On the same day that Essendon’s reputation plummeted to catastrophic depths, its membership jumped.
In total, 627 members signed on the dotted line throughout the day, pledging their support to the crisis-ridden club for what will be a long 2016 season.
For three years the fans have been there, watching as their club and their players endured the scorn of others. Rightly, or wrongly, they have heard their players booed, seen their brave team booted from the finals, watched as draft picks have been taken away and argued with opposition fans who have labelled their players ‘cheats’ and ‘scum.’
They have shifted uneasily in their seats as they’ve read newspaper articles condemning coaches and administrators, turned to FM stations to avoid listening to furious AM talkback callers and switched off the TV on more than one occasion to avoid another round table discussion of their club in crisis.
But, most painfully, they’ve watched the young men at the centre of the storm each weekend with an increasingly heavy heart.
More Essendon:
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» Devastated Watson speaks after WADA bans
» What the Essendon bans could mean for the 2016 AFL season
They’ve seen their players defy the odds to qualify for finals two years in a row when their lives were tormented by accusations of being drug cheats. They enjoyed a brief period of rejuvenation following the AFL Tribunal’s ‘not guilty’ verdict, but when the WADA appeal came, they saw their players slowly disintegrate from the brave warriors they were, slowly losing confidence and then losing the passion to play.
They’ve hoped and prayed and sent each other text messages, asking fellow fans if they’ve heard any news about the CAS decision. And then they’ve pulled over on the side of the road when they learnt their players had been declared guilty and would miss the entire season.
But, they will keep going to the footy. They’ll do this because that’s what supporters do. That doesn’t mean they’re not brokenhearted, angry, gutted, devastated, disappointed, sad and annoyed. And it doesn’t mean they don’t feel at least some of those emotions towards their club.
It just means they love the Essendon Football Club.
Essendon is not just the pharmacologically experimental environment of late 2011 to early 2012. Nor just the club of lawsuits and tribunal hearings they’ve embarked on since.
They are the club of the red sash from Windy Hill. Of Albert Thurgood, John Coleman, Dick Reynolds and Bill Hutchison.
Of Kevin Sheedy, windsocks and jacket waves. Of five Danihers, two Fletchers, and a couple of Watsons. They are the club of Michael Long on the wing and of ‘Lucas to Lloyd for a goal.’
They are the club of back to back flags in ’84/’85, of the Baby Bombers and that (almost) perfect season in 2000. They are one half the Anzac Day clash and the Windy Hill brawl.
They are the winner of 16 premierships.
Essendon is a great club. A strong club. A club with a rich history and a future beyond the tumultuous last three years.
The Bombers have given their fans joy throughout their long history and a club that now needs supporters more than ever before.
The fans have been there all along, through thick and thin, through the best seasons and the worst.
And they will be there again this year too.
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