Article Fitzroy's Long Slow Death (AFL.com.au)

[The 747]

Despite all clubs agreeing to a reshuffling of the fixture so that their final match would be the Richmond game that ended up being played in Round 21.

Wonder if they'll run that story on AFL.com.au. I forgot about that graceless and cowardly decision.

 

[Scotland]

RE: playing in Canberra, I remember us playing Fitzroy at Bruce Stadium in 1995 because Brett Heady broke his arm. I don't know what Fitzroy's plans were exactly but Bruce Stadium was renovated in 1997 and has been unsuitable for footy/cricket since. Manuka featured once in 1998 then not again until 2001.

 

[Scotland]

But so what. What's wrong with having both? The Brisbane Bears gained out of it (by re-branding) themselves to more closely resemble Fitzroy and gained a Melbourne support base, money and priority access to a few Fitzroy players. Fitzroy (whether people like it or not) continue and now play in another league. In essence Fitzroy moving to another competition after 1996 is no different to them moving from the VFA to the VFL in 1897 and is no different to VFL-AFL clubs going into recess during the war years. (Yes, I know there was no World War between 1997-2008.)

Each to their own, I just see it differently. It's not like Fitzroy pretended they were still in the VFA when they joined the VFL, which is sort of how some see things now.

'New' Fitzroy reminds me a bit of AFC Wimbledon.

Anyway my biggest criticism of the whole thing from a club perspective is that the Brisbane Lions have never played a home game in Melbourne. A proper merged entity like St George Illawarra actually plays home games at two venues. Sydney are no better. They play up the 'Bloods! Old Souths!' thing when it suits them then expects favours with away games to appease their Melbourne supporters.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Thanks Roylion. I didn't know Brunswick St Oval wasn't suitable for VFL football.
Rising through the VAFA divisions may be the best way to progress. Steady build towards a stronger and sustainable future, then if A grade premierships come, look to move up to VFL. (I'm assuming that's the most logical progression, rather than joining say, the northern football league.)
Perhaps in 5-10 years that might be considered, if Fitzroy are strong and ambitious enough.

The current VFL is just the AFL reserves by a different name. There's no way they'll admit new clubs.

As it stands, the highest level any club can realistically aim for is VAFA Premier or the top division of the local league.

 

[Roylion]

Each to their own, I just see it differently. It's not like Fitzroy pretended they were still in the VFA when they joined the VFL, which is sort of how some see things now.

I don't see your point. Fitzroy's not claiming to be in the AFL.

'New' Fitzroy reminds me a bit of AFC Wimbledon.

How so? The club was founded by Wimbledon FC supporters, after Wimbledon FC moved to Milton Keynes and changed their name to the Milton Keynes Dons.

Fitzroy Football Club in 2009 was still the same legal entity as it was in 1996. As soon as the administrator moved out in 1997, the directors and shareholders took control of the Club again and began taking memberships and re-developing revenue streams of their own, such as the Fitzroy Shop.

Anyway my biggest criticism of the whole thing from a club perspective is that the Brisbane Lions have never played a home game in Melbourne.

Brisbane aren't Fitzroy. They are the Brisbane Bears rebranded. Their home ground is the Gabba.

A proper merged entity like St George Illawarra actually plays home games at two venues. Sydney are no better. They play up the 'Bloods! Old Souths!' thing when it suits them then expects favours with away games to appease their Melbourne supporters.

There was no merger as such. The Brisbane Bears volunteered to represent the Fitzroy identity in the AFL. By their own choice. They rebranded themselves in order to gain certain advantages such as a Melbourne supporter base, funds, players and so on.

 

[Borussia Teeth]

The current VFL is just the AFL reserves by a different name. There's no way they'll admit new clubs.

As it stands, the highest level any club can realistically aim for is VAFA Premier or the top division of the local league.

Really? I didn't realise that. I thought VFL was the highest level of football in Victoria.
What do you believe is the highest level Fitzroy can and should realistically aim for?

 

[Roylion]

I don't know what Fitzroy's plans were exactly but Bruce Stadium was renovated in 1997 and has been unsuitable for footy/cricket since.

