The wooden spoon is the imaginary and ironic "award" which is said to be won by the team finishing in last place in the West Australian Football League. No physical wooden spoon award exists, other than those brought by opposition fans to taunt struggling teams, nor is such an award officially sanctioned by the WAFL. However, most betting agencies will take wagers on the wooden spoon.

West Perth with a record of 7 win and 14 losses in the 1992 season, have the highest numbers of wins out of all wooden spoon teams since the start of the competition in 1885. Perth with a percentage of 92.13% (from 6 wins and 9 losses) in the 1921 season, has the highest percentage out of all wooden spoon teams since the start of the competition in 1885.

Criteria

The team which finishes on the bottom of the ladder wins the wooden spoon. This is determined by:

  • Fewest premiership points (four points for a win, two points for a draw)
  • Lowest percentage (the ratio of points for to points against if on same numbers of points) (1898–Present)

No countback exists if teams finish equal on points but with a different number of wins.

1885–1897

From 1885 to 1897 teams on the ladder were ranked by competition points, then match points differential (for and against). From 1885 to 1896 only goals scored were included in the total score, and teams were awarded two points for a win and one point for a draw.[1]

High School withdrew from the competition due to lack of players two rounds into the inaugural season, and therefore are the inaugural "winners" of the wooden spoon.

Wooden spoons by season

[2]

SeasonWooden spoonWinsLossesDrawsGame DifferencePercentagePoints
1885High School010-4-0
1886Unions270-17-4
1887West Australian260-7-4
1888West Australian (2)171-14-3
1889Metropolitan163-9-5
1890Rovers342-8-8
1891East Perth (I)192-32-4
1892East Perth (I) (2)0120-67-0
1893Rovers (2)0120-39-0
1894Rovers (3)291-37-5
1895West Perth2130-67-4
1896Rovers (4)3112-54-8
1897Rovers (5)172-24-4
1898East Fremantle1150-51.764
1899Rovers (6)080-37.820
1900Perth2100-82.378
1901Subiaco411052.1916
1902Subiaco (2)015037.440
1903Subiaco (3)114035.024
1904South Fremantle114035.024
1905Subiaco (4)010021.090
1906Subiaco (5)116040.754
1907Subiaco (6)215047.344
1908Subiaco (7)214152.4410
1909Midland Junction1151-46.006
1910Midland Junction (2)3140-53.056
1911East Perth2100-59.318
1912Perth (2)2100-75.298
1913East Perth (2)2100-68.468
1914North Fremantle1130-59.354
1915North Fremantle (2)1200-43.324
1916Subiaco (8)2100-65.598
1917Midland Junction (3)012029.020
1918West Perth (2)2130-48.118
1919West Perth (3)3120-55.0112
1920South Fremantle (2)3120-79.1212
1921Perth (3)690-92.1324
1922Perth (4)3110-76.2012
1923Perth (5)1121-67.826
1924West Perth (4)3120-84.2312
1925South Fremantle (3)3111-68.8114
1926Claremont1170-55.594
1927Claremont (2)1170-61.924
1928Claremont (3)5130-86.4820
1929East Perth (3)2160-66.528
1930West Perth (5)6111-90.4726
1931Claremont (4)3150-72.2112
1932Claremont (5)4140-72.3216
1933Claremont (6)5130-80.8320
1934Claremont (7)2190-56.348
1935Perth (6)4140-81.1516
1936South Fremantle (4)6140-86.0524
1937Subiaco (9)4170-76.5316
1938West Perth (6)3170-76.6212
1939West Perth (7)1190-59.224
1940Swan Districts2180-57.728
1941Swan Districts (2)3170-70.4412
1942Perth (7)390-64.7212
1943South Fremantle (5)4130-51.9716
1944South Fremantle (6)0190-28.000
1945Claremont (8)2180-57.778
1946Claremont (9)3160-68.4512
1947Subiaco (10)3160-74.4812
1948Swan Districts (3)2170-58.598
1949Subiaco (11)2160-68.118
1950Subiaco (12)5160-67.7820
1951Swan Districts (4)1200-64.124
1952Swan Districts (5)2180-50.848
1953Subiaco (13)2190-55.388
1954Subiaco (14)4160-67.8216
1955Subiaco (15)4160-68.9816
1956Swan Districts (6)4150-83.5916
1957Swan Districts (7)4170-77.4116
1958Claremont (10)2190-54.568
1959Swan Districts (8)5160-80.8820
1960Swan Districts (9)2190-67.728
1961South Fremantle (7)5160-81.6320
1962Claremont (11)4170-72.6516
1963Claremont (12)4170-79.6016
1964East Perth (4)3180-70.8512
1965South Fremantle (8)5151-81.8322
1966South Fremantle (9)6150-79.6024
1967Subiaco (16)3180-75.5312
1968Swan Districts (10)1200-63.934
1969South Fremantle (10)5160-77.1020
1970Swan Districts (11)4170-69.7716
1971Swan Districts (12)4161-72.0818
1972South Fremantle (11)6150-83.2224
1973Claremont (13)4170-88.0816
1974West Perth (8)6150-86.4324
1975Claremont (14)3180-67.9312
1976Subiaco (17)4170-64.0416
1977Swan Districts (13)3180-70.0712
1978Swan Districts (14)4170-75.1116
1979Subiaco (18)3180-61.9112
1980Subiaco (19)2190-59.378
1981Perth (8)3180-64.9712
1982Subiaco (20)1200-73.364
1983Perth (9)3180-76.9312
1984Perth (10)5160-79.0120
1985East Perth (5)5160-88.6420
1986Swan Districts (15)5160-83.0220
1987South Fremantle (12)3180-75.1912
1988Swan Districts (16)4161-75.8518
1989East Perth (6)3180-66.3612
1990West Perth (9)6150-70.2324
1991West Perth (10)5160-69.0420
1992West Perth (11)7140-80.9628
1993Perth (11)6150-73.0024
1994Perth (12)5160-75.4020
1995Swan Districts (17)2190-61.618
1996Subiaco (21)6150-63.7424
1997Peel Thunder1190-39.194
1998Peel Thunder (2)1190-53.874
1999Peel Thunder (3)0200-46.610
2000Perth (13)1170-63.314
2001Swan Districts (18)3150-72.2812
2002Swan Districts (19)1170-61.924
2003Peel Thunder (4)1190-40.934
2004East Fremantle (2)3170-74.6212
2005Peel Thunder (5)3170-59.9412
2006East Fremantle (3)4160-74.8216
2007Perth (14)3170-77.2712
2008East Perth (7)6140-72.1924
2009Peel Thunder (6)5150-71.1120
2010Perth (15)2180-70.358
2011Peel Thunder (7)5150-79.1220
2012Peel Thunder (8)5150-70.5120
2013Peel Thunder (9)3170-70.0712
2014Perth (16)3170-75.7712
2015Perth (17)2180-59.408
2016Swan Districts (20)2180-58.308
2017Perth (18)3170-63.8412
2018East Fremantle (4)2160-52.518
2019Swan Districts (21)4140-68.9316
2020Peel Thunder (10)080-48.170
2021West Coast4140-65.2116
2022West Coast (2)1170-48.954
2023West Coast (3)0171-39.172

