Inaugural captain Ben Allan and current skipper Matthew Pavlich have helped launch the club’s history book, Fremantle Dockers: An Illustrated History.

The publication’s author Les Everett was also on hand, along with club president Steve Harris and chief executive officer Steve Rosich.

Both Allan and Harris referred to the early chapters of the book that highlighted Fremantle’s initial hardships.

An AFL premiership player with Hawthorn in 1991, Allan described the first years of the Freo Dockers amongst his proudest football memories.

“Being involved in a club that won eight, seven and 10 games over the first three years, and considering the conditions that were imposed, I think that's a remarkable start to a club,” he said.

“When you do compare them to GWS and Gold Coast, I think it's even more remarkable that a group of guys from the WAFL, with a flittering of guys who had been in the AFL for a little bit, came together and had a pretty big impact.

“It was exciting times and I think that's part of the reason why having those early wins was one of my proudest footy playing memories.”

Harris said the first chapters in the book highlighted the clear difference in assistance the AFL gave Freo in 1994 compared to the recent expansion clubs.

But he added that Fremantle was a learning curve for the league.

“I certainly think one of the reasons the newer clubs have had this assistance and support is from the lessons out of Fremantle,” Harris said.

While acknowledging the difficult beginnings, Fremantle’s president said it had forged Freo’s identity and added he wouldn’t have changed anything in hindsight.

“One of the things that's made Fremantle the club that it is today and makes the supporters, members, players and the people who work here resilient and strong is the history of the club, the way that we started,” Harris said.

“That lack of assistance and some of the hard times initially, it meant we had to pull ourselves up and stand up on our own twofeet without support. That hardship has helped define the personality of who we are today and the resilience and the way we work and apply ourselves today.”

Allan added that identity had been instilled into the club’s passionate supporters.

“I think those tough starts, there was a real resilience through the coaching staff, administration and the playing group, and I think that transferred to the Purple Army,” he said.

“I think when you see the purple army out there today watching our team run around, most of our members were around back then and remember how tough it was early.

“I think we’re all better off for it.”

Pavlich reflected on the 2006 section of the book that included a nine-game winning streak that catapulted Freo into a preliminary final against Sydney.

“We had some significant meetings about halfway through 2006, we’d had a tumultuous opening 12 rounds,” he said.

“We, as a leadership group, got together and discussed a few things about the way we were playing and the way we were training.

“We’d beaten the premiers a couple of times in that year and it was some of the most exciting football that I’ve been involved in.”

The author Everett was involved with the club straight away, editing the first ever Docker member newspaper in 1994 and later sitting on the club’s board.

He described the creation of the publication as a tremendous experience.

Everett spoke of his deep appreciation for every moment of the club’s first 20 years, both high and low.

“I’ve never called myself a ‘long-suffering’ Fremantle supporter because I’ve enjoyed it all the way through,” he said.

He rated last year’s Grand Final as the highlight of his many years as a Freo supporter.

“Being in Melbourne last year, wherever you’d go, you’d be in a little alley somewhere and some bloke would walk past in a Dockers’ scarf,” Everett said.

“There was purple everywhere and we made a big impression… the people in Melbourne really took to us.”

A must have for any die-hard Docker, the official release date for the book is Friday 1 August. RRP is $49.95.

But Fremantle fans can pre-order their copy of the book now via www.fremantlefc.com.au/teamstore

All members who pre-order online will receive a 10 per cent discount. (the discount offer ends on 31 July)

From Tuesday 22 July, the book is available at the Fremantle team stores:

Fremantle Oval, Parry Street, Fremantle
OR
Patersons Stadium, near gate 13.

From Friday 1 August, the book will also be available from the Slattery Media Group and book stores.