The Leeming Spartan Cricket Club has certainly complied an extensive and enviable history since our foundation in November 1918, and we have accumulated a record 50 premierships in the process!
1918 – 1929
The Spartan Cricket Club was formed in mid-1918 by the Pastor of the Church of Christ in Fremantle, the Reverend W.R. Hibbert, with the aim of re-intergrating the young men returning from the First World War back into society.
We played our first season in 1919 in what was called the Churches Association, a collection of clubs and teams, who, for the first time since the First World War ended, were playing in organised competition.
The first recorded association was The Fremantle Senior Association which was formed in 1894/95. This association was replaced by the Fremantle Cricket Association in the 1895/96 and 1896/97 seasons.
This body was replaced in turn by the Fremantle & Districts Mercantile Cricket Association (The F&DMCA), and was formed by clubs representing many of Fremantle’s leading businesses and industrial establishments. The F&DMCA had a chequered career until 1914 when like most sporting associations in Western Australia it went into recess because of the Great War.
However, the association was reconstituted in 1919, although it lost its mercantile connections during the 1980’s.
Interestingly, with the collapse of the Churches Association in the late 1920s, the Spartan Cricket Club would join the F&DMCA. It played in this association until the 1990s.
Reverend W.R. Hibbert, the man who founded the Spartans.
With the close of the Great War, the Church of Christ in Fremantle decided to form a sporting club with the aim of getting the young men of the district back to a normal way of life as soon as possible.
The Pastor of the Church, the Reverend W.R. Hibbert, was the man principally responsible for the early organisation and under his guidance a football team, a cross- country running team and a cricket team all came into being.
Mr Hibbert spent some time deciding on a name for the club, seeking one that would suggest a tenacity of purpose, and would encourage all club members to always give of their best.
After the Club had been competing for twelve months under the banner of The Church of Christ Sporting Club, Mr Hibbert settled on the name Spartan in honour of the Greek tribe of history and legend whose people had performed superhuman feats of endurance and toughness that have never been equalled.
With that, the Spartan Cricket Club had been formed.
The cricket team began playing in December 1918, and although they played on a regular basis it was in a rather loose collection of clubs playing with the Fremantle Matting Association which was run by the Military Garrison in Fremantle.
We first entered an organised competition in November 1919.
Cricket, like most sports, took some time to get re-established following the horrors of the war, but by the time of the 1919/20 season, there were three competitions active in the greater Fremantle area.
These were the F&DMCA, The Fremantle Matting Association, and The Fremantle Churches Association with the Spartan Club naturally affiliating with the latter.
“Formed as the Spartan Cricket Club, the team began playing in December 1918 in Fremantle, Western Australia, although it took time for an organised competition to emerge following the Great War.”
Once the Club was up and running, the Reverend Hibbert withdrew from the Club’s Committee, and was succeeded as President by Mr. Stuart Thomson JP, the Mayor of East Fremantle.
The Captain of the Club at the time was Reg Prince, whose brother Victor served as the secretary.
Of note, Mr. Hibbert was also the Founding President of the Churches Association with a Mr K. Wright as the secretary.
1929 – 1942
The Spartan Cricket Club in 1922/23, celebrating our first ever Premiership. They won the game by a solitary run, on the back of wicket keeper Eddie Saggers‘ (three from the left, front row) hat-trick and maiden in the final over!
With the Churches Association faltering, the Spring of 1929 presented a new challenge for the Club – the need to change competitions for the first time.
This was quickly put into effect, and the Spartan Cricket Club entered the second phase of its life in the 1929/30 season, when it joined the longstanding Fremantle & Districts Mercantile Cricket Association.
Since the Spartan Cricket Club was founded in 1918 by the Reverend Hibbert of the Church of Christ in Fremantle, the Club had always had strong links to the Church, and spent its first decade playing in the organised Churches Association competition.
By the time of the 1929/30 season, the standard in the association had declined to such an extent that it was decided the Club move to the well-established Fremantle & Districts Mercantile Cricket Association (The F&DMCA), where it continued to compete until the late 1990s.
