The Western Derby (/ˈdɜːrbi/) is the name given to the Australian rules football match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, who both participate in the Australian Football League (AFL). As both teams are based in Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, the term "derby" is used to describe the match. It has become the most important match for football in Western Australia (outside of finals), with former West Coast player and coach John Worsfold claiming that in the week before a derby that it is the main topic in Perth.
It's obviously different to the build-up of any normal game... We don't care what else is happening in the country, which is great."
— John Worsfold, Pierik, Jon (24 July 2011). "The West is history". The Sunday Age.
In 2004, during the 175th-anniversary celebrations of the establishment of the Swan River Colony, the Western Derby was named as one of 12 "Heritage Icons", in recognition of "football's key social and historical importance to the State".[1]
Referring to a melee during the Round 21, 2000, Derby, Channel Nine sports reporter Michael Thomson said the match had divided Western Australia and that the "football landscape in WA has been changed forever."[2]
There are two Western Derbies every year during the home-and-away season (barring the exceptional COVID-19-affected 2020 season, where only one derby was played). From 1995 until 2017, the derbies were held at Subiaco Oval (with the one exception during this period being the October 2005 game at The Oval in London). From 2018, all derbies have been held at Perth Stadium. There has never been a Western Derby finals match.
West Coast were the dominant team during Fremantle's early years, winning the first nine derbies. Fremantle won their first Western Derby in July 1999. Fremantle are the current holders of the Western Derby Trophy after defeating West Coast by 35 points in Round 20 of the 2024 AFL season.
The player adjudged best on ground in each derby match is awarded the Glendinning–Allan Medal, named after the inaugural captains of the clubs: Ross Glendinning (West Coast) and Ben Allan (Fremantle).
To date, there has never been a drawn derby.
An infamous derby occurred in Round 21, 2000. Both clubs were out of finals contention, and the derby earlier in the year had recorded the biggest-ever margin, with Scott Cummings' 10-goal effort helping West Coast to a 117-point win; and, in the lead-up to the season's rematch, both teams were talking down the importance of the game with the standard line of "it's only worth four points". However, Clive Waterhouse indicated that something different might happen by saying that "blood would be spilled".[3]
Before the first bounce, West Coast, through Michael Gardiner, went on the attack, pushing and shoving first-year player Matthew Pavlich. The umpires awarded a free kick to Pavlich before the ball was bounced. However, West Coast settled and led by four goals at quarter time with goals to Phillip Read, Andrew Embley and three to Phil Matera. Fremantle's forward line was struggling, with only four goals to half time, including two to Waterhouse, and singles to midfielders Heath Black and Troy Cook, while two goals to Mitchell White, a fourth goal for Matera and one to Chad Morrison in the second quarter saw West Coast go to the half-time break 32 points in front. During the break, a brawl broke out which cleared both teams' benches and resulted in one of the longest tribunal records in recent times.
In the third quarter, Phil Matera kicked his fifth goal, bringing the Eagles lead to 42 points, but Fremantle surged to cut the margin to 18 points at three-quarter time with three goals to Clive Waterhouse and singles to Pavlich and Daniel Bandy.
The last quarter saw Phil Matera carried from the ground on a stretcher after a hard collision with umpire Steve Hanley, and a solid but legal shirtfront by Troy Cook also saw Mitchell White carried from the ground on a stretcher. A six-goal-to-three final quarter—including another two to Waterhouse and singles to Steven Koops, Andrew Shipp, Dale Kickett and Brad Dodd—saw Fremantle hit the lead by two points. With only seconds to spare, the Eagles pushed forward, and a loose ball was unable to be gathered in by makeshift forward Darren Glass, resulting in a rushed behind and a one-point victory for Fremantle, only their second-ever in a Western Derby.
The following suspensions and fines were handed out as a result of the brawl:[2]
The following week, both teams were well beaten, with Fremantle beaten by Brisbane by 107 points at the Gabba, and Melbourne winning by 70 points over the Eagles at Subiaco.
The only time the fixture was played outside of Perth was in October 2005 at The Oval in Kennington, South London. West Coast had narrowly finished as runner-up to Sydney the previous month but were missing their vaunted midfield of Cousins, Chris Judd and Daniel Kerr. The game included a third-quarter fight and the Dockers' Jeff Farmer and the Eagles' Adam Hunter kicking four goals each. No video footage has been shared from the game, which Fremantle won by 13.12 (90) to 11.7 (73) in front of nearly 19,000 people, which was a record crowd for an Australian rules football game in England.[4]
The Round 3, 2007, match will be remembered as one of the most controversial and spiteful derbies ever played. Nearing three-quarter time, Fremantle's Des Headland was reported by umpire Stuart Wenn for striking and wrestling with West Coast's Adam Selwood, who made an inappropriate comment about a tattoo on Headland's arm, which depicted his then six-year-old daughter.
