Fremantle Football Club (1882–1886)
The Fremantle Football Club was an Australian rules football club, based in Fremantle, Western Australia, that played in the Western Australian Football Association (WAFA) from 1885 to 1886. The team won the WAFA premiership in 1886. The club played their games at the Esplanade in Fremantle, on the present site of the Fremantle railway station.
| Fremantle | |
|---|---|
| Names | |
| Full name | Fremantle Football Club |
| Club details | |
| Founded | 1882 (as a rugby club) |
| Dissolved | 1886 |
| Colours | blue and white |
| Competition | WAFA |
| Ground(s) | Fremantle Park |
History
Formation
The club was formed in 1882 as a rugby football club.[1]
In 1883 the club was the primary instigator of the change of most clubs from rugby football to Victorian rules, the predecessor to Australian rules football.[2][3]
WAFA
The club was a founding member of the Western Australian Football Association in 1885.[4] In the inaugural season, Fremantle finished third out of three teams, behind Rovers, Victorians and a High School team which dropped out of the competition two rounds into the season. The next season, 1886, the team finished first in the league to claim the premiership.[5] The club recorded large victories over most of the competition, including 6–2 against both Rovers and Unions and 4–1 against Victorians. The club's most notable player during this period was the captain Bill Bateman, an inaugural inductee of the West Australian Football Hall of Fame.[6] The club went defunct at the end of the 1886 season, with most of its players transferring to Unions, also based in Fremantle, who adopted the name "Fremantle Football Club" in 1890.[7]
Officials
| Season | Secretary | Captain |
|---|---|---|
| 1882 | F.E. Stafford | |
| 1883 | D Jose | |
| 1884 | H. Albert[8] | F. Gallop |
| 1885 | A.W. Newman J.J. Broomhall[9] | W.A. Bateman[10] |
| 1886 | G.F. Payne | W.A. Bateman |
Honours
Premierships
- WAFA:
- 1886
References
- "FREMANTLE". The Herald. Vol. XVI, no. 18. Western Australia. 3 June 1882. p. 2. Retrieved 24 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia. - the section 'The Football Match'
- Fremantle (19th century) – AustralianFootball. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
- Errington, Steve (2016), Disorderly proceedings in the park : Western Australian football in colonial times, Hesperian Press, ISBN 978-0-85905-637-3
- Christian, Geoff; Lee, Jack (John Herbert); Messenger, Bob (1988), The footballers, from 1885 to the West Coast Eagles (revised ed.), St. George Books, ISBN 978-0-86778-035-2
- Casey, Kevin (1996), The Tigers' tale : the origins and history of the Claremont Football Club, Claremont Football Club, ISBN 978-0-646-26498-1
- Bill Bateman (Fremantle & Unions/Fremantle) – AustralianFooty. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
- Barker, Anthony J; East, Alan; West Australian Football Commission; West Australian Football League; Barker, Anthony (2004), Behind the play : a history of football in Western Australia from 1868, West Australian Football Commission, ISBN 978-0-9752427-0-4
- "COUNTRY NEWS". The West Australian. Vol. VI, no. 494. Western Australia. 22 May 1884. p. 3. Retrieved 24 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- "A Resignation". The Herald. Vol. XIX, no. 27. Western Australia. 8 August 1885. p. 3. Retrieved 24 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- "FUNERALS. The Late Mr. W. A. Bateman". The West Australian. Vol. 51, no. 15, 319. Western Australia. 30 July 1935. p. 9. Retrieved 23 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.