Victorian Lions Supporters Group:Fitzroy

New Fitzroy Football Club website

The RedRoy — Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:41 am

Author: The RedRoy

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:41 am

Hi everyone,

I'm a long time Redder, and Fitzroy Supporter. Safe to say that I have the best of both worlds now.

Have you tried to get in contact with the guy that used to look after the Fitzroy Reds website ? He goes by the nickname of "Mappa". I'm sure someone at the club would have his details.

The site was always really good when he was looking after it and he might have some ideas. He may be helping out now, but it's just a thought.

Go the Maroons

Where are they now? - Brad Boyd

Lionel Brisroy — Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:49 am

Author: Lionel Brisroy

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:49 am

The Backpocket - Warwick Green - Sunday Herald Sun - Sunday April 26th 2009

Where are they now? - Former Fitzroy captain Brad Boyd speaks to Rod Nicholson

THE MOMENT
Brad Boyd led Fitzroy on to the MCG for the club's final Victorian appearance in 1996 and to say farewell to the historic club. This week he was thrilled to see Fitzroy return to the Brunswick Street Oval, albiet in the D1 Amateurs.

THE FAREWELL
"We copped a thrashing from Richmond, but that was to be expected as we'd won only one game for that season. It was a rotten year as we lurched from one disaster to another.

That final day was very sad for us as players and for the fans. It was bizarre, surreal.

You could see the faces in the crowd, so many people upset. I don't think I realised the enormity of the occasion at the time, the closure, the end of a wonderful history. You just tried to get through each day at that stage.

I wish that had been the last match, because two farewells were overwhelming. After we said goodbye at the MCG, we had to fly to Fremantle for the club's last game. We came home, but the club didn't. It was really draining."

BRISBANE
"I was the first of eight players picked by the Brisbane Bears. But it was a disappointing venture for me. I played only 30 minutes of footy with the club in 1997 due to back and hamstring injuries and only another 14 during the next two years before I retired at 27.

Overall I missed 80 games through injury, which is a lot when you consider I played only 85 with Fitzroy and Brisbane during my career.

But I had my highs. I was Fitzroy captain at 22, won the club best and fairest in 1995 and represented Victoria in 1994 and 1995."

TODAY
"I still follow the Lions and I was thrilled to see Fitzroy back at Brunswick Street Oval last week in their first match in the Amateurs.

"I was guest speaker at the Fitzroy Historical Society at Brunswick Street on Thursday night and I catch up as often as possible with the current players.

I had offers to play in various competitions when I returned from Brisbane, but I couldn't beecause I knew I would break down within five seconds. So my football now is concentrated on my sons Liam, 9 and Matt, 5. My wife Rachel, runs an importing wholesale business with a warehouse in Dromana and I've been in real estate for the past four years. It is a great lifestyle at Mt Martha and I take the boys to footy training and to matches on Sunday."

Brunswick Street abuzz with Roy boys' fighting spirit

Lionel Brisroy — Sat Apr 25, 2009 2:24 pm

Author: Lionel Brisroy

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 2:24 pm

Brunswick Street abuzz with Roy boys' fighting spirit

John Harms | April 22, 2009 | The Age

IS THERE a better place to be late on a Saturday afternoon, standing on the grass in front of the grandstand, after the final siren has sounded, among the throng of fans, which has parted to let the boys, your boys, trot proudly through?

Fitzroy has won at Brunswick Street for the first time since 1966. The Roys have beaten Prahran in D1 amateur footy. Backs are slapped and players beam with watermelon smiles as they tear the tape from thumbs and wave to friends and family and stop to cuddle the niece.

You can feel the affection in the sustained applause. From past players, grey-haired now, who once ran around on this ground themselves. From old Fitzroy fans. And from people like me, just six years in the area, but feeling it is home now.

Fans flank the players and many make their way into the dressing rooms. They feel they have no choice. Something in our drab selves has been ignited and we just have to get inside. People are spilling out the door when the first bars of the Fitzroy song rattle the grandstand.

At the lunch beforehand, president Craig Little explained that the club really was the old Fitzroy again, with the blessing of all concerned; that Fitzroy hoped to be the club of the community, as it once had been. The faithful believed him, and if you had any doubt what was in people's hearts you should have been there for Kevin Murray's speech.

