"Essentially we could continue the Ross Glendinning Medal as a media guild with the [WA] Football Commission, and that we would retrospectively award winners, as voted by our members, back to 1995."
Langdon made the ultimatum to WA Football Commission chairman Murray McHenry, a former long-time Eagles administrator, who contacted Dockers president Dale Alcock with a proposal to keep the Glendinning medal for this Sunday's derby at Optus Stadium.
Mr McHenry would then ratify a name change for the medal in time for the round 20 Western Derby on August 5, when it would be renamed the Ross Glendinning-Ben Allan Medal – reflecting the two inaugural captains of the two WA clubs in the AFL.
The WA Football Media Guild will also retrospectively award players dating back to the first derby in 1995.
Negotiator Langdon, an Eagles premiership hero of the 1990s, said the Ross Glendinning Medal would still be presented after this Sunday's clash, which is expected to draw a record WA crowd for an AFL match.
The brouhaha over the medal came after Sunday's home team Fremantle announced it had decided to dump the medal because of the Glendinning association.
The debacle came after long-time Western Derby sponsor Carlton and United Breweries' current deal with both clubs and the WA Football Commission ended, which covered the post-derby trophy and medal presentation to the best player from both sides.
Some of WA footy's biggest names have won the Ross Glendinning medal.
CUB has had the naming rights since 2001 and Glendinning – who was chairman of selectors at Fremantle at the time – was associated with the original sponsorship deal of about $400,000 a season for the two AFL outfits.
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The highly-regarded medal has become part of WA footy folklore, being awarded 34 times to the best players in the derby, despite a series of controversies in the mid-2000s.
After Monday's bombshell from Fremantle, the Eagles said they were intent on keeping their honour and pledged to award the Ross Glendinning Medal to only their best player.
Management at Optus Stadium, which has a contract with rival CUB brewer Gage Roads, said it had no influence on the dumping of the medal or the change to the naming rights sponsor.
An embarrassing war of words between the chief executives of both West Coast and Fremantle erupted on Tuesday afternoon, with each accusing the other for the dumping of the medal and post-game presentation.
“We have investigated options with West Coast around a new joint name for the medal, or a new name such as, the Derby Medal, similar to the Showdown Medal in Adelaide, and we believe that the time is right to do that," Dockers chief Steve Rosich said.
Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said his club would not accept a change to the medal's name.
“We wouldnt support that because one of the great things about history is trying to preserve that and this is one of those medals that we think is really important,” Nisbett said on Tuesday.
Sunday's Western Derby – the 47th clash between the teams – is the most highly anticipated yet, the first at Perth's new $1.8 billion, 60,000-seat stadium.
West Coast lead the head-to-head 26-20, with the Dockers (equal third) and the Eagles (first) surprising pundits with their strong form early in 2018.
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David loves a good drop and a cracking yarn.
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