Western Derby

Optus Stadium in Perth, the current home stadium of the two teams.
First meeting	14 May 1995
Latest meeting	12 August 2023
Next meeting	TBA
Stadiums	Subiaco Oval (1995–2017) Optus Stadium (2018–Present)
Trophy	RAC WA Trophy
Statistics
Meetings total	57
All-time series (AFL only)	West Coast 32 wins Fremantle 25 wins
Largest victory	West Coast – 117 points (15 April 2000)
Longest win streak	West Coast, 11 (16 August 2015 – 15 August 2021)
Current win streak	Fremantle, 5 (15 August 2021 – present)

The Western Derby (/ˈdɜːrbi/) is the name given to the Australian rules football match between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, who both participate in the Australian Football League (AFL). As both teams are based in Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, the term "derby" is used to describe the match. It has become the most important match for football in Western Australia (outside of finals), with former West Coast player and coach John Worsfold claiming that in the week before a derby that it is the main topic in Perth.

It's obviously different to the build-up of any normal game... We don't care what else is happening in the country, which is great."

— John Worsfold, Pierik, Jon (24 July 2011). "The West is history". The Sunday Age.

In 2004, during the 175th-anniversary celebrations of the establishment of the Swan River Colony, the Western Derby was named as one of 12 "Heritage Icons", in recognition of "football's key social and historical importance to the State".^[1]

Referring to a melee during the Round 21, 2000, Derby, Channel Nine sports reporter Michael Thomson said the match had divided Western Australia and that the "football landscape in WA has been changed forever."^[2]

There are two Western Derbies every year during the home-and-away season (barring the exceptional COVID-19-affected 2020 season, where only one derbie was played). From 1995 until 2017, the derbies were held at Subiaco Oval (with the one exception during this period being the October 2005 game at The Oval in London). From 2018, all derbies have been held at Perth Stadium. There has never been a Western Derby finals match.

West Coast were the dominant team during Fremantle's early years, winning the first nine derbies. Fremantle won their first Western Derby in July 1999. Fremantle are the current holders of the Western Derby Trophy after defeating West Coast by 101 points in Round 22 of the 2023 AFL season.

The player adjudged best on ground in each derby match is awarded the Glendinning–Allan Medal, named after the inaugural captains of the clubs: Ross Glendinning (West Coast) and Ben Allan (Fremantle).

To date, there has never been a drawn derby.

Notable derbies

Derby XII: Round 21, 2000. (AKA The Demolition Derby)

An infamous derby occurred in Round 21, 2000. Both clubs were out of finals contention, and the derby earlier in the year had recorded the biggest-ever margin, with Scott Cummings' 10-goal effort helping West Coast to a 117-point win; and, in the lead-up to the season's rematch, both teams were talking down the importance of the game with the standard line of "it's only worth four points". However, Clive Waterhouse indicated that something different might happen by saying that "blood would be spilled".^[3]

Before the first bounce, West Coast, through Michael Gardiner, went on the attack, pushing and shoving first-year player Matthew Pavlich. The umpires awarded a free kick to Pavlich before the ball was bounced. However, West Coast settled and led by four goals at quarter time with goals to Phillip Read, Andrew Embley and three to Phil Matera. Fremantle's forward line was struggling, with only four goals to half time, including two to Waterhouse, and singles to midfielders Heath Black and Troy Cook, while two goals to Mitchell White, a fourth goal for Matera and one to Chad Morrison in the second quarter saw West Coast go to the half-time break 32 points in front. During the break, a brawl broke out which cleared both teams' benches and resulted in one of the longest tribunal records in recent times.

In the third quarter, Phil Matera kicked his fifth goal, bringing the Eagles lead to 42 points, but Fremantle surged to cut the margin to 18 points at three-quarter time with three goals to Clive Waterhouse and singles to Pavlich and Daniel Bandy.

The last quarter saw Phil Matera carried from the ground on a stretcher after a hard collision with umpire Steve Hanley, and a solid but legal shirtfront by Troy Cook also saw Mitchell White carried from the ground on a stretcher. A six-goal-to-three final quarter—including another two to Waterhouse and singles to Steven Koops, Andrew Shipp, Dale Kickett and Brad Dodd—saw Fremantle hit the lead by two points. With only seconds to spare, the Eagles pushed forward, and a loose ball was unable to be gathered in by makeshift forward Darren Glass, resulting in a rushed behind and a one-point victory for Fremantle, only their second-ever in a Western Derby.

