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Club History
11 April 2005
1978-79A nineteen year era came to an end when Jack Knox-Peden was forced to resign from the Club Presidency due to ill health. During his long term of office the club had grown from a one team to a five team structure. To honour his long service Jack was awarded the position of Life Vice President. Brian Waterer , the new President was a ready made successor having served the club as Secretary/Treasurer for 12 years and the Association as President for a similar term. He had also captained three Premiership teams and along with Knox-Peden was a Club and Association Life Member. Club Officials. President Brian Waterer Senior Vice President Lew Read Junior Vice President Roy Gough Secretary Terry Morter Treasurer Graeme Ashley First Grade Captain Steve Carter Second Grade Captain Brian Waterer Third Grade Captain Peter Freund Fourth Grade Captain Lew Read Colts Captain Peter Read First Grade. A very disappointing season saw the side finish in sixth spot and it was becoming alarmingly obvious that some sort of a rot was beginning to set in. Morrie Pietroniro with 241 runs was the only batsman of note while Bary Maher with 35 wickets and Steve Carter with 23 wickets toiled hard with the ball. Second Grade. This side didn't have anywhere near the talent required at this level and finished ninth. Brian Waterer with 161 runs was the only batsman to do a great deal while young left hander Rodney Maher showed great promise in snaring 34 wickets. Third Grade. This side showed great promise and fought very hard to reach the four but were not quite strong enough to win their semi-final. Bevan James provided the backbone with 207 runs and 27 wickets with Peter Freund capturing 24 wickets. Fourth Grade. Fortunately for the club's morale and prestige this side performed very well, so well in fact that they won the Premiership. The Grand Final. Spartans 169 and 114: Cockburn 88 and 57 The side in batting order. Lew Read [Captain], Harold Bell [Vice Captain], Peter Van Helden, Barry Preedy, Alan Gough, Mike Thomas, Ray Turnbull, Tony Carroll, Graham Dunstan, Andy Wood, Bill Servent The outstanding performance in the Grand Final came from leg-spinner Ray Turnbull who finished with a match analysis of 11 for 50. Among the batsmen Lew Read 487 runs, Harold Bell 420 runs, Alan Gough 201 runs, Tony Carroll 199 runs, Barry Preedy 197 runs and Peter Van Helden 192 runs all had good seasons. Carroll and Preedy completed good all-round doubles by taking 31 wickets and 22 wickets respectively. Ray Turnbull 18 wickets and Bill Servent 17 wickets completed a very steady attack. Colts. Managed to finish in third spot but didn't have any among its ranks who looked like becoming stars of the future. 1979-80 Officials. Senior Vice-President Lew Read Junior Vice President Roy Gough Secretary Peter Read Treasurer Graeme Ashley First Grade Captain Morrie Pietroniro Second Grade Captain Peter Freund Third Grade Captain Barry Preedy Fourth Grade Captain Brian Waterer Colts Captains A Side Peter Read B Side Andy Wood So it was on a shaky note that the club entered the Eighties. Prior to the start of the season the committee attended a week-end live - in - seminar at Preston Beach in an effort to isolate the club's problems and plan the necessary steps to remedy them. One of the recommendations was to appoint a professional coach and this was duly done with the position going to Sam Hume, a former player of the club who had gained considerable coaching experience with the Fremantle Club in the WACA However the season wasn't a very successful one for the top three grades and all finished well down the list.Despite numerous overtures made to top players outside the club none were persuaded to become a Spartan, and to exacerbate the problem the club's juniors weren't developing at a rate to give the club any depth. First Grade. Finished sixth with Sam Hume 317 runs, Peter Read 257 runs and Morrie Pietroniro, 24 wickets being the only shining lights. Second Grade. Also finished sixth and only Peter Kepert 213 runs and Ray Turnbull with an outstanding haul of 33 wickets did much for the cause. Third Grade. Finished in fifth spot but were almost a one man band as only Roy Gough with 224 runs and 23 wickets did anything of note. Fourth Grade. The Grand Final. Spartans 205: Melville Park 88 and 56. Side in batting order. John Spencer, Bevan James [Vice-Captain], Lew Read, Brian Waterer[Captain], Harold Bell, Denis Bell, Andy Wood, Gary Matthews, Garry Ward, Graham Dunstan, Bill Servent The batting was awesome with John Spencer 673 runs and two centuries, Harold Bell 326 runs, Denis Bell 324 runs and one century, Brian Waterer 321 runs, and Lew Read 289 runs and one century making sure that opposing sides had plenty of runs to chase. Denis Bell with a record breaking 71 wickets, Bevan James 25 wickets and Bill Servent 20 wickets were the principal bowlers. Fourteen year old wicketkeeper Gary Matthews - who it was suggested only got a game to keep the average of the side down to fifty -took 23 wickets behind the stumps. Colts. The club had a surplus of players at this level so two sides were entered in the competition but neither side reached the finals. 