# 1987 West Coast Eagles season

The 1987 VFL season was the West Coast Eagles' inaugural season in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The club was introduced to the competition as part of the VFL's expansion. Ron Alexander was appointed coach of the team and Ross Glendinning was appointed captain. The Eagles played 22 games, winning 11 and losing 11 to finish 8th on the ladder.

## Pre-season
### National Panasonic Cup

West Coast played their first match against another AFL club during the 1987 National Panasonic Cup, the VFL's night series at the time, defeating Footscray by 29 points at Waverley Park after trailing by 28 points at three-quarter time.
Home team's score listed in bold:
| Round | Date | Score | Opponent | Opponent's Score | Result | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | Tuesday, 3 March 2:10pm | 12.15 (87) | Footscray | 8.10 (58) | Won by 29 points | Waverley Park | 4,599 |
| 2 | Saturday, 21 March 2:10pm | 12.15 (87) | Fitzroy | 10.4 (64) | Won by 23 points | Waverley Park | 5,047 |
| SF | Tuesday, 14 April 2:10pm | 5.10 (40) | Essendon | 22.16 (148) | Lost by 108 points | Waverley Park | 12 625 |

## Regular season

Home team's score listed in bold:
| Round | Date | Score | Opponent | Opponent's Score | Result | Venue | Attendance | Best on ground | Team |
| 1 | Sunday, 29 March 2:10pm | 20.13 (133) | Richmond | 16.23 (119) | Won by 14 points | Subiaco Oval | 23,897 | Phil Narkle | West Coast |
| 2 | Saturday, 4 April 2:10pm | 17.12 (114) | Essendon | 17.17 (119) | Lost by 5 points | Windy Hill | 19,845 | Leon Baker | Essendon |
| 3 | Sunday, 12 April 2:10pm | 14.13 (97) | Sydney | 18.16 (124) | Lost by 27 points | Subiaco Oval | 35,719 | Greg Williams | Sydney |
| 4 | Saturday, 18 April 2:10pm | 15.14 (104) | Carlton | 29.17 (191) | Lost by 87 points | Princes Park | 20,750 | Paul Meldrum | Carlton |
| 5 | Saturday, 25 April 2:10pm | 15.14 (104) | Hawthorn | 13.14 (92) | Won by 12 points | Princes Park | 10,588 | Chris Mainwaring | West Coast |
| 6 | Sunday, 3 May 2:10pm | 24.18 (162) | North Melbourne | 13.10 (88) | Won by 74 points | Subiaco Oval | 28,543 | Robert Wiley | West Coast |
| 7 | Friday, 8 May 7:40pm | 10.21 (81) | Brisbane Bears | 8.14 (62) | Won by 19 points | WACA Ground | 25,799 | Ross Glendinning | West Coast |
| 8 | Saturday, 16 May 2:10pm | 6.13 (49) | St Kilda | 14.13 (97) | Lost by 48 points | Moorabbin Oval | 11,537 | Warren Jones | St Kilda |
| 9 | Sunday, 24 May 7:40pm | 20.15 (135) | Melbourne | 18.11 (119) | Won by 16 points | Subiaco Oval | 23,366 | Dwayne Lamb | West Coast |
| 10 | Monday, 1 June 2:10pm | 19.23 (137) | Collingwood | 11.14 (80) | Won by 57 points | Subiaco Oval | 38,274 | John Annear | West Coast |
| 11 | Saturday, 6 June 2:10pm | 15.9 (99) | Footscray | 18.13 (121) | Lost by 22 points | Western Oval | 15,089 | Brian Royal | Footscray |
| 12 | Saturday, 13 June 2:10pm | 12.13 (85) | Geelong | 13.13 (91) | Lost by 6 points | Kardinia Park | 17,504 | Bruce Lindner | Geelong |
| 13 | Friday, 19 June 7:40pm | 16.18 (114) | Fitzroy | 5.12 (42) | Won by 72 points | WACA Ground | 13,540 | John Annear | West Coast |
| 14 | Sunday, 27 June 2:10pm | 9.15 (69) | Richmond | 9.19 (73) | Lost by 4 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground | 8,926 | Allan McKellar | Richmond |
| 15 | Friday, 3 July 7:40pm | 18.10 (118) | Essendon | 21.20 (146) | Lost by 28 points | WACA Ground | 15,740 | Paul Salmon | Essendon |
| 16 | Friday, 10 July 7:40pm | 15.17 (107) | Carlton | 15.14 (104) | Won by 3 points | WACA Ground | 21,780 | Ross Glendinning | West Coast |
| 17 | Sunday, 19 July 2:10pm | 10.11 (71) | Sydney | 30.21 (201) | Lost by 130 points | Sydney Cricket Ground | 24,199 | Stephen Wright | Sydney |
| 18 | Sunday, 2 August 2:10pm | 17.13 (115) | Hawthorn | 17.12 (114) | Won by 1 point | Subiaco Oval | 24,502 | John Platten | Hawthorn |
| 19 | Friday, 7 August 7:40pm | 15.19 (109) | North Melbourne | 18.12 (120) | Lost by 11 points | WACA Ground | 22,540 | Jim Krakouer | North Melbourne |
| 20 | Sunday, 16 August 2:10pm | 21.14 (140) | Brisbane Bears | 18.11 (119) | Won by 21 points | Carrara Stadium | 4,859 | Geoff Raines | Brisbane Bears |
| 21 | Friday, 21 August 7:40pm | 10.8 (68) | Melbourne | 18.21 (129) | Lost by 61 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground | 21,048 | Sean Wight | Melbourne |
| 22 | Sunday, 30 August 2:10pm | 26.19 (175) | St Kilda | 13.9 (87) | Won by 88 points | Subiaco Oval | 17,617 | Adrian Barich | West Coast |
Source: AFLTables