Our Second President, Mr. Stuart Thomson (pictured below), a former mayor of East Fremantle, was now into his tenth year at the helm and played a pivotal role in ensuring the Club successfully transitioned into the F&DMCA, a move that would have been a somewhat difficult one as the Club had certainly enjoyed its time in the Churches competition.
The F&DMCA had originally came to be as The Fremantle Senior Association, which was formed ahead of the 1894/95 season, and is the first recorded association in the area.
The competition was played on a matting hard wicket surface, which were generally comprised of coir matting strips pegged down on a rolled grass base. This made it extremely difficult to bat on due to the atypical nature of the playing surface, and as such low scores were commonplace.
The Fremantle Senior Association was later replaced by the Fremantle Cricket Association in the 1895/96 and 1896/97 seasons, before it too was succeeded by the Fremantle & Districts Mercantile Cricket Association (The F&DMCA).
The F&DMCA was formed by clubs representing many of Fremantle’s leading businesses and industrial establishments, and the association had a chequered career until 1914 when like most sporting associations in Western Australia it went into recess because of the Great War.
Towards the end of the First World War in late 1918, the F&DMCA was reconstituted, although the Spartan Cricket Club took another ten years before joining the association, following on from our time in the Churches Association.
The period between 1929 and 1942 itself was mixed. We celebrated some incredible individual performances, including our first ever centurion – Bob Kirk, who scored 101 not out in 1929, as well as some major premierships.
The summer of 1932 was one of our most turbulent, when we were denied a premiership against the seemingly unbeatable South Fremantle. Having won the Grand Final, the Spartans were set to be the Premiers, but under the rules of the time, as South Fremantle had won the Minor Premiership by finishing atop of the ladder, they had the right to a rematch, which they subsequently won.
“In 1932 we were denied a premiership, and despite having won the Grand Final, the rules of the time meant that South Fremantle (who finished top of the ladder) had the right to challenge, and won the rematch!”
Of course, the period is best known for what happened off the field. As the strong and influential leadership of Mr. Thomson reached its twentieth consecutive season, the Club was moved into recess because of the outbreak of the Second World War.
Having just overcame the Great Depression, 1942 marked the beginning of the most difficult period the Club has ever faced, and only because of the actions of fine Spartans in the late 1940s, was the Club reopened.
1942 – 1945
The hell of the Second World War meant that during the years between 1942 and 1945, the Spartan Cricket Club was on hiatus.
With no organised competition or players (many of whom were away fighting on the front line), it was certainly the most difficult challenge the Club has had to overcome to continue operation.
At the conclusion of organised competition, the Club was playing in the Fremantle & Districts Mercantile Cricket Association, where it would return following the completion of the War. It would however, be almost a decade for the association (which also resumed following the War’s end) to garner the clubs, players, and successes of its glory days.
The final season of the FDMCA, and therefore, the Spartan Cricket Club, concluded in early 1942, and it was not until 1945/46 did cricket re-emerge.
In fact, the last shot had barely been fired before cricket was once again in full swing in the Fremantle area, and with the return of the fine men serving overseas, the Spartan Cricket Club was reborn.
Despite the quick re-emergence, the competition’s end in 1942 was just prior to the Japanese bombing of Darwin on 19th February of that year, and the impact of that horrendous attack cemented the fact that it would be many years before cricket’s return.
As one would imagine, Darwin’s bombing – an attack on Australian soil – sunk fear into the hearts and minds of many, and the thought of playing the game of cricket was almost impossible to comprehend.
Unimaginable horrors of World War Two – from the first of September 1939 to the second of September 1945 – had had a profound impact on the Spartan Cricket Club, despite the fact that there was very little cricket played during this period.
1945 – 1959
The Spartan Cricket Club’s 1956/57 Second Grade Premiership, a win that saw the Club return to the First Grade, where we have competed ever since.
The last shot had barely been fired to end the Second World War before cricket was well and truly back in full swing in the Fremantle area.