The following suspensions and fines were handed out as a result of the brawl:^[2]

• Dale Kickett was suspended for a total of nine matches for striking Phillip Read twice and striking Andrew Embley once.
• Michael Gardiner was suspended for two matches for striking Matthew Pavlich.
• Brad Dodd was suspended for two matches for attempting to strike Phillip Read, while Read was suspended for two matches for striking Dodd in retaliation.
• Seven players from Fremantle (Heath Black, Paul Hasleby, Shaun McManus, Clem Michael, Jason Norrish, Jess Sinclair and Andrew Shipp) and five players from West Coast (Ben Cousins, Andrew Embley, Kane Munro, Michael Gardiner and Phillip Read) were reported for melee involvement. Embley was found not guilty; the remaining players were fined between $2000 and $4000.

The following week, both teams were well beaten, with Fremantle beaten by Brisbane by 107 points at the Gabba, and Melbourne winning by 70 points over the Eagles at Subiaco.

London Derby: 2005

The only time the fixture was played outside of Perth was in October 2005 at The Oval in Kennington, South London. West Coast had narrowly finished as runner-up to Sydney the previous month but were missing their vaunted midfield of Cousins, Chris Judd and Daniel Kerr. The game included a third-quarter fight and the Dockers' Jeff Farmer and the Eagles' Adam Hunter kicking four goals each. No video footage has been shared from the game, which Fremantle won by 13.12 (90) to 11.7 (73) in front of nearly 19,000 people, which was a record crowd for an Australian rules football game in England.^[4]

Derby XXV: Round 3, 2007

The Round 3, 2007, match will be remembered as one of the most controversial and spiteful derbies ever played. Nearing three-quarter time, Fremantle's Des Headland was reported by umpire Stuart Wenn for striking and wrestling with West Coast's Adam Selwood, who made an inappropriate comment about a tattoo on Headland's arm, which depicted his then six-year-old daughter.

The case was heard on 18 April, with Selwood cleared of using abusive language towards Headland. Headland was found guilty of both striking and wrestling with Selwood, but was not suspended because of "exceptional and compelling circumstances by way of provocation".^[5]

West Coast won this match by 31 points, and Michael Braun was awarded the Ross Glendinning Medal, ending his acceptance speech with "Let's have a fucking good year"^[6] which was broadcast to 550,000 viewers on live television and to the 42,551 in attendance.^[7][8] Braun was fined $500 by the Eagles, but the AFL intervened, severely reprimanded the Eagles, and fined Braun an additional $5,000.^[9][10]

Several weeks after the match, Selwood officially apologised to women, and claimed that he did not mean what he had said to Headland four weeks earlier. Paradoxically, he also claimed that he was badly treated by the media because he was innocent of the charges in the Headland saga and he should have just been allowed to prove his innocence.^[11]

Derby XXXIV: Round 18, 2011

The closest finish to a derby occurred in Round 18, 2011, when Eagles midfielder Matt Rosa was penalised by umpire Dean Margetts in a deliberate-out-of-bounds decision with West Coast leading by two points in the dying seconds. Having earned a free kick from the decision, Hayden Ballantyne had a chance to win the game for Fremantle with a shot after the siren from 50 metres out on a tight angle; and, while his drop punt looked a goal for much of its journey, it hit the padding on the right-hand goalpost amid a sea of hands from both sides,^[12] leaving the Eagles the winners by a single point, 8.17 (65) to Fremantle's 9.10 (64).^[13] Ballantyne prematurely celebrated, believing that the kick was a goal and had won the match.^[14]

This proved to be the catalyst for both sides as the season wound down. Fremantle slid down the ladder, losing the next six matches in succession to end a disappointing season, while West Coast went on to win their remaining home-and-away matches.

