HARRIS AND TOMPSITT ARE FALCONS' NEWEST LIFE MEMBERS

WEST Perth premiership hero Darren Harris struggled to hold back the tears as he accepted life membership of the club at Wednesday night’s Annual General Meeting.

Harris fell short of the 150 league games required for him to be automatically awarded life membership during his memorable career with the Falcons, which stretched from 1992-1996 and saw him win a premiership medal, a Simpson Medal and a Breckler Medal.

But his successful return to the club as a premiership-winning coach in the early 2000s and his ongoing recruitment and promotional work led premiership team-mate Steve Trewhella to nominate him for life membership this year.

With his children and wife Gael watching on, Harris accepted the award and spoke passionately about his love for the Falcons.

“I came over here at a time in my life when the West Perth Football Club was really important to me,” he said as he struggled with his emotions.

“The club owes me nothing. I owe it a lot. It gave me great self-esteem. It made me believe and that’s one of the reasons I am back here again. This means so much to me.”

Trewhella, himself a former West Perth captain and life member said Harris was the ultimate club man whose great ability as a coach was that he could bring the players together.

He said much of the club’s success since the 1990s was attributable to Harris, who continued sending promising young players to West Perth from the east. Club president Brett Raponi said Harris had played a role in getting both Chris Keunen and Rohan Kerr to West Perth.

He went on to say that Darren along with Jeff Gieschen changed the culture of the football club.

” We had 20 very lean years and were really going know where before the arrival of these guys," Raponi said.

"Darren along with Jeff reinvigorated this club and reset the template for success.”

Trewhella said one of Harris’s few mistakes had been to lend 1990s Northern Territory recruit Brett Jukawicz a pushbike so the burly forward could get to training when he first arrived in Perth without a car.

A few months later, Harris inquired about the bike, only to be told Jukawicz had sold it to bankroll a big night out.

Harris played 109 games with West Perth and coached the club in 84 games. He captained the WA state team and won premierships with West Perth as both captain and coach, later holding coaching positions at both West Coast and Carlton in the AFL.

Kathleen Tompsitt, meanwhile, was awarded life membership of West Perth Football Club for her outstanding off-field contribution.

A tireless worker for the club, she has been involved since the 1990s in food preparation and the club’s raffles. It is estimated she has raised about $20,000 for the club during her years running the raffle.

Kathleen said she was honoured to be awarded life membership of the club she had supported for more than 70 years.