Note: Books will be available to collect from the Team Store from December 1 or can be posted after this date for an  additional $10 postage and handling charge per book.

‘FLYING HIGH’ SYNOPSIS

After only 25 years in the AFL, the West Coast Eagles has established itself as one of the power clubs of the competition, with five grand finals, three premierships and the best winning record of any team in the league.

From the 12-team VFL competition that was once dominated by the clubs with the fattest cheque books, the AFL has since become a trend-setter in the Australian sporting landscape and the West Coast Eagles has been at its forefront since its first game on March 29, 1987 against Richmond.

‘Flying High’, a book featuring profiles on every player ever to walk through the doors of the club and a snapshot of every game played in that time, seeks to provide a revealing historical record and behind-the-scenes journey into the club’s first quarter of a century.

Additionally, it zooms in on some of the genuine superstars to have worn the blue and gold, the grand final heroes who have provided the basis for future generations to sustain perhaps the most powerful entity in the AFL, such as Peter Matera, Dean Kemp, John Worsfold, Chris Lewis, Glen Jakovich, Chris Judd, Guy McKenna, Ben Cousins... the list goes on. It is doubtful whether any other club since 1987 has produced talent the equal of it in the last 25 years.

Certainly, West Coast, like any other club, has experienced its ups and downs, but the down periods have been minimised. Over the 25 years that it has competed in this elite competition, the West Coast Eagles has missed finals action only seven times. Given the equalisation systems in the place in the AFL, the draft and salary cap, that result is quite remarkable.

From the moment that it stepped into battle and coach Ron Alexander engineered an 11-win/11-loss season, West Coast has been a force to be respected. There were problems along the way, from the financial crisis that placed the fledgling club under survival pressures in the late ‘80s, to the off-field scandal that derailed the club in 2007.

Other clubs might have buckled, but West Coast was able to hang tough, took strong action to address those matters and has worked extremely hard to get things back on track.

Just a few short years after facing financial ruin, West Coast became the first non-Victorian club to win the premiership. Guided by Michael Malthouse, the club did not miss finals for the entire decade of the ‘90s.

The next successful period was engineered by Malthouse’s premiership captain, John Worsfold.    

In his first six seasons as senior coach, Worsfold took his club to finals. For three years when the focus was on rectifying the off-field cultural issues that engulfed the club, it wallowed in the bottom half of the table.

Most expected that trend would continue through 2011, but Worsfold has reinvented his team and it has advanced back into finals contention. The sleeping giant is awake and the next chapters in this remarkable story are poised to be written.

As the club perches on the edge of its next renaissance, ‘Flying High’ - written by award-winning football writer and West Coast Eagles Communications Manager Gary Stocks - takes a reflective insider’s look at the club’s first quarter century.

Football fans, not just those of the West Coast persuasion, will enjoy this rare insight into the games and the stars that have made the club what it is today.