1980-81 Officials. Senior Vice President Roy Gough Junior Vice President Peter Dama Secretary Peter Read Treasurer Graeme Ashley First Grade Captain Morrie Pietroniro Second Grade Captain Terry Wortley Third Grade Captain Barry Preedy Fourth Grade Captain Brian Waterer Colts Captain David Blight This would have to be the most frustrating season ever experienced by the club both from a playing point of view and the huge amount of work done by the administration that was wasted. A great deal of recruiting had been done between seasons and the playing strength had built up considerably.However the number of players who became unavailable during the season due to work and personal reasons reached staggering proportions.So great did this player drain become that the club was quite often battling to fill the lower sides and unfortunately this became the malaise of the Eighties. During the season the club was both shocked and saddened at the sudden passing of Lew Read following major surgery.Lew had been one of the mainstays of the club for over twenty years with his inspiring on-field leadership, magnificent sportsmanship and wise council in club administration. In a 205 game career he compiled 5138 runs and took 129 catches, captained in 89 games winning a First and a Fourth Grade Premiership in that role. First Grade. The one glimmer of hope in that they reached the four only to lose their semi-final to East Fremantle.However the fact that they got that far did wonders for the club's morale and it seemed we were on the way back but we were to be sadly disillusioned.Peter Read with 489 runs and two centuries, Roy Spencer with 424 runs, Daryl Bull and George Mazzini each with 20 wickets were the stars. Second Grade. Never looked like succeeding and finished ninth with Greg Horne 263 runs along with Ian Sheridan and Ray Turnbull each with 20 wickets doing their best but lacking support. Third Grade. Suffered a great deal from never having the same side for any two games in a row and finished fifth with Barry Preedy 278 runs and 27 wickets and Ian Shadbolt also with 27 wickets doing most of the work. Fourth Grade. The turnover of players in this side bordered on the farcicial. To really rub salt into the wounds, when the side did reach top strength, it won its last three games against the top three sides in the grade. Unfortunately they were the only wins for the season.Brian Waterer 352 runs including a century and Bevan James with 36 wickets were outstanding. >Colts. Also gave the club some joy by reaching the Grand Final where they lost to a very powerful CBC side. Roy Spencer 218 runs and Brian Pitcher 14 wickets were the stars. The club had been very happy with Karoonda Reserve as a home venue so it came
as a shock to many of the members when the club was re-sited to Trevor Gribble
Park. Especially as Spartans were being moved so that Brentwood Cricket Club
could be moved onto Karoonda.It was becoming very obvious that associations such
as the F&DMCA were moving more towards district cricket and that district
clubs - or those clubs with district names - were more likely to receive
assistance from the various councils. In its long history Spartans had acquired an impressive list of home
venues... Fremantle Park, Richmond Raceway, Steven's Reserve, Gibson Park,
Davilak Oval, Preston Point, John Curtin High School, South
Fremantle Recreation Reserve, Karoonda and now Trevor Gribble. The move was
made again to give the club a district name and after much bitter debate, which
saw a few friendships fractured, the club officially altered its name
to....... The name change made no difference to the general organisation as it remained the cricketing activity under the auspices of the Spartan Sportsmans Association Incorporated.The club colours remained the same as they had been since 1945, two blues and the famous red Spartan warriors head. ********************************** 1981-82 Officials. Senior Vice President Peter Dama Junior Vice President Terry Wortley Secretary Peter Read Treasurer Graeme Ashley First Grade Captain Morrie Pietroniro Second Grade Captain Brian Waterer Third Grade Captain Barry Preedy Fourth Grade Captain Peter Dama Fifth Grade Captain Ray Turnbull Colts Captain George Mazzini If 1980-81 was a frustrating experience for the administration then this one was an absolute nightmare. In being allocated Trevor Gribble as a permanent home ground part of the agreement was that Spartans would enter a fifth