He didn't say much. He didn't have to. It was the silence that was most powerful, that moment when a man is so connected to his world and the people in it that he cannot speak. The purest silence. Recognised by everyone in the room. Then old Bulldog composed himself, wriggled in his back brace, stood tall on his bandy legs and smiled the smile of a man returning home, his new false teeth as perfect as his football gums used to be, his Brownlow Medal pinned on his pocket. He continued.

"My two brothers and I played for the Fitzroy thirds, and I went on to play in the ones," he said. "I played for the claret and blue from 1955 to 1974. And my father and Uncle Phil played for Prahran. So this is quite a day for me.

"This club has always been about finding the fighting spirit. Which is all you can do. It has been about creating something that means something to all of us. And, look around and you can see that it does."

The Roys are strong in the first half and lead. They play open footy. But there is still plenty to do. In the rooms at half-time, coach Simon Taylor speaks quietly. "We're evolving," he says in a voice that has picked the best from Ross Lyon and Elliot Goblet. "But we can't negotiate. No negotiation. We can't choose."

Some players look up from their muesli bars and turn their heads in that way a puzzled pooch does. He's going to be interesting by round 17.

I watch the second half with Spud Dullard who played for Melbourne in the '70s. He lives around the corner. He has planted succulents in the front garden. They are doing very well. So is his son, Connor, who is picking up plenty of kicks.

He's got plenty of mates and the Roys are too good.

I am in the community room after the game. Stubbies are sold for $3. Players drift through the door. Carrying their footy bags. Showered (apart from that little bit of mud in their eye socket). Some starting to feel sore. A grazed elbow. A stop mark on the neck.

It's buzzing. People are introducing themselves to each other, discovering points of connection, telling stories. During the speeches, Isaac Hughson, who has kicked seven, is announced as Fitzroy's best. He is the grandson of Fred Hughson, captain-coach of the 1944 premiership side, and full-back in the team of the century.

With the formalities over, conversations resume. More beers. I reckon it's going to be a good year.

And I hear a six o'clock question I haven't heard for donkey's ages: "Does anyone know how Carlton went today?"

The Roys are back!!

Lionel Brisroy — Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:15 am

Author: Lionel Brisroy

Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:15 am

The pride of the new Fitzroy

Peter Hanlon | December 9, 2008

The Lions are roaring again at Brunswick Street, thanks to another merger.

IT DAWNED on Craig Little a few years ago, during his one season with Fitzroy Reds at Brunswick Street Oval. Behind the goals every other Saturday, trams rattling along at their backs, stood a clutch of old Roy Boys, decked out in the colours of the club they had lost.

Little remembered the line about great art coming from heartbreak. "I thought, 'Gee, if only we did this Fitzroy thing properly' �"

For Bill Atherton there have been many reminders. He remembers being at Brunswick Street for the annual general meeting of Fitzroy Football Club Ltd, his beloved club with no team.

Two years of renovations had just been completed, the goal posts were up again, and the shouts of the under 14s hung on the air as they trained on the oval.

"It was like the field of dreams had come to life again," Atherton says.

Last night, the visions came together when Fitzroy Football Club Ltd joined forces with Fitzroy Reds. Merger is no longer a dirty word for old Lions; next season, for the first time since 1966, Fitzroy Football Club will be back playing at Brunswick Street.

"This club's been in the big time and had her throat cut, but she lived on and now she's back," Atherton said yesterday. "The passion for clubs like this just goes back so far, you really can't kill them off. I think even the AFL has found that out now."

Simon Taylor was on Fitzroy's AFL list in 1992, having played two games for Collingwood three seasons earlier. In replacing his brother James as coach, he will earn the distinction of having not been able to get a game for Fitzroy, yet winding up as its coach.

"It's the rebirth of the Fitzroy footy club � in D-grade amateurs!" Taylor says with a laugh.

The level doesn't bother anyone involved and Taylor has set his sights on promotion to C-grade next year, confident that he is surrounded by ambitious people. Little, who replaced the exuberant Peter Hille as Fitzroy Reds' president at the end of 2006, sees no reason why they can't rise to one day challenge traditional amateur football powers such as Old Xaverians and Old Scotch.

Yet for all concerned, the real joy of this highly anticipated marriage is a recapturing of the past � not only of a proud football club, but of a time when to be part of one was a celebration of community.

"A lot of Fitzroy people might not have much of an interest in football, but they've got a great deal of interest in their community," Little says. "For them, it might just be background noise, but it'll be a great place to be on a Saturday afternoon."

