1919 - 1944
The prospects for the coming season are very bright
As Western Australia recovers from WW1, regional football takes off. An attempt to establish a home for football fails. Victoria Park and Caledonian dominate the scene. Harold Boys, Wally Gardiner and Syd Hinton emerge as our first internationals.
1919
League football re-commences with nine teams in competition. But a shortage of players leads Corinthian to drop out after the opening round and by mid-season Hospital for the Insane have done the same.
1920
The visiting Australian Naval Fleet play a series of games while in Perth. The Naval side goes down 7-0 to the State team, HMS Sydney loses 7-1 to a Country XI and the Encounter surrenders 5-2 to a Fremantle/Claremont select.
1921
The Bunbury British Association Football Club affiliates with the WABFA.
1922
With football in the regions flourishing, a Country Carnival is played on the Esplanade in Perth. An undefeated Collie win the event ahead of Gnowangerup, Geraldton and Bunbury.
1923
The games controlling body changes its name to the Western Australian Soccer Football Association.
William Leslie’s 19-year reign as association president comes to an end. Leslie, a civil and mechanial engineer by trade, was instrumental in the acquistion of the magnificent Charity Cup trophy.
The WASFA acquires a block of land on the corner of Davies and Alfred Roads in Claremont. Development of an enclosed ground on the site takes six years and the venue, which is plagued by a sandy surface, is eventually forfeited.
1924
Jimmy Gordon puts away 48 goals across the winter season as Northern Casuals win the Challenge Cup & Shield and Charity Cup after placing second in the league.
1925
Western Australia defeats the English Cricket Team 5-3 at Subiaco Oval. A Jimmy Gordon hat-trick and a brace from brother Andy Gordon sends the crowd of 7,000 home happy.
State goalkeeper H.Boland breaks his leg in a 7-0 loss to the England FA. It’s the first time an official team representing the English Football Association plays in Australia.
Claremont teammates Harold Boys and Wally Gardiner become the first players from Western Australia to represent Australia when they are selected to play the England FA in Adelaide. The English win 4-1 with Gardiner scoring for Australia.
League champions Thistle make an end of season trip to Adelaide. They lose an Interstate Champions Match 3-0 to West Torrens before claiming a 2-0 victory over the Combined Metropolis XI.
1926
A system of promotion and relegation between Division One and Division Two is introduced.
Tom Moss finds the back of the net nine times as North Cottesloe register a 12-0 thrashing of Rangers.
Western Australia participates in their first Australian Schoolboys Carnival, which takes place in Adelaide. They finish bottom after losing all four of their games.
1927
Women’s football takes its first tentative steps with a team playing in the southern town of Lake Grace.
A Czechoslovakia-Bohemia squad is the first European team to officially visit Australia. They whip the State team 11-3 but two days later the locals are more competitive, losing 4-6.
A weekly publication called “WA Soccer News” is launched late in August.
The Western Australian Under-18 team play in the Australian Junior Championship in Adelaide. Like the Schoolboys the year before, the State team fails to win a game.
1928
Jack Conduit scores 10 goals in Victoria Park’s 17-1 thrashing of his former club, Perth City. The following week he helps himself to another seven goals in a 15-2 victory over Armadale.
Thistle defender Syd Hinton gains selection in the Australian squad for a two-month tour of East Java and Singapore. Hinton features in 14 of the 23 games played against local club and representative sides.
1929
Margaret are the first league champions of the Augusta-Margaret River Soccer Association.
1930
For the first time, the association published a yearbook containing fixtures for the coming season and a club directory.
1931
Victoria Park make a clean sweep of the major trophies, winning Division One, the Challenge Cup & Shield and the Charity Cup. They repeat the achievement three years later.
A prize is awarded to the seasons best player for the first time. The inaugural Dunkling Medal winners are Thistle’s Albert ‘Vic’ Hayter (Division One), G.Ross of Midland (Division Two) and William Burbridge of Claremont-North Cottesloe (Reserve League).
1933
The Charity Cup final requires three games before a winner is decided. Victoria Park eventually defeat Northern Casuals 1-0.
The game suffers a double blow with long-serving pair Alec Marr and Jimmy Gordon announcing their retirements.
The year ends with Victoria Park’s Jack Conduit, recipient of the 1933 Dunkling Medal, signing a short-term contract with English club Blackpool.
1935
Western Australia records its largest ever winning margin by defeating the Japanese Navy 12-3 on Saturday 13th April at Claremont Showgrounds. Jack Conduit leads the way with six goals, J.Waddell scores three and the remainder is shared by Williams, S.Smith and an own goal by Nakumura.
The number of county associations affiliated with the WASFA increases to 18 in July with the addition of the Hotham Valley Soccer Association and the Northcliffe Soccer Association.
1936
The Challenge Cup & Sheild is shared by Caledonian and Victoria Park after the final is deadlocked at 1-1 and a replay is not possible due to a shortage of time. The same happens again twelve months later, Caledonian and Victoria Park finishing 1-1 with no time for a replay.
1938
Goldfields team Boulder City acquit themselves well while on tour. They defeat Tasmania 3-2 in Adelaide, get the better of South Australia 2-0 before going down 3-1 to Adelaide. They then travel to New South Wales where they’re beaten 5-2 by Wallsend.
Western Australia defeats India 5-1 at the WACA Ground. Bill Waddell gets four of the goals with Jack Conduit the scorer of the other. Most of the Indian players perform without boots, preferring to wear simple strappings.
1939
Victoria Park claim the Division One title for a sixth season in a row. They finish level on points with Caledonian but secure the trophy with a 3-2 play-off victory.
Caledonian find compensation by winning the Challenge Cup & Shield, the Charity Cup and the Association Cup.
1940
Fremantle City have so many players unavailable due to military duties that they are forced to forfeit the Challenge Cup & Shield final to Victoria Park.
1941
Caledonian easily win a six-team Division One, after which local leagues are suspended due to World War II.
1943
At a Prisoner of War camp in Marrinup, about 100km south of Perth, teams made up of Italians and Germans play football on Saturday afternoons.
