Why is there a Fitzroy board?

[Doss]

Aside from Fitzroy, if there is a group of clubs that have been really stuffed by the whole national expansion thing, it's the old VFA clubs.

Many of them have basically disbanded altogether, and others have been completely eviscerated to a shell of what they were once were; clubs like Preston, for example.

At the end of the day, it was the VFL that made the move to expand nationally in 1986 (or really, 1982), not the SANFL or WAFL. And, given the relative population sizes, that was always likely to be the way it went. It's not fair for the WAFL or SANFL clubs, no, and you could argue that a better model might have been to create a separate national competition altogether. To start afresh rather than trying to cobble together something from the existing competitions.

You could also argue that the better idea might have been to keep the competitions as state based. Whether the economic strength of the various competitions in 1986 would have really allowed that is another matter.

 

[NorthernLights]

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.

They were always second tier.

 

[Chris who]

They were always second tier.

Lol

 

[NorthernLights]

Lol

Well they weren't relegated to anything, they're still in their respective competitions.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Well they weren't relegated to anything, they're still in their respective competitions.

True, but from a supporter's perspective Fitzroy hasn't been relegated either. The VAFA offers supporters a far better experience than the AFL. Non-corporate community based football is the best way to go. I attend most Fitzroy home games and the occasional AFL match with mates and I can honestly say it is the Fitzroy games that I look forward to.

 

[JoondalupJ]

True, but from a supporter's perspective Fitzroy hasn't been relegated either. The VAFA offers supporters a far better experience than the AFL. Non-corporate community based football is the best way to go. I attend most Fitzroy home games and the occasional AFL match with mates and I can honestly say it is the Fitzroy games that I look forward to.

Lets go around the grounds!!!!!!!! That was the good times. You could get the scores off 3KZ 3AW even 3UZ between races, loved those days.

I'm a Hawk , but I have very close connections to ex Fitzroy people, and I was unhappy when they were killed, my two mates do not follow football in AFL anymore, one of them is a Fitzroy member where ever they are stationed now.

You'd get a better look at the game at a VAFA match and no hassles no massive crowds and probably real football.
I played in the VAFA many many years ago, in a lower division than the Roy boys , it was great . Where is Fitzroys VAFA home ground please?

I'm in the West now but if I get over, in the winter months, which I do sometimes, I'll have a look.

 

[Mobbs]

Lets go around the grounds!!!!!!!! That was the good times. You could get the scores off 3KZ 3AW even 3UZ between races, loved those days.

I'm a Hawk , but I have very close connections to ex Fitzroy people, and I was unhappy when they were killed, my two mates do not follow football in AFL anymore, one of them is a Fitzroy member where ever they are stationed now.

You'd get a better look at the game at a VAFA match and no hassles no massive crowds and probably real football.
I played in the VAFA many many years ago, in a lower division than the Roy boys , it was great . Where is Fitzroys VAFA home ground please?

I'm in the West now but if I get over, in the winter months, which I do sometimes, I'll have a look.

Brunswick Street Oval, as in where Fitzroy played in earlier years of yore. North Fitzroy, aka W T Petersen Reserve, in Edinburgh Gardens.

Which was your VAFA team btw?

 

[Roylion]

Lets go around the grounds!!!!!!!! That was the good times. You could get the scores off 3KZ 3AW even 3UZ between races, loved those days.

Where is Fitzroys VAFA home ground please?.

Same as it originally was.

Fitzroy Football Club's official home grounds

1. Brunswick Street Oval (1884-1966) - 82 years
2. Princes Park (1967-1969) - 3 years
3. Junction Oval (1970-1984) - 15 years
4. Victoria Park (1985-1986) - 2 years
5. Princes Park (1987-1993) - 7 years
6. Western Oval (1994-1996) - 3 years
7. Brunswick Street Oval (2009-2016) - 8 years and counting.

2026 will be the Fitzroy Football Club's hundredth season at the Brunswick Street Oval.

Some might also count the Coburg City Oval (1999-2000) as a home ground also, when we had naming rights in the VFL club Coburg-Fitzroy Lions.