## Ladder

| (P) | Premiers |
| | Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
| 1 | Carlton (P) | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 2599 | 1883 | 138.0 | 72 |
| 2 | Hawthorn | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 2781 | 1891 | 147.1 | 68 |
| 3 | Sydney | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2846 | 2197 | 129.5 | 60 |
| 4 | North Melbourne | 22 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 2402 | 2417 | 99.4 | 54 |
| 5 | Melbourne | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2189 | 2026 | 108.0 | 48 |
| 6 | Geelong | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 2355 | 2348 | 100.3 | 46 |
| 7 | Footscray | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 1959 | 2046 | 95.7 | 46 |
| 8 | West Coast | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 2386 | 2438 | 97.9 | 44 |
| 9 | Essendon | 22 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 2075 | 2318 | 89.5 | 38 |
| 10 | St Kilda | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2150 | 2369 | 90.8 | 36 |
| 11 | Fitzroy | 22 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 2328 | 2544 | 91.5 | 32 |
| 12 | Collingwood | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1853 | 2425 | 76.4 | 28 |
| 13 | Brisbane Bears | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 2113 | 2666 | 79.3 | 24 |
| 14 | Richmond | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 2199 | 2667 | 82.5 | 20 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 104.7 Source: AFL Tables

## Awards

Steve Malaxos won the inaugural Club Champion Award, polling 229 votes to finish ahead of Ross Glendinning and Chris Mainwaring:
| 1987 Club Champion Award |
| No. | Name | Votes |
| 1 | Steve Malaxos | 229 |
| 2 | Ross Glendinning | 170 |
| 3 | Chris Mainwaring | 166 |
| 4 | Dwayne Lamb | 128 |
| 5 | Alex Ishchenko | 116 |
| 6 | Laurie Keene | 115 |
| 7 | Michael Brennan | 113 |
| 8 | Chris Lewis | 88 |
| 9 | Murray Wrensted | 75 |
| 10 | John Annear | 70 |
Glen Bartlett won the award for Best Clubman and Chris Mainwaring was named Rookie of the Year.