Club legend outlines why Bulldogs should go back to original name

[Eastdog]

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2021-western-bulldogs-footscray-bob-murphy-team-name/news-story/cdb2a4d6d481fcc233aacc716f9e0fe5


Club legend outlines why Bulldogs should go back to original name
Matt Balmer from Fox Sports
@mattbalmer7
February 11th, 2021 12:18 pm


Former club captain Bob Murphy believes it is time the Western Bulldogs changed their name back to Footscray.

Murphy played 312 games in the red, white and blue across his career and suggested it was time the Dogs went back to where the heart of the club was, by returning the name back to Footscray.

The Dogs changed the name at the end of 1996 in order to market the club more broadly in the western suburbs of Melbourne.

The Western Bulldogs title is the only club in Victoria not to be directly named after a suburb.

“I have long held the thought that I would love the Western Bulldogs to go back to being the Footscray Bulldogs,” he told SEN’s Bob and Andy.

“This is just me speaking for me. I understand why it was done in the first place, they were bleak times at the end of ’96, the club was on its knees.

“I think enough time now has gone past and we still are in Footscray and I actually don’t think going back to (being called) Footscray leaves anyone out.

“I don’t really buy the theory that calling ourselves the Western Bulldogs opens ourselves up to including more and getting more people in.

“Footscray is a tangible feeling as much as it is a place of geography. That’s where the heart of the football club is, that’s where the football ground is, that’s where the players and fans congregate.”

Speaking on SEN Breakfast, Melbourne great Garry Lyon didn’t share Murphy’s view, believing it was a “backwards step” and “real vision stuff”.

Colleague Tim Watson suggested the club’s association with the west wouldn’t suddenly stop if the name was flipped back to Footscray.

“It was an idea at the time and it hasn’t been a failure,” he said.

“The Western Bulldogs means the west, but I don’t think if they returned to being Footscray it means they are going to disassociate themselves with the Western Suburbs.”

[bornadog]

No thanks.

[EasternWest]

I actually had a discussion with Bob on instagram and he told me he feels Jordan 4's are superior to Jordan 5's.

So obviously with this in mind, he is clearly wrong again.

[Eastdog]

Yeah I’m used to the Western Bulldogs now and particularly as we play 2 games per year in Ballarat. We won the flag as the Western Bulldogs and we definitely recognise Footscray on the back on our jumper and have always been based there. A generation has gone by now who knows us as the Western Bulldogs.

[Ghost Dog]

Bad idea. Western Corridor extends all the way to the Western District. How is our expansion to Ballarat supposed to be supported by calling us Footscray?

[Eastdog]

Western Bulldogs is Footscray.

That is a good way to look at it. Exactly the same. Financially also we are in the best position we have ever been.

[Rocket Science]

Bugger you lot, this hapless, hollow branding exercise still shits me, welcome to the club Bob.

[Twodogs]

My family lived in Byron st in Footscray for 3 generations but it's been 25 years and we already have a Footscray team in the VFL.

It's time to let this go. Playing one game each season at Whitten oval however...

[Ozza]

I was really disappointed to listen to Bob's view on this. Its his view, which he is more than entitled to have, particularly given his status at the club - but I get borderline offended by the suggestion of going back to Footscray.

I realise it is a very personal thing for each and every supporter of a certain age.

My experience, is that we've been the Western Bulldogs for a long time now - for two-thirds of my lifetime. And I'm not saying that a name change has meant success - but when I think back to the first 13 years of my life as a Footscray Bulldogs supporter - there wasn't that much joy. Forever broke, rarely winning, and always in the conversation about mergers or going under entirely.

Again, its not all in the name - but this last 24 years - we've actually won as many games as we have lost (259 W, 259 L and 5 Draws) which far exceeds previous to that. And we've won more finals (10) than in the 72 years previous (8). Add to that, we have become one of the most financially stable clubs in the game, representing an area which is the biggest growth corridor in the country - and are the 'default' club of choice for kids from Footscray to Yarraville, Sunshine, Werribee, Point Cook, Melton and perhaps one day Ballarat.

