The second instalment in our new “From The Spartan Archives” series recounts part of what was a comparatively brief chapter in our extensive history – our time at Trevor Gribble Reserve as the Bull Creek Spartans.

Specifically, this edition looks at the year of 1985, what proved to be our final one on Parry Avenue, before our move to John Connell Reserve the following year. Not the clubrooms where we find ourselves currently mind you, but the building situated to its north, where we still utilise the change rooms today.

We’ll be looking at a fantastic piece of memorabilia kindly donated by former Spartan President Peter Dama earlier this year, the 1985 Bull Creek Spartans Yearbook!

The 1985 Spartan Yearbook details the final year at Trevor Gribble Reserve, and marks the last piece of Bull Creek Spartans memorabilia!

The yearbook was written by none other than Deb Blight, and has been fantastically produced – well before the advent of computers and word processors, and features a number of statistics and lists that have been perfectly presented in the twenty page annual.

Read on below to learn about the year of 1985, see photos of the yearbook, and a fantastic 1985 Bull Creek Spartan badge also donated by Peter!


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The 1985 Bull Creek Spartans Yearbook and Badge, kindly donated by Peter Dama.


The opening pages of the 1985 Yearbook, listing Committee and important years in the Spartan history.


The leading player statistics from 1985.


Acquiring The 1985 Yearbook:

Peter Dama (pictured left at the 2017 Mitch Gillam Cup) kindly brought in his personal memorabilia including the 1985 Yearbook and Badge during our recent Mitch Gillam Cup game earlier this year, and they too will be proudly displayed in our Spartan trophy cabinet. We are extremely appreciative of Peter’s donation back to the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club.

In the days before the website, and even computers themselves, the annual yearbook proved to be the best way to display information about the Club and the past season, listing statistics, sponsors, historical information, and office bearers.

These statistics recorded over thirty years ago have ensured that the record keeping of the Club remains sound in 2017.

A very special thanks to Peter for bringing in this fantastic addition to our Spartan memorabilia, and to Deb Blight for producing the yearbook back in 1985!


A Brief Historical Overview:

All content has been taken exactly as was written in 1985.

“In 1918 the Reverend W.R. Hibburt (sic), the Pastor of the Church of Christ in Fremantle, founded a youth club as a means to getting the young men of Fremantle back to peaceful pursuits following the agonies of World War One. The cricket club is all that survives of that organisation having played competition cricket in Fremantle since the founding date. Initially a stalwart of the Churches Association, the club has been a member of the F&DMCA since 1929-1930.

The club decided to switch from being a Fremantle based club in 1976-1977 and transferred its base of operations to the City of Melville. In 1980-1981 the club became the Bullcreek Spartan Cricket Club, and the club became officially placed on the Parry Avenue Ground in Bullcreek.

It is hoped that in the near future the club will be shifted for the last time when it moves onto the rather splendid sporting facility on the John Connell Reserve sometime during 1985-1986.

The figures in this foundation annual are a small selection of the club’s rather extensive records.”



1985 – In Search Of A Home:

All content has been taken exactly as was written in 1985.

“The acquisition of a home ground complete with social facilities has been a dream of the Club’s Committee since the early 1960’s. Since its inception the Club has used a variety of ovals as a training venue and playing home ground. A list of these ovals reflects the gypsy nature of the Club since 1918: Fremantle Park, Richmond Raceway, Davilak Reserve, Steven’s Reserve, John Curtin High School, Preston Point, Gibson Park, Karoonda and Parry Avenue.

Several times the machinery has been put in motion to transfer the Club’s operations to a permanent home. Arenas investigated were Gilfraser Reserve, Anning Park, Buzzacott, John Creaney Reserve and South Beach Reserve. The first real glimmer of hope came when the club shifted on to Karoonda in 1976. For the first time there was a function room available for after game functions and the resultant bar trade marked a turning point in the Club’s financial stability.

Therefore it came as quite a shock when it was suggested that Spartans move onto Parry Avenue in 1980. The Club had spent a great deal of money in upgrading the practice facilities at Karoonda and naturally didn’t want to walk away and leave the investment. Ultimately there was no option but to move, and as it has turned out, the move has been a beneficial one.

Since moving to Parry Avenue, there has been a constant dialogue between the Club and the Melville City Council in an attempt to turn the oval into a first class playing arena with top recreation facilities attached. All our requests seemed to be falling on deaf ears but somewhere along the way, someone decided that we were genuine in our desire for a better deal for our Members.

In June 1985 the Club was invited to become a Founding Member of the John Connell Reserve Association and as such, transfer to that as the Cricket Club in residence. The reserve has enormous potential consisting of a 3 hectare grassed area overlooked by a $280,000 Club House. The cricket facilities will be a central wicket and a three wicket practice area. The Association is still in the throes of being formed and other bodies invited to take part are the Melville Allemania Soccer Club, the South Perth Baseball Club, the Bullcreek Lions Club and the Bowmen of Melville. The only certain starters are the Soccer Club and Spartans.

There is still a great deal of negotiating to take place and many conditions concerning the occupancy to be settled, but the Committee are more than optimistic that the dreams of the many committees since 1960 are about to come true.”



Sponsor Pages:

The final three pages of the yearbook, 18 through 20, were dedicated to the Club’s sponsors of the day.

From the Rose Hotel, TJ Quality Meats, Darrell Sears Realty, and Arteil Furniture, to Jim Kidd Sports Specialists (which had been founded six years earlier in Fremantle), Westair, and Thornquest Press – manufacturers and designers of computer business forms – the Club certainly had a substantial list of sponsors.

This sponsorship was certainly needed, as the Club was required to pay $4000 ($11,120 today) for a playing pitch instalment at John Connell.


The Sponsors Pages from the 1985 Yearbook. Notice the lack of a “9” beginning the telephone numbers, which had not yet become standard.


An extract from our history pages detailing the 1985 move to John Connell. This chapter should be added back to our website in the coming fortnight!


What happened next:

As we know now, the Club certainly did move into the John Connell sporting complex the following season, part of which we still utilise today.

The original Connell Clubhouse has since been upgraded with the fantastic facilities next door which now serve as our headquarters, ensuring the Spartan name is stronger than ever.

The Club was renamed to the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club to suit the move, although we actually still use Trevor Gribble on Parry Avenue as one of our home grounds.

The clubrooms on that ground were once planned to see a second story added onto them for the Spartans, however the move to Connell ensured this was not required. Today, the clubrooms are utilised by the Willetton Reds Hockey Club, whilst our former ground Karoonda houses the CBC Cricket Club, and is currently undergoing substantial renovations.


Spartan Badge:

In addition to the brilliant 1985 Yearbook, Peter has also kindly supplied us with a very rare Bullcreek Spartan Cricket Club badge from the same era (pictured below) that was hand stitched to the formal shirts of the era.

Interestingly, the image of the Spartan that features on the badge differs only slightly from the one on the front page of the yearbook, which features only the Spartan head – a variation of which we use as our logo today.

The image of the Spartan found on the badge is similar to the one found on the green background displayed on our honour wall inside the clubhouse, which was the first variation of our logo.


The Spartan badge.


Bowling statistics and individual player records from the 1985 yearbook.


The 1985 season was another fascinating chapter in Spartan history, and marks the transition into the modern day Leeming Spartan Cricket Club.

An enormous thank you to Peter Dama for donating a copy of the 1985 Spartan Yearbook, it is incredible to see how far we have come in the thirty-two years since!

This was the second instalment in our “From The Spartan Archives” series, which we hope to bring to you at least once a week during the off season. Should anyone wish to aid with the development of the series, please feel free to Email me!

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