grade side to provide playing opportunities for the juniors in the district. This was duly done and some 36 new players were registered with the club.Despite this there were far too many times when there weren't enough players to fill the sides and as was the case in the previous season the player unavailability reached ludicrous proportions. To complicate matters even further, six of the First Grade team that had played in the 1980-81 semi-final were lost to other clubs while retirements in the lower grades halved the number of new-ball bowlers available to the selectors.Only two of the three dozen recruits were up to First Grade standard so the overall playing standards of the club slipped considerably. Consequently for the first time since 1961 no Spartan side earned a place in the finals. First Grade. Lost the first six games in a row but a mid season shuffle of personnel saw a different approach adopted and some success resulted as the side went on to win six of its last eight games. Morrie Pietroniro enjoyed another outstanding season with 339 runs and 33 wickets while newcomer Kevin Phillips put together a total of 305 runs in a very promising debut season. Second Grade. Won their first four games to be the early leaders in the competition but lost their backbone when outstanding medium-pacer Ian Sheridan and the skipper, Brian Waterer, were promoted up to the First Grade. The side failed to win another game and finished in sixth spot.Leg-spinner Ian Shadbolt captured 33 wickets for the season and looked to be a good prospect for the future. Third Grade. Never really got into stride at all and only won three games for the season.To be fair it must be said that the side was in a constant state of flux with half the team being changed each game.. and many of the players used were not up to the standard of this grade. Middle order batsman Peter Kepert with 300 runs and Barry Preedy with 195 runs and 16 wickets were clearly the outstanding players.< > Fourth Grade. Began as the club's best contenders for a finals berth but in the end the constant alterations being made to the side took their toll and they faded to finish in fifth place, although their six wins from ten games made them the club's most successful unit. Peter Dama with 205 runs and 17 wickets was the one player of note.< > Fifth Grade. Used a total of 36 players in the ten games --- including two women!! Sue Read and Debbie Blight ( nee Read ) brought to five the number of Read family members to represent the club.As well an uncle from each side of the family in Bob Read and George Bickerdike had also played a few seasons in Spartan colours so the Reads certainly could be said to be a truly Spartan family. Debbie's husband Dave was also a prominent player at this stage and was later to become a leading administrator and committee man. Ray Turnbull, the team's captain had an outstanding year with 306 runs and 24 wickets, but as he virtually had a different eleven each game the task was hopeless. To their great credit they won two games and they certainly weren't the weakest team in the grade which allowed some satisfaction. Colts.. Unfortunately this competition was very poorly organised with each team only playing two games, both of which we lost which was a worrying thought for the future. 1982-83 The season opened on a slightly surprising note when Peter Dama
was elected President ahead of Brian Waterer. A section of the club felt that
the club's downward trend and general lack of success was partly due to the fact
that the traditional lines on which the club was being run were not suited to a
modern day cricket club. As well there were those who felt that something
different had to be tried and a fresh face at the top might give the club the
lift it so badly needed. Senior Vice President Terry Wortley Junior Vice President Steve Carter Secretary Ray Turnbull Treasurer Graeme Ashley First Grade Captain Morrie Pietroniro Second Grade Captain David Blight Third Grade Captain Brian Waterer Fifth Grade Captain John Porter >Colts Captain George Mazzini There was no side entered in fourth grade due to lack of consistent numbers of senior players. The fifth grade was retained to provide places for juniors joining the club. As always the club administration was near faultless with the social and financial side of the club enjoying great success........ but the playing results were disastrous as the club experienced its worst season since 1950. Efforts to gain the services of a top level coach were unsuccessful as were
the efforts to recruit good quality players, in fact we lost a lot of the good
ones from the previous season.The fifth grade managed to make the four but were
thrashed by CBC in the semi-final. Peter Dama (seconds ) and Barry Preedy (
fifths ) scored centuries while Ron Copley ( seconds ) and Mychael Nyp ( fifths
