Happy 90th Birthday Bill

East Perth would like to wish Bill Forrest, an East Perth Hall of Fame Inductee and Club Historian, a very happy 90th birthday. Bill celebrated the occasion with a close group of family and friends at, where else but, the East Perth Members Bar. Below is a very brief overview of some of the work Bill has undertaken in his years with the Royals.

For more than 50 years, Bill Forrest has maintained an integral role within the workings of the East Perth Football Club, with an early focus on junior football in the district.

In recent years, he has focused on historical aspects of East Perth and is widely-respected as the club’s historian with such achievements as the publication of The Royals 100-year history book, and the establishment of the Hall of Fame.

It all started back in the 1960s when Forrest was part of the Coolbinia–Yokine Junior Football Club with three (1969-71) as club secretary.

He then moved his attention to the East Perth Junior Football Council, where he served for 20 years in roles, including Assistant Secretary, Treasurer and President for 11 years,

He presided over the formation of the East/West competition, which saw the merging of the East Perth and West Perth Junior Councils...

The regionalisation of junior football when the WAFL introduced new boundaries for the league clubs in 1991 saw the emergence of the Central Districts Junior Football Association, and he served as President from1991-96, and was a member of the Protests and Disputes Tribunal 1997-2000.

At East Perth level, Forrest has been a club member since 1960, serving as manager of the 16s Development Squad before moving on to the Board in 1982 for nine years, two of those years as Vice President.

Since 1987, he has been a voluntary office worker at East Perth, during this time, he has researched player profiles and maintained player records, and computerised and maintained the membership records of the club, and from 2006-2010 was responsible for maintaining the club’s MYOB accounting system.

Honours and accolades have been many and for a non-player, his list of credentials is certainly impressive – such as East Perth Life Member (1983), National Football League Merit Award (1988), Life Member of several Junior Football Councils and Associations; Australian Sports Medal (2000) and Life Member of the West Australia Football Commission (2001).