WA Day Foundation Derby Countdown – 2 days to go

THE Foundation Derby on WA Day is always the biggest occasion of any WAFL season outside of finals and South Fremantle is guaranteed of heading into the clash with East Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on top of the ladder.

The Sharks could very well be second too depending on what happens this weekend while the Bulldogs have the bye leading into the clash.

We are going to countdown to the Foundation Derby on WA Day, which falls on Monday June 6 by taking a look at 15 of the greatest wins by South Fremantle over East Fremantle on the famous occasion.

NUMBER 15 – 1978
South Fremantle 21.13 (139) defeated East Fremantle 14.14 (98) 

NUMBER 14 – 2006
South Fremantle 35.13 (223) defeated East Fremantle 9.12 (66) 

NUMBER 13 – 1959, 1960, 1961
1959 – South Fremantle 12.17 (89) defeated East Fremantle 11.12 (78)
1960 – South Fremantle 11.7 (73) defeated East Fremantle 10.12 (72)
1961 – South Fremantle 7.15 (57) defeated East Fremantle 7.8 (50) 

NUMBER 12 – 1907
South Fremantle 6.8 (44) defeated East Fremantle 4.9 (33) 

NUMBER 11 – 2007
South Fremantle 15.15 (105) defeated East Fremantle 13.13 (91) 

NUMBER 10 – 2008
South Fremantle 18.11 (119) defeated East Fremantle 14.6 (90) 

NUMBER 9 – 2003
South Fremantle 13.9 (87) defeated East Fremantle 13.8 (86)  

NUMBER 8 – 1990
South Fremantle 12.13 (85) defeated East Fremantle 11.6 (72) 

NUMBER 7 – 1992
South Fremantle 12.19 (91) defeated East Fremantle 10.11 (71) 

NUMBER 6 –2011
South Fremantle 12.16 (88) defeated East Fremantle 11.5 (71) 

NUMBER 5 – 1993
South Fremantle 15.10 (100) defeated East Fremantle 14.9 (93) 

NUMBER 4 – 2015
South Fremantle 15.13 (103) defeated East Fremantle 14.14 (98) 

NUMBER 3 – 1999
South Fremantle 13.8 (86) defeated East Fremantle 12.10 (82) 

NUMBER 2 – 1979
South Fremantle 20.30 (150) defeated East Fremantle 20.15 (135)

You could not build it up any bigger than the 1979 Foundation Day Derby in what was the first year that South Fremantle and East Fremantle did battle for the Foundation Derby Cup.

South Fremantle went into the 1979 match sitting on top of the WAFL ladder with East Fremantle second.

Both teams had won seven of their first nine games and were in ominous early season form. The first derby of the year at East Fremantle attracted a crowd of over 21,000 fans as East Fremantle overran South Fremantle in the last quarter to win. 

Payback was on the mind of the Bulldogs and a Foundation Derby record crowd of 22,399 packed into Fremantle Oval to witness one of the biggest clashes in WA football history.

Forget the gates, forget the seats, the crowd climbed in over the walls, packed shoulder to shoulder to be witness to a game that few will forget.

The tone of the day was set in the first quarter as South Fremantle had large portions of sustained dominance but were let down by woeful kicking at goal.

Kicking 3.10 in the first quarter kept East Fremantle in the contest with the Bulldogs holding a narrow two-point lead at the first change. The second quarter was a mirror image of the first as another inaccurate term meant South Fremantle led by just five points despite having 10 more scoring shots. 

The game was turned on its head in the third quarter as East Fremantle came fired up after the main break kicking nine goals and building what seemed to be a match winning three quarter-time lead. 

A strong start to the last quarter was what South Fremantle needed and that's exactly what the Bulldogs got as they powered to the front leading into time-on of the last quarter.

In the tight final minutes South Fremantle used the momentum to kick the final couple of goals and cement a memorable 15-point win.

The once in a lifetime Mark Jackson led the way for South Fremantle with four goals while the tandem tall duo of Basil Campbell and Stephen Michael each kicked three goals.

Michael was brilliant in the ruck and around the ground with Maurice Rioli and Noel Carter also having good days making the most of the aerial advantage that South Fremantle’s tall players were to give. 

Following their Derby win, South Fremantle maintained its dominance across the rest of the season, holding top spot all the way to the final round where a surprise loss to Swans saw the Bulldogs concede top spot to Claremont.

It would matter little a week later as the finals started with South Fremantle comfortably accounting for Claremont in the second semi-final with a hard fought 20-point win.

South Fremantle would end up playing East Fremantle in the grand final and in one of the most memorable and historic deciders in WA football history, 52,781 people attended the decider at Subiaco Oval which unfortunately didn’t go the way of the Bulldogs.