By Ben Somerford
November 6th 2009 @ 3:07am
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Is Brisbane’s guernsey the last straw for Fitzroy?
A Brisbane support celebrates after the AFL Round 21 match between the Brisbane Lions and Port Adelaide Power
The Brisbane Lions incensed their Fitzroy support base late last month when they revealed a new club logo which didn’t feature the traditional Fitzroy lion. And Brisbane seriously risk abandoning all links with the Roy boys with plans for a new guernsey.
This story has been big news up in Queensland but if you’re from another part of the country, you may have missed it.
To catch you up on the details, Brisbane officially unveiled the new logo a fortnight ago, with the brains behind the new look, Chief Executive Officer Michael Bowers, claiming it expressed the club’s “fearless and determined spirit” and represented their new era under Michael Voss.
Nevertheless, the majority of the initial responses from Brisbane fans were less than positive, with some locals amusingly labeling it ‘The Paddlepop Lion’.
But then, more seriously, emerged the angry response from Brisbane’s Fitzroy faithful, who saw the change as an abandonment of their history, tradition and heritage.
Fitzroy Football Club secretary Bill Atherton said, “There’s a lot of senior Fitzroy Brisbane Lions fans that have said to me, ‘look, if they take the Fitzroy lion away what’s there for us?’”
Atherton added, “There’s only two things that now continue on forever and one is the six games to be played in Melbourne and the other one is the logo of the merged club will be the Fitzroy Lion logo in perpetuity.”
Indeed, losing their identity is the heart of the issue, with Bowers and the Lions management appearing to view the tradition of Fitzroy as dispensable in favour of a new ‘marketable’ look.
It’s a strange about-face for a club who memorably celebrated their 2001, 2002 and 2003 premierships with their Fitzroy fans at the old Brunswick Street Oval before heading north to party with the folk of Brisbane.
But Brisbane’s sudden urge for change may have something to do with the pending arrival of their neighbours Gold Coast, with the club’s marketers in full swing.
Atherton also commented that the abandoning of the Fitzroy lion could see many of the club’s Melbourne-based fans not renew their memberships and cease following Brisbane. And he even speculated his group could push for legal action on the matter.
This is due to the fact when Brisbane and Fitzroy merged back in 1996, part of the arrangement was that ‘the logo of the merged club will be the Fitzroy lion logo in perpetuity’, so the change may not be legally legitimate.
Nevertheless, the AFL has given the Brisbane Lions’ new logo the thumbs up, so it looks a done deal.
But while the lion seems lost on the logo, there still remains the gold lion silhouette emblazoned on Brisbane’s guernseys. At least for now, that is.
Speculation has been rife that Brisbane are set for a change to the usual strip and I contacted Lions media man Stephen Buckley on the issue.
Buckley said; “The decision is tied up in highly confidential commercial operations discussions, negotiations with new major sponsors coming on board, Lions members and supporters feedback currently being wholly welcomed by the Club (all being read and tabulated by the Club to present to the Board) plus a potential legal challenge by the Fitzroy Football Club in Melbourne.
“So I have no answer or update to give as yet but the Club will announce their final decision after examining all these factors in due course – hopefully within the next fortnight.”
Indeed, Buckley mentions a lot of factors, commercial, fiscal and emotional, which will come under consideration in this decision.
But surely there’s a lot to lose by alienating Brisbane’s Fitzroy fans who deserve some respect (considering the arrangement in 1996).
Sure, Brisbane want to secure more fans in their local region with Gold Coast joining the AFL soon but being insensitive enough to alienate the Roy boys makes no sense, especially when you consider realistically how big an impact the superficial change of a new jumper would have on potential new supporters.
Indeed, removing the lion icon altogether would do irreconcilable damage to the Brisbane-Fitzroy relationship which would be a great shame.
Perhaps they’ll sell some more merchandise in the local market, but they’ll lose a big group of supporters down in Melbourne. But for Bowers, who has had trouble balancing the books in the past, before the former is a priority.