Little, who works in corporate affairs, approached the local paper last year with the idea that Fitzroy FC should again be more than a name. When Atherton saw the article, it was like a meeting of lonely hearts.

"We said, 'You've got the ground and the players, we've got the name, the brand and the membership. Why don't we put the two together?' "

Atherton is secretary of Fitzroy FC, an entity that has maintained more than 350 paid-up members in the 12 years since it last played an AFL game and was merged by a league-appointed administrator with the Brisbane Bears. He runs the club shop in Mordialloc, and has been proud to see football in Fitzroy kept alive through shareholder funds directed to the Reds and Fitzroy Junior FC.

At a time when so many clubs are struggling to field teams, the rise of footy at Brunswick Street has assumed cult-like status.

The Reds migrated from Carlton in 1997, changing name from University to Fitzroy after a dispute over funding. Fitzroy Junior footy club (which plays on Sundays, is not officially linked but is a natural Reds breeding ground) started in 1993 with one under-10 side.

Atherton recalls they barely kicked a goal all season. Now, they boast around 450 kids in teams ranging from under-10 to under-17.

"There are kids playing seniors (with the Reds) who are 24, 25 years old now, good players, who have come from the streets of Fitzroy," Atherton says. "That's what Fitzroy was 50 years ago � Butch Gale, Don Furness, Billy Stephen, they all came from the local streets."

Little hails from the Western District, barracks for Carlton, but longs for a relationship like the one he had with South Warrnambool. He thinks AFL fans still enjoy a strong and passionate bond with their football club, but without the intimacy of more innocent times.

He has been heartened by the Brisbane Lions' support of the rebirth, and sees the new entity as providing context and a platform to talk about the club's history.

"What Brisbane potentially has with us is a grass-roots, community sort of offering that's unique to AFL clubs, a celebration of what footy used to be before it got really big.

"Supporters who come down from Brisbane to go to a game at the Dome on a Saturday night can go to Brunswick Street during the afternoon and get a real sense of where it all began."

Atherton reports that he had Brisbane folk in the shop last Sunday, buying merchandise to take back to friends. "There is a big fascination in Queensland with the Fitzroy footy club, we get lots of emails."

Next month, new coach Taylor will travel to the Gabba with his assistant, the club captain and several players including juniors, to see how it's done at the top, an initiative that was a huge success this year. "They open all their offices to us, give us access to players, coaches and administrators, and pretty much say, 'What do you need?' "

While Little says the merger "is very much about being a local team for Fitzroy again", the welcome mat will be laid out far and wide. Among plans are a reigniting of the Lions' old recruiting zone (in the Hampden League), so that kids who come to Melbourne looking for a footy club will make Brunswick Street their first port of call.

There is talk of selling their appeal in travel guides such as Lonely Planet, advising culturally curious visitors to Melbourne to by all means get along to an AFL game, but head out to Brunswick Street too for a sense of where it all began. "In the AFL, you can't walk out onto the ground and hear the coach speak, you can't go into the rooms before the game."

Unlike many amateur clubs, the Reds had no "old school tie" bond to draw on, yet for the past two seasons have boasted registrations second only to Old Xavs in the amateurs. In 2008, 239 players were on the books playing seniors, reserves or in the two under-19 teams.

The local council has completed a refurbishment of the clubrooms, and named the heritage-listed pavilion the Fitzroy Football Club grandstand.

The last Fitzroy game it oversaw was fittingly dramatic � round 17, 1966, when St Kilda ruckman Carl Ditterich elbowed Daryl Peoples and was suspended for four matches, which included his club's only flag.

Next year it aims to reconnect with its past with a bang. One concept being workshopped is a game billed as "The Bet", in which a betting agency would offer odds on the club drawing a crowd of 5000 to a home game, which would be promoted only by word of mouth and without paid advertising or direct marketing.

He says Brunswick Street is "a massive asset for us", a fact Atherton is constantly reminded of. He was contacted recently by an old supporter from Bairnsdale, who was overjoyed to hear the club was returning to its home. "He saw his first game there in 1933, saw all the Brownlow medallists, saw the '44 flag. We get letters like that from all over Australia."

When those old Roy Boys gather neat year, reminiscing about a time when football didn't feel so much like it came from a cookie cutter, when torpedo punts were roosted from full-back and long kicks went to contests, they will have a few more mates than usual.

And Little won't have to explain how his club used to be Uni Reds, then became Fitzroy Reds, yet was still a team that played in a suburb, as distinct from the team of a suburb. "Now I've got a club I can explain in 10 words or less."

