Why do you support Fremantle?

[Kram81]

Interested in hearing reasons why people support the club.

Do you live in Fremantle?

Did you like the pretty purple jumper?

Did you simply like the underdog?

Did you hate the Slime and simply waited for a local alternative?

Seen a team in '95' that took a ridiculous amount of hangers and decided to join up?

Claremont/Gerard Neesham/Phil Gilbert fan?

[DOCKER MAN]

Well initially it was because I just had this hatrid for the eagles, i could not stand there fans and i did not want to be a part of that mob. Freo were the other WA team and i consider myself as an underdog in alot of things so it was the perfect match. They have me hooked for life no matter what happens!

Go Freo

[Bradesmaen]

Its been a long time since I started supporting of course but I think with the decline of the Crows in 94 and me being 8 years old, I got bored and liked the idea of a team with green in it. So I switched allegiances. I know I probably cop shit for not being an Adelaide fan but meh I'm willing to take it, not everyone supports a team from their state!

[pinkus maximus]

as the old saying goes "you dont pick your team, your team picks you"

i started following footy casually in 95 but i never barracked for anyone. in 97 i was watcing a derby with my weagle loving brother and i just kept willing freo to win.that was the day that i knew i was a freo supporter

[NiGHTFuRY]

Born and Bred SOR, first generation Australian - mostly Fremantle and surrounding suburbs. My father took me to WAFL from a very early age. We are Sowfs supporters through and through.
In Pre Dockers days I flirted with Essendon as my VFL team as I guess I was a young lad and was dazzled by the success the team had, [which is why I love the idea of Harv's and possibly Sheeds at Freo - they KNOW how to win premierships, if they have the cattle.]
Then they announced Fremantle were gonna have a team - and as they were a natural evolution and extension of my beloved South Fremantle Bulldogs and our powerful nemeses Old Easts, I didn't hesitate a second to jump on board.
My dad & I went to the first Derby - in which we were pretty much destroyed by the then reigning premiers. It was then I had my first inkling at how repulsive & disgusting WC fans are, when as a 17 yr old I nearly got in a fist fight with a middle aged drunken, slurring Scottish fellow who kept bellowing " Yer Gett'n Haaammerd" [ I remember this with clarity].
I told him to shut up as his drunken swaying was pissing me off and he was ripping my newly formed team. I suddenly realized the recently purchased Freo' scarf was a badge of honour - to set us aside from scum like this fellow [ not picking on Scot's here - My fathers side of the family are from Northern Lanchishire, very close to Scotland , and I have a few Sottish mates that are tops ].
Anyways, I told the old twat that he could go forth and do something in words I dont recall at the moment and my Father wisely doused the fire of the situation and took me away and bought some beers for us.
From that moment on, it galvinised me - I became a staunch Freo supporter... Ridden the Ups - plummeted to the depths (like this season:() without an ounce of regret. I have never wavered.
The Purple Horde is my team.
I love the club, team, fellow supporters and our "underdog" image -which isn't exactly true anymore - but I'd rather be draped in purple following an ascending team with our glory to come, than cheering for a team with a lot of foul mis-behaving supporters who whinge without shame upon loss.

[DeChicken]

I have always lived in the dirty south and have followed Freo from day one.
I work in Bayswater so the ratio is approx 30 Eagles to 3 Dockers supporters.
I love to stir them up as much as possible.
The derby we just won was the best day of my lie this year.

GO FREO!!!!

[Cameron_K]

Born and bred in Freo, Family members worked at Fremantle hospital for 4 generations, grandparents owned the newsagency across from the Freo Hospital at one stage.

Freo is in my blood.

[MissMel]

well my first association with freo was in 1995 when one of the guys i shared a house with Knew Macca quite well, so when the season started i was given a hat and scarf and stuff. My affliation with them turned into much much more(love them) in 2001 when i was taken to my first live game, still have the ticket, round 1 carlton/freo, dockers down by a point what a fantastic experience. Since that wonderful day ive gone mad and have managed to brain wash my neice, and even turned some eagles supporters into full blown docker supporters.
good luck for the rest of the season boys and looking forward to next year

[j0nni]

Do you live in Fremantle? Not quite :P

Did you like the pretty purple jumper? Sure do...it's purdy lol.