This week, a Brisbane fan pointed out to me, ‘why change something which ain’t broke?’ Indeed, the Lions home uniform is one of the most popular and impressive guernseys in the AFL.
And on that note, over 2,500 Lions supporters are pleading with the club not to change their jumper, with an internet petition set up to at SaveOurJumper.com.au and if you’re in agreement, then you should sign up.
Because when the Lions publicly announce that decision in roughly a fortnight’s time, as symbolic as it is, it could be the last straw for some Fitzroy fans and what a shame that would be.
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Pippinu said | November 6th 2009 @ 9:26am | Report comment
Ben
thanks for the update – I hadn’t heard too much since the story first broke a couple of weeks ago.
Considerations:
1. The “Fitzroy Lion” was part of the merger deal – recalling that Fitzroy fans basically got the colours, the mascot and the club song in return for losing their club forever.
2. I agree with you that it remains a striking guernsey, although it must be admitted that the so-called “Fitzroy Lion” is relatively new, and had probably been around for only some 15 years before the merger.
3. For both Brisbane and Sydney, their Melbourne support remains important to boosting membership numbers and providing some noise and colour at their Melbourne games.
4. We are entering an age where close relations with important sponsors are worth big bucks – to the extent that they can probalby influence the colour scheme and design of a guernsey – it’s an unpalatable reality, and one AFL clubs will need to expore more and more to generate the bucks they need to remain competitive.
JiMMM said | November 6th 2009 @ 9:58am | Report comment
Ben
It’s not just old fitzroy fans who aren’t happy with the change, a lot of people from Brisbane that I have spoken too feel the same way, and not just the logo (which teh don’t like the idea of changing it just the logo presented), more focus is on the jersey.
Redb said | November 6th 2009 @ 10:07am | Report comment
I know the purists (fair enough for old Fitzroy fans) don’t like it and certainly it does look a little bit like the Paddle Pop Lion
but the new logo has better recognition potential – it is simple and obviously a lion.
Looked at it a couple of times now and IMO it is superior for brand recoginition.
I’ve never liked Essendon’s logo. It’s not the end of the world for the club – playing football and winning games is more important.
Redb
Pippinu said | November 6th 2009 @ 10:28am | Report comment
I’d change our mascot to the meerkats, and change our colours to pink, yellow and indigo if it meant that a flag could fly from the Western Oval!!!
AndyRoo said | November 6th 2009 @ 11:42am | Report comment
I quite liked the old Bombers logo (the pre stealth bomber one), just the name Bombers was quite unique and got my attention as a child.
Before I knew that Essendon wasn’t in Sydney I supported* them solely on the basis of that name.
* That’s probably a very loose use of the word supported though.
Redb said | November 6th 2009 @ 12:58pm | Report comment
yeah it’s the stealth bomber one I dont particularly like. The Adelaide Crows have changed their logo as well, something to do with making them more fierce
Have to admit the new Lions logo looks like it should be an Disney movie rather than striking fear into opposition clubs and their fans.
This is the old Bombers logo I think your talking about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Essendon80s.png
the new one is Ok, but not a big fan of it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2006_AFL_Essendon.jpg
Freud of Football said | November 6th 2009 @ 11:30pm | Report comment
Be careful of the crows, they are pretty fierce RedB
prowling panther said | November 6th 2009 @ 10:11am | Report comment
‘if it aint broke, down fix it’ such a simple philosophy yet so very true
Republican said | November 6th 2009 @ 10:28am | Report comment
I believe traditions should be more valued.
Many of the new gurnseys are a doggies breaky to behold.
I trust this latest effort at least has a bit of class about it.
Fitzroy or Brissy or both the gurnsey should NOT be tampered with in my humble opinion.
Cheers
LD7 said | November 6th 2009 @ 10:28am | Report comment
Bring back the bears! The new lion looks like is straight from the 80’s!
