Still snarling 140 years on

[Grantysghost]

Still snarling 140 years on

2023 marks the Western Bulldogs' 140th year as an official organisation.
By Andrew Gigacz



The year 1883 was a significant one for the young Melbourne suburb of Footscray.


The township's first newspaper, the Independent, was established and the newly reformed Victorian Junior Football Association (the 'junior' here referring to the competition's status as opposed to the age of the players) admitted the Footscray Football Club into its ranks, setting the club on a path to being the top-tier AFL club that today plays under the name the Western Bulldogs.


Footscray also issued its first membership tickets in 1883, initiating a connection between fans and players that is now, 140 years later, as strong as it's ever been.


Three years later, in 1886, the club took two more significant steps.
First, it moved its home ground and headquarters from 'Lower Footscray' (near the Maribyrnong River), via a stint at the Market Reserve (also known as Northern reserve) to the Western Reserve – now known as Whitten Oval – in Barkly Street, 'Upper Footscray'.


Second, the club joined the Victorian Football Association, then the premier football competition in the state, if not country.


Within a dozen years, Footscray became a VFA powerhouse, winning a hat-trick premierships in 1898-1900, and further flags in 1908, 1913, 1919-20 and 1923-24.


The last of those was followed by a 'Championship of Victoria' win over the 1924 VFL premiers Essendon, and the following year the Bulldogs joined the VFL, by now recognised as the elite competition of the land.


The rest, as they say, is history. The Western Bulldogs today are a strong club in the nation's strongest league, a testament to the 140 years of hard work and support of many thousands of loyal players, administrators and fans since the Footscray Football Club joined the Victorian Junior Football Association in 1883.


Throughout the year the Bulldogs will celebrate their 140-year anniversary year through a variety of digital and fan activation opportunities.

[Axe Man]

fan activation opportunities.

What does this even mean? Every time I walk in a room with a fan it is a fan activation opportunity.

Or is more like the way they activate almonds?

[Grantysghost]

What does this even mean? Every time I walk in a room with a fan it is a fan activation opportunity.

Or is more like the way they activate almonds?

Fans....ACTIVATE!

[Axe Man]

Fans....ACTIVATE!

I had that full Voltron set when I was a kid, wish I had kept it.

[bornadog]

There are some records indicating the club began in 1877

see wiki here

[mjp]

There are some records indicating the club began in 1877

I never really thought about it before but have we been at the Western/Whitten Oval since 1886?

I would have just assumed we had moved 'homes' a couple of times...not really sure why I would have thought that either.

[bornadog]

I never really thought about it before but have we been at the Western/Whitten Oval since 1886?

I would have just assumed we had moved 'homes' a couple of times...not really sure why I would have thought that either.

It is amazing to think the time the club has been inexistence. I remember talking to a few Brits a few years ago and they telling me how their clubs were and how they began in the 1890s. Teams like Liverpool, ManU, Arsenal all started in the mid 1890s. When I told them how old our clubs were, they were amazed.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

It is amazing to think the time the club has been inexistence. I remember talking to a few Brits a few years ago and they telling me how their clubs were and how they began in the 1890s. Teams like Liverpool, ManU, Arsenal all started in the mid 1890s. When I told them how old our clubs were, they were amazed.

Australian Rules is the oldest sport in the world because it was the first codefied, first regulated and put to paper.

[SonofScray]

I never really thought about it before but have we been at the Western/Whitten Oval since 1886?

I would have just assumed we had moved 'homes' a couple of times...not really sure why I would have thought that either.

I believe so, with a brief stint at Yarraville's ground during the war years.

[The bulldog tragician]

We’re older than Collingwood!
As for fan activation…I thought stakeholder engagement activities were bad enough.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

How's the bloke in the middle of the back row wearing the cravat? Very fetching indeed.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

We’re older than Collingwood!
As for fan activation…I thought stakeholder engagement activities were bad enough.

The only acceptable place for that terminology is at a bbq.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

There are some records indicating the club began in 1877

see wiki here

I think the problem according to club historian Darren Arthur was that there was nothing to connect the 2 entities.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

It is amazing to think the time the club has been inexistence. I remember talking to a few Brits a few years ago and they telling me how their clubs were and how they began in the 1890s. Teams like Liverpool, ManU, Arsenal all started in the mid 1890s. When I told them how old our clubs were, they were amazed.

It is worth mentioning that the Braybrook Football Club which produced 4 members of the WB Team of the Century, which included
Ted Whitten [ Capt], Doug Hawkins [VC], Wally Donald and George Bisset, has in the past couple of years celebrated its 140 years.
Johnny Craddock also from the Braybrook FC, led Footscray to 3 Premierships in the VFA to 1920. From the 1940’s, Braybrook FC produced 30 League players including Brownlow Medallist, Brian Wilson.

[bornadog]

It is worth mentioning that the Braybrook Football Club which produced 4 members of the WB Team of the Century, which included
Ted Whitten [ Capt], Doug Hawkins [VC], Wally Donald and George Bisset, has in the past couple of years celebrated its 140 years.
Johnny Craddock also from the Braybrook FC, led Footscray to 3 Premierships in the VFA to 1920. From the 1940’s, Braybrook FC produced 30 League players including Brownlow Medallist, Brian Wilson.

Amazing stuff