Dockers Fans Push For Club To End Partnership With Woodside

A group of high-profile Fremantle Docker supporters including club legend Dale Kickett are lobbying for the club to terminate its sponsorship deal with oil and gas giant Woodside.

The club’s inaugural football manager Gerald McNeill, author Tim Winton and former WA Premier Carmen Lawrence were others among the group which penned an open letter to the Dockers’ board saying Woodside didn’t align with their values.

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"Despite claims it is trying to decarbonise, Woodside has doubled down on fossil fuels in the last year; purchasing BHP's oil and gas assets and becoming one of the top ten largest fossil fuel companies in the world," the letter read.

“We should not allow our club’s good name to be used by a corporation to enhance its reputation when its core activities are so clearly threatening our planet.”

A Woodside spokesperson defended the sponsorship deal.

“Our sponsorship of the Dockers has extended beyond on-field sponsorship into areas where both organisations hold shared values and commitments to make a positive contribution, including through Woodside’s role as Indigenous program partner."

“In addition to our sponsorship of the Dockers, in 2021 our social contribution was $20.3 million globally through strategic partnerships, the Woodside development fund, our philanthropy program, and the value of time our employees spent volunteering.”

Woodside has sponsored the Dockers since 2010 and last year extended its partnership with the club until the end of 2023.

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