Whenever the odd person says "Oh you barrack for Footscray" I've honestly always taken it as a 'put down' and it reminds me of being in school in Essendon surrounded by Essendon, Carlton and North supporters who were all winning flags and played in the big games.

As I said - just my personal view - and respect that there are people that never got over the name change - but after 24/25 years, I don't see the benefit in going back for nostalgic reasons, I don't see what it adds to the club.

[Grantysghost]

Boring. Nostalgia provides that warm fuzzy feeling but rarely delivers in reality.
Bob must be struggling for content.

[SonofScray]

All for it. But the horse probably has bolted. PG I think mended some of those bridges with the VFL team etc, we are much more comfortable being the FFC trading as the Western Bulldogs than we were under Smorgo, who was hostile towards our name.

The western thing is annoying to me, in that the brand existed without the name. Heaps of examples of that type of rebrand in that era, ours is a rare one that stuck. To suggest that we somehow weren’t the club of the west, or had a strong identity through that corridor prior to the name change is wilfully ignoring reality.

We are the Footscray Football Club. We field teams in the AFL men’s and women’s competitions under the Western Bulldogs moniker and in the VFL as Footscray. It’s close enough for me. Not as angry about it as I used to be.

[Hotdog60]

The club has made huge strides off field and we find ourselves as battlers no more and to one of those clubs that made it through last year and still finish in the black shows how strong the club is.
I'm an old fart and have plenty of old callouses from the Footscray oval pine but you can't step backwards for sentimentality.
Nearly a quarter of a century has gone by and the Footscray followers are becoming fewer in number and the younger generation in their peak earning stages are Western Bulldog followers.
It's time to let sleeping Dogs lie.
Just my 2 cents worth :)

[Scraggers]

I grew up watching Footscray in the early 70s; and I know its probably just me, but I associate the Footscray name with a weak off-field performer ... just a suburban club. definitely not like the franchises of Collingwood/Carlton etc. Whereas the success the Western Bulldogs have had both on and off the field has us (in my mind) as a strong outfit that can contend with, and in some facets surpass, the big clubs.

I was, and always will be, a Footscray supporter ... I loved shouting "Up the Scraggers" at the footy. But to me, the Scray is dead. The weak 'suburban' club died when Super sang American Pie.

Long live the Western Bulldogs

[azabob]

When “Bob” starts calling himself “Robert” again maybe I’ll listen...

[Doc26]

Boring. Nostalgia provides that warm fuzzy feeling but rarely delivers in reality.
Bob must be struggling for content.

Although I love our return to our old guernsey and do get the warm and fuzzies watching the girls do their thing out at the Whitten Oval.

[The Adelaide Connection]

Bad idea. Western Corridor extends all the way to the Western District. How is our expansion to Ballarat supposed to be supported by calling us Footscray?

Wrong.

'Western' corridor clearly extends at least to SA. :cool:

Honor the past, celebrate the present, support the future. Leave the FFC on the Guernsey and the Footscray moniker with the VFL team.

[FrediKanoute]

No point dredging this up. Its a minor issue. Names change....Burma became Myanmar.....Bombay became Mumbai....

The club outgrew the tiny part of Melbourne and embodies so much more, the Western Suburbs, the Western Region of Victoria, Everything West of Footscray!

[jeemak]

This is Bob living in Bob land, plus a mix of SEN needing content and commentary.

I'm sure in his heart of hearts he probably thinks it's a good idea, possibly because either one or both of Paul Kelly and Tex Perkins convinced him it's the right thing to do.

But it isn't. The Western Bulldogs is what we are now, the Western Bulldogs won a flag and became a financially viable club. I love the name Footscray and I'm 41, but the future isn't for me, it's for those who are coming next and they know the Western Bulldogs as a relevant club which is something I didn't when I barracked for Footscray.

Don't take that away.

[SonofScray]

Reminder that we are still the Footscray Football Club. It isn’t in the past, dead, or ugly, or anything less than what it is, which is the name of the Club.

