Why is there a Fitzroy board?

Len S

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Sad to note the passing of another Roy boy. ...Harold Shillinglaw.Harold played over 60 games , mainly as a forward,from the late 40s, to about 51,in what were strong sides, coached by Hughson and Norm Smith I think. The name also rings a bell as an excellent pace bowler in the powerful Fitzroy sides of the era, notable for the champion Harveys .
 

Last of the Roys

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Why aall of a sudden the afl keeps bears, fitzroy and the brisbane lions historys seperate?

What makes you say that?

There has been issues since the merger of how the AFL represents the stats of the Lions / Roys / Bears compared to how various groups think they should be presented. For a long time the AFL ignored Fitzroy completely and acted like the Bears and Brisbane Lions were just one continuous club. While that may be technically true from a legal perspective, it makes no sense to me as a Fitzroy and now Brisbane supporter. Our Club, prior to the merger, had two distinct histories that overlapped. The Brisbane Lions also represent a distinct period.

What the Lions normally do in presenting stats themselves is note all three of those periods if possible, and then potentially include an overall Club history perspective (obviously time and space doesn't always allow that).

That is why I am more than happy to say that my team has won 11 premierships. Yeah the Brisbane Lions have technically only one 3 themselves, but the merger made them custodians of Fitzroy's history at AFL level. So 8 Fitzroy premierships and 3 Brisbane premierships gives 11 premierships that no one, no matter their views on stats / histories / the merger can ever take away.

Yep other people will have their own views. Good luck to them. Unfortunately it is never something that there is going to be consensus on.
 
Hey guys. I was talking with a mate yesterday and we both appreciate stats and vfl/afl history.

What brings me here is my mate was saying he can't find for the life him a fixture and results table for the reserves league in 1996 and he has given a few of us the challenge to see who Fitzroy's reserves played in their last game and what the result was.

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Mr Ripper

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Hey guys. I was talking with a mate yesterday and we both appreciate stats and vfl/afl history.

What brings me here is my mate was saying he can't find for the life him a fixture and results table for the reserves league in 1996 and he has given a few of us the challenge to see who Fitzroy's reserves played in their last game and what the result was.

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http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/142291

Fitzroy 16.12 (108) d. St Kilda 9.9 (63)
Best: Fitzroy — Mclnnes, Picioane, Cook,
Brown, Manfield, McMahon, Ramsey, Ward.
St Kilda — Keogh, Anderson, Peckett, Healy,
Nugent. Goals: Fitzroy — Eccles 4, Mellington
3, Frewen 2, Manfield 2, Ramsey, Cassidy,
Cook, Bird, O'Brien. St Kilda — Shaw,
Beveridge, C Hall, Grinter, McLean, Jackson,
Anderson, Corbett, Nugent.
 
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MacMum

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We were at the last Fitzroy reserves game....we all stood and cheered, and I had tears, as many around us did (all Saints supporters too) even though their team had just been beaten.

I was with my hubby and in-laws, all Saints
 
Had I been older I probably would have gone too.

As Fitzroy were such a huge part of vfl/afl history and would have been such a sombre moment. Like Carltons last Princes Park game

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MacMum

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Had I been older I probably would have gone too.

As Fitzroy were such a huge part of vfl/afl history and would have been such a sombre moment. Like Carltons last Princes Park game

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No disrespect intended, but you only moved grounds and still had a team. Fitzroy were no more after that game.

...and I wasn't Fitzroy either, I was a Bear.
 
No disrespect intended, but you only moved grounds and still had a team. Fitzroy were no more after that game.

...and I wasn't Fitzroy either, I was a Bear.
Nah I understand I didn't mean it in a way that they would have been as sad as each other just it would have been sombre.
 

Roysforever

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http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/142291

Fitzroy 16.12 (108) d. St Kilda 9.9 (63)
Best: Fitzroy — Mclnnes, Picioane, Cook,
Brown, Manfield, McMahon, Ramsey, Ward.
St Kilda — Keogh, Anderson, Peckett, Healy,
Nugent. Goals: Fitzroy — Eccles 4, Mellington
3, Frewen 2, Manfield 2, Ramsey, Cassidy,
Cook, Bird, O'Brien. St Kilda — Shaw,
Beveridge, C Hall, Grinter, McLean, Jackson,
Anderson, Corbett, Nugent.

I notice the current Bulldogs coach played in this game.
 
... Like Carltons last Princes Park game

Yep that would have sucked too, for sure. Maybe not as much lol but definitely still a sad moment.

We have a bit of a bee in our bonnet about how Fitzroy were treated by CFC at Princes Park, but the venue itself was absolutely awesome. My favourite memories of Fitzroy are mostly centred around Princes Park.
 
Yep that would have sucked too, for sure. Maybe not as much lol but definitely still a sad moment.

