Fitzroy Football Club

The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League (now the Australian Football League) on its inception in 1897. The club experienced some early success in the league and was the first club to win a VFL Grand Final. It also achieved a total of eight VFL premierships between 1898 and 1944.

The club ran into financial difficulties in the 1980s after decades of poor on-field performance and was forced to merge its playing operations with the Brisbane Bears at the end of the 1996 season to form the Brisbane Lions, the latter of which won three consecutive premierships between 2001 and 2003.

The Fitzroy Football Club Ltd came out of administration after the merger of its AFL playing operations in late 1998. For a brief time it experimented in partnerships with other semi professional and amateur clubs before incorporating the Fitzroy Reds (formerly University Reds) to play in the Victorian Amateur Football Association. Fitzroy largely resumed its original VFL-AFL identity through its continued use of their 1975–1996 VFL-AFL jumper, their theme song and their 1884–1966 home ground at the Brunswick Street Oval. Fitzroy Football Club resumed as a playing club in the D1 section of the VAFA in 2009.^[2]

History

Early years

The Fitzroy Football Club formed at a meeting at the Brunswick Hotel on 26 September 1883,^[3] at a time when Melbourne's population was rapidly increasing. The Victorian Football Association (VFA) made changes to their rules, allowing Fitzroy to be join as the seventh club in 1884, playing in the maroon and blue colours of the local Normanby Junior Football Club.

VFA

They quickly became one of the most successful clubs, drawing large crowds to their home at the Brunswick Street Oval in Edinburgh Gardens, and consistently in the top four and winning the VFA premiership in 1895. Their rover Jack Worrall was twice named Champion of the Colony.

After they had won their first V.F.A. premiership (in 1895) The Argus published the following table of the club's performances in premiership matches for the entire 12 years of its participation in the V.F.A. competition (note that the "for" and "against" are goals scored because, in the V.F.A. competition, "behinds" were not part of the official score):^[4]

VFL

In 1897, Fitzroy were one of the eight clubs who broke away from the VFA to form the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Despite winning only four games and finishing sixth in the first season, the Maroons, as they were then known, won the premiership the following year, winning the VFL's first "Grand Final" against Essendon. Fitzroy was the most successful club in the first 10 years of the VFL, winning four premierships and finishing runners-up on three occasions. Despite internal problems after the 1906 season which led to the players and set the club back for several seasons, the 1913 team won the flag after winning 16 of 18 matches in the home and away season, earning the nickname "Unbeatables". In contrast, the 1916 Fitzroy team only won 2 home and away matches and finished last in a competition reduced by the effects of World War I to four teams. All four teams qualified for the finals, and Fitzroy won their next three games to win one of the strangest VFL premierships.

Between the wars

The Maroons won their seventh premiership in 1922, a year season which included four very rough games against eventual runners-up Collingwood. However, after this their fortunes waned, and they did not make the finals at all from 1925 to 1942. During this time, highlights for the club were individual achievements of their players, especially Haydn Bunton, Sr. Originally a source of controversy, lured to Fitzroy with an illegal £222 payment, and subsequently not allowed to play in the 1930 season, Bunton became one of the game's greatest players, winning three Brownlow Medals while at Fitzroy. Brownlow Medals were also won by Wilfred Smallhorn and Dinny Ryan, while Jack Moriarty set many goalkicking records. It was during this time that the Maroons became known as the Gorillas.

Post-war

Football was less affected by World War II than it had been in 1916, and by 1944 was starting to return to its normal level. It was in this year, under captain-coach Fred Hughson, that the Gorillas won their eighth VFL flag against Richmond in front of a capacity crowd at Junction Oval. However, it was also to be their last senior premiership, as the club, which became known as the Lions in 1957 entered one of the least successful periods any VFL club has had. The club finished in the bottom three 11 times in the 60s and 70s, including 3 wooden spoons in 4 years and going completely winless in 1964, but still continued to produce great individual players, including Brownlow Medallists Allan Ruthven and Kevin Murray.

In 1967, Fitzroy moved its home games from Brunswick Street to Princes Park and from then on suffered from a lack of a permanent home. In 1970, they moved to Junction Oval and had a short lived promising start to the decade, followed by a night premiership win in 1978 and a then League record score of 36.22 (238) and greatest winning margin of 190 points in 1979. However, Fitzroy's most significant post-war success was in the early eighties, when the Lions made the finals four times, culminating in a preliminary final appearance in 1986. This success occurred under the coaching of Robert Walls and David Parkin, with players such as 1981 Brownlow Medallist Bernie Quinlan, Garry Wilson, Gary Pert and Paul Roos, but still without financial success or a permanent home. The Lions played at Victoria Park in 1985 and 1986 and then moved back to Princes Park.

Merger years

Talk of the death of the club due to financial troubles occurred as early as 1986, and in 1989 the directors agreed to amalgamation with Footscray. Many Footscray supporters did not approve, and made donations which averted the merger. At other times, joining with Melbourne or relocating to Brisbane was suggested. As well as trying several fund-raising ventures, the Lions experimented with playing four home matches in Tasmania in 1991 and 1992, but lost money in the process.

