Women’s History

A Brief History of the Claremont Women's Football Club

Starting out as the Innaloo Piranhas, CWFC were one of the four inaugural teams in the WA Women’s Football League competition that began in 1988.

Originally all teams in the competition were affiliated with amateur men’s football clubs. This arrangement continued for a few years until the women’s team decided to go it alone.

In the early 90’s a move was made and the Club’s name changed to Northern Suburbs. By 1992 the team changed its name back to Innaloo and operated from Yuluma Park. 1995 was an unsettled year for the Club; the team didn’t have a home ground and used a number of grounds before finding some availability at a park in Marangaroo.

Tragedy also struck the club in 1995 when the Piranhas lost one of their best and brightest players, Dhara Kerr, to a long battle with depression. Always a strong advocate for mental health, the Club has since dedicated an annual match to her memory, known as the Dhara Kerr Memorial Cup. The match is the first game played each season between CWFC and Swan Districts (formerly called Carlisle, Vic Park, Canning, Belmont, then Southern Thunder), a fantastic way to uphold the spirit of the game and camaraderie of the two Clubs.

In 1996, the Club returned to Innaloo and found a new home at Birralee Reserve, where the Club remained until 2005. Unfortunately the Club could not play out of Birralee in 2005 and so made the move to Woodlands Reserve. This was far from ideal as the Club did not have full access to the facilities available on the grounds and lacked the use of any club rooms.

In 2006 moves were made to affiliate with the Claremont Football Club. This bought about the renaming of the Club to Claremont and a change in Club colours from red and white to navy and gold.

2009 was the first time CWFC nominated a club for second division. In 2012 the Claremont Tigers submitted one team in the reserves division and won the Reserves premiership. From 2013 the Tigers experienced upheaval fluctuating from one team in 2012, to two teams in reserves and league in 2013 and 2014. In 2015 the Tigers played as one team in the reserves team winning the 2015 reserves premiership. Through this period the Tigers maintained resilience, strength and courage often with multiple players playing two games (8 quarters) on a Sunday.

2017 formally put to rest the feisty Piranhas logo which has been held for 29 years, in the WAWFL leagues and Claremont Tigers 30th year of celebration. For the first time, Claremont Women’s Football Club played as the Claremont Tigers, ensuring a strong future affiliated with the Claremont Football Club and it’s fantastic history.

In 2017 the Club was officially aligned with the Claremont Football Club as the Claremont Tigers, culminating in a brand new set of Tiger uniforms for the 2017 season in time for the move back to the newly built Claremont Oval facilities.

The Club is extremely happy to be affiliated with a WAFL Club that is so rich in history, working together with the Club and the Claremont District to create pathways for Women’s football in WA and across Australia.