[The Pie Man]

I listened to the segment - it came off the back of chatting to Brian Goorjian re: the Illawarra Hawks name change, and Goorj mentioned an old quote that 'what's on the front of your jersey is always more important than what's on the back' and that adding 'Illawarra' back into the name of the club was significant for local identity.

Then Bob chimed in with this (and North got brought up)

Not that I'm a great admirer of many who call into SEN, I found it interesting that the vast majority were in favour of changing back.

Will admit I am too - but it's not a priority....having said that, you can walk and chew gum at the same time. Maybe it's worth exploring.

To those that felt/feel Footscray is/was tied to an unsuccessful era and used as an insult from fans of bigger clubs..... I don't live there, but everything's changed, from the area to perception of the club.

Always remember Cometti hating ours & West Coast's name as it's not tied to a place.

FOOTSCRAY bang bang bang FOOTSCRAY bang bang bang

[Rocket Science]

Condolences to you 'Western' types but it would seem our foot is now officially in the door and it's surely just a matter of time now.

https://i.ibb.co/m58bHGh/Screen-Shot-2021-02-12-at-12-15-51-PM.png (https://ibb.co/VYmJvtM)

CARNA SCRAYS!

[Axe Man]

Condolences to you 'Western' types but it would seem our foot is now officially in the door and it's surely just a matter of time now.

https://i.ibb.co/m58bHGh/Screen-Shot-2021-02-12-at-12-15-51-PM.png (https://ibb.co/VYmJvtM)

CARNA SCRAYS!

Hate to burst your bubble but they just moved the FFC from the back so they could stick a sponsor there.

[Axe Man]

I would be happy to change back if there was some tangible benefit to do so. Will it help us win more games, get more members or sponsors? I can't see how changing back to Footscray helps with these things at all.

[SonofScray]

Condolences to you 'Western' types but it would seem our foot is now officially in the door and it's surely just a matter of time now.

https://i.ibb.co/m58bHGh/Screen-Shot-2021-02-12-at-12-15-51-PM.png (https://ibb.co/VYmJvtM)

CARNA SCRAYS!

KWW is one of us. Reversion confirmed.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Hate to burst your bubble but they just moved the FFC from the back so they could stick a sponsor there.

Do you know who the sponsor is?

[Rocket Science]

Hate to burst your bubble but they just moved the FFC from the back so they could stick a sponsor there.

Stop harshing my buzz, man.

[Axe Man]

Do you know who the sponsor is?

No, I posed that question in the other thread. We now have 2 spots on the back of the jumper to fill and I am guessing they either haven't finalised it or at least aren't announcing it yet. The ones you can buy appear to have nothing on the back.

[Rocket Science]

I would be happy to change back if there was some tangible benefit to do so. Will it help us win more games, get more members or sponsors? I can't see how changing back to Footscray helps with these things at all.

Indeed.

If only these questions were more vigorously interrogated when we re-branded given you'd suggest we are where we find ourselves in the present day circa the tried and true combination of more professional off-field management + more on-field success and not because we voluntarily dissociated ourselves from our heritage and our home out of self-loathing and the fanciful notion a cosmetic makeover was the necessary panacea.

It's who we are. Don't hide from it thus validating the sneering worst of league rivals and likely the league itself at the time.

Own it and leverage it!

Anyway thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[Grantysghost]

You could argue we are much more Footscray as WB than Hawthorn are Hawthorn, or Collingwood etc.
With the FFC on the front, home base and VFL.

[Rocket Science]

TBH I'm mostly annoyed we pissed away a ready-made branding opportunity.

https://i.ibb.co/bHKPQD3/YEEHAW-SCRAYS.png (https://ibb.co/DGRtzTb)

I'll stop now pardners lest Disney Corp reads these pages.

[Grantysghost]

TBH I'm mostly annoyed we pissed away a ready-made branding opportunity.

https://i.ibb.co/bHKPQD3/YEEHAW-SCRAYS.png (https://ibb.co/DGRtzTb)

I'll stop now pardners lest Disney Corp reads these pages.

Gold!

