Coming on board

by LES EVERETT

THIS week I was elected onto the board of the Fremantle Football Club.

new board

Newly elected FFC directors David Garic & Les Everett try out the board room and show off their new corporate uniform.

David Garic, better known to some readers and FreoMob members as Docker Dave, polled the most votes in the historic first election for board members and I ran second. That means Dave gets a two year term and I'm there for one..

The campaign period was mercifully short and sweet. Four of the nominees, including Bruce Jackson and Wayne Bramwell, came together for a couple of meet-the-candidate sessions and despite differing personal styles found plenty of common ground..

I didn't meet the fifth candidate Phil Noble whose campaign was even more low key than mine..

So how did I get myself into this?.

It probably started late in 1994 when I sneaked away during a lunch break to head to Subiaco Oval to hear the announcement WA was to have a second AFL team and that it would be based in Fremantle..

Fast forward nine years and lots of heartbreak, thrills, rallies, spills, laughter, tears, more heartbreak and cheers and it was deemed appropriate for Fremantle members to vote a couple of people onto the board of their football club..

Some suggested I should stand..

Quite a push came from the unofficial and very enjoyable website dockerland.com, so much so that I promised web master Shane Richmond (via email, I still don't know if he's real) that if I decided to stand he'd be the first to know..

Dockerland "announced" my nomination with a short message board posting which included an unrelated suggestion to read the latest story from my website australianrules.com.au about the possible departure from Fremantle of Steven Koops. That night on 6PR's sporting program presenter Adrian Barich had a big announcement. It went something like this...

Barich: Brad (to fellow presenter Brad Hardie) Les Everett is going to stand for election to the Dockers board. You know Les don't you?.

Hardie: Yeah the journo from the Freo Herald..

Barich: Well listen to this. Les is running on the issue "keep Steven Koops at Freo". That's his platform - keep Koopsy..

Hardie: Come on Les you could do better than that. You should be the champion of the people..

If it comes down to a choice of those two I know who I'll be having as my next campaign manager..

Well the people have spoken and Dave and I have experienced a bit of time in the spotlight this week. I even found myself on the other end of a press conference. Ahead of us lies a truck load of reading, plenty of functions, lots of meetings and a different kind of football adventure..

And if you notice even the slightest bit of pro-Docker leanings in my ramblings please write in and let us know..

Footy note: Just for the record I've never been a member of the ALP, the Libs, the Greens, SWP or CPA. But I am a paid up member of the Fremantle and East Perth football clubs.

This article first appeared in the Fremantle Herald.

Disclaimer