In 1994, the club moved its home matches to Western Oval, its fourth home ground in 10 years. While the financial future of the club was uncertain, its on-field performances continued to deteriorate, to the point where the Lions finished last by a long way in 1996.

On 28 June 1996, the Nauru Insurance Company, a creditor of the Fitzroy Football Club, appointed Michael Brennan to administer the affairs of the Fitzroy Football Club in order to ensure a loan of A$1.25 million was to be repaid. The AFL guaranteed funds to allow Fitzroy to continue in the competition for the remainder of 1996.

During this time the Fitzroy Football Club had been in merger discussions with the North Melbourne Football Club to become the Fitzroy-North Melbourne Kangaroos Football Club, with negotiations for elements such as club colours, guernsey and song well underway. The AFL Commission met with the remainder of the AFL clubs to discuss the merger. Fearful that a merger between Fitzroy and the then-dominant North Melbourne Football Club would result in a superteam, the clubs opposed the proposal. Instead, they approved a last-minute approach from the Brisbane Bears, who were not considered a particularly strong club on or off the field (although they would almost claim the 1996 minor premiership). In just a few years the newly formed Brisbane Lions would rise to the top of the league and become the dominant superteam the other clubs had feared the Fitzroy-North Melbourne Kangaroos would become.

On 4 July 1996, the Fitzroy Football Club merged with the Brisbane Bears, to be based in Brisbane at The Gabba) – an arrangement ensuring all creditors were repaid. At least eight Fitzroy players were to be selected by the Brisbane Lions before the 1996 National Draft and three Fitzroy representatives were to be on the new club's 11-member board.

48,884 people came to the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the 25 August 1996 to say farewell to Fitzroy, as they played their last game in Melbourne as part of the AFL competition. They witnessed the Lions being defeated by 151 points, the second greatest loss in the club's history: Richmond 28.19 (187) defeated Fitzroy 5.6 (36).

On 1 September 1996, the Fremantle Football Club hosted Fitzroy at Subiaco Oval for Fitzroy's final VFL-AFL game. More than 22,000 people attended as Fitzroy played out the game with dignity, winning the last quarter by two points, but by that time the margin had blown out to 86 points: the final scores were Fremantle 24.13 (157) to Fitzroy 10.11 (71). At 4:45pm the siren sounded and the AFL playing days of the Fitzroy Football Club had finished. Fremantle stood by and ushered Fitzroy off the ground for the final time. Sara Macliver from the West Australian Opera sang Auld Lang Syne as a final tribute to the Lions.

Post-merger

The original Fitzroy Football Club came out of administration after the merger of the playing operations in late 1998. The shareholders voted to continue the club, and Fitzroy then developed a partnership with Coburg, a club playing in the VFL. Coburg were known as the Coburg-Fitzroy Lions for one season in the VFL, however when Coburg entered into an alliance with Richmond the Fitzroy connection was abandoned.

Fitzroy FC now began a sponsorship arrangement with the Fitzroy Reds (formerly University Reds) in the Victorian Amateur Football Association and the Fitzroy Junior Football Club in the Yarra Junior Football League. Both wear the old Fitzroy jumper, play the old theme song, and play from Brunswick Street Oval in the heart of Fitzroy.

Fitzroy FC Ltd has also improved its relationship with the Brisbane Lions in the ten years from 1999–2009. In that time Brisbane agreed to use the BB-FFC logo on the back of the new club's guernseys from 2002, the Fitzroy Reds played the curtain-raiser at the MCG when the Brisbane Lions met Collingwood in the AFL Heritage Round of 2003 and Brisbane wore the old Fitzroy jumper every two years in the Heritage Round. Due to the popularity of the old Fitzroy jumper it is now worn for most Brisbane matches played in Victoria, except a Lion replaces the FFC monogram. With the dominance of the Brisbane Lions from 2001–2004, this led to some degree of reconciliation between the old diehards and those who had accepted the incorporation of Fitzroy's AFL club operations into the Brisbane Lions.

However Fitzroy Football Club was about to return to the playing field. At a meeting held at Fairfield on 8 December 2008, the Fitzroy Reds (formerly University Reds) agreed to be incorporated into the Fitzroy Football Club. All assets of the Fitzroy Reds were transferred to the Fitzroy Football Club Ltd. The "Fitzroy Football Club (incorporating the Fitzroy Reds)" entered the VAFA D1 section from the 2009 season, fielding a senior and reserves side, as well as two Under 19 sides and a Club 18 side. All the teams were made up mainly of Fitzroy Reds personnel.^[5] At the end of the 2009 season, Fitzroy lost the VAFA D1 Grand Final to Rupertswood, but as a Grand Finalist was promoted to C-Grade for the 2010 season.

