The Western Warriors Football Club was formed exactly 40 years after the Greek Orthodox Football Club was established in 1961.

 The idea came about when some sons and their mates of a few past players of the Greek Football Club were discussing the fact the Club no longer existed. They suggested that maybe the Greek Football Club could be restarted so they could have the opportunity to play for the Club that their fathers had played for and they also wanted to enjoy the same comradery of playing football with their mates as their fathers had done before them.

 That conversation planted the seed for the formation of a new Football Club however the question was how could this become a reality.

 Many phone calls were made to past players and the feedback was mostly positive so a meeting was held under the Constitution of the Greek Football Club and even though the Club had been disbanded the bank account of the Greek Football Club Past Players Association was still active with a balance of approximately $1,000.  Past players also donated monies on the night to the tune of around $500 giving the Club a bank balance of $1,500.

 The meeting was well attended by approximately 25 past players all agreeing to proceed with the forming of a Football Club in Amateur League for the 2002 season.

 The new Club would be called the Western Warriors Football Club and a Committee was formed. Tom Frossinakis was President, George Evreniadis was Vice President and Football Director, George Frangoulis was Treasurer, Con Paxinos was Secretary, Social and Joint Sponsorship Co-Ordinator Nick Mourcella, Joint Sponsorship Co-Ordinator David James, Fund Raising Co-Ordinator Sharon Mourcella, SAAFL Delegate Manuel Frangoulis, Players Representative Con Nicholas and Committee Members Keith Davis, Nick Nicholas, Sam Nicholas and Tony Retsas.

 A steering Committee was formed to find a home ground with change rooms, toilets and showers for both teams, along with a canteen.

 Meanwhile shock, horror!!!  Late on a Friday afternoon George Evreniadis (Football Director) received a phone call from SAAFL advising him that a vacancy had become available in Division A8 and A8R for the season 2001 (that was one year earlier than expected). 

 The cutoff date for the acceptance of two teams to be included in Division A8 and A8R for 2001 was the following Monday morning so George Evreniadis rang Nick Mourcella straight away and because there was no time to call a special meeting between the two of them, they made a decision to accept the offer.  

A special meeting was held as soon as possible to inform the members of the inaugural Western Warriors Football Club Committee what was in the offering. Subsequently a vote was taken and it was a unanimous decision to go with the entering into the SAAFL for the season of 2001. The fact that the $1,000 affiliation fee was covered by the Greek Football Club Past Players monies which was in the existing bank account gave the members the confidence to move forward.

 Nick and Sharon Mourcella’s home became the registered office of the Club.  A separate phone line was installed a fax machine was purchased and a photo copy machine was kindly donated. An advertisement for “wanted players” was placed in the local newspaper with a story about the formation of the Western Warriors Football Club and the history behind it being The Greek Football Club.  The phone and fax machine were working overtime. About 6 players came from SMOSH West Lakes, 12 to 15 players from Sacred Heart and Ovingham and 6 to 8 players were sons and friends from the Greek Football Club past players.  All up there were around 45 players and enough to fill the two teams.

After ongoing negotiations with Underdale High School a year-by-year lease was signed and it would become the home ground for the Warriors. 

The Club also secured a healthy sponsorship with the Royal Hotel Torrensville and the Front Bar became the Club’s clubhouse. The team selections were displayed on the notice board in the front bar on Thursday nights after training. Player presentations also took place in the front bar on Saturday nights after the games and many a player and supporters would enjoy a meal together on a Saturday night.

PDR was outsourced to design and manufacture the Club’s guernsey.  The logo was designed and after many meetings with PDR the screen-printing process began with the colours of navy, royal blue and white and the sponsors name was displayed on the front and back of the jumpers and the G.F.C was printed on the back collar.

The Western Warriors Football Club was extremely proud and honoured to have the legendary West Torrens Champion and dual Magarey Medalist Bob Hank as the Patron of the Club. Bob and his wife Audrey supported the Club at functions and also gave encouragement and support to the players.

