Fitzroy's last season (1996)

[@collingwoodrules]

that last game when they walked off the ground was like a funeral

[@OzzieAndy1983]

Fitzroy Lions Football Club Song We are the boys from old Fitzroy We wear the colours Maroon and Blue We will always fight for victory We will always see it through Win or Lose, we do or die But in defeat, we always try Fitzroy, Fitzroy The Club we love do dear Premiers, we'll be this year.

[@sliat1981]

OzzieAndy1983 so much for seeing it through and always trying

[@rp4qu]

Been a Geelong supporter since I was a kid but to think if Fitzroy got the same treasure chest as the Suns and that god-awful gws then they would of been able to survive.

[@darthgeros5863]

God Awful GWS huh

[@TBoneTony]

Chris Johnson and Matthew Primus were perhaps the only two Fitzroy players from that side who would go on to have fantastic careers as players. Chris Johnson played in Brisbane Lions tripple premireship teams while Matthew Primus would go to Port Adelaide to build onto that side's experience that would lead them to a premireship even though he had a knee injury that prevented him from playing in that successful team.

[@historyofwaverleyvflpark8517]

If you are going to mention Chris Johnson, you can't leave out Martin Pike who played in the same Brisbane lions 3peat team (plus one premiership at North Melbourne). Also Stephen Paxman had similar success at Port with Matthew Primus. Johnny Barker, Jarrod Molloy and Shane Clayton also played over 100 AFL games each which I'd consider a fantastic achievement by AFL standards. Matthew dent and Rowan Warfe both played 50+ AFL games post their time at Fitzroy. Matthew also won a premiership in the VFL, and SANFL.

[@FabioLiberatore-q7n]

Somethings never change. North Melbourne forever asking for handouts from the AFL.

[@dwch1986]

A foundation club with a century of history can't get a cent but millions can be thrown at meaningless new clubs... Makes me sick.

[@sliat1981]

David played every season too

[@AlonsoRules]

Gold Coast needs to have its license taken away

[@alexjones9038]

no it takes years clubs to develop, Fitzroy was burning and collapsing for years

[@OzzieAndy1983]

Here's an idea for the Heritage Round: when the Brisbane Lions play in Victoria, they should play the Fitzroy Lions Club Song and when they play in Queensland they should play the Brisbane Bears Club Song and when they play outside those 2 States they can alternate.

[@jamabar]

r.i.p fitzroy, the fitzroy reds play in the victorian amatuer division c

[@tysontom1]

That is really emotional they need to bring them back for one more game that would be great for them

[@CommanderOfTheSun]

Devoted fans are devoted.

[@tsavaridisarchives]

There is a football club called the Fitzroy Reds. They are still alive.

[@jecos1966]

NOT THE SAME CLUB

[@MrRealityCheck88]

5 years later (2001) the merged club became a superpower (the fear of everyone). It is like the death of a family member.

[@tsavaridisarchives]

Great idea mate in a heritage round for Sydney they should wear their old South Melbourne jumper, and play the old South Melbourne theme. If there was an old theme. :/

[@OzzieAndy1983]

The game does not feel the same without the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions.

[@anthonyanlezark3319]

Well I reckon if North weren't a contender at the time (remember, they won the comp the year Fitzroy were killed) I reckon that merger may well have been on the cards.

[@MrAFLmaster]

If Fitzroy return I'll go for them

[@OzzieAndy1983]

If they do, who can they merge with?

[@Mkskes15]

It says you are. Anyway, I hate soccer and NRL but I don't want them to all fold. Football (of any code) is people's passion and for yiou wanting people to lose something that they hold dearly to them is pretty dissapointing. P.S I love in NSW but I don't complain about NRL being shoved down my throat so just toughen up.

[@MrAFLmaster]

thanks for letting me know mate I'll check them out

[@brisbanerules97]

ROY BOYS

[@TasmanProductions]

@TBoneTony Surprised no one has answered your question for a month. He went to North for a few seasons.

[@KKurt8892]

an average of 9000 per game for the season... is there any surprise they went bust :(

[@TBoneTony]

1:28 I wonder what happened to Anthony Mellington the man who kicked 6 goals for Fitzroy in their last win? Did he go to Brisbane? Or did his career finish in that season?

[@Mhjeffrey027running]

TBoneTony went to North for 3 seasons but struggled to get a game with the strong forward line North had at the time

[@supersando78]

ross oakley and his cronies should have faced the firing squad .A eye 4 an eye i say

[@wrighty1684]

Dont forget Alastair lynch he played for Fitzroy to and then going onto playing for the Brisbane with his three flags

[@peterkehoe1984]

One could argue the Brisbane Lions are in a worse state than what Fitzroy was in 1995.

[@MrAFLmaster]

Peter Kehoe As a Brisbane Lions' supporter, seeing the club head back down to Fitzroy would be okay with me considering their current state. I don't think it'd happen, but I'd be happy if it did.