It's name is Fitzroy.

F...for Fitzroy

Lionel Brisroy — Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:26 pm

Author: Lionel Brisroy

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:26 pm

An interesting article about being drafted by Fitzroy in the mid 90's. No wonder we were on the bottom of the ladder in the 1990's if this was the prevailing attitude.

F... for Fitzroy

Peter Hanlon | November 19, 2008 | The Age

WHEN the moment came, Rob McMahon was sitting at the front of the room with the other young-men-most-likely. A television camera panned along the row, capturing the anticipation and relief as the names of the top 10 of the 1994 draft were called.

Pick six was Fitzroy's and the name paired to it was his. Through the silence, from the back of the room, came an anguished cry. "My old man let out the F-bomb," he says.

McMahon's mind sped back to a conversation in the car on the journey from Moe, when his dad and the local club's footy manager concluded they'd be happy for him to be drafted by anyone, so long as it wasn't the embattled Lions. "I was thinking, 'Shit, what just happened there? Oh, that's right, we didn't want to go to Fitzroy, did we?' "

Actually, McMahon didn't care who chose him. He was 17, reckoned going in the top 10 was just amazing and felt like he had the football world at his feet. "I thought Fitzroy would be around forever."

New coach Bernie Quinlan was there to shake his hand, his arms were slipped into a maroon-and-blue club jacket for the obligatory photos, officials told him he could be the next "Superboot".

As it happened, Quinlan didn't survive his first year. His club scarcely lasted much longer. The swirling football planets never quite aligned for him and McMahon played just two games.

The text messages will start landing in his inbox in the coming days, as they do at this time every year. Mates will have heard his name on radio, among lists of top-10 draft picks who didn't make it. "Then on draft day I'll get, 'No. 6, he'll be no good!' "

They are mischievous reminders, but he moved on long ago. Football is no longer his first priority, or even second or third. He still plays and is glad to have come around to liking the game again. It hasn't always been this way.

WERE he a believer in omens, McMahon might see his last game pre-Fitzroy as a sign that he was destined to be toyed with and teased by the sport he played so well.

His second full season with Gippsland Power had finished and Moe was to meet Leongatha in a preliminary final. He hadn't played a senior game for his home town, but they picked him anyway. "It meant someone had to get dropped, which didn't go down too well."

The selection was permitted because games in the state's best underage competition qualified the elite for their home league finals. Teams whose young guns were sure to be drafted, such as McMahon, had added incentive: ongoing dividends from AFL clubs as their careers progressed.

On game day, McMahon pulled his quadricep muscle in the warm-up. He didn't tell a soul. "I was in massive pain, but there was no way I was going to tell anybody. A poor bloke had been dropped. If I'd pulled out in the warm-up it would have been terrible."

He hobbled about and Moe bowed out.

Soon he was in Melbourne, completing his schooling at Marcellin College and living with two women in a share house arranged by Fitzroy in Bulleen, one of the nomadic club's temporary homes as its terminal spiral took hold. "If I did it again I'd live with players," he says now. "They turned out to be very nice people, but I wouldn't live in Bulleen with two ladies I didn't know and no (driver's) licence. Why would you do that?"

A typical day began with an early rise, a taxi to Coburg for weights, then back across town to school. Then it was another taxi to another training session, maybe at Coburg, maybe Bulleen, maybe another ground, or even on a golf course. Anywhere the Lions could find.

Remarkably, he passed his VCE. It helped that he knew no different. "I didn't know it didn't run quite as well as the other big Melbourne clubs. It was still an AFL club. I didn't care."

By 1996 he had a car, a spot in a business marketing course at Box Hill TAFE and was playing well in Fitzroy's reserves. McMahon, who had grown from 188 centimetres at draft time to just over 191, played full-forward, full-back, centre half-forward, on a flank.

He gave them plenty of options and eventually they gave him a chance, against Footscray at Western Oval and the old Brisbane Bears at Princes Park. He hit the post three times against the Bears, then squeezed a long one through from a free kick. He has a goal to go with his two games � more than most.

Meanwhile, the walls were closing in on a proud club. Training sessions were followed by crisis meetings, men in suits telling bewildered players the money had dried up and they weren't sure how the chapter would end.

"The young players probably treated it as a bit of a joke, thinking, 'Yeah, whatever, we'll get drafted somewhere else, move on.' But it was serious stuff, the end of the club. And they knew the end was coming."

