Ferguson Family's Royal Connection

Greg Ferguson has a longstanding family connection to the East Perth Football Club; serving as the Team Manager since 1992, his family have been involved with the Royals since the 1950s.

“I’ve been coming to the footy at East Perth ever since I was a little baby in a pram. My family has always been involved with East Perth: my grandfather, my uncles, my father - everyone’s been involved and it’s just been a progression along the years and something I enjoy doing.”

Ferguson lives with his wife Mina on his property in Toodyay which was destroyed by bushfire in December 2009. He took a year off to rebuild his home, but maintained a watchful eye over the club.

“I started off just as a parent watching my kids and then they had trouble when the team manager left his glasses behind and they asked me to do it, so I did and from then on that’s exactly what I’ve been doing ever since - Colts, Reserves and League – all the way through”, he said.

Ferguson makes the three hour round journey for training twice a week and again on match days. His children and grandchildren have carried on the love for WAFL football even though some have joined cross-town rival clubs.

“Both Peter and Alan played here in the Colts and Reserves. Peter had knee reconstructions that cut that part of his career short.

“Tanya was the trainer here during 2000-2002 with (Tony) Micale and then she went to Subiaco. Lisa Jayne is currently a trainer for East Perth and has been for the last three years”, he said.

16-year-old grandson Jesse was a trainer at the Royals but has made the switch to join his school friends and play for the Subiaco Colts this year. His cousin Marcus, 13, is a West Perth combined player and Marcus’ little brother Ethan plays for the Joondalup Jets in the West Perth area.

“Peter still plays footy and he plays for Kingsway out in Wanneroo. Alan was a coach but, having worked fly-in, fly-out on the mines for the past two years, he can’t coach anymore.”

Ferguson highlights East Perth’s three consecutive premierships (2000, 2001, 2002) amongst his greatest memories at the club, but also takes joy from watching players develop from Colts to Reserves and through to League.

“I still get a big kick seeing the likes of Craig Wulff, who came through the system when I was a Team Manager in the Reserves, now set to break a club record,” he said.

In his 23 years as Team Manager at the club, Ferguson names gutsy midfielder Brent Cowell as the player he enjoyed watching most.

“One of the best players I ever saw play football here was Brent Cowell. When he played I thought Cowelly was quite an exceptional player for a guy of his size.

“There is a host of blokes; Aaron Marley is another one, the Swan brothers. There were a lot of them.”

But like any club there have been a few challenging times, including a short-lived blue with former coach Tony Micale.

“I had an altercation with Tony Micale once and he told me he’d get square with me. That was all to do with a game down south when I told him after the game that he could only have two minutes for the players’ address. We were late for tea and he told me what to do.It didn’t bother me any bit, I just stuck to my guns and he and I are still very good mates”.

“Those in the room would know what happened that day. It didn’t bother me one bit because those that know me know that I’m not shy", he laughed.