[@destinedwarlord2128]

The only thing Brisbane are lacking is experience. The Lions have players like Beams, Hipwood, Zorko, etc. that are building, and a great coach in Fagan. No debt, and hope for the future. On the flipside, Fitzroy was drowning in debt, the coach was terrible, the players were shocking for the most part, the fans had had enough, and there hadn't been any hope for decades. There's no real comparison.

[@sliat1981]

Problem is they will only financially support interstate teams. Melbourne based ones have a sink or swim attitude

[@peterwenborn8310]

Bring them back to victoria ....

[@NatoCaloGaming]

How? The Brisbane Lions, while not going too well on the field, are still making bank and building upon their supporter base in the Rugby dominated QLD. The merger was the best thing that ever happened to Fitzroy.

[@alerom23471]

poor Fitzroy hope this doesnt happen to North

[@302cab]

How could the Afl fixture Fitzroys last game away..they knew what was coming... bastards...

[@NatoCaloGaming]

The fixture was made before the season...

[@desh234]

my name is fitzroy

[@behappyproductions09]

it had to happen, im sorry because they had no facilties and didnt have a home ground...sorry roys supporters it was the way it had to be

[@sliat1981]

behappyproductions09 let’s see how you feel no longer having a team in the afl

[@alexjones9038]

@@sliat1981 they were broke

[@sliat1981]

@@alexjones9038 so was demons and bulldogs and saints. The AFL helped them

[@Krafton]

Fitzroy, you sacrificed yourself to ease my burden. You gave me so much bliss that far outweighs the hurt, and it justifies your quest to see it through my eyes, as I know that while you perish, what you made survives. Fitzroy, it takes a tear to explain what you meant, 'cause it's common ground between the living and the dead, but it's past the time when aught is gained from sentiment, still I bow my head for someone who, for me, has bled.

[@OzzieAndy1983]

The South Melbourne Swans Club Song had South, not Swans, in the Lyrics.

[@philcara16]

so sad

[@MrAFLmaster]

my mistake, except I found it on an AFL game :/

[@MrAFLmaster]

Hawthorn, it almost happened back in 1996.

[@MisterPolitical1]

Listen TommyAndrewd you cannot let greater western Sydney giants relocated to Fitzroy because I live in Sydney and we need afl to compete against nrl in western Sydney. Also we want the lions to stay in Brisbane because of the maroon color.

[@sliat1981]

Paul Mateo they are gf worthy and the attendances are pathetic. They need to relocate to a place that will appreciate them. Tassie for instance

[@AlonsoRules]

gws and gold coast have no business being in the competition - only there for money

[@Krafton]

Tonya 2:56 Roy 2:59 Peta, Stormi (RIP), Heather 4:48

[@tsavaridisarchives2]

I agree with you

[@Purp1e575]

hopefully Melbourne demons don't go down this way and I'm an Adelaide crows fan.

[@sliat1981]

jordan hayden they won’t. We have enough supporters. Unlike lions we would never accept a merger with any team

[@MrAFLmaster]

#RESPECT

[@ParisAvenue2005]

Some irony that the AFL is now having to handout millions of dollars to keep Port Adelaide afloat - the team that "replaced" Fitzroy as the 16th AFL side. Long live the Lions!!! Never forgotten :D

[@AlonsoRules]

Fitzroy should have relocated to Brisbane in 1987, like South Melbourne did to Sydney

[@sovietonion72]

Why in 1987 Fitzroy finished 3rd in 1986.

[@AlonsoRules]

they were broke

[@tsavaridisarchives]

Yeah their was check out tsavaridisarchives2 to see it!

[@tsavaridisarchives]

I don't think that's gonna happen

[@Deano1736]

Absolute fucking disgrace. GWS makes a mockery out of the AFL when you see this, and I'm a Melbourne fan, we'd have been the same as the Bears if we'd merged with Hawthorn. Dropping the other sides history totally

[@darylchant9302]

Least they made grand ginal

[@darylchant9302]

Final*

[@alexjones9038]

gws are already more successful then fitzroy was the last 30 years of their existence

[@MrAFLmaster]

no there wasn't

[@Rabman-qx1zt]

Why do people blame the AFL for Fitzroy's demise. They didn't have a home, had no training facilities, average crowds of less than 10,000 were not competitive at all, apart from giving clubs percentage boosters, basically they didn't adjust to the new era of AFL and paid the price. Whinge and cry all u want but AFL and all sport are a business these days, u need money to survive, back then the AFL had no money, they had to charge Adelaide, West coast and Brisbane 12 million combined to enter the competition and to keep the Victorian clubs afloat because they were all bankrupt (Including Collingwood). If Fitzroy fans really cared about their club, why didn't they attended games, there's are reason why the bulldogs and richmond are still around who were all in a similar position back then to Fitzroy, there fans attended and got them over the line, Fitzroy supporters didn't and paid the price.

[@Kevinduddo]

some blame the Fitzroy Cricket Club and the Fitzroy Council in 1966 for setting the decline of Fitzroy FC into motion for failing to give the go ahead for the club to make repairs/expansion of Brunswick Street Oval, Fitzroy's spiritual home

[@sliat1981]

Oakley wanted realms merge and pushed for it