Waiting for an oval
Thornlie’s Pat Morris speaks to Chris Egan
It is hard to believe and picture in 2021, given the mass of suburbia that spreads all around the Thornlie Football Club, but back in the late 1960’s, Thornlie was a community without a senior footy club desperately awaiting an oval to commence their journey as a senior club.
Backtracking a decade prior to the late 1950’s, Thornlie was a new suburb of only about 60 houses. The local community which had a strong background in cricket commenced a cricket club and a few years later in 1963 the Thornlie Canning Vale Junior Football Club would form. With no oval though, both the original football and cricket clubs were forced to play elsewhere, outside of their named home.
Without a proper home and without a ground, the senior football club too would have to wait. It would be 1970 before that home and ground would be ready and the Thornlie Senior Football Club would be born.
As former Thornlie Secretary and Life Member Pat Morris recalls, the origins of the club were very humble.
“All the development was happening around this community and one of the areas was started up by the developer Markhams,” Morris said.
“In those days 10 percent of the whole of the land had to be given to the City of Gosnells for recreation purposes, so that is how the Walter Padbury complex here started.”
Back then though, what has gone on to be the proud home of the Thornlie Football Club for over 50 years, looked a lot different.
“It was undulating with little pools and beautiful little creeks, we had a creek running through it at the time,” Morris said.
“Our first grandstand was a tin shed and chicken wire netting over the top with fern frons to keep the sun off us and we had private stove that used to be for afternoon tea.”
Across the next 50 years, change has been a constant at Walter Padbury and for the Thornlie Senior Football Cub, as the club itself and the attached Sportsman’s Club, have aimed to be at the forefront of ground adaption.
The clubrooms have undergone on a number of upgrades and makeovers, while the precinct as well has continued to grow and change. Gone are the surrounding fencing that had assisted with gate fees for the majority of their seasons in the South Suburban and Sunday Football Leagues, with the ground very much returning to one that is open to the whole community.
Growth and change has been the constant in and around Thornlie. From starting out in the 1970’s, the local area has grown and the football club has proudly grown with it, nurturing generations of young men.
“In 1958 there were only 5,000 people who lived within the City of Gosnells, today there is probably 135,000 to 140,000 people and Thornlie is currently the largest suburb in the Perth metropolitan area,” Morris said.
“It has changed immensely but the senior football starting up, that was the beginning.”