As a point of difference and following on from the success and generosity of past players and guests at The Last Hoorah in 1997 it was decided that when the WWFC was being formed that some monies would be raised each year and donated to The Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The Club’s major sponsor was L J Hooker Unley, owned by past Greek Football Club player Peter Economou, a veteran of 251 games for the Greek Football Club and his wife Sue.  With a most generous sponsorship to the Club from L J Hooker Unley the Club was able to purchase 2 sets of jumpers (50 in all).

Another past player for the Greek Football Club, Harry Stoubos, who played about 120 games for the Club was able to secure a sponsorship through his place of employment being Pepsi and their logo was displayed on the shorts which were plain navy blue with the SAAFL logo on the side. White shorts were worn for the away games and the socks were navy blue.

Football at Underdale High had been disbanded as it was to become a Soccer Academy so a search was on to find some goal posts. George Evreniadis taught at the school at the time and knew that goal posts had existed in the past.  Three sets were found behind the caretakers shed hidden under a heavy growth of weeds.  The oval was measured and 3 sleeves were placed in the ground and the goal posts were erected much to the approval of some of the students of the school.

Portable covered coaches benches for the home team and the visitors team were made and the time keepers tent was also made.

Now, who was going to be the Club’s 1st Coach.  Brett Copping was appointed playing coach of the A’s and Darren Blight was a non-playing coach of the B’s as he was required as an A grade player.

At the beginning of the 2001 season SAAFL advised the Club that they would be playing in A7 and A7R and not the A8 division and originally advised.

Two trial games were organized. The outcome being one win and one loss.

The day of the first game had arrived and WWFC were playing Colonel Light Gardens at home. However, on the Friday night before the game, Nick Mourcella a veteran of 167 games for the GFC met up with George Evreniadis and Tom Frossinakis, a veteran of 216 games for the GFC to discuss the fact that the B team were going to be two players short of the starting 18. So, this being the case Nick Mourcella and Tom Frossinakis signed the player registration forms that night and they lodged them to the Amateur League House on Saturday morning.

Football boots, shorts and socks were borrowed and off they went to play. Two minutes and forty-seven seconds into the first quarter Tom goes down with his first hamstring injury, off he goes and now one man short. Nick Mourcella plays on roving and resting in the forward pocket. Remember Nick and Tom had not trained for 22 and 25 years respectively.  Nick lasted the game and ended up kicking 1-1.

However, the worst was to come for Nick. The Field Umpire for the A’s never turned up so after playing for 80 minutes in the B’s Nick was forced to umpire the A’s along with the opposing team’s umpire.  He knew the game but not all the rules and did a fair job of umpiring and both Umpires were equally abused by players and supporters from both teams.  The Warriors lost heavily in a one-sided game and at quarter time the Warriors had held a slender lead.  Take the scores away, it was a great day with Con Nicholas being best for the Warriors. 

The first win for the Club was in the B’s when they beat Flinders Uni by two points.  It was the first time the Club song was sung.  It was nearly a double win but sadly the A’s went down in the last quarter to end up short.

In one game at home Con Nicholas was felled by an opposing player and was repeatedly hit whilst on the ground. Con was taken to hospital by ambulance. It was a very cowardly act by the opposing player, however, Con’s team mates made sure that the player would regret his actions and was subsequently harassed throughout the rest of the game. It was reminiscent of the days when the Greek football players would look out for each other on the field.

The A’s first win was against Salvation Army Saints. The A’s were down at half time and the Coach reminded them they would be bottom if they lost however they ended up winning by a big margin. Full forward Darren Ellul kicked 12 goals.  Wins were far and few between with the A’s winning approximately 5 games for the first year and finished well down on the ladder.

The Club’s first Presentation night was held at the Italian Club on Carrington Street and the best on ground votes were counted at the event. 

Brett Copping won the A Grade Best and Fairest.

Jim Antonopoulos won the B Grade Best and Fairest.

During the count Con Nicholas was well in front of the counting until he got seriously injured and he did not play football again that season.

All in all, a very progressive year.