Western Australian police have charged disgraced former North Melbourne and WAFL player Barry Cable with the alleged historical sexual abuse of a young girl.

Less than a year after a judge ruled Mr Cable, was a predatory paedophile and ordered to pay more than $800,000 in damages in a civil trial, the 80-year-old was arrested on Friday.

He has been charged with five counts of 'Indecent Dealing with Girl Under 13' and two counts of 'Unlawful Carnal Knowledge of a Girl Under 13 Years'.

WA Police said: "Child Abuse Squad Detectives have charged an 80-year-old man as a result of their investigation into historic child sexual abuse allegations."

"It will be alleged; between 1967 and 1968 the man sexually assaulted a girl who was between nine and 10-years old at the time," the statement read.

It is understood the alleged victim of the new criminal charges is not one of the five women who testified in the Perth District Court last year.

At the time of the alleged offences, Mr Cable would have been 24-years-old and an elite player who won WAFL premierships in both years he was alleged to have committed the offences.

Last year, in a week-long civil trial, five separate women came forward to tell of how they had been abused by Mr Cable during the 1960s and 1970s.

Judge Mark Herron concluded that he believed those allegations and awarded the lead plaintiff $818,700. However, Mr Cable, who declared bankruptcy on the eve of the verdict, has not paid any of the restitution.

He has already been stripped of his position in the AFL, the WA Institute of Sport, WA Football Commission and North Melbourne Football Club Halls of Fame.

Mr Cable is due to appear in the Perth Magistrates Court on May 30th.