April 24, 2020

It has been a little while since my last communication to you, and I hope that you and your loved ones are staying healthy and positive during this truly difficult time for all of us.

On a positive note, it appears that Australians can be cautiously optimistic that all of our social distancing efforts are contributing to flattening the curve quicker than initially expected. Having said that, we all need to continue our commitment to these measures to ensure that the best potential outcomes are achieved and maintained, so we can all return to some form of normality as soon as possible.

You will have seen many reports in the media about what the remainder of the 2020 AFL season might look like; however, while entertaining, these are still just conversations and musings, with final decisions still to be made by the AFL, in consultation with a myriad of stakeholders and other parties – most importantly, the relevant governments and their health experts.

We expect that the AFL will make some announcement by the second or third week of May, in relation to the resumption of the 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership season. We also expect that this announcement will not provide all of the answers, as we are all still in the midst of a global pandemic, as positive as the Australian scenario might seem at the moment.

What I can tell you is that we are close to finalising some options for you in relation to how we will address your 2020 membership – subject to the AFL providing us with a clear idea of what the remainder of the season will look like. We may not be in a position to activate all of these options straight away, but it will hopefully give you some confidence that there will be options provided.

We know that some of you are doing it tough at the moment, and we know that you know you are not alone.

The AFL and clubs have a huge impact on the economy, from the obvious in terms of football itself (the West Coast Eagles as a club, and down through the West Australian Football Commission, WAFL Clubs to grass roots community football), but also including the Optus Stadium economy and its workforce, the food and beverage providers, and other suppliers, all of whom service everything that goes into the playing of AFL matches each week for more than six months of the year. There are the airlines (who are doing it extraordinarily tough) and accommodation providers, and the bus and taxi companies, who all play a part in us presenting matches to our members. The list goes on.

All of those industries are hurting right now, and have all had to stand down, or worse, many loyal and hardworking employees. You may well be one of those people, and we feel for you as much as we do our own staff and colleagues.

As I've said previously, while our club is fortunate in having some financial reserves, the loss of a substantial proportion of revenues for what may effectively be an entire season, and the costs of maintaining even a skeleton operation, mean that those reserves will not last indefinitely. Like most organisations, we want to emerge from this period in a position best-placed to benefit our members and community in the longer term and help the broader Western Australian football economy to find its feet again. It's an opportunity for our club to unite, stronger than ever, and we want you to stick by us, if you possibly can, and help us to achieve that goal.

I look forward to being in touch again soon; please stay safe and keep slowing the spread by observing social distancing guidelines, for everyone's benefit.

Kind regards,



Trevor Nisbett
Chief Executive