In 1942, owing to enlistments and call-ups and the consequent inability of the clubs to field teams, it was decided to suspended fixtures indefinitely.
However, a public meeting of enthusiasts was held with the object of asking the league to inaugurate a junior competition.
The league acceded to the wishes of a delegation from the meeting and the competition began on May 31.
The teams originally used the names of the First Rates Clubs, but later adopted those of the recognised senior clubs and the inaugural grand final resulted in a win for Kalgoorlie.
In 1943, the junior competition continued despite doubt expressed at the outset because of a lack of footballs, but by using footballs for about four matches each operations carried on. The flag went to Railways.
In 1944 the third season of junior football saw Kalgoorlie City again achieve the premiership, while Railways captain F.Jarvis gave a fine performance in kicking 77 goals.
In 1945, after three seasons of junior football the age restriction was lifted and the game once again reverted to open football.
In 1947, early in the season the Goldfields National Junior Association was constituted as administrative successor to the old First Rates Association and each club came under the auspices of its senior body.
In 1951, as from May 27 the junior association came under the league jurisdiction primarily for financial reasons.
In 1953, an age qualification for juniors (and reserves) was introduced as an experiment.
The maximum age for juniors was: a lad who reaches the age of 17 prior to the date of the first official fixture shall be ineligible to play in that grade.
In 1954 the age qualifications introduced the previous season, with certain reservations, reverted to “open age.” In 1955, after the first round of junior football, Christian Brothers College (now known as John Paul College) was admitted to the competition and the following year the High School joined the junior competition.
In 1959 the league postponed holding the junior grand final until after the A grade and it proved a worthwhile innovation, attracting 110 paid admissions.
The public certainly enjoyed the first all school grand final, with CBC gaining a nine-point victory over High School.
In 1964, to cater for boys up to 15 years of age, a Saturday morning sub-junior competition was inaugurated by a number of enthusiasts from the various league clubs headed by president A.Clarke and secretary R.Florance. CBC won the grand final.
(The “sub-junior” competitions are now junior competitions administered by the GFL Junior Council).
In 1965 a regrettable decision by the high school principal not to allow his team to participate in the junior competition was not well received by the football executive and followers generally.
The high school team rejoined the competition in 1966, but unfortunately a number of its better players had joined other local clubs with the result the side was only able to score two goals and four behinds in 13 matches it played as against 1925 points scored against them.
Kambalda juniors recorded the nickel town’s first every premiership by defeating Kalgoorlie City by nine points in the 1974 grand final.
NB: The original junior competition is now run as a colts division).