Alan East to be inducted into WA Football Hall of Fame

West Australian football media pioneer Alan East’s incredible career will be honoured when he is inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame on Monday night.

The late East was an accomplished football journalist, author and publisher over a more than 40-year career.

East started as a cadet journalist at The West Australian in the 1960s before working in Collie and London as a general reported and sub-editor.

He became a football writer at The West Australian in 1973 and the following year he over the editorship of the WAFL Football Budget.

In 1979 he was named the chief football writer and assistant sports editor of the Sunday Times before he then launched a weekly newspaper solely dedicated to football called Westside Football alongside Peter Poat.

For the next 18 years the publication served as an excellent promotional tool for the sport, covering the formation of West Coast (1987) and Fremantle (1995) as well as launching the careers of several aspiring journalists.

In the late 1980s he also became involved in writing, editing and publishing several football books including Jakovich – Zealous and Bold, Lewie-Lewie, Woosha, the Smiling Assassin, WA’s Fabulous 40, From Redlegs to Demons, The Royals, 75 Years of Black and White, and various club Annual Reports and Year Books.

However, his most significant work is The Sandover Medal Men which he published in 2005 and is a hardcover volume profiling every Sandover Medal winner to that point.

East remained active in football writing and journalist until he died in January of 2018 at the age of 74.

Written by Mitchell Woodcock, The West Australian.