The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of Fremantle, a stronghold of Australian rules football in Western Australia.

[2][3] High-profile players who forged careers at Fremantle include All-Australian Matthew Pavlich, Hall of Fame inductee Peter Bell, and dual Brownlow Medal winner Nat Fyfe, who previously captained the club under both Ross Lyon and current head coach Justin Longmuir.

[4] The port city of Fremantle, Western Australia has a rich footballing history, hosting the state's first organised game of Australian rules in 1881.

Due to exclusive rights clauses in contracts between the West Coast Eagles and the VFL, a second WA franchise was not legally possible until after the 1992 season.

Moreover, the model of a joint venture between two WAFL clubs was opposed by the West Australian Football Commission (WAFC).

The team endured some tough years near the bottom of the premiership ladder, until they finished fifth after the home and away rounds in 2003 and made the finals for the first time.

In 2007, following Chris Connolly's resignation midway through the season, Mark Harvey, a three-time premiership player with Essendon, was appointed caretaker coach for the club.

[12] In September 2011, Mark Harvey was sensationally sacked by the club in favour of still-contracted St Kilda coach Ross Lyon.

In 2014, the club reached the finals for the third successive year with a top-four finish and 16 wins, but despite earning a double chance, they were knocked out after losses to Sydney away and Port Adelaide at home.

[15] In 2015, the club were crowned minor premiers for the first time in their history, earning their first piece of silverware with the McClelland Trophy.

[26] After losing their opening 2 games of the 2023 AFL season, Fremantle recorded their first win in the 56th Western Derby, beating the Eagles by 41 points.

This was catalysed by injuries to key position players, including captain Alex Pearce, leading goalkicker Josh Treacy, and starting ruckman Sean Darcy.

[29][30][31] The Dockers' halcyon years took place between 2013 and 2015, where they earned three successive top-four finishes to go with their only grand final appearance (2013) and their only minor premiership (2015).

[32] In 2006, against St Kilda at Aurora Stadium in Launceston, they played in a controversial Round 5 match (dubbed "Sirengate") that initially ended in a draw.

However, the AFL overturned the draw result the following Wednesday after the match; the controversy was due to an off-field error made by the timekeepers not sounding the siren for long enough to confirm that the umpires heard it, as well as the siren not being loud enough for the field umpires to hear over the roar of the crowd in the first place, and Fremantle were eventually declared as one-point winners with no protest from St Kilda.

The home guernsey was purple, with a white anchor on the front separating the chest area into red and green panels, representing the traditional maritime port and starboard colours.

Due to its unconventional style, the song is derided by many opposition supporters and defended with equally fierce loyalty by many fans.

Whilst he presided over some key financial decisions, including the building of the club's administrative and training centre at Fremantle Oval and the deferment of the licence fee to the AFL, it was Fremantle's lowest point onfield, culminating in a two-win season in 2001 which saw the coach Damian Drum be sacked mid-year.

After weathering the fallout from the disastrous 2001 season, Schwab and the new chairman, local West Australian retailing businessman Rick Hart, set about rebuilding the club.

Schwab chose to return to Melbourne in 2008 and was replaced as CEO by Steve Rosich, who had previously worked for the West Coast Eagles.

A year later Hart resigned as president and Steve Harris, who runs The Brand Agency and had produced advertising for Fremantle since 2002, took over at the end of 2009.

The outcome of the game was taken to the AFL Commission and it was decided during the week that as the siren had gone Fremantle were judged to be the winners, disallowing Baker's point.

[64] As part of the bid, the team would guarantee all players education and job opportunities with the club and the partnering Curtin University.

[65] Kiara Bowers and Kara Antonio were the club's first signings, unveiled along with the league's other 14 marquee players on 27 July 2016.

[69] In 2019, Fremantle had their most successful season, losing only one game during the home-and-away matches (to eventual premiers Adelaide) and making the finals for the first time.

[75] Source: AFLW History Archived 2 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine The Doig Medal is the Fremantle Football Club's annual fairest and best award.

On 23 April 2010, Eskimo Joe were announced as Fremantle's number-one ticket holder, replacing golfer Nick O'Hern.

[99] The band's drummer and guitarist, Joel Quartermain, hinted that they might write a new theme song for the club, saying that We'll give it a crack.

Other high-profile fans include former Premiers of Western Australia, Mark McGowan[105] and Alan Carpenter,[106] former Federal Minister of Defence, Stephen Smith,[107] Tim Minchin,[108] members of psychedelic rock band Tame Impala,[109] author Tim Winton,[110] American tennis player John Isner[111] and journalists and television presenters Dixie Marshall, Simon Reeve,[112] golfer Min Woo Lee,[113] and Matt Price, who wrote a book on Fremantle, Way to Go.

The club in 2004 had the fastest-growing membership in the AFL competition, at more than 27% from the previous year, with home crowds growing at a similar rate.