The Fitzroy Bulldogs was a proposed Australian rules football club which was to have formed from the merger between the Fitzroy Lions and the Footscray Bulldogs, and was to have competed in the Victorian Football LeagueNote 1 from 1990. The merger was arranged in October 1989 to avert the imminent financial collapse of the Footscray Football Club, but was abandoned within three weeks of its announcement, after Footscray supporters raised almost two million dollars and secured sponsorship and funding to ensure their club's solvency and viability into the future.
Until the 1980s, the Victorian Football League was one of seven nominally equivalent top-level state-based Australian rules football competitions in Australia that were administered at a national level by the National Football League.
However, in practice, the VFL, the SANFL and the WAFL were seen as the "big three" leagues. In this regard, the higher population and greater money available in Melbourne meant the VFL was the de facto highest level of competition in Australia, with the ability to attract the strongest players from interstate.
Throughout the 1980s, the VFL began to expand to teams based outside Victoria: the league had looked to establish a new club in Sydney in 1982 before the South Melbourne Football Club elected to relocate there instead (becoming the Sydney Swans),[1] and newly established clubs based in Perth (the West Coast Eagles) and south-eastern Queensland (the Brisbane Bears) were admitted to the league in 1987.[2]
This created a flurry of speculation in the late 1980s as stakeholders in Adelaide, Fremantle, Canberra and Tasmania all looked to join what was evolving into a national league.[3]
At the same time, the rising cost of players and administration was severely affecting the weaker clubs as the league nationalised around them. Seven of Melbourne's eleven VFL clubs faced financial ruin at different times during the 1980s, and it was financial pressures that drove South Melbourne to relocate to Sydney in 1982, while more than $1,000,000 in debt and the effect of losing the Junction Oval as a home ground almost drove Fitzroy to relocate to Brisbane, merge with Melbourne, or fold at the end of 1986,[4] while St Kilda, Footscray and Richmond all struggled with extensive debts.
Many clubs were saved from bankruptcy only by the dividends they received from the $4,000,000 licence fees charged to Brisbane and West Coast, as well as the $4,000,000 earned when the Sydney Swans were sold to Dr Geoffrey Edelsten in 1985,[5] but these cash injections provided only temporary relief, and did nothing to address the ailing long-term viability of the clubs.
Footscray's decline
Footscray's off-field position in the 1980s was hindered by deteriorating facilities at the Western Oval.
The Footscray Football Club had been in financial trouble throughout the 1980s, and it had faced pressure to stay afloat, investigating options including relocation to Brisbane as early as 1982.[6]
By 1989, its financial position was terminal. The club was more than $2,000,000 in debt, and was forecast to post a $800,000 operating loss in 1989.[7] The club's location in Melbourne's working class inner western suburbs and the poor quality of facilities at its home ground at the Western Oval were hindering its ability to gain corporate support;[8] in fact, the ground's grandstand had been declared a fire hazard in 1988, and the club was already facing pressure to play its games elsewhere.[6] A couple of decades of generally mediocre on-field performances were also contributing to declining attendances, and finishing second-last on the ladder in 1989 had accelerated the decline.[8]
The VFL had been concerned about Footscray's financial position throughout the year, and required that the club prove its ongoing viability to hold its place in the league; it was widely recognised that the club needed a big off-field change to survive. The Footscray Council had offered the club a package worth more than $1,600,000, which included a $600,000 direct cash injection, $400,000 to upgrade facilities at Western Oval, and its assistance to secure $600,000 in sponsorships,[9] but the league rejected this as another temporary solution which failed to address the root cause of its problems.[8]
Seeing few other options, Footscray President Nick Columb, who had been involved with the club for about ten years but had been elected President only in March 1989, began negotiations for a merger.[6] He had approached all of the league's struggling clubs, eliciting some interest from St Kilda and no interest from North Melbourne and Richmond, but it was discussions with the Fitzroy Football Club which provided the strongest case.[10] Although Fitzroy's financial position had improved since it almost relocated to Brisbane in 1987,[11] its position was still weak, with around $600,000 of debts, and while its immediate solvency was secure, its long-term viability was not, meaning that Fitzroy president Leon Wiegard was willing to merge.
