How to build more community support in the AFL

Peter Gordon we are waiting for the name FOOTSCRAY to returne, you will lose members if the FOOTSCRAY name does not return.

Peter Gordon we are waiting for the name to return, FOOTSCRAY you are going to lose members, you been told, and why don't you go to a poll, because you know the answer.

Yes and don't give us that lie that the AFL wont let you go back to Footscray.

Peter Gordon you know everybody wants the name Footscray back, people keep telling you, why are you playing games? with members mines.

Bring back the name Footscray.

Hi yes we all say yes about going back to Footscray name, all or most members want it and play at least 4 to 5 games at witten oval.

Maidstone neighbours West Footscray, but was part of the City of Sunshine (most of it anyway). All of it is now part of the City of Maribyrnong. Just west of Maidstone is Braybrook, where a few famous bulldogs originally played, including the original Mr Football. Within a few hundred metres of each other there are three primary schools which exist to this day: Maidstone, Footscray West and Foostcray North. Our local Catholic church was Our Ladies, which is in Maidstone, but right near the corner of Ballarat Rd and Rosamond Rd, virtually across the road from Footscray North Primary School. When I was a kid, there were lots of anglican churches in the area, but with the changing demographics, one by one they disappeared. You might be interested to know that Nicholson St was shut off to traffic in the early 1970s to create Australia's first ever mall (or so said the Council at the time). Nicholson St was also the home of the once famous Forges of Footscray.

Well the family business on one side was on Nicholson, went under in the depression though. They were all definitely from that end. Think my grandmother's family moved to Maidstone but I can't remember the details offhand. They were all big time catholics though ;) My grandfather - who only recently passed away - was a footscray fan but lived away from the area most of his life and the death knell came in the 90s with the merger talk and then the name change. This was just when I was starting to play myself... might have been a doggies fan otherwise.

1. You have the broader supporter base, and then you have the membership which can vote the President and Board in - so what you hear from the broader supporter base is not necessarily the same as what the majority of members think, the ones with the actual voting rights. 2. Peter Gordon was first voted in as President in 1990, having saved Footscray from the merger with Fitzroy - and he started the first commercialisation initiatives, with a variety of success. 3. David Smorgan took over from Gordon, once again at a low ebb in the club's history financial speaking, so he was voted in on a platform to make radical changes: and that included the re-branding and eventual move away from the Western Oval. Clearly, at no stage was there universal acceptance of this move (just as there was not universal acceptance of the move by South to Sydney). 4. In recent times, the broader supporter base has been quite successful in lobbying for a return to the original tricolour jumper, and the return of a VFL side named Footscray to the Western Oval is also a nod in that direction. 5. Peter Gordon has returned to the presidency, and for the time being, his platform is to retain the current branding as means of marketing the bulldogs to the whole of the western suburbs. Whether the broader supporter base agrees with this position or not, there is at least a sound rationale for the strategy. Personally speaking, I'm supportive of the move back to the original jumper, but I don't think a return to the name Footscray remains feasible. I'm happy that the VFL side is called Footscray and play out of the Western Oval (which has proven to be immensely popular), and if there was an opportunity to play 3 or 4 games at the Western Oval, I'd be happy about that, but once again, I'm not sure how feasible that is.

Dutch and Italian connections. Where from Footscray did your grandparents live? Footscray's history is a very British one, and the club itself has strong British roots (not too dissimilar from Central Districts in the SANFL). It was always a working class suburb, but in the early days, that meant the British working class (and even as a small boy, there was still a remnant British flavour to the suburb, with the influx of Southern European immigrants having just begun (followed by the Vietnamese and then the Horn of Africa). During the VFA and early VFL period, Footscray was known as a protestant working class club, while Collingwood, North Melbourne and Richmond were known as Catholic working class clubs, much of which was lost or blurred in the immediate post-war period.

Very good idea. I dislike the way sporting competitions in Australia have moved away from suburban stadiums to sterile, central, high-tech stadiums. But, in relation to the points in this article about changing the name back to Footscary and moving back to the Western Oval, I'm confused. I keep hearing in AFL, the Members own the club and make such decisions. So, how did the name change and the club move from the Western Oval in the first place without member approval? And if Members do own the club the change back to "Footscray" and playing at the Western Oval shouldn't take more than an Extraordinary General Meeting of members and 2 ballots.

Mister, off topic but just curious, you have a Dutch connection yes? On topic My grandparents grew up it footscray. I think they'd recognize it even less. The idea of a boutique is appealing on many levels. The showground at home bush is a great venue, they have done it well. But would it be viable financially?

I grew up just down the road from the Western Oval, and I can assure everyone it was a different place then than it is now. My brother continues to live in West Footscray, literally a couple of blocks on the other side of Barkly St, and the changes sweeping that part of Barkly St (what used to be the old West Footscray shopping precinct) are truly phenomenal. We're not quite talking Yarraville/Seddon yet, but certainly heading in that direction. Last count, there were something like eight Indian restaurants in walking distance of his house, and we're talking the real deal, the quality is sensational. The horn of Africa is also well-represented, plus chic pizzerias, cafes and hamburger joints. One could argue that times have moved on, the population has changed, and there is no more going back to the Western Oval. On the other hand, given how popular Footscray matches in the VFL have been, perhaps the opposite view is the correct one - this is precisely the right time to return to the Western Oval (at least on a part-time basis). I'm pretty confident the move would be a popular one amongst the Footscray faithful.

The AFL could go even further. Bring the Swans back from Sydney to South Melbourne and replant the Lions into Fitzroy maybe. Then divide the comp into two so only the Victorian clubs play each other, the interstate clubs can play in a lower league, call it the National League or something. On top of that, come draft time all Victorian lads MUST play for a Victorian team for the first 10 years and any interstate players can go into the draft with the Victorian clubs having first picks. Then on TV the really big clubs, Collingwood etc have the prime spots and play where and when THEY decide. Yeah this would be great, don't you think? OK we have both floated our ideas and they are both would mean the end of the game as a national sport. Boutique stadiums of 18k won't sustain the club and unless they sell merchandise to the extent of a Chelsea, Man U or Real Madrid then that too won't sustain them. We have to accept the fact that the AFL IS a big fish in a little pond.