Derby XLVIII: Round 20, 2018

Nearly two decades after the most violent derby in its history, another infamous contest occurred in Round 20, 2018. During the third quarter, West Coast midfielder Andrew Gaff struck Fremantle first-year player Andrew Brayshaw in the face in an incident which occurred off the ball and resulted in Brayshaw suffering a broken jaw.^[15][16] Gaff was targeted by Fremantle players for the remainder of the game, until his coach decided to bench him after suffering from a double-team shoulder hit from two Fremantle players.^[17] Gaff was sent straight to the AFL Tribunal the following day,^[18] where he pleaded guilty to intentionally striking Brayshaw and subsequently suspended for eight AFL matches, thus missing the AFL finals, where West Coast would go on to win the 2018 premiership.^[19]

Derby LI: 2020

For the first time, due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic reducing the season to 17 games, only a single derby was played in 2020. The ground capacity was restricted to half of the maximum to allow for social distancing. The crowd of 25,306 people was the highest for the AFL since the pandemic started, but the lowest ever for a ticketed derby. West Coast won by 30 points, setting a new record of ten consecutive derby wins, dating back to August 2015.

Derby LVII: 2023

The derby resembled the one held in 2009, with both Western Australian teams positioned in the bottom 4 of the ladder at the time of the match. Fremantle broke its record of the highest margin in a derby, 101 points.^[20] West Coast's score of 4.9 (33) was its lowest ever in a derby.^[21]

Western Derby results

Women's Western Derby results

Best on ground winners

Round	Year	Winner	Ref.
Round 2	2020	Kiara Bowers	[24]
Round 2	2021	Kiara Bowers (2)	[25]
Round 6	2021	Kiara Bowers (3)	[26]
Round 1	2022 (S6)	Kiara Bowers (4) Ebony Antonio	[27]
Round 5	2022 (S7)	Hayley Miller	[28]
Round 1	2023	Ella Roberts	[29]

Timeline of results

Statistics

Up-to-date at the completion of Derby 57

Most Goals in One Game

Player	Date	Round	Club	Goals	Behinds
Scott Cummings	2000	Round 6	West Coast Eagles	10	2
Matthew Pavlich	2012	Round 19	Fremantle	8	2
Josh Kennedy	2016	Round 20	West Coast Eagles	7	2
Clive Waterhouse	2000	Round 21	Fremantle	7	2
Josh Kennedy	2017	Round 6	West Coast Eagles	6	2
Tony Modra	1999	Round 16	Fremantle	6	2
Troy Wilson	2002	Round 1	West Coast Eagles	6	1

Most Career Goals

Player	Club	Goals	Behinds	Games	Goals/Game
Matthew Pavlich	Fremantle	61	35	34	1.79
Jack Darling	West Coast Eagles	59	29	24	2.46
Josh Kennedy	West Coast Eagles	55	34	21	2.62
Mark LeCras	West Coast Eagles	43	22	18	2.39
Phil Matera	West Coast Eagles	37	16	16	2.31
Michael Walters	Fremantle	35	17	19	1.84
Hayden Ballantyne	Fremantle	24	10	15	1.60
Jeff Farmer	Fremantle	19	10	11	1.73
Scott Cummings	West Coast Eagles	19	2	4	4.75

Games played

Player	Club	Derbies
Matthew Pavlich	Fremantle	34
David Mundy	Fremantle	31
Shannon Hurn	West Coast Eagles	28
Dean Cox	West Coast Eagles	27
Aaron Sandilands	Fremantle	26
Andrew Gaff	West Coast Eagles	25
Jack Darling	West Coast Eagles	24
Darren Glass	West Coast Eagles	24

Brownlow Votes

Brownlow Votes through the end of the 2022 AFL season.^{[needs update]}

Player	Club	Votes	Games	Average
Daniel Kerr	West Coast Eagles	15	17	0.88
Guy McKenna	West Coast Eagles	13	11	1.18
Stephen Hill	Fremantle	12	19	0.63
Chris Judd	West Coast Eagles	11	11	1.00
Ben Cousins	West Coast Eagles	11	20	0.55
Paul Hasleby	Fremantle	11	20	0.55
Aaron Sandilands	Fremantle	11	24	0.45
Matthew Pavlich	Fremantle	11	34	0.32
Peter Bell	Fremantle	10	15	0.66
Josh Kennedy	West Coast Eagles	10	21	0.48

Other Western Derbys

AFL Women's

In preparation for the 2017 launch of the AFL women's league competition, the AFL held 10 Exhibition Series matches during 2016. The only match held in Perth featured both a women's side from the Fremantle Football Club & the West Coast Eagles, played as a curtain-raiser for the men's Western Derby, won by the West Coast Eagles. The First Western Derby in the AFLW took place on 15 February 2020, when the West Coast Eagles lost to the Fremantle Dockers at Optus Stadium.