The case was heard on 18 April, with Selwood cleared of using abusive language towards Headland. Headland was found guilty of both striking and wrestling with Selwood, but was not suspended because of "exceptional and compelling circumstances by way of provocation".[5]
West Coast won this match by 31 points, and Michael Braun was awarded the Ross Glendinning Medal, ending his acceptance speech with "Let's have a fucking good year"[6] which was broadcast to 550,000 viewers on live television and to the 42,551 in attendance.[7][8] Braun was fined $500 by the Eagles, but the AFL intervened, severely reprimanded the Eagles, and fined Braun an additional $5,000.[9][10]
Several weeks after the match, Selwood officially apologised to women, and claimed that he did not mean what he had said to Headland four weeks earlier. Paradoxically, he also claimed that he was badly treated by the media because he was innocent of the charges in the Headland saga and he should have just been allowed to prove his innocence.[11]
The closest finish to a derby occurred in Round 18, 2011, when Eagles midfielder Matt Rosa was penalised by umpire Dean Margetts in a deliberate-out-of-bounds decision with West Coast leading by two points in the dying seconds. Having earned a free kick from the decision, Hayden Ballantyne had a chance to win the game for Fremantle with a shot after the siren from 50 metres out on a tight angle; and, while his drop punt looked a goal for much of its journey, it hit the padding on the right-hand goalpost amid a sea of hands from both sides,[12] leaving the Eagles the winners by a single point, 8.17 (65) to Fremantle's 9.10 (64).[13] Ballantyne prematurely celebrated, believing that the kick was a goal and had won the match.[14]
This proved to be the catalyst for both sides as the season wound down. Fremantle slid down the ladder, losing the next six matches in succession to end a disappointing season, while West Coast went on to win their remaining home-and-away matches.
Nearly two decades after the most violent derby in its history, another infamous contest occurred in Round 20, 2018. During the third quarter, West Coast midfielder Andrew Gaff struck Fremantle first-year player Andrew Brayshaw in the face in an incident which occurred off the ball and resulted in Brayshaw suffering a broken jaw.[15][16] Gaff was targeted by Fremantle players for the remainder of the game, until his coach decided to bench him after suffering from a double-team shoulder hit from two Fremantle players.[17] Gaff was sent straight to the AFL Tribunal the following day,[18] where he pleaded guilty to intentionally striking Brayshaw and subsequently suspended for eight AFL matches, thus missing the AFL finals, where West Coast would go on to win the 2018 premiership.[19]
For the first time, due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic reducing the season to 17 games, only a single derby was played in 2020. The ground capacity was restricted to half of the maximum to allow for social distancing. The crowd of 25,306 people was the highest for the AFL since the pandemic started, but the lowest ever for a ticketed derby. West Coast won by 30 points, setting a new record of ten consecutive derby wins, dating back to August 2015.
The derby resembled the one held in 2009, with both Western Australian teams positioned in the bottom 4 of the ladder at the time of the match. Fremantle broke its record of the highest margin in a derby, 101 points.[20] West Coast's score of 4.9 (33) was its lowest ever in a derby.[21]
The Fremantle Dockers went in to the Round 6 match heavy favourites. Fremantle had started the season 3-0, before losing two narrow games in a row by under a goal against quality oppositions, heading into the Derby 3-2. The Eagles headed into the Derby 1-4 to start their season, losing 4 matches by large margins. The Dockers had odds $1.15 to the Eagles $5.50. To much surprise, the Eagles kicked the first seven goals of the game, having a 46-3 lead mid way through the second quarter. The Eagles led by 37 points at half time, before piling on the pain in the third quarter, having a 64 point lead at the last break. The Docker's fought back in the final quarter but the Eagles won comprehensively by 37 points, 16.9 (105) v 10.8 (68). It was one of the greatest upsets in Derby history, putting a dent in Fremantle's season and setting a promising one for the Eagles. It was also highly talked about recruit Harley Reid's first Derby, where he stole the show kicking 3 goals and 19 disposals, placing second with 6 votes in the Glendinning-Allan Medal at just 19 years old and six career games. Eagles superstar Elliot Yeo won the award with 7 votes, winning the award for the second time.
Up-to-date at the completion of Derby 57
Brownlow Votes through the end of the 2023 AFL season.[needs update]
In preparation for the 2017 launch of the AFL women's league competition, the AFL held 10 Exhibition Series matches during 2016. The only match held in Perth featured both a women's side from the Fremantle Football Club & the West Coast Eagles, played as a curtain-raiser for the men's Western Derby, won by the West Coast Eagles. The First Western Derby in the AFLW took place on 15 February 2020, when the West Coast Eagles lost to the Fremantle Dockers at Optus Stadium.
a^ For the 2020 season only, there was only one Western Derby due to the premiership season being shortened to 17 rounds as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.[30]
b^ Due to a local transmission of COVID-19 in Western Australia in early 2021, the two Perth-based AFLW teams were forced to isolate as part of a five-day lockdown in Perth, rather than travelling to South Australia for their scheduled matches. The AFL instead fixtured a derby between the two sides, held without general public access.[31]
c^ Due to a local transmission of COVID-19 in Western Australia in May 2021, a decision was made by Western Australia premier Mark McGowan to ban spectators from attending the match only hours before the first bounce.[32]
d^ A second Western Derby was scheduled for the two clubs due to WA's border restrictions precluding travel to and from Victoria, and to allow fans to attend after the first Derby in round two was played behind closed doors.[33]
Media related to Western Derby (AFL) at Wikimedia Commons