1945 - 1964
A breakaway movement is NOT the remedy
1945
Jolly Rogers, a team representing the submarine supply ship HMS Adamant which is based in Fremantle, win all eighteen games to claim Division One.
1946
An exhibition match between two country women’s teams – Rosabrook Ladies and Margaret Ladies – takes place at a carnival in Margaret River in mid-August.
1947
The 50th anniverary of organised football in Western Australia is celebrated with a dinner attended by a large number of past officials and players. ‘The Western Australian Soccer Jubilee Handbook’, a 92-page publication, is released.
The Northam and Districts Soccer Association is formed. The five clubs – Dnipro, Jadran, White Eagles, Victoria and Wundowie – feature players drawn predominantly from the Northam migrant camps.
1948
Western Australia wins its’ first interstate tournament by defeating Tasmania 6-2 in the final of the Southern States Carnival in Adelaide. Alan Beale is the State’s top scorer with six goals.
1949
The ‘WA Soccer Football Journal’ is issued with the start of the season. The weekly publication runs through to 1953, by which time it’s called the ‘WA Soccer Mail’
22 women from Fremantle City play a social game in May. Four months later women from the North Perth club play against a men’s team in a benefit match for two injured players.
1952
The season is peppered by on-field altercations. Stones are thrown at referee H.Baker while while officiating at Swan Valley and a spectator attacks North Perth goalkeeper Ken Day at Dorrien Gardens.
The first broadcast of a local game takes place on Saturday 12 July when the Azzurri-Swan Valley fixture goes out on radio 6IX-WB-MD.
South Perth’s Frank McShane is the recipient of the inaugural Ledger Medal, awarded to the seasons’ “most outstanding” player.
1953
The WASFA plays the ‘game of the round’ at Bayswater Oval. The decision is not universally popular as it denies clubs matchday income.
Azzurri’s Edmundo Faletti tops the league’s goal scorer charts after netting 25 times during the season. Six of those came in a 9-0 thrashing of Spearwood Rovers.
An undefeated Azzurri – who were formed only four years earlier – make a clean sweep of the major trophies on offer, topping the First Division and victorious in both the Charity Cup and Challenge Cup & Shield.
North Perth’s Ron Adair wins the first of three successive Ledger Medals. Twelve months later he is a Maccabean player and for 1955 he is with Azzurri.
1954
Wisla SC becomes Collie Association league champions for the first of fourteen consecutive seasons.
1955
A record 14,000 crowd witness a football masterclass from Austrian side Rapid Vienna, who trounced Western Australia 6-1 and 10-0 in early August.
Noel Adair becomes the first West Australian to be substituted on in an official fixture when he replaces Bob Lynn in the State teams’ first outing with Rapid Vienna.
Defender Ron Adair becomes the first player from West Australia to captain Australia when he leads the national team out to play Rapid Vienna in Adelaide. Unfortunately, the visiting Austrian’s win 8-2.
1956
North Perth captain Con Purser is named in Australia’s squad for the Olympic Games in Melbourne.
1958
The WASFA threatens to suspend any player who accepts money to play football. “We are an amateur body and we have to comply with our amateur rules,” said president Merv Niven.
The women’s teams of Azzurri and Julia meet in a friendly at Dorrien Gardens, where the former claims victory by 3-0.
1959
East Fremantle Tricolore’s John McInroy scores nine times in a 12-2 defeat of Perth City.
1960
ABC TV televises live part of the Swan Valley-Windmills fixture on Saturday 23 April. The first full game to be broadcast is the Monday 6 June clash between North Perth-Osborne and Olympic.
A mid-season meeting at the WA Italian Club on Monday 11 July prompts the formation of the Western Australia Soccer Federation. Eight clubs join the breakaway, semi-professional league.
With two associations running in parallel there are two Division One champions – North Perth-Osborne (WASFA) and Azzurri (WASF).
The inaugural D’Orsogna Cup, a new knock-out competition, is won by Azzurri, who trounce rivals East Fremantle Tricolore 7-3 in the final.
1961
Swan Athletic claim a new pre-season Night Series competition by defeating Windmills 5-2.
John McInroy is the first recipient of a Top Goalscorer honour with 27 goals. The East Fremantle Tricolore finisher wins the award six times in the next nine seasons, accumulating a staggering 240 goals.
The Charity Cup is contested for the last time with the winners being Swan Valley, who defeat Spearwood Rovers 5-2 in the final.
An end-of-season finals series, the Top Four Cup, commences. East Fremantle Tricolore lift the trophy after defeating Windmills 2-1.
1962
Membership of the WASF expands to 21 clubs, prompting the addition of a Division Two.
The West Australian Soccer Referees Association comes about through an amalgamation of the referee bodies of the WASF and the WASFA.
1963
The WASFA, whose roots stretch back to 1896, ceases operations. The WASF is now the games controlling body.
Jack Smethurst, West Australia’s Best Player in their 1948 South State Carnival success, makes his final appearance for Perth City at the age of 41.
The West Australian High School Soccer Association team becomes the first State team to travel overseas when they visit South-East Asia.
1964
Visiting English side Everton humble Western Australia 14-1 at the WACA Ground. The fixture on Wednesday 20 May establishes a new attendance record of 16,019.
Windmills’ Theo Paap wins the first of a record five Gold Medals as Western Australia’s best player. The classy defender collects the award again in 1965, 1967, 1968 and 1970.
The year closes with the WASF re-branding themselves the Soccer Federation of Western Australia.