The clubs and the VFL executive, under CEORoss Oakley, agreed to terms for a merger, and the merger plan was announced to the public on 3 October 1989, three days after the 1989 grand final; Footscray's licence to compete in the VFL was immediately terminated.[12] The negotiations were carried out secretly, and it was not until the plans were leaked on 2 October by former Footscray general manager Dennis Galimberti, who learned of the plans at the club's best and fairest dinner and later became prominent in the campaign against the merger, that the merger became public knowledge.[9]
It is believed that if the merger had not been announced, the VFL would have appointed an administrator within the week: Footscray would been placed into liquidation, and the club would have folded.[7]
Merger arrangements
A set of proposed arrangements for the merger was negotiated with the VFL executive, which would have given the merged club a strong starting position for the future. The key points of the proposal were:[9][12][13]
The club would be known as the Fitzroy Football Club, with the team known as the Fitzroy Bulldogs.
The club would wear Fitzroy's colours: red, blue and gold.
Home games would be played at Princes Park in the inner northern suburb of North Carlton, relatively near to Fitzroy. The ground would be shared between Carlton and Fitzroy (Hawthorn, which had also played there since 1974, was already beginning moves to transition its home to VFL Park).[14]
The club would train at Western Oval, Footscray's home ground.
The VFL would clear Footscray's and Fitzroy's existing debts, which combined to $3,400,000: to do this, it would use the regular dividends and allocations which would otherwise have gone to a stand-alone Footscray club over the next few years until the debt was repaid. This gave the merged club the opportunity to begin its existence debt-free.
The new club board would comprise four members of the former Fitzroy board and four members of the former Footscray board. It would be chaired by Fitzroy president Leon Wiegard, while Footscray president Nick Columb would not be involved.
The club could compile its 58-man playing list for 1990 from any players currently on the Footscray and Fitzroy lists; to this end, the club would be permitted to exceed the league's salary cap by whatever amount was necessary in 1990 and 1991 to honour existing contracts.
The 26 players not retained by the merged club would enter a dispersal draft: the first eight selections would go to the struggling Brisbane Bears, and the remaining 11 clubs would receive one selection each in reverse ladder order. The seven players still not selected could then be signed or drafted under normal protocols.[15][16]
The club would operate two separate Under-19s teams, one at Fitzroy and one at Footscray, for three seasons to avoid disadvantaging players already in the existing clubs' junior systems, before operating a single Under-19s team afterwards.
The club would establish a junior development academy at Western Oval.
Had the merger gone ahead, these arrangements could still have been amended, as they needed to be approved by a three-quarters majority of the remaining 12 clubs. When the merger was averted, the vote was cancelled.
Response
The announcement was met with strong anger from Footscray fans. While the merged club was to retain the Bulldogs nickname, the other three areas which most clearly defined the club's identity – its name, colours and home ground – would have come from Fitzroy. For this reason, the merger was seen by Footscray fans as a takeover by Fitzroy. Class warfare became a very strong theme in the response from Footscray fans, with the merger being portrayed as a club from the working class western suburbs being taken over by the club from the "silvertail" inner suburbs.[12] The secretive nature of the merger negotiations, and lack of consultation with members, also drove much of the anger from fans.[17] The Essendon Football Club, which was the next-most western club remaining in the league, received inquiries from many Footscray fans who planned to switch allegiance to the Bombers if the merger went ahead.[18]
The response from Fitzroy fans, who had endured merger and relocation discussions only three years earlier, was far less negative than the response from Footscray fans, in large part because this merger preserved more of Fitzroy's identity and did not require a relocation.
Many Fitzroy players, on the other hand, were upset by the merger proposal because the playing group would be broken up by the merger, and many fringe players were fearful for their jobs. Players commented that they had almost unanimously favoured relocation to Brisbane over a merger with Melbourne in 1987 for exactly this reason.[19]
The merger was a blow to football representation in the inner western suburbs, as the region had already seen one of its two Victorian Football Association clubs, Yarraville, drop out of the competition and go into recess before the start of 1984, and Sunshine had withdrawn from the VFA during the 1989 season, its future still uncertain.
There was some discussion that a new Footscray Football Club, or a wider western suburban club in partnership with Sunshine, could be established in the VFA to retain a high level senior football club in the region, with the possibility that it could form an informal developmental partnership with the Fitzroy Bulldogs similar to those enjoyed between Geelong and Geelong West or Collingwood and Preston, but these discussions progressed no further before the merger was abandoned.[20]
As far as the football world was concerned, the merger was all but finalised. Newspapers began running predictions of the Fitzroy Bulldogs' on-field prospects for 1990, and plaques bearing Footscray's and Fitzroy's logos were taken down from the façade at VFL Park.
