Last of the Premiers
Forrestdale’s Bob Skidmore speaks to Chris Egan
As the Perth Football League has adapted and evolved over 100 years of history, one of the interesting parts of the league’s history has been seeing various grades come and go.
While the Perth Football League now sees lower level grades, graded predominantly under ‘C’ and ‘E’ grades, there was a time when winning an ‘I Grade’ or ‘J Grade’ premiership meant just as much as an ‘A Grade’ premiership.
Case in point, the last ever premiers of the ‘I Grade’ in 1996, the Forrestdale Football Club.
Having started out in the early 1990’s, the Forrestdale Football Club, like many new clubs had to go through some dark days and tough times on field, before getting their own success.
As long time former President and Life Member Bob Skidmore retold, the early days were tough at the club but were important in the success that would later come.
“We first kicked off in the Amateur league and we were down in the scrubbers grade and we were getting our backsides kicked each week,” Skidmore said.
“We called as a team, and in 1995 won the ‘J Grade’ premiership, went up to ‘I Grade’ and won that too.”
History will show that Forrestdale are on the Perth Football League history books as the last ever ‘I Grade’ premiers, while they were also the second last ‘J Grade’ premiers. Both of those premierships have a special fondness for those involved with the Forrestdale Football Club because of the turbulent early years spent in the lower level grades.
Interestingly, history would somewhat repeat for Forrestdale over a decade later, when they again won one of the last ever premierships for the now defunct WAFA competition. After moving from the then WAAFL to the Sunday Football League, specifically their Saturday competition, that was rebadged the WAFA, Forrestdale would again suffer some tough seasons.
Things would turn full circle in 2007 as Forrestdale produced arguably the best season in the club’s existence to win the WAFA flag. After losing the first game of the season to Innaloo, Forrestdale would be undefeated for the rest of the season, capping off a memorable season by beating Innaloo in the Grand Final.
“We only lost one game in 07 and it was quite an achievement to win the premiership,” Skidmore said.
That would be the second last premiership ever attached to the WAFA, as after the 2008 season, the competition would fold.
Again, though it may have been one of the last premierships to be won, it still holds the same importance to all those at the Forrestdale Football Club. Competitions and grades may come and go, but the significance of what each team achieved in those competitions and grades remains an integral part of the history and the story of the Perth Football League.