Well...yes. The AFL had made it clear what their plans for Canberra were a couple of years beforehand.

Fitzroy's plans (in 1995) were to play at least four home games in Canberra for the 1996 season. Fitzroy was prepared to play seven home games in Canberra as long as they were guaranteed eleven games in Victoria per season.

Fitzroy's projections at the end of 1995 were that they could have made $1 million extra per season by playing at least four games in Canberra and were guaranteed at least $350,000 per year, irrespective of crowd sizes.

Fitzroy's application to play home games in Canberra had the support of 'AFL for Canberra' organisation, the Canberra Raiders, the Ainslee Football Club and the ACT chief minister who had offered for the ACT government to upgrade Bruce Stadium to a football arena as the home-ground of Fitzroy and the Raiders.

Located adjacent to the AIS, playing at Bruce Stadium which had a capacity of 25,000 (as opposed to Manuka's 15,000) would have had further benefits for Fitzroy’s players.

The full timeline of events was:

1995 - 27th May - Fitzroy played their Round 9 home game in Canberra against West Coast
1995 - 15th June - Ian Collins publicly supported Fitzroy's application to play four home games in Canberra in 1996, after application by Fitzroy was submitted (Malcolm Conn: The Australian)
1995 - 25th August - AFL commission rejected Fitzroy's application to play four home games in Canberra in Season 1996
1995 - 28th August - AFL Commissioner Ron Evans told Dyson Hore-Lacy that if Fitzroy were prepared to play the majority of its home games in Canberra, the Commission might look at it. Eleven home games, means that the "majority" was seven.
1995 - September - North Melbourne made a formal written merger proposal to Fitzroy
1995 - October - "AFL for Canberra" endeavours to meet with Fitzroy Football Club, the Ainslee Football Club, the ACT Chief Minister and the AFL commission to discuss a deal where Fitzroy (who had agreed to do so) might play up to seven home games in Canberra. Request for meeting was rejected by the AFL.
1996 - 21st February - Ross Oakley informs Dyson Hore-Lacy that the AFL would not support any initiative for Fitzroy to play any home games in Canberra. Publicly calls Fitzroy their "weakest product" and that the Canberra initiative would not be "creditable".
1996 – March 6. Fitzroy board authorised board members Dyson Hore-Lacy, Elaine Findlay and Robert Johnstone to enter non-binding merger agreements with other AFL clubs.

An AFL commissioner (guess who?) admitted on 21st November 1995 that the reason why the AFL knocked Fitzroy’s proposal back was because they wanted Port Adelaide in the competition and therefore wanted to keep the pressure on Fitzroy to merge. They knew that the Canberra proposal, given the widespread support for it in Canberra, was an AFL life-line to Fitzroy…another “White Knight” so to speak, that the AFL didn’t want.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Really? I didn't realise that. I thought VFL was the highest level of football in Victoria.
What do you believe is the highest level Fitzroy can and should realistically aim for?

In name it is, but it's a joke of a "competition". There's only 4 senior clubs in it... Port, Frankston, Williamstown and North Ballarat. The rest are AFL reserves sides.

In amateur footy the highest Fitzroy could go is VAFA Premier Division, and sounds like they're well on the way. If they were to play local footy (semi professional) then it'd probably be Northern FL Div 1.

 

[ApplecrossWC]

Pretty much the final kick in the nuts to the Fitzroy Football Club from the AFL.

That was absolutely disgraceful.

 

[HBF]

Removing / merging fitzroy was a very smart and ballsy decision by the afl. The amount of melbourne teams in a supposed national league is farcical as it is.

They could have gone about it a whole lot better though. They all but kicked them to the curb and couldn't care less about them. And to a foundation club as well.

 

[Borussia Teeth]

In name it is, but it's a joke of a "competition". There's only 4 senior clubs in it... Port, Frankston, Williamstown and North Ballarat. The rest are AFL reserves sides.

