West Coast Eagles Chief Executive Officer Trevor Nisbett says the clubs that don’t do everything they can to support the community are destined to fail.

The West Coast Eagles recently locked in plans to move to a training and community centre at Lathlain Park, a centre which is tailor-made for elite football training and filled with community benefits.

Nisbett, speaking at the 6PR Football Forum recently, said one of the biggest factors in moving to Lathlain Park was the many benefits to the community.

“It has a massive community aspect to it, it’s in the heart of the community therefore you can actually have people coming to your centre on a regular basis,” he said.

“That’s one of the key reasons to move.

“Obviously we’re after much better facilities; we’ve outgrown our facilities at Patersons (Stadium).

“So we need to move on and catch up with some of the clubs in the East.

“I think the community aspect makes the investment well worthwhile, and in the future I think the club’s that lag behind in their community input and giving back to the community are the ones that are going to fail.”

Trevor Vaughan, Mayor of the Town of Victoria Park, enthusiastically spruiked the community benefits of this development at the lease agreement signing ceremony on September 3.

“This is a major milestone in progressing the redevelopment project and the town’s partnership with the Eagles, which will deliver great benefit to our community,” he enthused.

“The economic benefit to the town is very significant, but what is perhaps more important about this partnership is the collaborative development and delivery of a broad range of new community programs to our residents by the Eagles and their partners, the Wirrpanda Foundation and SAS Resources Trust.”

Key elements of the Lathlain Park redevelopment include:

• Creation of two ovals, one with a synthetic running track around the perimeter
• Education areas with dedicated areas for community development programs
• The town and West Coast Eagles partnering to deliver a suite of community and social initiatives
• A new home for the West Coast Eagles, incorporating indoor and outdoor training facilities
• A community hub including café and club museum
• A new home for the Wirrpanda Foundation,which will deliver community outreach programs locally
• BBQ areas, playgrounds, walk trails
• Improved pedestrian access and parking