What mattered to McMahon was that he was playing senior footy and, no matter what happened to the Roys, he was on the AFL launch pad, ready to take off.

Then, with the death certificate signed, he made way for older, longer-serving players in the club's last two games.

He watched Fitzroy's last game on TV, filthy that he wasn't playing. "I don't remember it at all," he says.

EIGHT Lions went north to Brisbane, the remainder scattered on the next draft's breeze. McMahon went to Hawthorn with pick 53 and was happy with his new home. In mid-1997 he remembers a six-week period when he was in the best three in the seconds every week.

"I was waiting for the call-up, but it didn't come." Playing full-back in the curtain-raiser on grand final day was as good as it got.

Delisted, he did the pre-season with Essendon, the team he supported as a boy. "It came down to me and another bloke who'd been dropped from the Bulldogs. I was pretty excited about that. Then Essendon had some salary cap issues and they lost the draft pick."

Yet again, something had got in the way. By now, he was fed up. At least with life in the AFL, maybe with footy altogether. He had four years in the VFL with Williamstown, but his heart wasn't in it.

"Footy was always just the thing I did, the thing I could play without having to think. It was the natural thing to do. I don't think I was ever going to stop playing footy, I just realised I was doing it under sufferance," he says.

A move to Bell Park in Geelong rejuvenated him, helped by a premiership in 2003 under Ken Hinkley's coaching when the club played St Mary's five times for the season and beat them once � in the grand final replay after a draw the previous weekend. He loves retelling that story come finals time.

A stint at Darley in the Ballarat league followed and he's now with Melton South. His job as a platform manager with AXA eats up the time and the 40-minute journey each way to training and matches can be a grind. He's 31 and starting to look forward to his weekends off, but might still go around again. The footballer within who knows you're a long time retired is hard to silence.

Many things follow the high draft pick who never quite makes it, like the annual phone calls from suburban and country clubs scouring the country for talent. You get paid well, but the pressure to perform and the belts to the back of the head mean it's hardly easy money.

As pick six in the country, the expectation has always been there. Only the landscape has changed.

"I've always loved footy and love it now, but it's been a roller-coaster," McMahon says.

"I've done the full circle, from footy being my life and loving it, to hating it for several years, thinking about your options, but footy was always the thing that came the easiest, so you stuck through it."

Now, the spotlight isn't so bright and the reminders make him laugh. Some Melton teammates rang him one Saturday night, in fits of laughter, because the party they were at had a poster of Fitzroy's 1996 squad on the wall. The players were lounging about and there was Robert McMahon, bowl haircut and all.

In sporting memorabilia shops, you might find another reminder of his part in the last days of a foundation club � a "Life Of Fitzroy" poster. It is a montage of players down the years and, for reasons unknown, the biggest image on it is that of McMahon.

"I was there two years, it's embarrassing. I still get texts from people saying, 'I can't believe you're in that photo.' There's Bernie Quinlan, Micky Conlan, Kevin Murray, all these famous Lions, and there's my big boofhead!"

The Boys From Old Fitzroy

Lionel Brisroy — Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:10 pm

Author: Lionel Brisroy

Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:10 pm

A great story by the Age.

Just for the record I'll post in full here so when the Age ditches it from their website we've still got it.

THE BOYS FROM OLD FITZROY
The Age - 16th August 2006
Marika Dobbin

HE WAS the last Fitzroy Lion left standing.

When Brisbane Lions co-captain Chris Johnson was chaired from the Gabba at the end of last season, he took with him into retirement the last playing relic of the "mighty Roys".

What remains of Fitzroy in the AFL in 2008 are the links forged with Brisbane over 12 years since the two clubs merged and the famous Fitzroy colours, which the Brisbane Lions now wear as an away strip, except in the case of a jumper clash.

Of all the men to wear the maroon and blue for Fitzroy over 113 years or more, none have done it more proudly than Brisbane's Jonathan Brown, Luke Power, Travis Johnstone and Troy Selwood.

Each has a connection to Fitzroy older than they are themselves.

Their stories are of family allegiances and defiant support that manifest the emotion of all Fitzroy fans who hung in to the bitter end.

Each is determined to prove that the beloved club of their childhood lives on, not just in hearts and minds but on the field.

These players claim to carry the soul of old Fitzroy with them, and so do their teammates. These are their stories.

