Important Message From New Club President

Dear Members

The last couple of months have been some of the most difficult and significant in West Perth’s long rich history.

As most of you will be aware the Club found itself in a very difficult financial position and had to appoint Voluntary Administrators on 25 July.  We’ve now come out the other side of that process with restructured finances and renewed enthusiasm for the future of West Perth. 

Following that process we now have a new look Board with some old and new faces.  The WAFC tried to strike a balance between bringing in some fresh perspectives and thinking, as well as retaining much of the valuable knowledge and experience of recent and past Directors. 

I am now President of the Club and will be joined on the Board by inaugural Fremantle Dockers Chairman and past West Perth player Ross Kelly as Vice President.  Scott Ballem and Peter Cutler will continue on along with former West Perth board member Jim Caffierie.  We welcome new Board members; chartered accountant Sam Modica who undertook the recent financial review of the West Perth Football Club, and media identity and life-long West Perth supporter Paul Murray.

The new Board structure meant not all of the current Directors could be accommodated as we’re limited by our constitution to a Board of seven.  We’d like to pass on our sincere thanks to the outgoing Directors who have given their time and passion to the Club over an extended period. I look forward to them joining our new Strategic Sustainability and Fundraising Group which will assist in securing the club’s long term future.

For those that don’t know me, I’ve been around football all my life.  I played for West Perth in my younger days and chaired the WA Football Commission for 9 years. Outside of football I’m currently the Chairman of Bethesda Hospital in addition to more than 20 years undertaking a number of Board roles with companies working in Australia and South East Asia. I am honoured to be asked to take on the role of President at this time and didn’t think twice about taking it on.

I encourage you to watch the video below to hear from me personally and hopefully answer some of the questions you might have. 

Members are the lifeblood of any football club and I can’t thank you enough for your support.  I look forward to meeting many of you at Joondalup over time.

As a Club we can’t rest on our laurels and just assume everything will be fine now, we must keep our fundraising efforts as a priority.  Anything you can do to help, whether it’s renewing your membership or providing input to the Strategic Sustainability and Fundraising Group will be crucial for the future of West Perth.

I’d also like to make mention of our on-field performance during this difficult period. It is such a credit to the players and coaching staff, they’ve just got on with playing footy and have made their presence felt these finals.  Let’s continue to show True Falcons spirit and get behind the team this Sunday at Fremantle Oval.

Regards

Neale Fong

Click here to watch the video interview