The West Coast Eagles is an Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia, currently playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in 1986, and played its first season in the competition in 1987. Having lost the 1991 grand final to , the club won premierships in 1992 and 1994, becoming one of the most successful teams of the 1990s. West Coast won its third premiership in 2006, but fell in a heap after that, finishing last in 2010, before undergoing a rapid resurgence the following season to finish fourth in 2011.
Premiership era
In 2015, the club reached a sixth Grand Final, again going down to . In 2018, West Coast defeated to win its fourth Premiership, making it the most successful Non-Victorian team in the modern era.
Modern-day era
The 2020s were unforgiving for the Eagles. Since Round 14 of the 2021 season, the Eagles have won only 7 fixtures from 55 games up to Round 24 of the 2023 season.
2023 The Eagles were thrashed by bottom side Hawthorn by 116-points in round 10, 2023 and then in round 13, were humiliated by 122-points by the Adelaide Crows. Then in round 15, the Eagles suffered further humiliation as they were beaten by a staggering 171-points by the Sydney Swans, making it their biggest loss since joining the AFL in 1987. The 2023 season also marked the worst losing streak for the club, having lost 16 games straight from Round 3 to Round 19. However, in Round 20, the Eagles snapped a 16-game losing streak in thrilling fashion, digging deep to cling on to a 5-point win over the Kangaroos, easing pressure of the club and coach Adam Simpson. Further on in round 21, the Eagles suffered a heart breaking loss in the hands of Essendon by 1-point. However, that was short-lived following a 101-point derby disaster smashing by Fremantle, marking it their biggest derby loss ever in history. Though things seemed bleak for West Coast, they responded by pipping Western Bulldogs in a shock upset by 7 points, easing pressure on Simpson and the club again. With club champions Shannon Hurn, Nic Naitanui and Luke Shuey departing the club, the Eagles finished their last game of 2023 with a 45-point loss to the Adelaide Crows.
2024 The West Coast Eagles opened their 2024 campaign with a 50-point loss to Port Adelaide. Further huge losses to the GWS Giants and Western Bulldogs by a 65-point and 76-point margin respectively shaped another season to forget for the Eagles. With the first three matches turning into big losses, the Eagles turned the corner by bringing up a spirited showing against the Sydney Swans, and although losing by 26-points, they followed up by beating Richmond in a shock 39-point dominating upset win. West Coast dominated Derby 58, winning Fremantle by 37-points to notch back-to-back victories for the first time since 2021. Positive showings followed despite a 37-point loss to Gold Coast and a heartbreaking 6-point loss to Essendon. Although Collingwood won by 66-points in a round 9 Marvel stadium thrashing, the Eagles regained their home ground fortress on the back of a Harley Reid show to upset the Demons by 35-points the next round. Following the dynamo Reid's display, Adelaide thumped West Coast by 99-points away before the Eagles returned to their Optus Stadium home against some supposedly easy-beats. However, they lost against St Kilda by 14-points and the next week winless North Melbourne claimed their first victory by 9-points against West Coast at Optus. The Eagles then lost to Essendon by 30-points, and a 61-point defeat by Hawthorn and 54-points by Melbourne caused pressure to pile on coach Adam Simpson, just like last year. This all compounded and on 10 July, 'Big Simmo' was told to 'take a short stroll of a long bridge'.
VFL licence bid and club formation During the 1980s, the VFL and WAFL were struggling and both leagues came to the conclusion that a national league was the key to their survival, the VFL Commission voted in 1986 to grant licenses to Perth and Brisbane.How the West Coast Eagles went from the brink of collapse to financial powerhouse By Clint Thomas for ABC 15 March 2019 Australian rules football in Western Australia was a traditional heartland for the sport had been steadily growing over the decades producing strong performances in interstate football despite having most of its star players poached by Victorian clubs causing interest in the WAFL to decline. While consortias had begun a fierce bidding war in Brisbane, Western Australia and South Australia, with their strong local competitions, remained indifferent to the idea of joining the national competition. Nevertheless, a private company, Indian Pacific headed by Richard Colless began testing the water in the West Australian market.
Support for a Western Australian VFL team from the WAFL and public changed on 8 July after Western Australia won the 1986 Australian Football Championships, proving itself to be stronger than Victoria in the sport (in contrast, the state had performed poorly in State of Origin the previous year, so public support was buoyant following the dramatic turnaround). In late July 1986 Colless convened a meeting in Melbourne of West Australians from the VFL clubs (including Ross Glendinning, Simon Beasley, Brad Hardie, Ken Hunter, Wayne Blackwell, Gary Buckenara, Rod Lester-Smith and Alan Johnson) to gauge interest in and viability of a Western Australian-based VFL side, however, denied that it was working with the WAFL or actively pursuing a VFL license. By 7 August 1986, Western Australia had put the VFL on notice that it wanted in to the national competition.
