Dalyellup Park Rangers Football Club began as the Dalyellup Beach Junior Soccer Club in April 2002. From the humble beginnings of just an U7s and U9s team and being without a home ground for a number of years, the club has grown considerably in the years since, and is now an established club within both the Country Coastal Junior Soccer Association (CCJSA) and South West Soccer Association (SWSA).
​
The club is well represented across all age groups in the CCJSA, and has five Senior teams in the SWSA, including a Senior Ladies team and four Senior Mens teams.
​
The home pitches of the Dalyellup Park Rangers are currently located on the Ocean Forest Lutheran School Grounds (map below), with full clubrooms and change room facilities built adjacent to the ground by the Shire of Capel, in 2013.
​
The club promotes a family oriented and inclusive atmosphere where off-field behaviours and contributions of its members are rated equally with on-field achievements.
our
history
The Early Years: Dalyellup Beach Soccer Club
The suburb of Dalyellup commenced construction in 1999. It quickly grew in population, and with many of the new owners having young children there was soon the demand for a range of junior sports, including soccer.
​
Initially, the children playing soccer had to find a home at the already established CCJSA clubs, primarily Hay Park United. In preparation for the 2002 season, Hay Park struggled to accommodate the Dalyellup children being able to play in the same team as their friends so in March of that year a group of parents floated the idea of forming their own club.
The call went out for players, but with the season so close to starting, only an Under 7s and U9s team was able to be formed under the banner of the Dalyellup Beach Soccer Club. Helen Geare coached the U7s and Joshua McCleery the U9s team. In the absence of suitable ground in Dalyellup, Hay Park kindly assisted Dalyellup to get up and running by allowing them to play their “home” games at their pitches, and the club’s inaugural match was played on Saturday, 13 April 2002.
​
On 29 August 2002, at the end of their first season, the Dalyellup Beach Soccer Club officially became an Incorporated Body and the club’s first AGM was held on 26 November 2002.
The Growth Years
In 2003, the number of Junior teams increased from two to five, which included an U16s girls team. As the club grew, there became greater interest in starting a Senior Mens and a Senior Ladies team. At the end of the 2003 season, it was noted at the AGM that the club would no longer be permitted to play all of its matches away from home, and so plans were put in place to call the Ocean Forest Lutheran School oval “home” for the 2004 season.
​
In 2004, the club grew considerably. A Senior Mens team commenced, playing in the SWSA’s Fourth Division, while the Juniors expanded to nine teams. As the Ocean Forest Lutheran School grounds were not ready to be played on for the start of the season, the Juniors continued to play at Hay Park for another season, while the Seniors trained under lights at the Boyanup Hockey Club and played “home” games at Capel FC’s ground.
The Senior Men’s inaugural match was against Dunsborough in March 2004, with Aubrey Heine taking on the coaching role. Throughout the first season, the team struggled with both numbers and results, but new players gradually trickled in throughout the season, boding well for future years.
In 2006, the Senior Ladies team was formed, and played their inaugural match on 2 April against Busselton, with David Whitfield as coach. By now, the Senior teams and some of the Junior teams were playing their “home” matches at the Ocean Forest Lutheran School oval, but the Rooball teams continued to play at Hay Park
A New Era: The Inaugural Dalyellup Park Rangers
Towards the end of 2006, the Senior and Junior members of the club agreed that the Senior Mens teams would form a separate, individually incorporated club. The Juniors and the Ladies teams continued to play under the banner of the Dalyellup Beach Soccer Club, while the Mens team eventually went with Dalyellup Park Rangers Football Club. The following year, 2007, the Dalyellup Park Rangers fielded two teams in the SWSA competition.
​
In what proved to be a year of changes in 2006, Aubrey Heine, who had taken over the role of President for the previous two years, had to step down due to ailing health. Aubrey was honoured with the first life membership of the club. Sadly, Aubrey passed away in 2008.
