our favourite VFL team, but it was based on players for me - I liked several teams because of favourite players in them, but I wasn't passionate about any of the teams; that was reserved for the games of WAFL I went and saw my team play in.

Then came the WCE - a team made up of players from the WAFL I knew, and even more importantly, a team not from the east. So I supported the Eagles, I went to their games. Then the Dockers came, and being a lifelong south of the river boy, living in Freo, they were the obvious choice to become my team.

As to "...Did they switch and begin following the newly created franchises (don't include port in this) or did they stick fat with the teams they claim to have supported?", I really don't get it. Supporting a new team is a reasonable reaon to change teams. There is no established bandwagon to be accused of jumping onto (ie new Lions fans earlier this decade), and let's face it, if the oft quoted "you can't change your football team after the age of 10" rule was applied, you wouldn't have any members of the new club for the first ~8 years, because not many 10 year olds have the dosh for a membership. My desire to see non-Victorian teams win over Victorian teams still stays to this day (while not begrudging the Cats a win this year after a long drought, I've loved seeing non-Vic teams in the GF for the last few years), and my desire to see my "south of the river team" beat the "north of the river team" is the same.

What, me? Parochial?

 

[Moo]

As others have said had an interest in the Cats mainly as my Dad adored Polly (+ had to support someone while watching The Winners and of course any West Aussie playing) - however if you ask me who I supported it was West Perth and if Wests had played Geelong - C'mon the Cardies would have been my cry.

Eages came on the scene and I didn't like them straight up - I knew the 2nd team would be either West Perth (it was talked about) or a Freo/South of River team.

Either suited me and there you go .....very happy - love my clubs Freo and West Perth (I'm 37) - however my kids absolutely love Freo as their first choice and think the WAFL is funny but they say Go Wests if I frown at them during a telecast (at a WAFL game they would just go and play).

It is nice that my kids have a love for Freo that is as great as any Blues, Pies or Tiges fans ....all bodes well for our game in the next 50 years hey?

 

[Eagles 4 Mine]

Living in aderlaide i have always followed the saints...hate the crows and port

No r in Adelaide dude.

 

[rangermcdee]

I grew up in Adelaide nad suported Hawthorn (An odd choice as Adelaide was full of Essendon and Carlton fans back before the Crows). I must admit to getting caught up in the excitement of Adelaides entry, but I stuck with the Hawks. It slowly got harder and harder as fewer games not involving Adelaide (and then Port as well) were shown... there just wasn't the interest. But when the Hawks were shown it reminded me of why they were my team!

As you can see, I stuck with Hawthorn.... and as an added bonus, I got out of Adelaide....

 

[wozzie]

40+ years and took an interest in the Roos more than any other team, can't say I really supported them though. Just liked to see the WA players in the sides do well, ie Cable, Krakouers, Glendinning etc.
Supported the budgies when they started but became a solid Fremantle fan as soon as they came out. Couldn't stand the way West Coast was rammed down your throat in WA. Couldn't stand the way some of their supporters acted. Couldn't stand the way the players were treated like gods.

Exactly the same, liked the Roos (East Freo colours) still have a soft spot,(they have good supporters over here) and had WA boys in their team, then Eagles until Freo on board since day one.