Did you hate the Slime and simply waited for a local alternative? In Melbourne there's no hatred really between the two teams :P

Well with me...I just got hooked over the years of watching them play...I kinda felt sorry for them, which made me watch them play on tv.

[estibador]

I was a little cricket nut when I was a little tacker and had never watched a whole game of footy pre-95. I was just starting to get into other sports when it was announced a Freo team would be joining the AFL, so I thought it would be cool to follow a new team from it's inception. Plus it appealed to me that Fremantle was named after a real place like all the other teams, rather than some made up name like west coast.

I watched our first few games, realised what a great game footy is and was hooked. I'm just eternally thankful that I didn't start watching footy earlier or I might have ended up an eagles supporter. Heaven forbid.

[NiGHTFuRY]

I watched our first few games, realised what a great game footy is and was hooked. I'm just eternally thankful that I didn't start watching footy earlier or I might have ended up an eagles supporter. Heaven forbid.

They have cyanide tablets for that :p;).

[dart]

cause i don't like the eagles! ;)

[freo heave ho]

They have cyanide tablets for that :p;).

Don't get them confused with the tablets for the Eagles players!

My family have been Claremont supporters for generations- so for us it was a Neesham thing- particularly with the early loading of Claremont players in the team.

The dislike for the eagles came later.

[bushie]

Born and Bred SOR, first generation Australian - mostly Fremantle and surrounding suburbs. My father took me to WAFL from a very early age. We are Sowfs supporters through and through.
In Pre Dockers days I flirted with Essendon as my VFL team as I guess I was a young lad and was dazzled by the success the team had, [which is why I love the idea of Harv's and possibly Sheeds at Freo - they KNOW how to win premierships, if they have the cattle.]
Then they announced Fremantle were gonna have a team - and as they were a natural evolution and extension of my beloved South Fremantle Bulldogs and our powerful nemeses Old Easts, I didn't hesitate a second to jump on board.
My dad & I went to the first Derby - in which we were pretty much destroyed by the then reigning premiers. It was then I had my first inkling at how repulsive & disgusting WC fans are, when as a 17 yr old I nearly got in a fist fight with a middle aged drunken, slurring Scottish fellow who kept bellowing " Yer Gett'n Haaammerd" [ I remember this with clarity].
I told him to shut up as his drunken swaying was pissing me off and he was ripping my newly formed team. I suddenly realized the recently purchased Freo' scarf was a badge of honour - to set us aside from scum like this fellow [ not picking on Scot's here - My fathers side of the family are from Northern Lanchishire, very close to Scotland , and I have a few Sottish mates that are tops ].
Anyways, I told the old twat that he could go forth and do something in words I dont recall at the moment and my Father wisely doused the fire of the situation and took me away and bought some beers for us.
From that moment on, it galvinised me - I became a staunch Freo supporter... Ridden the Ups - plummeted to the depths (like this season:() without an ounce of regret. I have never wavered.
The Purple Horde is my team.
I love the club, team, fellow supporters and our "underdog" image -which isn't exactly true anymore - but I'd rather be draped in purple following an ascending team with our glory to come, than cheering for a team with a lot of foul mis-behaving supporters who whinge without shame upon loss.



Geez that is a great post!!:thumbsu:

You can almost taste the passion!

Very similar to my experience...including the Sowfs bit:thumbsu:.....and I didn't really give a shyte who won in the VFL.

But I also loved watching The Winners because there was some great footy to be seen that you could appreciate without prejudice. Plus you could catch a glimpse or two of your favourite WA boys who were tearing the VFL appart.

When "the mob down the road" were introduced I watched with interest, because of the W.A. connection, but I never felt the slightest connection to them.

Too me.........they always have, and always will have, a "plastic" element about the club.

It's a cliche

.....especially on BigFooty:p......

but they are soulless.....!!

A lot of reasonable people barrack for them...

