Osborne Park Football Club: Perth Football League suspends club over costume scandal

A football club in Perth’s northern suburbs has been suspended for two years after a player wore “an offensive” costume at an end-of-season celebration last month.

The Osborne Park Amateur Football Club has been found to have been in “severe breach of the league’s integrity standards” by the Perth Football League at a board meeting on Monday.

It comes after one of the employees at The City of Stirling discovered the player’s outfit during a property inspection of the clubrooms on August 21.

The West Australian revealed last month that a player reportedly dressed as the late physicist Stephen Hawking with part of the costume depicting “a doctored image of a child in a pornographic context”.

At the meeting, it was determined that the conduct at an end-of-season event at the club’s rooms at Robinson Reserve “breached a league by-law as being detrimental to the integrity of the league and bringing the game into disrepute”.

The club was invited to provide a submission to the board but failed to do so.

PFL chief executive Andrew Dawe said the incident exposed deep governance and leadership failures at the club.

The club refused to disclose the identity of the player in question.

“At a club-sanctioned event, offensive material was displayed depicting a doctored image of a child in a pornographic context,” Mr Dawe said.

“Senior club officials were present but failed to act. The costume prop was later found by City of Stirling officers, prompting police attendance and the City terminating the club’s agreement to use of the facilities.

“A two-year suspension reflects the severity of the breach, and gives the club time to rebuild governance capability, re-engage with the City of Stirling to see if they can find a home for the club and time to demonstrate considerable reform before the possibility of returning to the competition.”

The PFL board noted that while WA Police had initially been involved, police concluded that no further action or investigation was required.

The suspension will begin in 14 days, during which time OPAFC has the right to appeal the PFL Board’s decision.

It comes after the City of Stirling terminated the club’s licence on grounds of unreasonable licensee conduct.

In response, newly-appointed Osborne Park Football Club president Jeremy LaBianca posted to Facebook saying they were cooperating with the Perth Football League and the City of Stirling after the incident.

Mr LaBianca said the player wore the “distasteful and unacceptable costume” during the club’s celebrations.

“As a club, we are really embarrassed that we allowed this to happen and that we didn’t intervene on the day. Let me be absolutely clear — this behaviour does not reflect the values or culture we stand for at Osborne Park, and we unreservedly apologise for the offence caused,” he said.

“Since becoming aware of the incident, the club has taken immediate and comprehensive steps to cooperate fully with both the Perth Football League and the City of Stirling.

“While we acknowledge the seriousness of the situation, we firmly believe that the proposed consequence of shutting down an entire community club - with many years of history and deep roots in our local area - is grossly disproportionate.

“Osborne Park Football Club is more than just one player, one day, or one poor decision. We are a diverse, inclusive, and passionate community who are committed to learning from this experience and ensuring it is never repeated.”

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