Footscray Fightback campaign
Footscray supporters immediately began a legal response against the merger, and the Save the Dogs Committee, led by local solicitor Peter Gordon, and the Footscray Fightback Foundation were established. A legal loophole allowed for a club member to protest the decision if members hadn't been consulted ahead of time; and so on 6 October, rank-and-file Footscray member Irene Chatfield won a stay of proceedings against the merger in the Supreme Court of Victoria, putting her personal assets (including superannuation, life insurance and a car) at risk as collateral against court costs.[21] Under the stay, the club needed to raise $1,500,000 (later increased to $1,800,000)[22] and prove its viability by 25 October to have its VFL licence restored.[23]
The Save the Dogs committee set about raising the necessary funds through donations from the public and seeking corporate sponsorship. The first grassroots fundraising event was a rally at the Western Oval on Sunday 8 October, which drew a crowd of 10,000 fans keen to save the club, and a total of $450,000 in donations was raised on that day alone.[22] An extensive door-knocking and tin-rattling campaign throughout the western suburbs on the following weekend raised $160,000.[24] A legends match was held between a team of former Footscray players and a team of former Collingwood players on Sunday 22 October at Skinner Reserve, which drew a large crowd of 8,000 to see Footscray 11.5 (71) d. Collingwood 9.11 (65).[25]
As fundraising was going on, Footscray administrators continued preparations for the 1990 season on the basis that the merger would be averted, and assistant coach and former player Terry Wheeler was appointed senior coach on 8 October.[22] Wheeler was critical of outgoing senior coach Mick Malthouse, who had left the club before the merger was announced, for not doing enough to motivate players and the club when it was known that the off-field position looked bleak in the latter part of the 1989 season.[26]
By 23 October, Footscray had raised the money and resources it needed to regain its VFL licence. Its fundraising efforts raised $1,100,000, it had consolidated its support from the local council, developed a business plan to return to delivering profits within three years, and had most significantly secured a three-year sponsorship deal worth between $1,000,000–1,500,000 with chemical giant I.C.I., which had a long history of operations in Melbourne's west and was a major employer in the area.[27][28] Footscray's VFL licence was restored, and both Footscray and Fitzroy continued as separate entities into the 1990 season.
In an extraordinary general meeting on 30 October, the entire board which had been involved in the merger stepped down. Peter Gordon was elected president of the club after his strong work as part of the Save the Dogs Committee. Peter Welsh, Ken Greenwood, Bob Moodie and Ron Coleman were elected to the board.[29]
Aftermath
Since 1990, Footscray (known as the Western Bulldogs since 1997) has remained viable[citation needed]. For a period through the early 1990s, the club worked aggressively to improve the Western Oval and attract more sporting clubs to the venue, and in 1991/92, the club was part-owner of the Melbourne Monarchs baseball club, which played at Western Oval, and it investigated establishing a rugby league club at Western Oval to become the NSWRL's first Melbourne-based club.[30] The club ceased playing home games at the Western Oval in 1997, moving to Princes Park from the same year and then Docklands Stadium in 2000 as part of the league's grounds rationalisation, retaining the venue as its training and administrative base, and then later for its reserves and women's teams.
Gordon served as president until 1996, and returned in 2012 for a second stint as president: this included the club's second premiership in 2016, also the club's first premiership since 1954.
Although Footscray/Western Bulldogs has never reached the point where it could be called a wealthy club, it has not since faced financial difficulties anywhere as dire as those it faced in 1989.[citation needed]
On the other hand, Fitzroy was disappointed by the collapse of the merger; it saw the merger, and particularly the offer for its debts to be cleared by the VFL, as one of its best opportunities to secure a future in Melbourne.[26] It had no plan for long-term stand-alone viability in Melbourne, and within seven years the club's condition had dwindled to terminal. The club tried selling home games to Hobart and Canberra, but the ventures were neither financially successful nor supported by the AFL Commission.[31] Ironically, in 1994, Fitzroy moved its permanent home playing base from Princes Park to the Western Oval.[32]
Between 1994 and 1996, the club attempted to broker mergers with Melbourne and North Melbourne to stay in Victoria, but those failed. After the club went into administration in 1996, it had its AFL playing operations taken over by the Brisbane Bears, who were rebranded as the Lions.
