West Australian police have charged former AFL player Barry Cable with the alleged historical sexual abuse of a girl.

The 80-year-old faces criminal charges that he allegedly indecently dealt with, and had unlawful carnal knowledge of, a girl who police say was just nine to 10 years old at the time.

On Friday, police said they would allege Cable had sexually assaulted a girl between 1967 and 1968. He faces five counts of indecently dealing with a girl under 13 and two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 13.

Cable was a two-time premiership player with North Melbourne in the 1970s.

He was also a revered footballer in Western Australia’s domestic league, winning four premierships and three league best-and-fairest awards in the 1960s and 1970s.

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Before his move to Melbourne in 1970, he played for Perth Football Club for many years.

Cable later spent time at East Perth as a captain-coach, winning another West Australian Football League premiership and finishing a record-breaking career with 379 games played.

He returned to Victoria to coach North Melbourne in the early 1980s and was later named rover in the Kangaroos’ team of the century.