We have a bit of a bee in our bonnet about how Fitzroy were treated by CFC at Princes Park, but the venue itself was absolutely awesome. My favourite memories of Fitzroy are mostly centred around Princes Park.
I was born in 90 but I have heard things about how cfc treated other clubs at Princes Park.

I love the ground I grew up there on weekends but I'm not an Elliott fan and even blame him for the poor position we were in in the 00's. I sympathise with you guys over your poor treatment. Outside if game day a fellow club (obviously not essendon) deserves respect and not a source of a quick buck.

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passmark

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Hi Guy's .

Not sure where I should post this so I'm in here.

Just wanted some feedback from anyone on a past Fitzroy player in Laurie Richards. He stated at West Perth in '66 and went to Fitzroy in '71 for 3 or so years.

He played footy for my WAFL team (West Perth) but he also played a couple of seasons for my local Sunday footy team (Wanneroo ) in his thirties.

What I remember most about him when he played for West Perth and Wanneroo is he was a superb athlete and his marking was ******* spectacular.

What I can't believe is there doesn't seem to be any footage of him taking grabs in WA. I'm not exaggerating when I say he would take mark of the year almost every week, he was a freak. He was so good that after playing 3 years of Sunday footy in WA after he retired from the WAFL, he returned to Woodville in SA to play one last season in 1981.

So my question is, does anyone on this board remember him ? did he take the big grabs for the Lions? and why did he leave the Lions?
 
I think the responses of the overwhelming majority on that main board thread stemming from the article on the AFL website last week tells a pretty clear tale of how the VFL/AFL's actions against your club in the 1980s and 1990s are viewed by the majority of people now.

Passage of time has made it more stark, I think. At first, I suspect, many who weren't intimate with the details probably swallowed the Oakley justification whole, but I am very glad to see that the determination of supporters here to see the real story told- especially through things like the white ant files- of what really happened has changed the discourse.

Reading all of that stuff and revisiting the topic actually genuinely makes me angry, and I'm not even a Fitzroy supporter. So I can only imagine how it makes you guys feel.

As I said on the main board, I was actually at your last game in Melbourne. I was only eight at the time, but my Richmond-supporting father took me along. I'll never forget the crying at the final siren, even from some Richmond supporters. There was an air of celebration once the players went on their lap of honour around the ground, I suppose, but when the match was in its final death throes, the atmosphere was wretchedly sad- even as an eight year old I could sense that. If nothing else, I left the MCG that day knowing that I never wanted to see such a thing happen to another club again.

What happened can't be undone, but it is good to see the FFC continue on its own right and now on the cusp of promotion to VAFA First Division. Dragging yourselves up off the canvas after the events of 1996 is incredibly admirable; I can only imagine how jaundiced, sad and disgusted your supporters must have felt- not at all relieved like that sham of an article on the AFL site made out.

I may struggle this season due to imminent travel, but I will get down to Brunswick Street to watch a game or two in 2017. Go the Roys.
 
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I think the responses of the overwhelming majority on that main board thread stemming from the article on the AFL website last week tells a pretty clear tale of how the VFL/AFL's actions against your club in the 1980s and 1990s are viewed by the majority of people now.

Passage of time has made it more stark, I think. At first, I suspect, many who weren't intimate with the details probably swallowed the Oakley justification whole, but I am very glad to see that the determination of supporters here to see the real story told- especially through things like the white ant files- of what really happened has changed the discourse.

Reading all of that stuff and revisiting the topic actually genuinely makes me angry, and I'm not even a Fitzroy supporter. So I can only imagine how it makes you guys feel.

As I said on the main board, I was actually at your last game in Melbourne. I was only eight at the time, but my Richmond-supporting father took me along. I'll never forget the crying at the final siren, even from some Richmond supporters. There was an air of celebration once the players went on their lap of honour around the ground, I suppose, but when the match was in its final death throes, the atmosphere was wretchedly sad- even as an eight year old I could sense that. If nothing else, I left the MCG that day knowing that I never wanted to see such a thing happen to another club again.

What happened can't be undone, but it is good to see the FFC continue on its own right and now on the cusp of promotion to VAFA First Division. Dragging yourselves up off the canvas after the events of 1996 is incredibly admirable; I can only imagine how jaundiced, sad and disgusted your supporters must have felt- not at all relieved like that sham of an article on the AFL site made out.

I may struggle this season due to imminent travel, but I will get down to Brunswick Street to watch a game or two in 2017. Go the Roys.

I love this post. I have two life long and very close mates of mine. Both came to my school when we were all about 13 to 15 or so . These two fellas came out of the depths of the Melbourne inner suburb of Fitzroy born and bred. I've known them for about 50 years.
They were fanatical Fitzroy supporters and at least one of them still holds a genuine hatred of Collingwood , people from my home city will know what I mean.
The other is a member of the Fitzroy Football Club now.