 

[JoondalupJ]

Brunswick Street Oval, as in where Fitzroy played in earlier years of yore. North Fitzroy, aka W T Petersen Reserve, in Edinburgh Gardens.

Which was your VAFA team btw?

Thanks mate, I played in the mid to late seventies at Beverly Hills, now known as Doncaster East I think, Paul Roos and Mark Browning or was that Darryl I can't remember, came out of that club.

We wore Fitzroy colours.Were zoned to Fitzroy, but one of our blokes tried out with Essendon once, not sure but I think he didn't make it, Pete Monahan I think was his name , big strong bloke, good footballer , great days.

Again thanks for the info . When I come home next time I will take my mate down there for a look.

 

[Mobbs]

Ahh Beverly Hills yeah we roys fans claim Beverly Hills as a mysterious old temple of worship

 

[Roysforever]

Thanks mate, I played in the mid to late seventies at Beverly Hills, now known as Doncaster East I think, Paul Roos and Mark Browning or was that Darryl I can't remember, came out of that club.

We wore Fitzroy colours.Were zoned to Fitzroy, but one of our blokes tried out with Essendon once, not sure but I think he didn't make it, Pete Monahan I think was his name , big strong bloke, good footballer , great days.

Again thanks for the info . When I come home next time I will take my mate down there for a look.

Can I ask the question how did Mark Browning end up at the Swans?

 

[Doss]

True, but from a supporter's perspective Fitzroy hasn't been relegated either. The VAFA offers supporters a far better experience than the AFL. Non-corporate community based football is the best way to go. I attend most Fitzroy home games and the occasional AFL match with mates and I can honestly say it is the Fitzroy games that I look forward to.

Out of interest, what sort of crowds would you typically get down at Brunswick Street? I know counting is probably an inexact science as tickets aren't sold, but as a guesstimate?

 

[3KZ is Football]

Out of interest, what sort of crowds would you typically get down at Brunswick Street? I know counting is probably an inexact science as tickets aren't sold, but as a guesstimate?

That depends, on the weather. Early in the season when the weather's nice and 'Hipster's Hill' is full I would have said there were maybe 300 or so. It can vary and it should be added that I am not good with numbers.

 

[Roysforever]

Out of interest, what sort of crowds would you typically get down at Brunswick Street? I know counting is probably an inexact science as tickets aren't sold, but as a guesstimate?

I find the crowds fluctuate significantly on account of the weather. With the sun beaming on Anzac Day Hipster Hill was inundated with crowd estimates of over a thousand people. Whereas on the cold, wet and windy days of recent weeks the small crowd seeks out the Grandstand for cover.

 

[Roysforever]

That depends, on the weather. Early in the season when the weather's nice and 'Hipster's Hill' is full I would have said there were maybe 300 or so. It can vary and it should be added that I am not good with numbers.

Beat me 3KZ!

 

[3KZ is Football]

Ahh Beverly Hills yeah we roys fans claim Beverly Hills as a mysterious old temple of worship

Beverly Hills and the Bulleen-Templestowe Football Club Oval, now known as the Ted Adjani Reserve.

As a kid in the 1970's I used to jump the back fence with a footy under my arm and a little brother or two in tow, wander through the Bulleen Tennis Club and stop at what we used to simply call 'the oval' to watch Bulleen-Templestowe.

I used to spend my pocket money, or whatever loose change I could knock off out of my dad's golf bag, on a pie or a hotdog from the canteen and sometimes we used to wander into the rooms to pinch a few Juicy Fruit from the huge glass jar that was full of chewie in the Bulleen Temp' rooms.

There were some great footballers who played at Bulleen-Templestowe in the late 70's and early 80's who went on to play at Fitzroy. These are just the ones that come to mind: Peter Johnson, Grant Lawrie, Shane Gilmore, Mick Gilmore, Richard Osborne, Graham Osborne, Darren Murphy and Rino Pretto.
I'm sure there were more.