The Spartan Cricket Club was reborn thanks to the efforts of two very fine cricket stalwarts in Albert West and Jack Knox-Peden, three years after it was put into remission in early 1942.
West, formerly of the Essandee Club, and Knox-Peden of the Navy Club, were responsible for reforming the Spartan Club, reconstituting the association in which we had participated in, the Fremantle & Districts Mercantile Cricket Association (The F&DMCA), and founding The West Australian Cricket Union.
The latter was a union of all the district competitions in the Metropolitan areas and provided the framework for inter-association matches and state games at that level against Victorian and New South Wales sub-district associations.
With the return of the Club, there was no further involvement from the Church of Christ in Fremantle, the organisation responsible for originally forming the Spartan Cricket Club, and this naturally led to a change in outlook and personnel.
When the Club left the Churches Association in 1929, the Church had very little influence over the ongoings at the Club, although 1945 marked the first time officially that the Church had no involvement whatsoever with the Spartans.
Mr. Albert West (pictured below) served as the F&DMCA Secretary from 1919 until 1956, having previously served as secretary of his native club, Essandee from 1919 to 1942.
Mr. Albert West, the third President of the Spartan Cricket Club.
West became the first President of the Spartan Cricket Club since its reopening, a position he held officially from 1945 until his retirement in 1959.
Albert West also kept all the records of the association, the Essandee Cricket Club, and the early post-war years of the Spartans in a tin trunk, but unfortunately when it was presented to Brian Waterer in 1965, it was discovered that termites had destroyed the contents.
West proved to be a much needed powerful figure, and together with Knox-Peden, the two men almost single handedly ensured the Spartan Cricket Club would return stronger than ever.
Having essentially been reborn, the Club was now into its twenty-seventh season, and claimed its place once more as the leading side in the F&DMCA.
It is currently unknown what happened to the Spartan’s second President, Mr. Stuart Thomson, who had led the Club up until its remission in 1942.
Despite this, there were a few of the pre-war faces on hand to help get Spartans re-established.
Ian McClumpha resumed as captain and in all his reign as Club leader lasted from 1931 to 1948. He resigned from the Spartans at the end of the 1947/1948 season to accept the position of Captain-Coach of the newly formed Hilton Park Cricket Club.
George Prince also returned to lead the attack, where he received considerable assistance from another pre-war player in Tom Langlands, who had been an outstanding all-rounder in country cricket, and a new face in that of young demon fast bowler Tolly Chalmers.
By now, the 1945/46 season was well and truly approaching, and the Club had been overhauled, reestablished and ultimately reborn following the Second World War, a monumental effort from the Committee that is responsible for our ongoing success to this very day.
The years between 1945 and 1949 were unfortunately not our most successful on record, the Club finishing in sixth place in each of those seasons.
Nevertheless, this period is amongst the most significant in our history, having seen the Club reborn following global atrocities, and it is very reassuring to know that even man’s most deadliest conflict could not halt the Spartan Cricket Club.
1996 – 2000
The Leeming Spartan Cricket Club’s Sixth Grade Premiership Team in 1997, one of three flags to come from our solitary season in the SSCA.
An incredible chapter in Leeming Spartan Cricket Club history began in early 1996, when after an incredible sixty-seven years, the Club departed the Fremantle & Districts Mercantile Cricket Association, and joined the South Suburban Cricket Association, with the aim of a future merger between the two governing bodies.
As the Club had been at the forefront of the Fremantle Competition since first originating there in 1918, a movement away from all things Fremantle was to be a significant chapter in our history, and although it had been many years since we had been based in the port city, it remained close to our hearts.
Further to this, the period saw the commencement of a new multi-million dollar clubhouse – orchestrated by President Brian Waterer the following season, and the introduction of a Junior Cricketers division in 1999 with the creation of the Leeming Spartan Junior Cricket Club.
