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- May 23, 2016
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I live in Footscray, and as anyone who lives in the Western suburbs knows, the Dogs and the western suburbs are inseparable. There are several permanent murals, paintings etc of the Bulldogs here. Today I was walking in central Footscray, as i often do, and going through West Footscray, Braybrook, Sunshine etc I lost count of all the Dogs posters, banners, paintings, decorations etc. They painted all the posts in Footscray white, red and blue. Nowhere else in Melbourne is the presence so strong. Also it just seems to me almost everyone I know who lives in Maribyrnong and Brimbank at least goes for the Dogs, though not all are necessarily big footy fans. It's almost like going for the Bulldogs goes hand in hand with representing the Western suburbs. On Saturday night after beating the Giants, people were going crazy in Footscray like they'd already won the GF.
I haven't found this to me the case regarding any of the other Melbourne clubs regarding this. Most of their supporters are relatively scattered, although supporters do tend to be more concentrated in some areas (I made a thread about this awhile back). St. Kilda, Melbourne and North are also small 'underdog' clubs now but going to St. Kilda or North Melbourne, there isn't quite the same feeling. Going to Richmond, Collingwood, Carlton, Hawthorn etc it's not quite the same. You do see signs here and there, but I don't get the feeling the majority of people who live their support those teams. In fact in Collingwood I don't get the impression most people care that much about footy, haha jk.
So in that sense the Western Bulldogs are still very much linked in a very real sense with Footscray and the West. Couldn't tell you the exact boundaries, if there are any, but Footscray down to Williamstown, probably out to St. Albans...the Maribyrnong River is probably the dividing line between Dogs and Dons/Roos territory. But in that sense they're more like Geelong, or the clubs in Perth and Adelaide. I feel with the other clubs they're too split up and supporters are too scattered to have any real meaningful connection with the suburb that bears their name.
I haven't found this to me the case regarding any of the other Melbourne clubs regarding this. Most of their supporters are relatively scattered, although supporters do tend to be more concentrated in some areas (I made a thread about this awhile back). St. Kilda, Melbourne and North are also small 'underdog' clubs now but going to St. Kilda or North Melbourne, there isn't quite the same feeling. Going to Richmond, Collingwood, Carlton, Hawthorn etc it's not quite the same. You do see signs here and there, but I don't get the feeling the majority of people who live their support those teams. In fact in Collingwood I don't get the impression most people care that much about footy, haha jk.
So in that sense the Western Bulldogs are still very much linked in a very real sense with Footscray and the West. Couldn't tell you the exact boundaries, if there are any, but Footscray down to Williamstown, probably out to St. Albans...the Maribyrnong River is probably the dividing line between Dogs and Dons/Roos territory. But in that sense they're more like Geelong, or the clubs in Perth and Adelaide. I feel with the other clubs they're too split up and supporters are too scattered to have any real meaningful connection with the suburb that bears their name.