Oakley on SEN now restating history

[Roylion]

Oh, and to the bloke who said Fitzroy was the only target, that was untrue,

The AFL had a policy to reduce the number of Melbourne based clubs in the 1990's with Fitzroy the prime target. Two AFL commissioners have since admitted (Graeme Samuel and Terry O'Connor) that in the early 1990's the Commission wanted the reduction of the number of Melbourne clubs and at least one Melbourne club out of the competition. Both of these commissioners stated that Fitzroy was the main target...that pressure was deliberately being kept on them to merge or exit the competition.

I could write a book on what the AFL has done to make Hawthorn's life hard since the 1990s, and much of it echoes what happened to Fitzroy (such as being kicked out of our home ground).

Could you list these AFL measures that targeted Hawthorn specifically? I have quite an extensive list of how Fitzroy was specifically targeted by the AFL commission.

I don't know a single Fitzroy fan who supports the Brisbane Lions.

There are plenty of Fitzroy fans that support the Brisbane Lions.

 

[Slax]

I don't know a single Fitzroy fan who supports the Brisbane Lions.

No offence but you must have a pretty small group of Fitzroy people you know. Of those I used to go to games with (and the group was over 20 people) I'd say that over 50% follow the Brisbane Lions and quite a few are members of both Fitzroy FC & Brisbane Lions.

From what I've seen and read I'd guess that the transfer rate of following the Lions would be about 50%, the transfer rate of members though would be lucky if it was 10% at best though (suspect somewhere around 5% might be closer).

 

[Demonic Ascent]

I've been reading Oakley's book (from the library didn't want to line his pockets) and it really isn't that good. Firstly he is attempting to rewrite history as during this interview; secondly he seems to brush over most of the things which occurred under his watch (like a lot of the proposed merger details) while going into detail at just how bad his predecessors had run the league; and thirdly you'd be much better off reading Football Ltd. which covers the same ground but from an unbiased viewpoint.

Some of the comments he makes provide a good insight into his mentality though such as this caption beneath this cartoon;



Why would this cartoon, picturing him as a dictator sentencing a club to death, be a favourite and adorn his walls at home??? Disgusting.

 

[adey115]

Only a complete **** would view that as a favourite.

 

[Broken]

That is wrong on so many levels.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

I was shocked when I read the caption, the guy is clearly an absolute scumbag.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

What would Oakley know? He's the guy who told Hawthorn to stop wasting our time because we had no hope of survival in the AFL. We all know why Fitzroy got shafted, they wanted Port Adelaide in, and someone had to make way. It just happened to be Fitzroy. There have been other clubs in far worse financial plight since but they are still there.

If the AFL really wanted Fitzroy to remain part of the competition, they could have achieved it.

 

[Wild Kangaroo]

Well, Allen didn't actually say it, he whispered it. For my ears only but not off the record, all but twenty years ago. Allen would've naturally thought he was on safe ground being in Dingo Corner in some northern hemisphere place called Hong Kong.
And as I've pointed out in my post, I'm going by memory. But what he said was so close to what I've reported in quotes that the meaning was no different, and I've never forgotten it as it made such an encouraging impression on me, being a Port Adelaide person and being desperately keen at the time for Port to be admitted to the AFL. (So keen that on a visit to Adelaide in 1995 I did my bit to finance their quest by buying membership in the Magpies for the first time in my life even though I was only passing thru.)

My impression was that Allen Aylett was a good bloke, as well as a great footballer, having seen him play in the late 1950s / early 1960s on Adelaide Oval wearing the hated Big V.

Im an Ex- Fitzroy supporter, stopped when they got taken over by the Brisbane Bears. I now follow and am a member ( For the last 15 years) of North Melbourne. However I dont like Aylett, as he tried to even sell his own club, who he played over 200 games for to the Gold Coast.

 

[Doss]

Yeah, I read Oakley's book (got given it as a gift) and his writing about Fitzroy reminded me of someone with a very large airbrush. And, all bones and no meat.