(but a hell of a lot more are condescending, arrogant pricks:mad:)

The club as a hole....oops, sorry....."whole".. has always been just too "American" for me.

So when the writing was on the wall that a "Fremantle" team was to be introduced into this "National" league I was sold immediately.

Anyone who lived in WA , and who didn't barrack for the Eagles at that time, was thoroughly sick and tired of the "circular saw like" screaching of their fans when they lost a game.

Those same fans blind and unswerving belief that having the blessed opportunity of assembling their team around one of the finest periods in WA junior football....plus the rest of the well debated points on these boards... having nothing to do with their success just gives me the shits!!


I also went to that Derby.

But since I am a little bit older than you,( not wiser:o),......and also I didn't have the wise council of my father with me.... my "incident" flared into actual physical violence.

Mate....that Granny was vicious with her knitting needles.





;)





Seriously, I had a run in with a loud, foul mouthed, yella and blue wearing jerk at that game.

And as this was my first true "at the footy" related experience with "them" I have hated the slime, even more, ever since.

[iscah]

Wanted a real football club where

- success was earnt not given on a plate
- the fans can feel part of the club, rather than being treated like a dollar coin
- fans can become part of the club to give our views
- there was an acceptable level of behaviour that respected the community, and importantly punishment if you did not
- that had some personality amongst the fans and the club coach - very important
- that me and the family could feel proud of

Freo have done all that..

As part of my business, we indoctrate about 200 new fans each season through our corporate thankyou packs to our clients ..

[Reveler]

I was always a basketball kid when I grew up, never got into football..

When the dockers started (I was 12 at the time) my Dad and Uncle both being strong East Freo supporters decided to become members of the Dockers, they bought a family membership so we had 2 kids tickets between me and my three brothers.

So I got to go to a few games, and started to get into it. It grew on me, I started playing football as well.. so from then on in I was a Dockers supporter.

I don't believe in switching clubs, so I'll stay a supporter for life. I have converted my (soon to be) mrs and half her family.. I love the atmosphere at the game, the cult hero players and the atmosphere when we win.

Success is earned, and Freo will earn it one day, and when we do.. I will be standing there cheering and celebrating with other Freo supporters, because that is just what I do.

[summerthebat]

My Grandfather used to play for South Fremantle and played wing for Western Australia twice, was born into being a South's fan, no argument. Only natural to be a Freo fan!

[Jackey J]

When the Eagles were introduced I could never support them due to the overwhelming fevour of their moronic fans. Not that I had anything against the club. So at the time I decided to stick with the Bombers, was following them due to the awesome clips you could see on The Winners program.

I went and lived in Sydney for 7 years and followed South Sydney Rabbitohs. Strangely enough because they had green in their uniform (same as Bradesmaen) and they were entertaining underdogs.

When I moved to SA I started following AFL again and the Dockers were now in the League. I wanted to follow a WA Club and now had the chance to follow one I could actually like. Souths and Dockers at the time, (and still) remind me a lot of each other.

[Topdock65]

After being born into a South Fremantle Family, Father, Grandfather all followed them so I had no choice in being a South Fremantle person. When the WCE and Bris joined the VFL, I felt sorry for the WAFL and could`nt bring myself to follow the WCE.

So until Freo joined the AFL, I followed AFL teams that had South Freo players in them... ie Saints - Winmar, Geelong - Bairstow etc...

Once Freo got the nod, I jumped in straight away and am there for life. Love the Dockers, Love the Fans and like the passion and open and honest views of our fans, even if we dont all agree at least we still support them.

Good things come to those who wait, and we all know our day will come and how sweet thats going to be.
:thumbsu:

[shibz_1989]

Well, when I was little (younger then 4) my Mum used to take me St Kilda games, so naturally I supporter them. I wasn't really much of a footy follower, even though I lived in Melbourne quite a bit. I remember us living there during the Crows/Saints grand final, and Mum deciding not to go coz she knew they'd make it again...:o

Anyways, when I was in year 4 I started following footy more closely, kinda go over over by year 5. My family (my Mum included) have always had a soft spot for Freo, being that they hate WC.