In amateur footy the highest Fitzroy could go is VAFA Premier Division, and sounds like they're well on the way. If they were to play local footy (semi professional) then it'd probably be Northern FL Div 1.

Point taken and that's exactly what I was getting at when I was referring to Fitzroy's ambition. I don't know the answer, but I wonder in which competition do they ultimately want to play in.

 

[Doss]

That was absolutely disgraceful.

I'd love to know what their justification for refusing to switch the games was.

All clubs that would have been affected by a switch had agreed to the idea, as I understand it.

 

[Doss]

Another thing that is very noticeable when you look at Fitzroy's last few AFL seasons is how little they played at the MCG (or Waverley, for that matter). Generally only twice a year for both venues.

I haven't done a comparison with other Victorian sides and how the numbers stack up, but I wouldn't be surprised if their number of games at the two biggest venues was significantly less than any other Victorian team- and maybe even some interstate teams.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Removing / merging fitzroy was a very smart and ballsy decision by the afl. The amount of melbourne teams in a supposed national league is farcical as it is.

It wasn't smart or ballsy. Everybody knew the need to reduce the Melbourne clubs. Including Fitzroy. Have you read any of the thread? Or are you just trolling?

It was monumentally stupid. It left a s**tstain on the history of the game and the competition, it disenfranchised many supporters of the game, it hasn't helped Brisbane in the long run (they're almost permanently on their knees now anyway), and a proper Melbourne-based merger could have also helped another struggling Melbourne club and created something strong and vibrant.

The whole thing was stupidity by any measure.

 

[Silent Alarm]

One thing that's struck me as interesting (and I have spent a lot of the last six years thinking about Fitzroy and imaging them still in the AFL – this is a new thought) is how only 45,000 or so turned up to their last Melbourne game.

Imagine if the Bulldogs were turfed, or Melbourne. I imagine their final game in their home city would draw at least 80,000. I could imagine it almost being a weirdly blockbuster 'event.' Then again, grief tourism seems to be bigger now.

 

[Silent Alarm]

Also I am so proud of Freo's treatment of Fitzroy.

We said we'd move the match to the MCG. The things we did after the match weren't massive and all clubs would have shown basic compassion and done it, but I feel proud we were there and stood up. I think Freo and the Roys shared a lot of history; our first win, their last, the final game. I think the areas share a lot in common in terms of being grittily working class until recent gentrification, and they even sort of sound the same. My old man told me a lot of old Lions fans came on board the Dockers bandwagon because we were so new and the only history we had was at most quite important to each club.

I don't think I've come across any except an old bloke I met at a pizza place just off Swan Street before a game at the 'G once. This would have been years ago. But reportedly lots of Royboys were talking it up right in the news around the week of that last ever game.

 

[Doss]

Marketing probably plays a part there. I've always got the impression that the AFL wanted as little attention as possible drawn to the fact that Fitzroy were 'gone'; the dirty deed was done, so to speak, and the quieter they were shunted out of the way, the better.

Such a game would certainly draw more than 49k now.

Also have to remember that Fitzroy, sadly, were so non-competitive that many were no doubt deterred by the prospect of a shellacking; and the result bore that out.

Then again, looking at their other crowds that year, 49k was still a decent result. It was their second highest crowd in their last decade (after the 1986 PF), believe it or not; behind only their MCG game against Essendon in 1993.

 

[footyfan1978]

You would think that if your club has been announced to be cut that you would attend games in droves to save it.

When we lost our first AFL licence in 1990, our attendances went up by 16%.

There is no comparison. You are completely out of touch with the environment of the football community in Melbourne.
They did not lose any spot in a league in 1990 like Fitzroy in 1996.
Fitzroy had been trying to save their club for well beyond a decade.

Any Fitzroy person by 1996 were seeing dead ends everywhere they looked for their future in league.
The league had a policy at the time of not believing the number of clubs in Melbourne was economically viable.
They tried to manufacture and encourage mergers for a good decade.
1996 was Fitzroy last season in the league in their own identity.
For most Fitzroy fans that truly was like a death in the family to them.
If you listened to Fitzroy supporters at the time, the sadness, fatigue and all hope lost of them surviving would mean going to see their club being a very traumatic experience.