[Doc26]

TBH I'm mostly annoyed we pissed away a ready-made branding opportunity.

https://i.ibb.co/bHKPQD3/YEEHAW-SCRAYS.png (https://ibb.co/DGRtzTb)

I'll stop now pardners lest Disney Corp reads these pages.

Maybe this guy our new back sponsor?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3t9jxcy9c7lin56/StanCash.jpg?raw=1

[Sedat]

Bob has gone full clickbait. As good a footballer as he was, he is a dreadful, one-dimentional media performer.

[GVGjr]

Bob has gone full clickbait. As good a footballer as he was, he is a dreadful, one-dimentional media performer.

He's OK on SEN but I can't listen to him for any long period and I'd even ask has he run his course as one the clubs host on the award nights?

[HOSE B ROMERO]

Always loved the name Footscray.
Always loved the name Western Bulldogs.
Was rapt when it was announced our vfl team would be called Footscray.
Was proud to yell out 'Go the 'scray' after the 2016 GF .
But i think, without any research, that 'western bulldogs' is much more likely to attract supporters of the western region.
So happy to leave things as they are.

By the way, as much as i've admired what Gordon and Smorgon have done for our club, i'm certain that our administrators for the century prior to 1987 would have loved to have had:

a) AFL Equalisation fund
b) National draft
c) Salary cap

[HOSE B ROMERO]

Is it just me or has this discussion reminiscent of Brexit??

I don't wish to be Nigel Farage.

[bornadog]

Names in order:

Footscray
Prince Imperials
Footscray
Western Bulldogs

Nicknames

Bone Mill Fellows
Saltwater Lads
Tricolours
Bulldogs


motto
Cede Nullis
yield to none

[SonofScray]

Names in order:

Footscray
Prince Imperials
Footscray
Western Bulldogs

Nicknames

Bone Mill Fellows
Saltwater Lads
Tricolours
Bulldogs


motto
Cede Nullis
yield to none

Missed “Men From The Land of Boulders” and the “Representatives of Stoneopolis”

[comrade]

Prince Imperials has a ring to it.

[Twodogs]

Prince Imperials has a ring to it.

Harry or the other one could be our number 1 member.

[bornadog]

Missed “Men From The Land of Boulders” and the “Representatives of Stoneopolis”

Haven't heard of those ones - thanks

[Ozza]

I'm starting to think Bob is right.

C'mon the Footscray Bone Mill Fellows

[jeemak]

We could anoint someone the Miller of the Century!

[Prince Imperial]

Prince Imperials has a ring to it.

Good to see someone else getting on board :o

[Twodogs]

We could anoint someone the Miller of the Century!

Stone breaker of the century. Maybe even a stone breaker of the first century and then the next century.

Supporters could start a traditional stoning of the opposition supporters.


https://youtu.be/FQ5YU_spBw0

[Twodogs]

I'm nominating Dr Roy Park as the Stone Breaker of the first 100 years.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

Missed “Men From The Land of Boulders” and the “Representatives of Stoneopolis”

Stoneopolis? Wasn't he our half back flanker from the 60's?

[Twodogs]

Stoneopolis? Wasn't he our half back flanker from the 60's?

A bit later than the '60s You're thinking of Alan Stoneham in the '70s.

[Topdog]

Dont really care about the name change but feel Western is better BUT I really love the FFC on the front of the jumper

[SonofScray]

Stoneopolis? Wasn't he our half back flanker from the 60's?

Used disparagingly re: quarries and the workers out this way.

[Smads57]

Have you ever wondered about the origin of the suburb name for Footscray - this might be a clue https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foots_Cray

[Twodogs]

Have you ever wondered about the origin of the suburb name for Footscray - this might be a clue https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foots_Cray

Foots was a village (now a suburb of London) that was in the bend of the river Cray. Named after Godwin who as the father of he last Anglo Saxon king of England. Harold died at Senlac hill in 1066 during the battle of Hastings. Harold is supposed to be the figure pulling the arrow out of his eye in the Bayeux tapestry but more recent research suggests that a murder squad dispatched by William the conqueror killed him during the battle and the arrow was added to the tapestry (which is technically an embroidery) later.