One goal is all it takes
Wembley’s Chris Shine speaks to Cameron Palmer
As one of the oldest club’s in the Perth Football League, the Wembley Football Club has a proud history and great record of premiership success.
With 50 premierships to its name heading towards the 2020 season, Wembley had every right to be proud of those 50 banners that hang proudly inside their clubrooms at the Wembley Sporting Complex. Those hanging premiership banners serve as both a daunting visual for opposition teams and a powerful reminder of success for every Wembley player.
Of those 50 flags, 15 have come from the pinnacle A Grade league competition, with Wembley having claimed the Sandover Shield as A Grade Premiers on 15 different occasions between 1938 and 1984.
It has been a long time since 1984 though.
As former player, committee member and President Chris Shine says, the Wembley premiership heroes from 1984 are among those at the club that are eagerly awaiting the next A Grade premiership success.
“We would love to win another A Grade final, the guys from 1984 they come down and say they would love to see someone take it off our hands,” Shine said.
“We want to see success at the top level and its part of our plan to be a force in the A grade again.”
Despite having a history that would be the envy of most Perth Football League clubs, Wembley headed towards the 2020 season feeling that this A Grade premiership drought had gone too long. They needed to redefine what their culture was. What they stood for. What they needed to do to end that premiership drought.
“It’s been a bit of a soul search, because we were in A Grade for four years, it was a hard grind because no one likes to be in that bottom three all the time and you need to find a way to get into that top five,” Shine said.
“When we first spoke about where we wanted to be it was about small things and in the end we focused on a goal that we wanted be known as one of the great clubs in Australia.”
“How you define that is up to anyone, but we just said we want to be known as a great club, wherever you are when you come to Perth, you hear about the Wembley Football Club, that’s where I want to play football, that’s where I want to have a drink, that’s where I want to watch football.”
With that one simple goal set, Wembley embarked on the start of its plan in 2020 with a rejuvenated focus both on field and off field. Despite the 2020 season being reduced in size because of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Wembley were among the top contenders throughout the B Grade season.
Come finals time they peaked at the right time, beating nearby rivals West Coast narrowly in both the second semi-final and Grand final to claim the 2020 B Grade title, making it premiership number 51 for the club.
That 51st premiership likely wouldn’t have come for Wembley if not for taking the time to redefine themselves and challenge themselves on what and where they needed to improve.
As the Perth Football League entered its 100th season in 2021, it seems fitting that it would be one of the league’s longest standing clubs that gets the chance to compete again at A Grade level.
Fitting that a club with a proud history and with one goal will again, compete for A Grade premiership number 16.