TRAVIS JOHNSTONE

MY GRANDFATHER, Norm Johnstone, played 228 games for Fitzroy and was one of the toughest of his era, earning him a place in the Lions' Team of the Century.

Pop was the main reason I wanted to be traded to Brisbane from Melbourne Football Club at the end of last season.

I waited until the deal was signed before driving down to the house in Mordialloc where my grandparents have always lived, to break the news.

Pop is reserved in what he says to me, but I could see in his eyes that he was proud. My grandparents had fallen on hard times in the past two years and it brought a smile to their faces. They and my parents were very excited for me.

I've worn the Fitzroy colours in three away games this season and it's pretty special to belong to the same tradition as my grandfather � it was a good feeling. I can't wait to wear the jumper again because it shows that Fitzroy has not been forgotten.

Pop is pretty quiet about his playing days, but deep down I know he's proud of what he achieved. I've heard from other people how ruthless he was and the way he went about representing Fitzroy. He is still a pretty big name with Fitzroy supporters.

Of course, my dad and uncles grew up barracking for Fitzroy. When I was 16, my whole family went to support Pop at Fitzroy's last game at the MCG. We sat in the stands with many of the old players and it was a sad day for everyone, seeing the demise of a club that had been so strong in the past.

However, I think the Brisbane Lions have done a lot as a club to build and maintain a connection with the past, which has been fortunate for Fitzroy supporters.

TROY SELWOOD

I'VE loved football since I was born and Fitzroy footy club was everything to me as a kid.

Growing up in Bendigo, I was the only one of four boys to follow my dad in barracking for Fitzroy, probably because they were pretty woeful at the time. In fact, I remember being the only kid at St Therese's primary who wore the red, blue and yellow colours to school in the 1980s and '90s.

If Fitzroy got within six goals of a side or we put in a good effort, I'd wear my scarf to school and treat it like a victory.

We beat Fremantle in 1996, our last victory before the merger, and I wore my Fitzroy jumper for the entire week. I was just so ecstatic.

There was a park across the road from our house and I'd spend hours there with my brothers pretending to be Darren "Doc" Wheildon and trying to snap goals over my shoulder.

However, John Blakey was my No. 1 idol and when I first came to Brisbane, Blakey was an assistant coach. Being able to work closely with him was pretty special.

Brisbane was one of only two clubs not to interview me at draft camp � I was that shattered. I thought, "How dare they? They don't understand how much I love the club."

When Brisbane selected me in the draft it was totally unexpected, but it's worked out so well. I'm living the dream.

The first time I wore Fitzroy colours, Brisbane was playing my brother's team, West Coast, in Perth. I put on the jumper at training and got goose bumps. It turned out that game was the most amazing win I've ever had in my football career. We beat the reigning premier.

In Victoria you still see so many fans wearing raggedy, old Fitzroy jumpers, and I just think it's so good they've refused to believe Fitzroy is dead. It is still going strong.

There's no doubt in my mind that when I run out to play, I'm not just representing the Brisbane Lions, but also Fitzroy and the Brisbane Bears. I'm playing for three clubs.

LUKE POWER

MY DAD grew up around the corner from Brunswick Street Oval and would walk around with his brothers to watch Fitzroy play.

I was the middle of three boys and we took on Dad's allegiance.

Every week without fail we'd go to the game in our Fitzroy jumpers, socks, shorts and boots. Afterwards, we'd hop the fence to have a kick and bash each other for hours, while our parents drank in the bar.

It's funny, because a lot of Victorian Brisbane Lions' fans still remember us as kids.

The memory that stands out most for me was missing one game for the 1986 season because I was sick. It just happened to be one of the greatest finals of all time: our semi against Essendon where Mick Conlan goaled close to the siren and got us over the line.

I used to like Paul Roos, Richard Osborne and Gary Pert. My younger brother Sam, who now plays for North Melbourne, loved Paul Broderick.

In the latter years, we used to love Alastair Lynch, Chris Johnson, Martin Pike and Jarrod Molloy all of whom I eventually played with, which was amazing for me.

Like all Fitzroy supporters, my family was sad to see the club leave Victoria. However, since I've been playing for the Lions, I see the reasons and merit behind merging with Brisbane.

I think the premiership successes of 2001-03 healed a lot of wounds and many Fitzroy people were very proud about it.

The club's done a good job of honouring the past, you just have to look the walls at the Gabba to see how much we respect Fitzroy.