Wooden spoons by club

ClubTotal
Wooden
Spoons
Years of Wooden Spoon
Subiaco
21
1901, 1902, 1903, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1916, 1937, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1967, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1996
Swan Districts
21
1940, 1941, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1977, 1978, 1986, 1988, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2016, 2019
Perth
18
1900, 1912, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1935, 1942, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2017
Claremont
14
1926, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1945, 1946, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1973, 1975
South Fremantle
12
1904, 1920, 1925, 1936, 1943, 1944, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1972, 1987
West Perth
11
1895, 1918, 1919, 1930, 1938, 1939, 1964, 1974, 1990, 1991, 1992
Peel
10
1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2020
East Perth
7
1911, 1913, 1929, 1964, 1985, 1989, 2008
Rovers
6
1890, 1893, 1894, 1896, 1897, 1899
East Fremantle
4
1898, 2004, 2006, 2018
Midland Junction
3
1909, 1910, 1917
West Coast (R)
3
2021, 2022, 2023
West Australian
2
1887, 1888
East Perth (I)
2
1891, 1892
North Fremantle
2
1914, 1915
High School
1
1885
Unions/Fremantle (II)
1
1886
Metropolitan
1
1889
Fremantle (I)
0
N/A
Victorians
0
N/A
Imperials
0
N/A
Centrals
0
N/A

Bold indicates clubs currently playing in the WAFL.

Longest wooden spoon droughts

Club Seasons Start End
East Fremantle10618982004
Claremont481975-
Perth3919421981
South Fremantle361987-
East Perth3519291964
West Perth311992-
Subiaco271996-
West Perth2619391965
West Perth2318951918
East Perth2119641985
Subiaco2119161937

Active wooden spoon droughts

Club Last Wooden Spoon Years since
Claremont 1975 48
South Fremantle 1987 36
West Perth 1992 31
Subiaco 1996 27
East Perth 2008 15
Perth 2017 6
East Fremantle 2018 5
Swan Districts 2019 4
Peel 2020 3
West Coast (R) 2023 0

Consecutive Wooden Spoons

Ten clubs have finished last in 3 or more consecutive seasons.

# Club Sequence of Seasons
4 Subiaco 1905–1908
Claremont 1931–1934
3 Subiaco 1901–1903
Perth 1921–1923
Claremont 1926-1928
Subiaco 1953–1955
West Perth 1990–1992
Peel 1997-1999
Peel 2011-2013
West Coast (R) 2021-2023

References

  1. Gauci, Ric. "1885 Scores and Results". WAFL Footy Facts. Ric Gauci. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  2. Gauci, Ric. "Seasons". WAFL FootyFacts. Ric Gauci. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
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