West Adelaide Football Club |
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| Title : | West Adelaide Football Club |
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| Format : | Photograph | ||
| Dimensions : | 91 x 133 mm | ||
| Contributor : | State Library of South Australia | ||
| Catalogue record | |||
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| Copyright : | Reproduction rights are owned by State Library of South Australia. This image may be printed or saved for research or study. Use for any other purpose requires permission from the State Library of South Australia. To request approval, complete the Permission to publish form. |
| Description : |
West Adelaide joined the South Australian Football Association (the forerunner to today's South Australian National Football League) in 1897, having previously played in the Adelaide Suburban Association. The red and blacks have won the league premiership eight times including a remarkable run of four out of five between 1908 and 1912. Adding to the success of this golden era they also won the champions of Australia twice, defeating VFL premiers Carlton in 1908 and Essendon in 1911. Other premierships were won in 1927, the first year it used Wayville Showgrounds as its home ground, 1947, 1961 and 1983. Success was agonisingly close a number of times during the 1950s when they lost four Grand Finals to Port Adelaide by small margins, 1954 by three points, 1956 sixteen points, 1958 two points and 1959 by ten points. 1958 was also notable because the club made Richmond Oval its base and, on the night of the losing Grand Final, some West players returned to Adelaide Oval and cut down the goal post that ruckman Jack Richardson had kicked into with 90 seconds to go, perhaps costing the game. The goal post can still be see at the West Adelaide clubrooms. At various times 'Westies' have been known as the 'Blood and Tars', the 'Bottletops', the 'Wolves' and more recently the 'Bloods'. Many outstanding players have represented West over the years including Magarey Medallists James Tierney in 1908, Henry 'Dick' Head 1909, Bobbie Barnes 1922, Bruce McGregor in 1926 and 1927, Bob Snell 1929, Jack Sexton 1932, Ray McArthur 1939, Ron Benton 1957, Ken Eustice 1962, Trevor Grimwood 1977, Grant Fielke 1985, Glen Kilpatrick 1995 and James Ezard in 2009. Other notable players that played for the club were Bernie Smith who, after playing in the 1947 West premiership, moved to Geelong where he won the 1951 Brownlow Medal for best and fairest in the Victorian Football League, Jack Broadstock who missed the 1947 Grand Final due to suspension but had played in a VFL premiership with Richmond in 1943, Neil Kerley as a player and premiership coach in 1961 and 1983, Doug Thomas, Peter 'Flies' Meuret, Shaun Rehn, Mark Ricciuto and Adam Cooney, who won the 2008 AFL Brownlow Medal for the Western Bulldogs after being drafted from West Adelaide in 2004. Item 1: Studio portrait of three West Adelaide Football Club players, identified as the '1908 West Adelaide and SA state centre line'. From left to right: John J. McCarthy, Henry R. Head who won the Magarey Medal in 1909 and Alby Klose. Item 2: Badge featuring a portrait of 'Dick' Head Item 3: West Adelaide badge from a Milo promotion of 1963 Item 4: Badge from a Twisties promotion 1969 Item 5: Amscol ice block promotional sticker 1973 Items 6-10: 1947 premiership dinner program including a list of players |
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| Region : | Adelaide metropolitan area |
| Further reading : | Agars, Merv. Bloods sweat and tears: West Adelaide Football Club, 1877-1987, [Adelaide?: West Adelaide Football Club,], c1987 Whimpress, Bernard. The South Australian football story, West Lakes, S. Aust. : South Australian National Football League, 1983. |
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