Ultimately, the nineties had seen the Fremantle & Districts Mercantile Cricket Association (F&DMCA) begin to decline as a competitive body with a gradual erosion of teams, and tellingly, when North Fremantle resigned in 1995, their passing left only seven clubs and 35 teams –a drop of ten teams and two clubs from the turn of the decade.
It was becoming evident to the Spartans that the association would not survive into the new century, and there was to be a disappointing end to an association that we first joined in 1929, after departing our inaugural competition, the Churches Cricket Association.
At the beginning of the 1995/96 season, meetings were held between the association and the South Suburban Cricket Association (SSCA) – a similar competition to the F&DMCA, with a view to a merger taking place for the 1997/98 season. Brian was still President of the association at the time, and was in a somewhat peculiar predicament, leading both the Club and the F&DMCA, with a goal to see what could be done to benefit both parties.
However, prior to the 1996/97 season, one of the SSCA’s leading clubs in Thornlie decided to move to a turf association, and so the SSCA offered the Spartans their place.
After a meeting between the Club Committee and its current Life Members, the decision was made for Spartans to join the SSCA.
The Spartan Cricket Club had been hugely influential members of the F&DMCA, with our President Brian Waterer (now into his eighteenth year at the helm) also having led the Association for seventeen seasons.
2000 – 2002
Spartans watching the cricket from the old clubhouse building on John Connell Reserve, circa 2002. Note the old rooftop, which has since been replaced.
The April of the year 2000 marked the dawn of a new age for the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club, starting right at the top as Peter Read became our first new President in seventeen years following the record set by Brian Waterer.
Outgoing President Brian Waterer announced his retirement from both the Club and the Association executive, and it was the first time in forty-two years that our Committee did not have Brian involved in some fashion.
Peter Read assumed the top job on the back of many years of service to the Club, both as an Executive Committee Member, Vice President, Life Member, Captain, and outstanding player.
Certainly, the Read name is synonymous with the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club, as Peter’s father Lew was also a longtime Spartan and Life Member.
It certainly marked a new era at the Spartans, and perhaps somewhat coincidentally, as the world moved into the twenty first century, we began to expand our online and digital presence in the face of the infamous Y2K Bug. See an early version of our website from 2002 below!
In internet years, our Spartan website is ancient, first launched in 2001, and has undergone many facelifts ever since, and continues to be one of the, if not the, most major communication and information tools we offer.
The Club was of course in a sensational position in all corporate matters on the back of Brian’s decades of service, and Peter had been very much involved in this for the longest time.
Spartan President Peter Read pictured in 2002.
Peter Read (pictured left) was the clear candidate to succeed Brian, and although his time as President lasted just the three years, an extraordinary number of accomplishments were achieved, and the foundation for a new and lasting direction at the Club was laid.
It is also worth noting that these were the final years in which we spent in the old clubhouse on John Connell Reserve. The project for a new multi-million dollar facility on the reserve was very much underway, and would be opened in 2003. For the time being though, we continued to be based in the original building next door, where we had resided since 1986.
At the time of Read’s retirement from the Presidency position, he had well and truly become entrenched in the history of the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club. As was noted following our 2002 Annual General Meeting, “Everyone at the Spartan Cricket Club wishes to thank Peter for his tireless work around the club and looks forward to seeing him play his 400th game next season, and many more in the years to come.”
He certainly achieved that mark, and in 2003 Read retired on 400 games not out, ironically, one year before Brian Lara would achieve legendary status with the same number in Test Match Cricket.
This was to be a sensational era for the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club, and introduced a great new team of dedicated individuals who really did bring us into the twenty-first century, certainly the launch of our new website was a crucial piece of this.
Read led from the front during his time as President, and in the many years beforehand (he was inducted as a Life Member in 1983!), and this era is looked back upon with great appreciation, and enjoyment.
2002 – 2007
The Club experienced a sense of déjà vu in 2002, when, after a two year term, Peter Read relinquished the Presidency and Brian Waterer returned to the position he had occupied for a record twenty one seasons over two stints.
This was to be the beginning of an incredibly successful era for the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club, highlighted by the opening of our extraordinary multi-million dollar clubhouse on John Connell Reserve, and Brian was instrumental in making it possible.