I get a little emotional when I think about this , because the demise of Fitzroy as a VFL/AFL club was tragic to all Melbourne footy followers. At the time I remember hoping and praying that the Roys would survive, I doubt there was ever a chance , considering the undercurrent of miss information fed to the public.
The other side of this coin is this, one or actually probably both of my mates don't follow footy any more , they may search for a result here and there but they have no passion for it, support no AFL club and are dismayed at the way the game of Australian rules has become a corporate nightmare of money hunting and change to rules.

One of these friends has a mate who is a North supporter, so he follows results on occasion for North , my mate rang me from his work place , he's a miner ,after Hawks v North game the other week, we talk, and a little about football, I said to him that bloody Ferrito bullying Bruest, he says who?

Any way my point is, that's the depth of how supporters who are Melbourne born football people, feel , they just lose the game, my mate didn't know the North back man he just didn't !!!! If the AFL keep diluting and bleeding , there will be more who "lose the game" or at least the game we know as footy.
The other fellow lives out Dandenong way now, is a member of the Fitzroy FC of now. (you'll get my drift when you see the statistic question I asked)

When we hear that the coaches are going to meet with Gil, and that they'll discuss various aspects of the game , I wonder will they address the really big issue and ask about dilution and the ruining of clubs, and the money spent to create fakery, and the win at all costs that has insidiously wormed its way inside the morality of some places in the AFL (and no.... I am not pointing out Essendon. I don't believe they did any more than any one else has done) After generations of Aussie footy in Vic, WA, SA, NT and TAS, then add Swans and Lions successfully to NSW and QLD , then ruin Fitzroy, then add two manufactured clubs 10 to 15 years later, gives me a whole poisoned outlook on whats happened to OUR game.

And when I see a thread that's headline is Why is there a Fitzroy board, I seem to have a brain frying angry experience. Why because their people were ambushed that's why! Have a look at the names that came out of that club to Brisbane and elsewhere. They were far from finished. They were killed.

I think every Vic or any one actually who loves real traditional Aussie rules , should all join the Amateur footy club Fitzroy , be a member.

If we have any fanatical statistics people on big footy, I wonder if they could pick out a 1996 mid season game and a 2016 mid season game and count and compare the ball/up/pack formations , I 'd be damned curious.

I find the AFL a monster of control and a "do it our way " type of corporation , who change and decide autonomously , trying to tell the public and the media , we are meeting to discuss "what the public want"

Really????? What the public want? We don't know what half the frees are for these days???????

That's just a blind bit, of the commercialising and money raising crud and changes to the game and rules put forward to suit only a few !

Good on you Fitzroy , you will never ever be forgotten. Lets hope the AFL is not looking to destroy a few more traditional clubs , to create another Frankenstein's monster in Western Sydney. At the expense of a Vic,WA,SA,NT,TAS. And actually at the expense right now, of QLD Australian rules or to be more specific, the remnants of the Fitzroy Football club?

This is the modern AFL. Frightening.
 

Chris who

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I think Fitzroy gets too much sympathy. They are alive and well, just in a different league. The real shame is how 10 Victorian clubs got to stay in the big league and all the WAFL and sanfl clubs (minus pa) have been relegated to second tier.
 
I think Fitzroy gets too much sympathy. They are alive and well, just in a different league. The real shame is how 10 Victorian clubs got to stay in the big league and all the WAFL and sanfl clubs (minus pa) have been relegated to second tier.
The destruction / depletion of all other footy, whether SANFL/WAFL, etc or even local leagues, is equally saddening/angering.

But there is no request for sympathy. Only for human sacrifices.
 
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I think Fitzroy gets too much sympathy. They are alive and well, just in a different league. The real shame is how 10 Victorian clubs got to stay in the big league and all the WAFL and sanfl clubs (minus pa) have been relegated to second tier.
Easy fixed, can the AFL, I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT,

GIVE OUR REAL TRADITIONAL COMPETITIONS BACK!
 
Oct 17, 2000
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all the WAFL and sanfl clubs (minus pa) have been relegated to second tier.

But most of those clubs are still playing in the WAFL and the SANFL in their club colours, at their traditional grounds, against their traditional opponents. Sadly, there's unlikely to ever be a Fitzroy vs. Collingwood match or Fitzroy vs. Carlton match ever again.
 
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Chris who

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sadly Fitzroy were the weakest link and decisions by people with ulterior motives were made. The strongest clubs of the WAFL will never play in front of more than a couple of thousand fans again.
 
Oct 17, 2000
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The strongest clubs of the WAFL will never play in front of more than a couple of thousand fans again.

But for the most part, they are in their traditional club colours, at their traditional grounds, against their traditional opponents in their traditional competition. Sturt, for example, are still in the competition that they have been a part of for the last 115 years.
 
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