The first time I wore the Fitzroy colours was in 2003 against Collingwood. It had special meaning for me and I know Dad was proud of me wearing the jumper he grew up supporting. Dad was pretty quick to grab it off me at the end of the game for safekeeping.

JONATHAN BROWN

MY FATHER, Brian, and my uncle, Noel Mugavin, played for Fitzroy, so I've got a deep, solid connection to the club.

As a young fella, I supported them no end, even through the tough times.

I'll never forget the first time Dad took me into the rooms at Princes Park after a game against North Melbourne.

I was probably eight to 10 years old and really small, so it was pretty daunting because these huge blokes were my heroes.

I remember seeing the likes of big Johnny Ironmonger and getting an autograph off Alastair Lynch. Who'd have thought that years later, I would play in premierships with him?

Now, when kids come into the rooms, I always remember that I was that kid once, so I try to give them plenty of time.

I used to get around in Dad's old jumper, or I'd pretend to be Lynchy, Paul Roos and Richard Osborne, all the glamour boys.

It was easy for me to make the transition to support Brisbane because my cousin, Marcus Picken, son of Collingwood legend Billy Picken, got drafted to the Lions. Then, I got drafted under the father-son rule.

I know many fans would have preferred Fitzroy merge with a Melbourne club, but I think it's worked out for the best because the Brisbane Lions are now in a strong financial position.

It's been blokes such as Kevin "Bulldog" Murray, who's been terrific in his support of the Brisbane Lions, that have helped other Fitzroy supporters jump on board.

We've worn the Fitzroy colours a few times now and I've been very proud to don that jumper, to do it for my old man and my uncle.

The first time was against Collingwood and we had a good win � there was a fair bit of passion and emotion that day!

We still have the old Fitzroy trainers helping out on match days in Melbourne, the same guys who knew my dad and uncle as players.

I love it when they all meet up in the locker rooms and the old stories come out, the old timers having a bit of a laugh.

Lions one and all (from left) Brisbane's Jonathan Brown and Luke Power, former Fitzroy players Leon Harris and Ross Thornton, and two more modern day Lions in Troy Selwood and Travis Johnstone.

Fitzroy Team of the Century poster

Rowallan Reds — Thu May 01, 2008 9:20 am

Author: Rowallan Reds

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 9:20 am

Did you order yours yet, Lionel?

Reds to bring back Lions

Lionel Brisroy — Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:58 pm

Author: Lionel Brisroy

Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:58 pm

Read this on the VAFA site under "News"

REDS TO BRING BACK LIONS
02.04.08

The Fitzroy Football Club is set to reborn under the guidance of a bold plan by Fitzroy Reds President Craig Little. He was prepared to put his Presidency on the line for the rebranding of the club but when he took it to the Reds committee, the response was positive.

The Fitzroy Football Club is set to reborn under the guidance of a bold plan by Fitzroy Reds President Craig Little. He was prepared to put his Presidency on the line for the rebranding of the club but when he took it to the Reds commitee, the response was positive.

"It has to happen," Little said. "If it doesn't, I'm not going to continue banging my head against the wall trying to run the club."

On July 4, 1996, football suffered a great loss when the club merged with the Brisbane Bears to become the Brisbane Lions. More than a decade later, Fitzroy Reds President Craig Little said his club was wasting the legacy of the Fitzroy name, which should be used to lift and broaden club support.

The Fitzroy Football Club still has about 1200 paid up members, which mainly fundraises for the Reds. Little's plan is to have the Fitzroy Reds Seniors, Reserves and Under 19s rebranded as the Fitzroy Football Club, while the Club XVIII side would still play under the "Reds" banner. The heritage maroon jumper would be introduced, and the club would become more community based, fund raising for charity and hosting functions at the Brunswick St Oval. Bernie Quinlan has thrown his support behind it. "We've also been working closely with the Brisbane Lions who have thrown their support behind it and key figures from the Lions will be part of the launch of the rebranded club."

The Fitzroy Lions will be recognised in the community football weekend and the VAFA rivalry round in round 5. Two old foes whose names now cease to exist in VFL/AFL circles in South Melbourne and Fitzroy will do battle. They will be competing in heritage jumpers for the day with a trophy being put together for the event and hopefully have Bob Skilton and Kevin Murray to present it. Craig Little also announced that the club has signed two sponsors in Hocking Stuart and De Bortoli wines as a result of an article appearing in the Melbourne Times."