By the turn of the century, the Club had been enjoying the facilities at John Connell for many years now, but our rapid growth, and ageing clubhouse, meant that there was a need to further expand on the facilities.
After some discussion with the Melville City Council, it was suggested that if the Leeming Bowling Club (situated on the same premises) were to join the Leeming Sportsmans Association, the Council would be prepared to enter into a feasibility study to investigate the possibilities of building a multi-faceted building to cover the needs of the three sporting clubs.
The project was completed in October 2003, and was formally opened on the fifth of that month, and came with panoramic views of the cricket ground, air conditioning, a sensational clubroom (one each for the Spartans and the Bowling Club), and a commercial grade kitchen and bar.
This was of course not the only enormous success the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club experienced during this era under Brian’s leadership, the Club itself turned 85 years old that same year, saw a number of premierships throughout the grades, and an outstandingly strong First Grade that brought home two flags, all in just five years.
There were many other enjoyable events along the way, with some outstanding functions made possible thanks to our hard working Committee during this era, namely Tabitha Bond, Graeme Ashley, Sean Wright and Andrew Walker, all of whom made, and continue to make, the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club such an outstanding place to play cricket and socialise.
The period from 2002 to 2006 was full of fun and opened the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club up to a range of new faces, all eager to be a part of what Brian and team were building. Overall, this was to be a hugely successful era and one that is looked back upon with very fond memories.
2007 – 2013
Celebrating a Fifth Grade Premiership in 2013. (Credit: Shayne Hersey)
Beginning in 2007, the Ipsen Era marked a period of great change for the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club, highlighted by significant advancements on and off the field.
Named in honour of the Club’s 8th President, John Ipsen, who took the reigns following the retirement of our longest serving leader in Brian Waterer, the years between 2007 and 2013 were among both our most successful ever financially and on the field.
Incredible performances within the First Grade, and in fact, all grades, a never-to-be-forgotten ninetieth year (which culminated in an incredible night of nights at the Sheraton Hotel), the launch of a record ninth side and saw the introduction of the Spartans hosting Country Week Cricket (thereby resulting in great financial success), made this piece of Leeming Spartan Cricket Club history an extremely successful one indeed.
The period saw the Club continue in the South Metropolitan Cricket Association (the SMCA), which had by now become the largest hard wicket cricket competition in Western Australia.
After a mammoth three terms as President over 26 seasons, Brian Waterer handed over the Presidential reins to John Ipsen, thereby seeing the commencement of another hugely successful era at Leeming Spartan.
It was certainly enormous shoes for John to fill – during his stewardship of the Club, Brian saw the numbers of sides rise dramatically from just one to six, and so too our premiership count, especially in the 15 years prior.
It is therefore difficult for words to describe the monumental efforts Brian Waterer had provided over his twenty seven years at the helm – and his name is certainly synonymous with Leeming Spartan.
However, John was not to be intimidated, and certainly, he too has played an unparalleled role in shaping the history of the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club.
Taking the reigns with immediate effect, John’s time in office was nothing short of incredible.
The best period in the history of the Club’s First Grade saw us victorious in no less than five premierships in seven seasons, with some of the best players to have graced the Club strengthening our foundations thanks to John’s efforts.
Off the field, the Club saw financial stability and then some, with record profits, great attendances at events and functions, and stronger ties in the local community helping put the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club on the map.
This culminated in a sensational 90th Year celebration, the single largest event in our history to date, and this was largely due to John Ipsen.
These seasons were among the best in Leeming Spartan history, and under John Ipsen, the Club had soared to new heights.
2013 – 2015
Leeming Spartan Pre-Season Training in 2015.
Following the retirement of the Club’s 8th President, John Ipsen, the 2013/14 season marked a new period for the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club, although it can be said that this era did not quite live up to expectations.
Nevertheless, there were still a number of positives to take out of this particular chapter in Leeming Spartan history, particularly on the field, with a number of premierships coming in just the two seasons comprising this era, but certainly with our centenary rapidly approaching, it was a less than ideal time for the Club off the field.