Success, Loss and Tragedy
Dalyellup tasted success for the first time in 2008, when the U13s won their grand final. The Senior Men soon followed suit in 2009, when the Dalyellup Park Rangers Premier League team not only made it to the final of the South West Cup, but won, beating Dynamos in an exciting penalty shootout.
​
The meteoric rise to success was largely due to the demise of Hay Park United when they folded as a club (albeit only for the 2009 season), and as a result, a number of their players joined the Dalyellup Park Rangers. This saw the Senior Men field four teams, two of which played in Division 1 (the SWSA third division). The following season, many of these players returned to Hay Park, and while Dalyellup continued to field four Senior Mens teams, they were regularly short of players, and the Division 1 team found themselves on the end of frequent punishing defeats.
​
In September 2011, the club was rocked by the tragic loss of one of its much-loved players, Fulvio Canetti. The following season, the club held a pre-season tribute match and invited past and present players to play and pay respects. Fulvio had also coached the U14s Juniors team that year.
​
By the end of 2011, the Ladies team was struggling, and with them technically registered in the SWSA, it made sense for them to move away from the Juniors and come under the umbrella of the Dalyellup Park Rangers so this arrangement was put in place for 2012 season.
​
In 2011, the Dalyellup Beach Soccer Club also nominated its second life member, Jenny McCleery, for her tireless work since the club’s inception.
A Club Reunited
By mid-2012, the Junior Committee was struggling to maintain numbers and it was at that time that it was agreed that the Junior and Senior clubs would re-amalgamate for the start of the 2013 season. The Juniors temporarily retained the Dalyellup Beach Soccer Club name due to lack of time to arrange new playing strips and other similar issues.
In the same year, the Dalyellup Park Rangers also nominated a life member, Ken Conway, for his dedication to the club, and to that point having played in every Senior season since 2004.
​
In 2013, the club was back as one entity for the first time in six years. The year started with success for the Senior Men with a win at the Margaret River Carnival, and finished with the Mens Premier League and Division 1 sides making their respective finals of the South West Cup, both against Bunbury United. Unfortunately, Dalyellup lost both matches.
​
The Juniors also had a successful year with two sides winning grand finals in the U11s and U13s.
​
Anthony Lower was honoured with a life membership, having held the Treasurer’s position since the inception of the Senior club.
A Time For Change
The 2014 season saw a change of coach for the Senior Mens team as Kevin Homden stepped down after a number of dedicated years at the helm. This was a tumultuous time for the club which saw some key players defect from the Premier League team to the Division 1 team resulting in a stronger than usual showing which ended in a second place finish to Dynamos.
The club also decided to field four Senior Mens teams that year with the introduction of a Championship Division to the SWSA that encompassed a number of the one team clubs. Unfortunately, the fourth team struggled for both numbers and results which were comparable to the formative years.
Jason Gick took over the coaching role for the Senior Ladies team and the impact was immediate as the Ladies grew from strength to strength and took it up to some of the best clubs in the league. Helen Geare was awarded a life membership after many years of involvement and support for the club at various levels.
After the 2014 season, the club resumed business as usual in 2015 with Phil Kirk and Steve Hands taking over the management of the Mens Premier League team. The fourth team was dropped in favour of building three stronger and more competitive Mens teams. While league results only saw marginal improvements, the Premier League team made it to the South West Cup final against a strong Busselton side which were made to grind out a victory against a determined Dalyellup FC side.
Recent History
2016 was a successful year for the club for a number of reasons. The Mens Premier League and Premier Reserves sides both enjoyed improved on field performances which saw them finish runners-up in the Premier League and South West Cup respectively.
After many years of false starts, a SWSA Masters League was formed and Dalyellup returned to fielding four Mens teams once more. In a dramatic final round of fixtures, Dalyellup secured the title with victory over Bunbury United as Geographe defeated Dynamos.
​
Kevin Homden and James Turbitt were awarded life memberships for their significant contributions to the club.