At last! - Fitzroy history on the Record

Lionel Brisroy — Thu Mar 20, 2008 6:14 pm

Author: Lionel Brisroy

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 6:14 pm

Nice token gesture by the AFL, but relatively pointless, if the official Brisbane Lions records still include the Bears records from 1987.

As far as I'm concerned Michael Voss is a two club player, the same as Chris Johnson.

Fitzroy-BLions Historical Society: first gathering for 2008

MaroonBoy — Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:12 pm

Author: MaroonBoy

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:12 pm

Hiya,

The Fitzroy - Brisbane Lions Historical Society is holding its first gathering for 2008 on Friday April 4th. Venue is the Fitzroy Bowling Club, Brunswick Street, starting at 7.30pm. $10 for members, $20 for non-members.

Guest speakers are Bill Jacobs, renowned sports broadcaster, cricketer and FFC Committee member, Jeremy Guard, player 1992-1995, and Peter Keays, player 1978-1981.

Maroonboy

Who are these 80's era Fitzroy Players?

GoLions — Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:18 pm

Author: GoLions

Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:18 pm

The player on the right is Grant O'Riley

Images

PDC — Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:36 pm

Author: PDC

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:36 pm

Stumbled across some old time Fitzroy images online such as:

and

Go here to get a look at them
http://www.gspimages.com.au/photography/results/?q=collection:AFL%20Historical%20-%20Fitzroy&sub_code=all

Not a bad looking jumper...

PDC — Thu Nov 01, 2007 2:42 pm

Author: PDC

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 2:42 pm

on these kids.

http://afl.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/208/Default.aspx?newsId=52923

Travis Johnstone

Lionel Brisroy — Sat Oct 13, 2007 9:22 am

Author: Lionel Brisroy

Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 9:22 am

And another one in Melbourne's Herald Sun.

Johnstone happy to celebrate Lions heritage

TRAVIS Johnstone says he almost broke down when he cleaned out his locker at the Melbourne Football Club yesterday.

Johnstone, who is headed to the Brisbane Lions in a trade for pick 14, said agreeing to the trade was one of the hardest decisions he has ever made.

The move to the Lions den will see Melbourne's 2005 best-and-fairest follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, Fitzroy 1947 best-and-fairest and Lions Team of the Century member Norman Johnstone.

"It was a weird feeling to be put in a situation to have to make a decision like that, but once I made the decision I felt really excited," Johnstone said.

"I was at the club this morning to clean out my locker and say goodbye to everyone and I nearly started crying because I've been there for so long and the club has been so good to me.

"Melbourne brought me into the AFL world and looked after me well, but now I have a huge opportunity to go to a successful club and get to play with some quality players.

"I hope that rubs off on me and I can help Brisbane get to the finals."

Johnstone, 27, told his grandfather on Thursday night about his move.

"He doesn't usually show much emotion, but I think he's quietly proud that I can wear the same jumper that he wore," Johnstone said.

Melbourne's decision to offload Johnstone resulted in a flurry of phone calls from angry Demons fans.

Johnstone, who played 160 games for the Dees, said the member backlash proved Melbourne was a passionate, tight-knit football club.

"It just shows how strong the supporters are for Melbourne and I think that gets questioned a fair bit," he said.

Norm Johnstone played 228 games with the Lions between 1944 and 1957. The family, although obviously forming a connection with Melbourne while Travis was a Demon, are old Fitzroy people who have taken to the Brisbane Lions since the merger.

"They were all Fitzroy, and they've supported Brisbane and gone to functions since the Lions formed," Johnstone said.

"Mum and dad, nan and pop are all pretty excited. They would have backed me whichever way I went, but there is that connection there."

In some ways Johnstone bucks the trend.

Many Victorians are not that impressed with the idea of leaving the so-called footy capital of Melbourne to head to Brisbane.

And then there's Queensland's famed heat, which takes its toll on many pale-skinned southerners.

But the No. 1 pick in the 1997 draft couldn't be happier.

"They think they are not far off having a fair crack," he said.

"They have a good spread of players at a good age. I've watched them a fair bit and, after the performances of the last 12 months, they are right up there, not far away at all."

I like this trade more and more!

RIP Len Thompson

Shaz — Wed Sep 19, 2007 9:12 am

Author: Shaz

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 9:12 am

I have a vague recollection of him running, what would now be called AusKick clinics as primary schools. I'm pretty sure it was him who ran it at my school - the name is familar and I do remember it was someone who had been a Fitzroy player (I was living in the Fitzroy zone of Western Victoria at the time).