West Coast Eagles
Encyclopedia : W : WE : WES : West Coast Eagles
| Full name | West Coast Eagles |
| Nickname | Eagles |
| Strip | Navy blue, white and gold vertical panels with flying navy and gold eagle, or royal blue with gold wings, with Eagles logo (as above); navy blue shorts, navy blue or royal blue socks with gold hoop at top. |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Sport | Australian rules football |
| League | Australian Football League |
| Ground | Subiaco Oval |
| Club song | 'We're the Eagles' |
| President/Chair | Dalton Gooding |
| Coach | John Worsfold |
| Captain | Chris Judd |
The West Coast Eagles Football Club is an Australian Rules Football club that is a member of the Australian Football League.
History
The club is based at Subiaco Oval in Perth, Western Australia and was formed in August 1986 when the AFL (then the Victorian Football League) decided to include teams from Perth and Brisbane for the 1987 season.
The Eagles won their first official match, a pre-season game against Footscray (now Western Bulldogs) on March 3, 1987.
They made their first Grand Final in 1991, and became the first non-Victorian football club to win a Premiership in 1992 and won again in 1994, defeating Geelong on both occasions. Peter Matera and Dean Kemp won the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground in the grand final in 1992 and 1994 respectively.
In 1995, the Fremantle Football Club was formed, heightening competition for the West Australian audience and forming a fierce rivalry to become the Western Derby.
Chris Judd was the first West Coast player to receive Australian Rules Football's highest individual award, the Brownlow Medal, for being the best and fairest player in the AFL in 2004. He also won his first club Best and Fairest award in the same year. In 2005, the Brownlow medal was awarded to captain Ben Cousins, the raging favourite, and teammate Daniel Kerr finished one vote behind, the first time since the 1920's that players from the same team finished 1st and second.
The West Coast Eagles are currently coached by former Premiership captain, John Worsfold and was captained by mid-fielder Ben Cousins until the 20th of February 2006 when Cousins resigned due to off-field problems with the law. On Wednesday March 1, Chris Judd was announced as the replacement captain.
The Eagles spent most of the 2005 season on top of the league table (ladder), but were beaten at home in the final round of the season by then-second-placed Adelaide, who replaced the Eagles at the top of the ladder. They defeated the Sydney Swans in a qualifying final and Adelaide in a preliminary final, and lost to Sydney in the 2005 AFL grand final. Chris Judd, an Eagles fans favourite and a former Brownlow winner, was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground in the Grand Final, despite the admirable efforts of Sydney's Amon Buchannan.
Membership and attendance
In 2005, the Eagles had 42,406 members (seating capacity), a waiting list and an average homeground attendance of 39,750, making them the second most supported team in the AFL.
| Year | Members | Finishing position | Average crowd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 37,496 | 7th | 34,473 |
| 1999 | 36,212 | 5th | 30,777 |
| 2000 | 38,868 | 13th | 33,191 |
| 2001 | 38,649 | 14th | 32,674 |
| 2002 | 34,880 | 8th | 35,928 |
| 2003 | 36,234 | 7th | 38,084 |
| 2004 | 40,792 | 7th | 39,037 |
| 2005 | 42,406 | 2nd | 40,243 |
| 2006 | 42,536* | ||
| 40,506* |
- (as of May 12, 2006)
Current squad
As of July 2, 2006:
|
|
|
Team of the Decade
In 1996, when the AFL was celebrating its 10th year, the West Coast Eagles were celebrating their 10th, and so named a team of the decade:
| Backs: | David Hart | Michael Brennan | Ashley McIntosh |
| Half Backs: | Guy McKenna | Glen Jakovich | John Worsfold |
| Centres: | Peter Matera | Dean Kemp | Chris Mainwaring |
| Half Forwards: | Brett Heady | Mitchell White | Craig Turley |
| Forwards: | Chris Lewis | Peter Sumich | Scott Cummings |
| Followers: | Ryan Turnbull | Don Pyke | Dwayne Lamb |
| Interchange: | Chris Waterman | Steve Malaxos | Peter Wilson |
Individual awards
- Chris Judd (2004)
- Ben Cousins (2005)
- Ben Cousins (2005)
- Ian Dargie (1991) (Subiaco)
- Robbie West (1992) (West Perth)
- Ryan Turnbull (2001) (East Perth)
- Peter Matera (1992)
- Dean Kemp (1994)
- Chris Judd (2005)
- Scott Cummings (1999)
- Ben Cousins (1996)
- Mark Merenda (2001)
- Daniel Kerr (2003)
- Chris Judd (2005)
- Ashley Sampi (2004)
Club jumpers
- Chris Judd (2004)
- Ben Cousins (2005)
- Ben Cousins (2005)
- Ian Dargie (1991) (Subiaco)
- Robbie West (1992) (West Perth)
- Ryan Turnbull (2001) (East Perth)
- Peter Matera (1992)
- Dean Kemp (1994)
- Chris Judd (2005)
- Scott Cummings (1999)
- Ben Cousins (1996)
- Mark Merenda (2001)
- Daniel Kerr (2003)
- Chris Judd (2005)
- Ashley Sampi (2004)
Club jumpers
- Ian Dargie (1991) (Subiaco)
- Robbie West (1992) (West Perth)
- Ryan Turnbull (2001) (East Perth)
- Peter Matera (1992)
- Dean Kemp (1994)
- Chris Judd (2005)
- Scott Cummings (1999)
- Ben Cousins (1996)
- Mark Merenda (2001)
- Daniel Kerr (2003)
- Chris Judd (2005)
- Ashley Sampi (2004)
Club jumpers
- Scott Cummings (1999)
- Ben Cousins (1996)
- Mark Merenda (2001)
- Daniel Kerr (2003)
- Chris Judd (2005)
- Ashley Sampi (2004)
Club jumpers
- Mark Merenda (2001)
- Daniel Kerr (2003)
- Chris Judd (2005)
- Ashley Sampi (2004)
Club jumpers
These are the 2006 jumper designs. The club's current major sponsors are SGIO (Home), Hungry Jacks (Away) and Puma.
See also
External links
- [Official Website of the West Coast Eagles Football Club]
- [Full Points Footy History of the West Coast Football Club]
- [West Coast Eagles Supporters Forum]
| Clubs in the Australian Football League |
| Adelaide Crows | Brisbane Lions | Carlton | Collingwood | Essendon | Fremantle | Geelong | Hawthorn Kangaroos | Melbourne | Port Adelaide | Richmond | St Kilda | Sydney Swans | West Coast Eagles | Western Bulldogs Former clubs: Brisbane Bears | Fitzroy | University |
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.