It is beyond a joke how out of touch you are comparing Port Adelaide Football Club from SANFL trying to get an upgrade licence to play in AFL and SANFL with Fitzroy fans finding out their days were numbered existing as the very club they loved.
Port Adelaide were not on their death bed. All that happened was the ambition to play in a bigger league was stopped. They still had their club, Alberton Oval etc and playing in SANFL. Seriously mate, you got no idea of what you talking about.

You might want to listen to Fitzroy fans like Roylion here and many others beyond this site to actual educate yourself on how they felt as fans of their club in 1996 for those they grew up with them many many seasons before this. Basically once there was no more Pert, Roos, Osborne and Lynch most of their fans saw the writing on the wall that no matter what they done, their club was not long for this league. Port fans have never experienced that.

 

[footyfan1978]

http://www.footyalmanac.com.au/a-royboys-lament/

I heard this last year and very important to listen to if you want a real insight in the last years of Fitzroy trying to remain in the league.

listen to this on Audioboo

If you not patient fast forward to 15 minutes in to hear more specifically about the period of Wiegard involved with Fitzroy. Before that is more about his background in sports and as a broadcaster on radio.

 

[Roysforever]

One thing that's struck me as interesting (and I have spent a lot of the last six years thinking about Fitzroy and imaging them still in the AFL – this is a new thought) is how only 45,000 or so turned up to their last Melbourne game.

Imagine if the Bulldogs were turfed, or Melbourne. I imagine their final game in their home city would draw at least 80,000. I could imagine it almost being a weirdly blockbuster 'event.' Then again, grief tourism seems to be bigger now.

Funerals aren't entertaining. It was a horrible, horrible day.

 

[Doss]

Funerals aren't entertaining. It was a horrible, horrible day.

Apart from the cavalcade before the game and the Fitzroy song being played when the players were doing their lap of honour, I also don't remember anything unusual being done to mark the occasion either.

My impression has always been the barest of lip service was paid to it; that the AFL's attitude was along the lines of 'this just happens to be their last Melbourne game, so be it'.

The fact that the AFL refused to cover any post-game stuff the following week against Freo is nothing short of a disgrace. Good on Freo for filling the breach, out of their own pocket too.

 

[Kram]

One thing that's struck me as interesting (and I have spent a lot of the last six years thinking about Fitzroy and imaging them still in the AFL – this is a new thought) is how only 45,000 or so turned up to their last Melbourne game.

Imagine if the Bulldogs were turfed, or Melbourne. I imagine their final game in their home city would draw at least 80,000. I could imagine it almost being a weirdly blockbuster 'event.' Then again, grief tourism seems to be bigger now.

Again it kind of boils down to Fitzroy having bugger all supporters to care about them to rally behind them, which unfortunately was why they really folded.

 

[Kram]

I'd love to know what their justification for refusing to switch the games was.

All clubs that would have been affected by a switch had agreed to the idea, as I understand it.

I didn't remember the thing about switching the fixture but there was a lot of talk of us just giving up our home game to play it over east which we understandably said no to.

What a joke though, they would have known it was likely their last season and play their last game on the other side of the country.

 

[Doss]

I didn't remember the thing about switching the fixture but there was a lot of talk of us just giving up our home game to play it over east which we understandably said no to.

What a joke though, they would have known it was likely their last season and play their last game on the other side of the country.

Against the newest team in the competition at the time, too.

The irony of that, I'm sure, was not lost on many people.

 

[Broken]

I'd love to know what their justification for refusing to switch the games was.

All clubs that would have been affected by a switch had agreed to the idea, as I understand it.

From what I recall it was because there were too many logistics involved in switching the game. Fremantle needed to be appeased to have their share of home games, then you have the accomodation/travel issues, groups associated with Fremantle and any catering and fundraising and all the logistics involved with such a move.

The AFL not being overly charitable to Fitzroys situation didn't need much of a reason to deny the move. To Fremantles credit, they were more than generous in handling the clubs last ever match.