On 22 October 2009, Fitzroy's AFL merger partner the Brisbane Lions announced that they were adopting a new logo for season 2010 and beyond, which Fitzroy Football Club believed contravened Section 7.2 c) of their merger agreement with the Lions. On the 22nd December 2009, the Fitzroy Football Club lodged a Statement of Claim with the Supreme Court of Victoria, seeking an order that the Brisbane Lions be restrained from using as its logo, the new logo or any other logo other than 'the Fitzroy lion logo'.^[6] On Thursday 15 July 2010 it was announced that the Fitzroy Football Club and the Brisbane Lions had reached a settlement, where the two Clubs agreed that the side-on Fitzroy style Lion symbolically represents the historic merger between the Bears and Fitzroy and the first 13 years of the Brisbane Lions competing in the AFL. Therefore it was agreed that the Brisbane Lions will prominently feature the side-on Fitzroy style Lion alongside its current branding on the following items:

1. Club stationery: letterhead, with compliments slips, business cards, fax headers, electronic correspondence, etc. for the next 14 years (until 2024).
2. Club publications: Season Guide, Season Review and Lions Tale magazines, Club Annual Reports and electronic Lions Online newsletters for the next 14 years (until 2024).
3. Membership and corporate sales marketing material for the next 14 years (until 2024).
4. The masthead of the Brisbane Lions official website for the next 7 years (until 2017) ^[6]

In 2010 Fitzroy finished 8th in the Premier C Section of the VAFA with 7 wins and 11 losses. Patrick O'Connor won Fitzroy Football Club's Best and Fairest Award - the Greg Roughsedge Perpetual Trophy, while Ross Borland won for the second year in a row, the Marsden - Moriarty Super-boot Trophy, as the top goalkicker for Fitzroy's seniors. ^[6] At the beginning of the 2011 season, Fitzroy appointed Tim Bell as their new senior coach following the resignation of Simon Taylor. ^[6]

Club facts

Premierships

• VFA: 1895
• VFL-AFL: 1898, 1899, 1904, 1905, 1913, 1916, 1922, 1944

• Runners up – VFA-VFL 1893; VFL-AFL: 1900, 1903, 1906, 1917, 1923

* The 1916 premiership came in a year when the club also won the wooden spoon. Only four teams contested the premiership that year, and at the end of the home and away rounds all teams made the finals. Fitzroy finished last at the end of the home-and-away season but finished strongly in the finals to complete a stunning form reversal.

Brownlow Medal winners

• Haydn Bunton, Sr. – 1931, 1932, 1935
• Wilfred Smallhorn – 1933
• Dinny Ryan – 1936
• Allan Ruthven – 1950
• Kevin Murray – 1969
• Bernie Quinlan – 1981 (co-winner with Barry Round)

Coleman Medal for leading goal kicker

• Jimmy Freake – 1915
• Jack Moriarty – 1924
• Bernie Quinlan – 1983, 1984

Leigh Matthews Trophy winners

• Paul Roos (1986)

Best and Fairest winners

See Fitzroy FC honour roll for list of winners 1884–1996.

Home venues

VFA/VFL

• 1884–1896 Brunswick Street Oval

VFL/AFL

• 1897–1966 Brunswick Street Oval
• 1967–1969, 1987–1993 Princes Park
• 1970–1984 Junction Oval
• 1985–1986 Victoria Park
• 1994–1996 Whitten Oval

VAFA

• 2009–present Brunswick Street Oval

Former nicknames

• The Maroons 1883–1938
• The Gorillas 1938–1957
• The Lions 1957–1996

VFL-AFL Club records

Team of the Century

See also

• Brisbane Lions
• Fitzroy FC honour roll – for coaches, captains, leading goalkickers and team position.
• List of Fitzroy Football Club coaches – for a list of coaches and their career records.
• List of Fitzroy Football Club players
• Proposed VFL/AFL clubs for the Fitzroy-North Melbourne Kangaroos Football Club

Notes

References

• Lovett, M. (ed.) (2005). AFL Record Guide to Season 2005. Melbourne: AFL Publishing. ISBN 0-9580300-6-5. 
• Holmesby, R.; Main, J. (2004). The Encyclopaedia of AFL Footballers: Every Brisbane and Fitzroy AFL Player Ever. Melbourne: BAS Publishing. ISBN 1-920910-09-3. 
• Hutchinson, G.; Lang, R.; Ross, J. (1997). Roar of the Lions. Port Melbourne: Lothian Books. ISBN 0-85091-880-4. 
• Piesse, K. (1995). The Complete Guide to Australian Football. Pan Macmillan Australia. ISBN 0-330-35712-3. 
• Fitzroy Football Club: Silver Jubilee, Fitzroy City Press, (Friday, 18 September 1908), p.3.

External links

• Official Website of the Fitzroy Football Club

• "In Defeat We'll Always Try" – Radio National documentary on the death of the Fitzroy Lions
• Fitzroy history
• "Around the Grounds" – Web Documentary – Brunswick Street