) each took seven wickets in an innings to record the only noteworthy
performances. Senior Vice President Laurie Farmer Junior Vice President Steve Carter Secretary Ray Turnbull Treasurer Peter Dama First Grade Captain Murray Robins Second Grade Captain Terry Wortley Third Grade Captain Ray Turnbull >Fifth Grade Captain Graeme Ashley The club didn't enter a fourth grade or a colts team in the competition. Between seasons a great deal of thought and effort went into reorganising the club's methods of operations because all those people who had the club's interests at heart realised that unless the slide in playing standards was arrested the club was faced with extinction. The committee was reshaped with Brian Waterer resuming as president and Peter Dama moving to the vital post of treasurer. Murray Robins, a leading WACA player with Fremantle and a member of the state Sheffield Shield Squad, was placed on a three year contract as coach with the specific task of assessing the playing strength, restructuring training and weeding out the deadwood.In his initial year there wasn't a great deal of improvement in the positions occupied by the various teams on the premiership ladder but training had become much more intense and professional looking so there was a general feeling that the slump had been arrested. However it was also obvious that we still had a long way to go and a great deal of sensible recruiting to do before we would become a power again. In the First Grade Murray Robins with 537 runs and David Blight with 22 wickets did well; in the Seconds it was Terry Wortley 234 runs and Russell Turton 16 wickets; in the Thirds only Peter Kepert with 222 runs did much; while for the Fifths Graeme Ashley 256 runs and Bevan James with 32 wickets led the way.Unfortunately the association was not giving a great deal of thought to the organisation of the Colt's competition and it was still a very haphazard affair with no club getting much joy from being involved so we weren't too concerned that we hadn't entered a team. 1984-85 Officials. Senior Vice President David Blight Junior Vice President Laurie Farmer Secretary Merv Smith Treasurer Peter Dama First Grade Captain Murray Robins Second Grade Captain Morrie Pietroniro Fourth Grade Captain Brian Waterer Fifth Grade Captain Merv Smith. Colts Captain John Read There was once again no Third Grade side entered in the competition. The club was saddened to lose one of its great stalwarts in Jack Knox-Peden following a stroke and a long illness. Jack was the elder statesman of Fremantle cricket and his passing severed a very strong link with pre war and early post-war cricket in Fremantle. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Clarrie Saggers, a long serving committeeman between the two wars also passed away following a short illness. Clarries passing severed one of the few remaining links with the Church of Christ. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The club began to prosper again in a number of ways and once again there was
an air of optimism around the club. A number of business people were persuaded
to sponsor the club which eased the fund raising burden a little. The
change-rooms at Trevor Gribble had been converted into a social facility, it was
not very flash but it served the purpose in creating more club harmony and was
another facet of the fund raising structure.A great deal of negotiating was
going on between the Club and the Melville City Council regarding a proper
function centre but nothing of any conseqence had transpired at this stage.There
was also a better level of performance from the teams which led to sighs of
relief all round. 1985-86 Officials. Senior Vice President David Blight Junior Vice President Barry Preedy Secretary George Mazzini Treasurer Peter Read First Grade Captain Murray Robins Second Grade Captain Barry Preedy Fourth Grade Captain Rob McNeil Fifth Grade Captain Brian Waterer Sixth Grade Captain Peter Maxfield Colts Captain John Read >There was no Third Grade side entered. After the resurgence of the previous season everyone was looking forward to this year being the one in which we would bounce back to the forefront of the association but it was not to be. If anything the reverse was the case, an extra team had been added and the five sides could only manage seventh, seventh, fifth, seventh and seventh respectively. In the First Grade Murray Robins 505 runs and 30 wickets, Des Deering 221 runs and 33 wicket-keeping dismissals and Rob Ten Vaan Holt 33 wickets were the best performed. In the other grades Morrie Pietroniro (Seconds ) 206 runs and 21 wickets, Rob McNeil ( Fourths ) 254 runs and 29 wickets, Bevan James ( Fifths ) 193 runs and 27 wickets and Tom Hegarty ( Sixths ) 24 wickets all did well. The Colts were eliminated in the first round. Despite the miseries of the playing season there was one