Republican said | November 6th 2009 @ 11:16am | Report comment
I’d second that. The ‘Drop Bears’ perhaps?
Timmypig said | November 6th 2009 @ 11:42am | Report comment
One would have thought that all sporting clubs / franchises (ugh – I hate that term) / national bodies would have learnt from the Wallabies 1997 jersey debacle ….
I’ve just read the blurb from Mr Bowers on the Lions’ website regarding the new branding. If I were a Lions fan I would be disgusted … I’m not a Lions fan but I’m still disgusted; how bl00dy condescending is he?!?!?
Gibbo said | November 6th 2009 @ 11:56am | Report comment
meh, people are so afraid of change. they whinge and carry on and resist… and then when change comes, they end up liking it…
Robbo said | November 6th 2009 @ 2:58pm | Report comment
To hell they do – the sooner my Easts (NRL) are changed back to Easts the better! The Bulldogs changed back to “Canterbury-Bankstown” last week and their fans love it.
Gibbo said | November 9th 2009 @ 9:15am | Report comment
Except for all their alienated support from outside canterbury & bankstown…
sheek said | November 6th 2009 @ 11:58am | Report comment
Stuff sponsors & marketeers….. they can be scum of the earth. These people come & go, & leave a trail of destruction in their wake.
Pity the people running all these sports are more interested in lining their own pockets with gold, than displaying courage & integrity.
Bart Cummings mentioned the story of a massive rug with sponsor’s logo being placed over his champion mare Let’s Elope after the Melbourne Cup, on a hot day. When he saw her seating profusely, he ordered the rug removed. “No-one thinks of the horse”, was his acid rejoinder.
Indeed, in sport, no-one thinks of the fans either. Or the proud traditions of a club. Money… money… money… grab it while you can!
Republican said | November 6th 2009 @ 12:00pm | Report comment
So Gibbo, are you saying ALL change is good and do you like the newer gurnseys esp the away ones?
Gibbo said | November 6th 2009 @ 1:15pm | Report comment
I like the geelong ones!
the hawthorn away strip is particularly bad, but if no one had ever seen their usual yellow and brown strip before they’d just as readily tell you it looks crap.
Hammer said | November 6th 2009 @ 1:37pm | Report comment
So have they done away with the concept of wearing the actual fitzroy colours when playing in Melbourne ? … if that’s still going to happen how many supporters will they really lose by rejigging the lion
Gibbo said | November 6th 2009 @ 1:49pm | Report comment
not huge numbers
Republican said | November 6th 2009 @ 4:04pm | Report comment
Yeah Sheek, I wholeheartedly share your sentiments in this respect!
I am however at the ‘grumpy old man sydrome’ time in my life, so I try to temper this by keeping an open mind as much as possible while indulging in the occassional grizzle.
My vintage are rarely listened to anyway so I don’t know what purpose if any, my occassional rantings really serve other than catharsis.
Cheers
gazz said | November 7th 2009 @ 12:15pm | Report comment
i guess the last thing fitzroys fans would want is to hold brisbane lions back. but they really are abandoning any superficial links with the club by getting rid of the lion on the logo and the jumper. i bet BL management, though, believe theyve found a reasonable compromise by using the old fitzroy guernsey for away games in melbourne
Fat Pizza said | November 28th 2009 @ 12:05pm | Report comment
I don’t mind the logo of the lion’s head, but what they’ve proposed for the jumper is a big step backwards. It seems to have been designed by someone, who has very little concept of what the previous lion design meant to both Fitzroy & Brisbane Lions supporters. They’re trying to attract new members, probably kids, who they think might be attracted to a cartoon-like character, but I think they’ve seriously underestimated the damage this change will cause to their existing supporter base. It was a shocking decision. They should admit it & go back to their 2009 uniforms asap.
Pippinu said | November 28th 2009 @ 1:17pm | Report comment
For those who haven’t seen the new strip:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/BrisLionsDesign.JPG