Indian Pacific Limited formally applied for the Western Australian license in August 1986. Ross Oakley of the VFL agreed to an annual license of $400,000 for 10 years. However, the application was rejected at a meeting of VFL clubs, with struggling Victorian clubs claiming they could not afford to lose star Western Australian players or to travel to Perth. In response Oakley negotiated a deal with the clubs that it would agree to the expansion only if the full $4 million was paid up front as a lump sum license (the same offer made to bids from Brisbane), Oakley was convinced that the Perth arrangement would be viable with increased television rights from the a new audience offsetting the cost of flights for VFL clubs. The VFL had advised clubs Fitzroy Football Club and Footscray Football Club that were considered almost certain to fold, to vote for the inclusion of Perth in order to survive in the competition.
The West Australian license was formally granted on 1 October 1986 and even before the club had formed or found the required license fee, the entity headed by Colless immediately began securing contracts with West Australian VFL players. On 20 October 1986, a club was formed under the trading under the name of the "West Coast Eagles Football Club", just two weeks after the formation of the Brisbane Football Club (later Brisbane Bears).
The club was given only 160 days to assemble a team and establish an infrastructure for its inaugural season, 1987. The club appointed Ron Alexander as its first head coach on 22 September 1986 and revealed its 32-men squad for its first season on 30 October that year.History Time Line West Coast Eagles official website, accessed: 19 July 2010
First years in competition: 1987–1989 Inaugural VFL match G B Total 20 13 133 16 23 119 Venue: Subiaco crowd: 23,897 The club's first official home-and-away match at Subiaco Oval against Richmond on 29 March 1987 was played before a crowd of 23,897. The fledgling Eagles, down by 33 points at the final change, somehow managed to outscore the visiting and tiring Tigers nine goals to one in the final term to run out 14-point winners – a club record last quarter comeback that lasted until round 10 of 2006. By season's end, the club had split its games with eleven wins and eleven losses for a seventh-place finish, but despite this quite respectable effort, inaugural coach Ron Alexander was sacked from the position and replaced with WA coaching legend John Todd.
The 1988 season saw the Eagles improve to become one of the strongest teams of the competition, finishing the home and away season in fourth, before narrowly losing the Elimination Final to Melbourne by two points. Despite this loss, the mood was upbeat at the club for the future, although it was the last game for inaugural captain Glendinning.
However, the 1989 season put the club under a lot of pressure. Injuries and poor form led to the club only winning two matches in the first fifteen rounds of the season, culminating in the "Windy Hill Massacre", where the Eagles lost by a club record 142 points to Essendon. In the nadir of this season, with major financial problems besetting the club and a bleak outlook, there was even talk of disbanding the club and reverting to the WAFL as the senior competition in Western Australia. However, the Eagles rallied with five wins in the last seven weeks of the season. While it was enough to stave off the wolves, it was not enough to keep John Todd in the role of senior coach, nor allow first year captain Murray Rance to retain the role.
Malthouse arrival and first Grand Final: 1990–1991 1991 Grand Final G B Total 20 19 139 13 8 86 Venue: Waverley Park crowd: 75,320 1991 AFL Home & Away Season W L D Total % West Coast 19 3 0 76 162.21 Minor Premiers
As the VFL made way for the new AFL, the Eagles entered the 1990s with a new coach, Mick Malthouse, a Victorian recruited from Footscray, and a new captain in Steve Malaxos who had won the club's first club champion award in 1987. The change in leadership, and the rise of a few younger players, led to a resurgence at the club winning sixteen games on the way to a third-place finish at the end of the home and away season. This led to a berth in the Qualifying Final against Collingwood, which resulted in a famous draw, but the Eagles could not win the replay, and despite beating Melbourne in the First Semi Final, bowed out a fortnight later to Essendon in the Preliminary Final.
As 1991 started, out of favour captain Malaxos was replaced with youngster John Worsfold. That didn't seem to affect the club as the season saw what was probably the most dominant Eagles side, winning the first 12 games of the season and 19 in the home-and-away series (a record that still stands today) en route to the minor premiership—the first time a non-Victorian side had topped the ladder. However, the young team struggled with the finals pressure exerted by such a dominant season, and while they made the 1991 AFL Grand Final, it was lost to Hawthorn by 53 points in front of a crowd of 75,230. It was the only Grand Final ever to be played at Waverley Park, and the first in the AFL to feature a non-Victorian side.
Premiership success: 1992–1994 1992 Grand Final G B Total 16 17 113 12 13 85 Venue: MCG crowd: 95,007 The Eagles weren't as strong through the 1992 season, but managed to get a reasonable spot in the finals, winning a classic final against Hawthorn on the way to a Grand Final appearance, this time against Geelong at the MCG. The Eagles struggled early in the match, trailing by as much as four goals, but ended up over-running the Cats to win by 28 points and claim the club's first ever premiership, with Peter Matera winning the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground. The 1992 Premiership was the first senior AFL premiership won by a team from outside Victoria.
1994 Grand Final G B Total 20 23 143 8 15 63 Venue: MCG crowd: 93,860 1994 AFL Home & Away Season W L D Total % West Coast 16 6 0 64 132.19 Minor Premiers
The year of 1993 saw relatively little premiership points separate the finalists, and although West Coast were in the mix, the team never fully clicked across the season.
In 1994 the Eagles again won the minor premiership at the end of the home and away season – the club's second McClelland Trophy.