piece of marvellous progress made by the club. The club was granted the magnificent sporting complex at Connell Reserve situated on Dimond Court, Leeming as its home ground.The playing field measured 200 metres by 150 metres being planted in 1983 so were exceptionally well grassed and clearly had the potential to be the best playing arena in the whole association.A club-house and change rooms had been built on the reserve at a cost of $209,000 and had been completed in December 1985. The club provided the finance for the central pitch which was installed at a cost of $4000. Before the club could take possession an incorporated association had to be formed with the Melville Allemania Soccer Club, the winter users of the complex. Allemania was a second division club who had enjoyed a spell in the First division.The association was formed as the Leeming Sports Association and as such took occupancy of the Connell complex in February 1986. The inaugural office bearers of the LSA were as follows:- Vice President Brian Waterer BSCC Secretary Barbara Hoffman MASC Treasurer Peter Read BSCC Committee David Blight BSCC Heinz Gaschke MASC ******************************************************* 1986-87 Officials Senior Vice President David Blight Junior Vice President Barry Preedy Secretary George Mazzini Treasurer Peter Read First Grade Captain Des Deering Second Grade Captain Peter Van Helden Fourth Grade Captain Barry Preedy Fifth Grade Captain John Eddington Sixth Grade Captain Brian Waterer Colts Captain Steve Blight Murray Robins had resigned as coach to accept the position of Captain coach of East Fremantle. In his second season there ( 1987-88 ) he guided them to the premiership,the first won by East Fremantle at that level for 54 years. Des Deering took over as coach of Spartans but unfortunately for him the season was a disaster.The firsts and Seconds finished last and this was only the second time in Spartans 53 year history that the First Grade had done so, the previous occasion being in 1933-34.The Fourths finished in seventh spot but the Fifths had a great season reaching the Grand Final where they went down to Cockburn. The Sixths too played very well to just miss the four by a mere 1.50 points. The Colts were eliminated in the first round. The best individual efforts were:- In the Firsts Roy Spencer 372 runs, Peter Read 342 runs, Des Deering 298 runs and Steve Blight 22 wickets. In the Seconds Des Barratt 390 runs, Lee Donovan 20 wicket-keeping dismissals, Ron Copley 26 wickets and Morrie Pietroniro 290 runs and 25 wickets. In the Fourths Peter Rynski 197 runs and 18 wicket-keeping dismissals. In the Fifths Kim Passmore 333 runs, John Eddington 304 runs and 33 wickets and Russell Turton 30 wickets. In the Sixths Bevan James 331 runs and 27 wickets, Joe Niven 255 runs and 18 wickets and his twin brother Sam Niven 21 wicket-keeping dismissals. 1987-88 Officials Senior Vice President David Blight Junior Vice President John Read who was transferred in his job and replaced by Barry Preedy Secretary Mrs Deborah Blight Treasurer David Blight First Grade Captain Des Deering Second Grade Captain Sam Hume Third Grade Captain Barry Preedy Fourth Grade Captain John Eddington Fifth Grade Captain Bevan James 2 games Brian Waterer 7 games Murray McQueen 4 games Colts Captain Lee Donovan ( Over-Age) After an extensive search for quality players to boost the top grade that side did look much stronger than the previous couple of seasons.In particular the signing of Paul Clement, a class all rounder from the WACA club Scarborough club was a very positive move. First Grade. After showing flashes of brilliant form eventually faded to finish eighth in a ten team competition. Des Deering with 595 runs ( a new first grade record ) and 27 wicket-keeping dismissals was magnificent while Clement with 199 runs and 44 wickets showed just how good he was. Second Grade. Gave a much improved performance to develop into a really competitive unit for the first time in quite a while.Sam Hume 213 runs and Gavin Anning 211 runs were the leading rungetters while brothers David and Steven Blight took 25 and 24 wickets respectively. Third Grade. Bowlers were the outstanding contributors here with Chris Bibrlik 29 wickets and Barry Preedy 25 wickets doing the best. Fourth Grade. Had a fine season to eventually lose the Grand Final to Kardinya. They were spearheaded by two good all-round performances from John Eddington 234 runs and 36 wickets and John O'leary 169 runs and 25 wickets. Fifth Grade. Were quite often forced to play without a full compement of players due to another season of incredible unavailability of players and consequently they finished last. Bevan James 203 runs and 32 wickets and Brian Waterer 254 runs fought hard in a losing cause. Colts. Were once again eliminated in the first round. Article by Brian Waterer |