Bulleen-Templestowe also had a great club song, which was sung to the tune of Road to Gundagai, which we heard plenty of. Lyrics have had a few minor changes since the 70's, but it opened with,
"We're the team true and bold and we wear the blue and gold of good old Bulleen-Templestowe..."

 

[The City Boyz]

Aside from Fitzroy, if there is a group of clubs that have been really stuffed by the whole national expansion thing, it's the old VFA clubs.

Many of them have basically disbanded altogether, and others have been completely eviscerated to a shell of what they were once were; clubs like Preston, for example.

At the end of the day, it was the VFL that made the move to expand nationally in 1986 (or really, 1982), not the SANFL or WAFL. And, given the relative population sizes, that was always likely to be the way it went. It's not fair for the WAFL or SANFL clubs, no, and you could argue that a better model might have been to create a separate national competition altogether. To start afresh rather than trying to cobble together something from the existing competitions.

You could also argue that the better idea might have been to keep the competitions as state based. Whether the economic strength of the various competitions in 1986 would have really allowed that is another matter.

Hey Doss, just wondering if you were a Fitzroy supporter before the merger and then switched to the Dons, or have you always had a soft spot for them? Thanks mate..

 

[3KZ is Football]

So I can post this link. Great article.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...ed-the-footy-stalwarts-who-kept-fitzroy-alive

 

[smy1305]

Paul Roos, without really meaning to, on Open Mike this week probably gave the real reasons why Fitzroy ended up folding. Just no money with no support - a really sad sad way for them to exit the comp.
Imagine winning the B&F and a club does not have enough coin to buy a medal - at any level let alone AFL level!!

 

[Roysforever]

Paul Roos, without really meaning to, on Open Mike this week probably gave the real reasons why Fitzroy ended up folding. Just no money with no support - a really sad sad way for them to exit the comp.
Imagine winning the B&F and a club does not have enough coin to buy a medal - at any level let alone AFL level!!

More clubs than not have been in debt during the past twenty years. The situation was much more complex than just money related.

 

[lion around]

Yes the sad thing is NOT MUCH has changed in twenty years apart from the TELEVISION pretty much pumping it all up. Lets face it South Melbourne are No more, And on many afternoons you can tune the TV into say Melbourne v GC and there will be nobody there, the ground looks empty. Or Bulldogs v Giants again empty at Etihad or various St Kilda games. And Franchises, I wont call them clubs are at this moment in debt, Only have to look at Brisbane. There are Clubs with no supporters and no money.
The AFL itself was LOSING lots and lots of money when they took the Axe to Fitzroy.
I think the best thing Paul Roos can do is take his money he got from Melbourne and just Retire like he believes Fitzroy did.

 

[Roylion]

Paul Roos, without really meaning to, on Open Mike this week probably gave the real reasons why Fitzroy ended up folding. Just no money with no support - a really sad sad way for them to exit the comp.

The Club did make a profit in 1993, 1994 and 1995. Cash flow was the major problem. Total debt in 1996 was $2.7 million.

 

[Doss]

Hey Doss, just wondering if you were a Fitzroy supporter before the merger and then switched to the Dons, or have you always had a soft spot for them? Thanks mate..

Nah, always been a Don. But a huge soft spot for Fitzroy, yes.

 

[JoondalupJ]

Can I ask the question how did Mark Browning end up at the Swans?

I have no idea how Mark went to South Melbourne , but Paul Roos went to Fitzroy.

I remember a chap named Doug who was a runner and a first aid bloke at Beverly Hills (I have old timers disease and have forgotten Doug's sir name I apoligise) but I ran into him when I 'd finished a couple of years later and he said to me, "you want to see this new kid we have at the club",

he could be any thing he wants!

Well he coached Sydney to a flag, was a champion Fitzroy boy, and a Sydney Swan champ as well.

Gee seems like centuries ago. We have to be very careful how we handle our unique Aussie football.

So the memories keep on coming.

 

[smy1305]

The Club did make a profit in 1993, 1994 and 1995. Cash flow was the major problem. Total debt in 1996 was $2.7 million.

If you cant buy your B&F winner a medal then there are serious cash flow issues (and priorities)