Although the clubs' boards were united in their decision to merge, it is far from certain that the merger would have been harmonious. Footscray had a larger and stronger supporter base than Fitzroy, and some prominent opponents of the merger had a contingency plan to encourage Footscray fans to purchase Fitzroy Bulldogs memberships in such high numbers that a voting majority of members could elect a sympathetic board to move the club back to Footscray and restore the club's red, white and blue colours.[33][34]
The effect of the failed Fitzroy Bulldogs merger on the Sunshine Football Club was more immediate: with Footscray surviving and enjoying renewed support from local businesses and fans in the western suburbs, Sunshine lost any realistic prospect of achieving the local support it needed to regain its place in the VFA for 1990. Two days after the merger collapsed, Sunshine surrendered its VFA licence and folded.[35]
Historically, the merger has sometimes been viewed cynically as an attempt by the VFL to rationalise the number of Victorian clubs and grounds to facilitate the nationalisation of the league, and Peter Gordon once described the merger as an arranged marriage orchestrated by the VFL.[36] Whether or not that was the case, Fitzroy is the only one of the eleven Victorian clubs from 1989 which no longer competes in the AFL competition (they are now competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association).
The VFL went on to change its name to the Australian Football League from the 1990 season, becoming the de jure national administrative body for the sport in 1995 when the National Football League ceased operations.
The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition.
The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of Fitzroy, the club was a member of the Victorian Football Association (VFA), before becoming a foundation member of the breakaway Victorian Football League (VFL/AFL) in 1897.
The Melbourne Hawks were a planned Australian Football League (AFL) team that would have consisted of the merger between the Melbourne and Hawthorn clubs at the end of the 1996 season. Out of all the proposed merger combinations in the 1990s, it seemed most ideal, as it was known that Hawthorn had a football team which had success but were in a dire financial situation—as opposed to Melbourne, which had a sound financial base but were a club which had not won a premiership for over 30 years.
Whitten Oval is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Barkly Street, West Footscray. It is the training and administrative headquarters of the Western Bulldogs, which competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The ground is also the home of the club's women's and reserves teams which compete in the AFL Women's (AFLW), Victorian Football League (VFL), and VFL Women's (VFLW).
The Coburg Football Club, nicknamed the Lions, is an Australian rules football club based in Coburg, a northern suburb of Melbourne, and currently playing in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It is based at Coburg City Oval since 1915, which was partly redeveloped in 2020. Coburg has historically been a proud club and has won 6 VFA/VFL premierships with the most recent premiership in 1989. From 2001 to 2013 the club was aligned with the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), acting as its reserves team. Since 2014, Coburg has operated as a stand-alone club in the VFL.
The 1990 AFL season was the 94th season of the Australian Football League (AFL) and the first under this name, having been known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. It was the highest level senior Australian rules football competition and administrative body in Victoria; and, as it featured clubs from New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, it was the de facto highest level senior competition in Australia. The season featured fourteen clubs, ran from 31 March until 6 October, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs.
The 1962 VFL season was the 66th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 21 April until 29 September, and comprised an 18-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
Rodney Albert Austin is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Terry Wheeler is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and coached Footscray in the Australian Football League.
Proposed VFL/AFL clubs are clubs that at various points in the history of the Australian Football League have been or were distinct possibilities but either did not or have not yet eventuated. Due to their association with the national Australian competition, they have drawn a large amount of controversy and media attention.
The 1964 Victorian Football Association season was the 83rd season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the fourth season of its second division. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Port Melbourne Football Club, after it defeated Williamstown in the Grand Final on 26 September by 36 points; it was Port Melbourne's 8th VFA premiership. The Division 2 premiership was won by Geelong West, in only its second season in the VFA.
Skinner Reserve is an Australian rules football stadium located on Churchill Avenue, Braybrook, Victoria. It is most notable as the former home ground of the Sunshine Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).
The 1965 Victorian Football Association season was the 84th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the fifth season of its second division. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Waverley Football Club, after it defeated Port Melbourne in the Grand Final on 26 September by twelve points; it was the first and only premiership ever won by Waverley in either division in its time in the Association, and it came in only its second season in Division 1. The Division 2 premiership was won by Preston; it was the club's second Division 2 premiership in three years, having competed in and been relegated from Division 1 in the intervening year.
The 1987 Victorian Football Association season was the 106th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the 27th season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Springvale Football Club, after it defeated Port Melbourne in the Grand Final on 20 September by 38 points; it was Springvale's first Division 1 premiership, won in just its fourth season in the first division. The Division 2 premiership was won by Prahran; it was the club's second Division 2 premiership, and the last premiership ever won by the club in either division.
