Closing Out A Game.

When is a museum not a museum? This could be the opening line of a children’s joke. Sadly it is not a joke.

A museum is best defined as being a ‘permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage.’ Often these are not for profit organisations, surviving on philanthropic donations and an army of volunteers. They are usually open to the public, accessible and inclusive.

Western Australia has for a long time been in need of a quality sporting museum that records the feats of the great athletes to have emerged from this state. Not only those individuals, but also the teams from the state, and the world events that have been hosted here.

There is talk of such a place being created at the old WACA cricket ground, however the logical place if Optus stadium is to be a sporting focal point, is within the vicinity of the stadium. Giving sports fans the opportunity to visit on occasions when various sports are being played at the venue.

In 1995 well known football identity John O’Connell put forward the idea of Western Australia creating a Football Hall of Fame. (The round ball). This was to coincide with the centenary of the sport in Western Australia.

This six-man Committee were visionaries. They created a piece of Australian sporting history, starting the nation’s first football Hall of Fame. In fact, they not only preceded Soccer Australia’s Hall of Fame – now Football Australia – which wasn’t set up until 1999, but the model used by the national body was based on the model created in Western Australia. Other sports would in time follow this lead.

The committee gave the Hall of fame a great deal of thought and established that if it was to be successful the philosophy behind it needed to be to discover, highlight and honour through a series of induction ceremonies the very best talent that had played football in Western Australia since 1896.

Guidelines were established to formalise a system that would reflect all aspects of the game. The Hall of Champions, which recognises the elite players was based on points gained for national and state representative honours, trophies won, and seasons played in top flight competition.

The committee acknowledged that the game relies on many people who love the sport but contribute in other ways. The Hall of Recognition was created to recognise those individuals, the likes of referees, coaches, administrators, journalists and sponsors.

The first Hall of Fame induction ceremony was a black-tie event held in the Centenary year in November 1996 at the Novotel Langley hotel. Sir Francis Burt whose ancestors were among football’s founding fathers a century earlier, was named Patron. Today another member of the Burt family holds that honorary position after being appointed in 2003, Julian Burt.

Since the first induction a Hall of Merit and a Hall of Legends have been created. Seven individuals have had legend status bestowed upon them. In the Hall of Champions 77 players have been afforded the honour of being inducted in 127 years of football being played. A further 34 players are in the Hall of Merit for Players, while a further 72 individuals, families or groups have been inducted into the Hall of Recognition.

The current Patron Julian Burt has always been in favour of a Museum to house the history of the game in Western Australia. Various individuals have unearthed items of historical significance, while members of the Hall of Fame and other football-loving individuals have donated items. All that was lacking was a home for these items.

In 2019 at an event held at Perth Soccer Club, when the Hall of Fame entered a new era, Julian Burt made a pledge to donate a vast sum of money towards a Museum for football. At that event it was revealed that the Hall of Fame was now officially an Incorporated Body. A new logo featuring a Black Swan, an old football and a laurel wreath was also unveiled. Attendees were also advised that a new constitution had been registered. It was a very positive night for football.

Becoming an incorporated body meant that all of those inducted now became ‘members.’ Meaning that they should be advised when an AGM was taking place and having the power to vote at such a meeting. Ultimately they were bestowed the power to determine the direction of the Hall of Fame into the future. Although many may be interested to learn that allegedly changes to the constitution have been discussed to take away those voting rights; but as yet have not been passed.

The last induction was held in 2016. Another group of individuals were due to be recognised in 2021, which was the 25th Anniversary of the the Football Hall of Fame, but presumably due to Covid this never happened and no new date has been publicly announced.

On Monday 13th February 2023 the Football Hall of Fame, held an event celebrating the opening of a football museum. The event was attended by inductees, and was by all accounts a great evening.

The Museum is located within the Western Australian Italian Club. Which many questioned in terms of being the ideal venue, not just because of the location, but also because of the obvious link to a section of the community. However, having a museum at last was a start, and now people would have a chance to go and visit and absorb the rich history of the game in Western Australia. Or would they?

Since its opening several people had advised that they had been to the Italian Club to go and visit the museum, only to be denied entry. This seemed hard to believe. After all why would you open a museum if you are not going to allow people inside to view the exhibits?

It appears that this information is indeed true. The museum will not be open to the general public. So why would the Football Hall of Fame hand over all of their historical memorabilia to be housed in a venue that will not allow the public to view it?

Not The Footy Show has been advised that only Members of the Western Australian Italian Club are allowed to enter the venue. So unless you take out membership you cannot go and visit the museum.

However, certain individuals can. Apparently when negotiations were being carried out for the Italian Club to host the museum a deal was brokered that sees all Hall of Fame inductees given membership to the Italian Club. Which means that the inductees are the only ones – and presumably committee members who are not inductees – allowed to enter the Italian Club and view the exhibits on display in the Museum.

So in essence the majority of people who love the game, or have contributed to the game in the state, are excluded from entering the museum, which flies in the face of the whole reason for having a museum.

Here was a great opportunity to showcase the sport, but unfortunately it has been botched. Football has always been about inclusivity. It is a simple sport available to everyone and loved by millions. Millions who have a fascination with its history, and which teams and players played for various teams, where and when. A museum opens doors to that history, but unfortunately at present those doors in Western Australia are closed, and will only be opened to a select few. What a great shame.

04/04/23 – Since the publishing of this piece it has been announced that the WA Italian Club (WAIC) have acknowledged the entry criteria needs to change. They are now accepting members of the public to see the museum without having to join the WAIC.