Ipsen had left the Club in enormously good stead, implementing a number of enormously successful advances that still exist to this day, thus providing an extremely solid foundation for the future.
The appointment of Shayne Hersey as the Club’s President was well received. Shayne has been a member of the Club for over two decades, having previously served as Vice President, is a recipient of Life Membership, and his skills as a cricketer at the Club are almost unparalleled.
Unfortunately however, the immediate seasons following Ipsen’s retirement were tumultuous on the Club’s corporate level, and the platform that was set was not utilised to its full potential.
It must be said that there were significant difficulties that developed on the Committee and behind-the-scenes operation of the Club throughout this period, meaning this era was a somewhat challenging time for all Spartans, but the solid performances in all grades did well to mitigate those effects.
The years of 2013, 2014, and 2015 saw three different Presidents take the reigns – a first in the Club’s 98 year history – and it wasn’t until 2016 did a President since Ipsen serve more than two terms, the incumbent Peter Coombs.
In summarising this chapter of Club history, it is some of the outstanding on field performances that are to be commended, and despite the difficulties which arose on the Committee, there were a number of highlights that will be celebrated for many years to come.
2015 – Present
All seven living Presidents of the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club, pictured together at the clubhouse in 2017.
Peter Coombs took on the role of Club President ahead of the 2015/16 season, having been approached for the position by senior Club members following the retirement of the Club’s 10th President, Adam Seaward.
On the back of what was an increasingly turbulent period for the Club, the need for an immediate and major overhaul was critical, and Coombs, together with an entirely new Committee, quickly got to work to initiate change for the better.
Since that period, the Club has excelled, reaching arguably its greatest strength off the field on the back of some superhuman efforts as we surge towards our one hundredth anniversary.
The 2015/16 season saw a major focus on the rebranding and direction of the Club, with a drop in numbers on the social side during the two seasons previous proving to be a major determinant as to why the Spartans were not in the strongest of positions, making this new approach of the utmost importance.
The seasons of 2013/14 and 2014/15 were tumultuous to say the least. Two Presidents in two seasons meant that things were not working, and by the time Coombs took the reigns in 2015, there had been a total of four different leaders since the retirement of the Club’s eighth President John Ipsen in early 2014.
Peter Coombs (below) took on the role two years following Ipsen’s retirement, and it quickly became apparent how much work needed to be done. Additionally, there were those who were tiring of the rotating doors of presidents, and in fact, until 2014, the Club had only a total of eight leaders in its 96 years, meaning there was the added pressure to ensure the Spartans returned to its glory days.
President Peter Coombs speaking at the 2016 Club Windup.
The era that followed John’s retirement was short lived, with the years of 2014 and 2015 seeing two Presidents, neither of whom achieved a second year in the position.
The excitement for this new era had dwindled, and so too did the numbers in patrons’ involvement at the Club. Numbers on Thursday and Saturday nights fell and the Club bore the brunt of this at a financial level.
Such was the extent of the Club’s financial woes, Life Members were asked in 2015 to make pledges for donations to simply keep the Club afloat.
As such, senior figures within the Club realised the need to form a new plan, one with longevity, going back to basics in order to ensure the future wellbeing of the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club.
They approached Peter Coombs in the months leading up to the 2015 Annual General Meeting, the incumbent President Adam Seaward having already made known plans to step down due to increasing work and family commitments.
It was noted that an older head was pivotal for the role, Seaward himself was the youngest person to hold the position in the Club’s history.
Coombs, in his fifties, was a relatively new face at Leeming Spartan, having only come down in 2013 to play in the same side as his two sons. He was quickly appointed Captain of the One Day ‘E’ side for the 2013/14 season after being recognised by the Club’s captain and coach at the time, Mark Atkinson.
Coombs himself had captained Mark at the Perth Cricket Club, and had represented Perth in over 400 games in the WACA Grade competitions, mostly at second and first eleven level.