FOLLOWING THE BOUNCING BURLEY: A season inside grassroots football in Western Australia.

FOLLOWING THE BOUNCING BURLEY: A season inside grassroots football in Western Australia. Printed in 2017.

Whether a football club is located in the city, a regional centre or a remote country town, it is the life blood of the community. It evokes a strong spirit of togetherness and the club is a meeting place for people of all ages.

Derek Mott spent the 2016 football season travelling around Western Australia, watching 102 matches from each of the 30 senior competitions. In addition, he played for 17 teams in 17 different leagues.

His book, Following the Bouncing Burley, provides a background to the competitions and clubs that he saw, reviews each league match and also looks at issues in grassroots football, including population decline, player payments and player points systems.

The book also includes every senior ladder and Grand Final result to provide a snapshot of the 2016 season.

A 32,871 kilometre journey awaits.