Back in 04, when I was in year 10, the Saints came to play over here, and it happened to be the day of my formal. Mum still went, and I remember hoping Freo would win just to piss her off :D

When she brought tickets for that game, she got pretty good seats, however, she got a phone call from the FFC stating that those tickets weren't meant to have been sold, and that she couldn't have em. They offered her tickets to the Freo Vs Brisbane game, or the Freo Vs Melbourne game, but Mum told em that she was a Saints supporter and that they'd be no use to her. So, they found her other tickets AND gave her tickets to the game against Brisbane (where Meddders kicked 9). I was a bit reluctant to go, I think I was a bit crook that day, but I still went along. And since then, I've never looked back. :) :thumbsu:

[Dyslexic Emo]

My story starts when I first set foot on the land that is Australia,

After moning my way down the Eastern Coast of Australia by way of Sydney (Batemans Bay...which I called BatMans' Bay as I was a kid) to Kew in Melbourne, I never really took an intreast in AFL due to my European background and as such would rather watch Soccer, however my older brother and the rest of the kids on my street were all footy mad and cricket mad...we even had Ray Smith of the Bombers live on our street and were best freinds with his two sons...so it soon happened that I became intersted in AFL....due to Local proximity to Hawthorn, this became my adopted team mainly because my older brother played in their colours so i followed his lead....though I never really followed them seriously.

Until that is when we moved to Perth, East Fremantle to be precise. New school, new freinds and as fate will have it A new team was going to be made and almost all my new mates Decided to become Freo boys, So I followed suit as all impresionalbe young kids do, Even had Shaun Mac at our graduation.

From there whenever anyone asked who I follwed I would reply Freo, but I'll be the first to admit, I would have had NO idea who the players were besides a small few.

Fast forward to 2001....Freo Languishing in bottom spot....I decide I NEED TO PICK THIS TEAM UP....and as they couldn't get any lower they could only really go up yeah? so there it is...I'm A PURPLE PERSON....kinda the opposite of a bandwagoner really when you think about it....two years later we make our first final....you can thank me later:D

But yeah that's pretty much it. Oh yeah...one of the kids thast lived on the street in Melbourne was a die hard Collingwood suporter....we didn't like him...he made fun of me when I couldn't speak english.....Therefore ever since I HATE COLLINGWOOD....So where does my dislking for the Eagles come from...I'm not really sure....it's just always been there....strange that:eek:

[longsuffreosupp]

no long stories here

always had a soft spot for them (as I think a lot of people do), but as I'm from the country, I didn't get to see them live until 96 vs Carlton. That year was still a pretty average one, but by that time the Wiggles supporters were froathing that we had a poor year. It only increased my hate for the blue and yellow, and latched onto the underdog status of Freo.

[magnusio]

i like freo because everyone else goes for the eagles so wen we beet them i can giv em shit

[Kram81]

but as I'm from the country, I didn't get to see them live until 96 vs Carlton.

The first game I went to also, what an upset that was. Never forget the peanut screaming at Greg Williams "GIVE BACK YOUR MEDAL" or the excited bloke standing up then going arse up after he forgot that it was a new flip up seat.

[Tony_Clifton]

here goes.......
I used to support the eagles.

I was quite passionate about them.
I rode my bike down the street dinkying a mate and we were yelling our 12 year old heads off when they won their first flag. My favourite eagles player was Chris Lewis, I still hate Tod Viney to this day.

I went to the 1997 (or was it 1998) WAFL grand final between East Perth and Claremont. My mates were going for East Perth so I decided to go for Claremont. Claremont won a very close game and I ran onto the field looking for "Lewie" who I had been cheering on all day but I couldn't find him. Instead I found Andy McGovern and gave him a big hug. Funny how before the game started I didn't even know who I was going for but by the final siren I was running around subiaco like crazy! Looking back on it now it seems wierd hugging a male stranger but at the time it was like we were both just caught up in the euphoria.

Anyway back to my footballing transition.