The 1988 Victorian Football Association season was the 107th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the 28th and final season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Coburg Football Club, after it defeated Williamstown in the Grand Final on 18 September by 27 points; it was Coburg's fifth Division 1 premiership. The final Division 2 premiership was won by Oakleigh; it was the club's second Division 2 premiership, and the last premiership ever won by the club in either division.
The 1989 Victorian Football Association season was the 108th season of the Australian rules football competition. It was the first season since 1960 in which the Association operated as a single-division competition after having operated as a two-division competition with promotion and relegation between them for the previous 28 years. The premiership was won by the Coburg Football Club, after it defeated Williamstown in the grand final on 24 September by 20 points; it was Coburg's second premiership in a row, and its sixth and, as of 2019, last top division premiership overall.
The 1990 Victorian Football Association season was the 109th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Williamstown Football Club, after it defeated Springvale in the grand final on 30 September by two points; it was Williamstown's twelfth top-division premiership.
The North Fitzroy Kangaroos was a proposed professional Australian rules football club which was to have formed from the merger between the Fitzroy Football Club and the North Melbourne Football Club, and was to have competed in the Australian Football League from 1997 onwards. The merger was arranged in May 1996 to avert the imminent financial collapse of Fitzroy, but was abandoned within two months of its announcement following clashes of interest from multiple parties. The abandonment resulted in North Melbourne remaining as a stand-alone club as it is today, and the league administrators forcing Fitzroy, then nicknamed as the 'Lions', to relocate to Brisbane and merge with the Brisbane Football Club to form what is now the Brisbane Lions Football Club.
The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy North. The club's professional senior team was a foundation member of the Victorian Football League along with seven other clubs on its inception season of 1897. From the late 1960s onward, the club suffered from stadium constraints and financial difficulties, that resulted in multiple merger and relocation proposals.
Relocation of professional sports teams occurs when a team owner moves a team, generally from one metropolitan area to another, but occasionally between municipalities in the same conurbation. Australia and New Zealand uses a North American-style league franchise system which means the teams are overwhelmingly privately owned and therefore favours relocation practices. Owners who move a team generally do so seeking better profits, facilities, fan support, or a combination of these.
References
↑ Mike Coward (15 October 1981). "VFL 'no' sends South to Sydney". The Age. Melbourne. p.32.
↑ Ron Carter (2 October 1986). "Perth, Brisbane join League". The Age. Melbourne. p.38.
↑ Peter Simunovich (27 July 1987). "Top WAFL clubs eye VFL spot". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p.78.
↑ Martin Flanagan (2 October 1986). "Survival the object in Lions' year of trial". The Age. Melbourne. p.36.
↑ Ron Carter (2 October 1986). "Perth, Brisbane join League". The Age. Melbourne. p.38.
1 2 3 "The rocky roads that pushed clubs to merger". The Age. Melbourne. 4 October 1989. p.27.
1 2 Michael Stevens (4 October 1989). "No choice". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p.72.
1 2 3 Michael Stevens (4 October 1989). "No cash – no club". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p.70.
1 2 3 Tony de Bolfo; Michael Stevens (3 October 1989). "VFL clubs "to merge"". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. pp.1–2.
↑ Ron Carter (4 October 1989). "Two-year salary bonanza". The Age. Melbourne. p.28.
↑ The Brisbane Bears, who were admitted in 1987, would take over Fitzroy's playing operations at the end of 1996, and be rebranded the Lions.
1 2 3 David Fisher (4 October 1989). "Death of the Bulldogs". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. pp.1–2.
↑ Michael Stevens (4 October 1989). "New teams' special deal". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p.70.
↑ Daryl Timms (2 July 1990). "Feathers fly". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p.88.
↑ Tony de Bolfo; Justin Brasier (6 October 1989). "Bear aid". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p.72.
↑ After Brisbane took over Fitzroy's playing operations in 1996, Brisbane was allowed to draft eight Fitzroy players.
↑ Michael Stevens (6 October 1989). "It's a real dogfight". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p.70.
↑ Scot Palmer (8 October 1989). "Dons offered new home". The Sunday Sun. Melbourne. p.103.
↑ Nick Bideau (4 October 1989). "Shock and anger in Lions' den". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p.71.
↑ Amanda Buivids (5 October 1989). "Merger may help lost clubs". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p.80.
Fitzroy's AFL operations merged with the Brisbane Bears in 1996 to form the Brisbane Lions Fitzroy merged with the Fitzroy Reds in 2008 and has competed in the VAFA since 2009
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