Fremantle Football Club (1882–1899)

The Fremantle Football Club was an Australian rules football club based in Fremantle, Western Australia, that played in the Western Australian Football Association (WAFA) from 1886 to 1899. The club was known as the Union Football Club from 1882–89.

Formation
Unions was formed in 1882 at the same time as the original Fremantle Football Club. A few months after the football season had begun that year, an editorial in The West Australian captured the unfamiliarity of Western Australians with Australian rules football at the time."It seems a  pity  however  that  the  Perth  players  do  not  all  play  the  same  game;  while  three  of  the  clubs  are  governed  by  the  rules  known  as  those  of  the  Rugby Union,  the  fourth  (which  goes  by  the  name  of  the  Union  Club)  plays  the  Victorian game;  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  latter  club  is  in  the  right.  The  Victorian  or  'Bouncing'  rules  are  those  which  are  universally  adopted  in  the  other  Australian colonies;  why  then  should  West {sic} Australia  be  the  exception?  It  is  needless  here  to  enter  into  an  argument  as  to  which  is  the  better  of  the  two games,  but  supposing  West {sic} Australia  were  to  receive  a  challenge  at  football  from  one  of  the  sister  colonies,  what  must;  be  our  reply? 'We are  not  able  to  accept  your  challenge,  because  we  do  not  know  your  rules.'"

The club was not invited to participate in the formation of the Western Australian Football Association in 1885, at the time being considered a "junior club". As was the norm of the time, the club also occasionally played matches under the rugby union rules.

WAFA
In 1886, Unions was admitted to the WAFA, giving the city of Fremantle two representatives in the competition. The club finished last in their first season, and in games early in the season, were allowed to field additional players to compensate for the team being considered a junior club. The original Fremantle Football Club disbanded at the end of the season, and many of its players transferred to Unions. The club also took Fremantle's colours of red and white, having previously worn black and white.

The club won their first premiership in 1887, receiving the "Dixson Challenge Cup", which was followed by two more in 1888, 1889. "The Dixson Challenge Cup was to be awarded annually to the premier club and it was stipulated that when a club won it for three seasons (not necessarily in successive years) the cup would become absolute property of that club."

The club having won the premiership from 1887-1889, became permanent holders of the Dixson Challenge Cup. "The club awarded the cup to its premiership captain of 1889, Paddy Knox."

The club changed its name to "Fremantle Football Club" in April 1890 to better represent the locality in which they were based. A third successive Premiership followed in 1890. In 1891, the club were unbeaten up until round 6. In round 7, they lost against their only serious rivals for the premiership, Rovers, after several contentious decision made by the umpire, a Mr. Croft, who formerly played for Rovers. Due to his previous decisions, Fremantle refused to play in any match umpired by him for the remainder of the season, which resulted in them forfeiting their last three fixtures, and thus losing the premiership to Rovers.

The club continued to dominate the competition for the rest of the decade, winning five consecutive premierships from 1892–96 and another in 1898. The club was forced to disband after the 1899 season due to large debts. Many of the club's players transferred to the new South Fremantle Football Club, admitted to the WAFA the next year. The club had an overall win rate of 68.7% during its fourteen seasons in the competition.

Premierships

 * WAFA (10):
 * 1887–90, 1892–96, 1898

Leading goalkicker

 * WAFA (4):
 * 1893: Paddy Knox (10)
 * 1895: Albert Thurgood (53)
 * 1896: Albert Thurgood (47)
 * 1897: Albert Thurgood (27)


 * Union/Fremantle FC
 * 1886: Harry Fay & George Herbert (2)
 * 1887: Fred Loukes & Andy Woods (2)
 * 1888: Leo Waters (7)
 * 1889: Harry Fay (7)
 * 1890: Patrick Roachock (10)
 * 1891: Oscar Wehrstedt (4)
 * 1892: Harry Fay (15)
 * 1893: Paddy Knox (10)
 * 1893: Harry Cooper (19)
 * 1895: Albert Thurgood (53)
 * 1896: Albert Thurgood (47)
 * 1897: Albert Thurgood (27)
 * 1898: Harry Fay & George Kain (12)
 * 1899: William Annois (16)

Notable players
By far the highest-profile player to represent the club was Albert Thurgood, who arrived from Essendon Football Club for the 1895 season. Thurgood would go on to represent the club 48 times and kicked 128 goals from 1895-1898. He topped the WAFA goalkicking from 1895-1897. In 1996, Thurgood was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame. He was named in the Essendon Team of the Century, which was selected in their VFL/AFL centenary year of 1997. Nicknamed "The Great", he was inducted into the WA Football Hall of Fame in 2004 as an inaugural inductee. The Fremantle Football Club and Essendon Football Club created the "Albert Thurgood Challenge" to be played between the two teams. The first ever meeting was known as D-Day. On 11 February 1995 Fremantle won its first official game of AFL, defeating Essendon by 50 points at East Fremantle Oval.

Bill Bateman, one of the leading men behind the push for "Victorian Rules" to become the dominant football code in Western Australia, represented the club from 1887-1894 for 40 matches and was inducted into the WA Football Hall of Fame in 2004 as an inaugural inductee.

Paddy Knox represented the club from 1888-1894, for a total of 63 games, including six premierships (1888-1890, 1892-94) and captaining the side to four premierships (1889-1890, 1892-93). He was the first person made a life member of the Western Australian Football Association (WAFA) in 1902 and was inducted into the WA Football Hall of Fame in 2004 as an inaugural inductee.