For a few years I was a typical Freagle, this meaning I really wanted the Eagles to win each weekend and the Dockers game each weekend was more of a second chance draw. A bit of a consolation prize.

In the late nineties, early naughties I found myself getting bored with West Coast victories. Victories were becoming robotic and meaningless to me whereas with each Docker victory there was genuine excitement. My Freagleness was evening up and for about a year I probably went for both teams evenly.

Then came the demolition derby. When Michael Gardiner started throwing punches before the bounce at a young Pavlich I knew where my allegiances lay. That 2 minutes before the game was where I stopped being a freagle. I had been dilly dallying with my freaglness almost indefinately but this was like a light being switched on. The dockers now became Fremantle and the eagles became West Coast. Freo was all that was goodin the world and West Coast were the hated side of of evil.

A good time to start being a full on Freo supporter isn't it? A minute before the bounce of the demolition derby. My hatred for West Coast intensified throughout the game. The actual game and result was a win for the good guys but it had nothing to do with me having my belief structure change. It was the minute before the game when Gardiner was trying to bully and intimidate Pav.

So ends my somewhat embarrassing transition from eagle to Freagle to Freo.

[estibador]

So ends my somewhat embarrassing transition from eagle to Freagle to Freo.

A truly inspirational story of good triumphing over evil.

Take note the rest of you eagles supporters - it's never too late to repent your wicked sins.

[NiGHTFuRY]

A truly inspirational story of good triumphing over evil.

Take note the rest of you eagles supporters - it's never too late to repent your wicked sins.

yes... indeed...

all you eagles fans... I know you read our boards...
I'm waving at you now as you read this.....

Darth Vader renouced his wicked ways and reverted back to the jedi side of the force once he had the miasma of the dark side lifted from his vision....... The Empire never lasted.... West Coast will not either...

You too can find peace like Anakin did... :p;)

[Dyslexic Emo]

Also aren't you sick of being touted as Chardonnay sipping tossers?

How about swapping to Red wine....where the real flaour and passion lies

Red wine (Fremantle) > White wine (Eagles) >---------------->Rose (Freagles)

:D

[Keyser Soze]

Just because a few of the weak willed among us skulked off to the purple side, doesn't mean the brave and true in our ranks will follow.

Certainly not before you win a premiership at least.

Then we'll all come running to jump on the best bandwagon in town.;)

[NiGHTFuRY]

Just because a few of the weak willed among us skulked off to the purple side, doesn't mean the brave and true in our ranks will follow.

Certainly not before you win a premiership at least.

Then we'll all come running to jump on the best bandwagon in town.;)

It is never weak willed to serve the side of light my friend ;)

Were you or are you not an East Fremantle Fan?

[freocynic]

I'll try make my story kinda short...

I used to go to every WAFL game that South Freo played as a kid. Me and about 5 mates followed South religiously. We loved them. I used to also watch the winners and followed several different VFL teams at different times but never seriously.

Then in '87 the Eagles were created. They were from West Coast, wherever the f*ck that is!? I instantly hated them because they took all the best South Fremantle players. Guys I had followed like Matera (the older one, Wally), John Worsfold, Peter Sumich and later Glen Jakovich to name a few, were all guys I loved at Souths, but now they were playing for this 'composite' team. And in the early eagle days going to the football was more like going to a carnival. There was noone dressed in eagles jumpers, and supporters would kind of barrack for players depending on which WAFL team they were from. The crowd was largely apathetic and that sh*t me, it was very un-football like.

The years 90 through to 95 there was always reports in the media that WA could support a second AFL team and that it would be from Freo. So I like to say I have been following Freo since BEFORE they even played their first game. I didn't know that we would pick some bad colours/song/jumpers and even players but even with the benefit of hindsight I don't think I could ever have supported anyone else anyway. I distinctly remember the first edition of 'the docker' newspaper which said something like 'who cares if we look like a load of callata, at least we are. We exist.' I still don't know what callata is.

When we started in 1995 my hatred for the eagles actually mellowed. I had a new team to love. They wear purple which I now also love. My team. Fremantle.