Western Bulldogs FC (AFL)

The Western Bulldogs is an existing club that plays in the Australian Football League, and has previously played in the Victorian FL and the Victorian FA as Footscray with a two team overlap. The club was formed in 1877 and has won eleven premierships.
== Formation ==
The exact date of the club's formation is not known and started life as a junior club in Melbourne's western suburbs.
== Early years ==
For a time from 1880, Footscray called itself Prince Imperials. It played spasmodically as a junior club before merging with the Footscray Cricket Club, leading to it's admission to the VFA in 1886. It only won two games in it's first season to finish second last. In the first five seasons, the club only finished out of the bottom three once - in 1888. Things started to improve in the 1890's with a fifth place finish in 1894, but the club slipped a bit to the lower half of the ladder in the following two seasons.
== 20th century (1897-1907) ==
The breakaway by the clubs that went to the VFL seemed to suit Footscray. After a third place finish in 1897, the club won not just it's first premiership but three in a row in a tremendous lead in to the new century. A couple of lean years had Footscray finishing sixth and then fifth. In 1903 the VFA introduced the Argus finals system and in the first two seasons they made the finals. In 1903 they won their semi final over minor premiers Richmond but lost the final to North Melbourne to finish third. In 1904 they also won the semi final this time over Port Melbourne, but lost again to North who had defeated minor premiers Richmond in their semi final. Another third place finish led to a poor season finishing eighth in 1905. 1906 was better as they made the finals and defeated Richmond in the semi final to play minor premiers West Melbourne in the final. But they were defeated. In 1907 Footscray again made the finals but this time lost the semi final to minor premiers Williamstown.
== To World War 1 (1908-1915) ==
The defection to the VFL by Richmond and North Melbourne's reboot also suited Footscray who won the minor premiership in 1908 before dealing with Williamstown and Brunswick to win the flag. Other clubs though adjusted and Footscray slipped to fourth in 1909 and lost their semi final to the Essendon association side. In 1910 and 1911 they missed the finals finishing sixth both times but they were back in 1912 winning the minor premiership again. But they lost their semi final to the Essendon Association side. They did have the right to challenge the winner of the final, but that was delayed when not once but twice North Melbourne and Brunswick played draws. It would be North who would win on the third attempt and Essendon A defeated the tiring side. But the entended period without playing hurt Footscray and Essendon A won the flag in reasonable comfort.
Footscray didn't muck around though in 1913. Another minor premiership this time led to a semi final win over Essendon A and a final against North Melbourne. Footscray prevented the need for a challenge with a narrow 1 point victory. In 1914 Footscray and Norh Melbourne finished on the same points, but North won the minor premiership by percentage. Both sides won their semi finals to meet again for the flag. North though prevailed on this occassion. In 1915 Footscray slid back to sixth again and out of the finals before the VFA went into recess due to World War 1.
== Post War (1916-1924) ==
When the VFA returned in 1918 there were six clubs, and the Tricolours (as the club was known at the time) suffered their first ever wooden spoon. But with the number back to ten in 1919 they recovered and finished second. A win over Northcote was followed by a win over Brunswick in order to face minor premiers North Melbourne, and Footscray won the flag in a fine recovery from the war. In 1920 Footscray won the minor premiership but the finals series was extended by a couple of weeks thanks to a postponement of their semi final due to rain and then a controversial match which couldn't be finished as the crowd invaded the ground thinking the game was over and the Tricolours had beaten North Melbourne. It prevented a shot for goal for North and the match was replayed. Footscray won anyway and went on to win their second flag in a row.
In 1921 the Tricolours won the minor premiership again and defeated Brunswick in their semi final. The final was abandoned in the third quarter due to a hailstorm despite Footscray wanting to resume the game after the weather cleared, and was replayed the next week. Williamstown won and then won again when the Tricolours challenged. In 1922 there was controversy again. Footscray won the minor premiership but lost their semi final to North Melbourne. They challenged Port Melbourne who won the final, and Port won the flag - but afterwards it was claimed that three people associated with the Tricolours had tried to bribe Port Melbourne players to throw the match. It didn't work and in the consequent investigation it was found that one Footscray player was behind the whole thing and that player, Vern Banbury, was banned by the VFA for life. Oddly, the club still made him a life member the very next year (and in 2010 was an inaugural inductee into their Hall of Fame).
In 1923 it was another minor premiership and a victory over Williamstown in the semi final. Port Melbourne won the final, but on the challenge the Tricolours bounced back to make up for the 1922 loss and win the flag again. In 1924 it was another minor premiership with just one loss and a draw and two straight wins in the finals over Northcote and Williamstown for two in a row again. But it would be a follow up victory over reigning VFL premiers Essendon in a charity match that would change the future of the club and of both competitions.
== To World War 2 (1925-1942) ==
The victory over Essendon in 1924 plus a change in relations between the VFL and the VFA due to the latter's admission of Coburg provided Footscray with the opening to join the VFL alongside North Melbourne and Hawthorn. The Tricolours won it's first VFL game in round two in 1925 over South Melbourne, but would only win another three games to finish eleventh. Footscray would remain in the bottom three finishing tenth in 1926 and tenth again in 1927 before becoming the first club of the new admissions to finish ahead of established clubs in seventh place in 1928. The club would drop to ninth in 1929 and back down to eleventh in 1930 before leaping to fifth in 1931 just missing it's first finals appearance by percentage.
In 1932 the club slipped back to seventh where it also finished in 1933 before dropping to ninth in 1934. Another drop to eleventh followed in 1935 with a small rise to tenth in 1936 before another eleventh place in 1937. But in 1938 things changed when the club adopted the Bulldogs emblem. The response on the field was massive and Footscray made the VFL finals for the first time finishing third. Their first final however didn't bear fruit as they were beaten by Collingwood.
A slide back to eleventh followed in 1939, and then World War 2 began. The Bulldogs rose to sixth in 1940 and remained there in 1941. The war intensified and in 1942 Footscray would make it's second finals appearance after finishing fourth. It would end the same way as the first - a loss, this time to South Melbourne.
== Post War (1943-1959) ==
In a close 1943 season Footscray finished sixth before finishing fourth in 1944 - only to lose the first semi final for a third time, this time to Essendon. In 1945 the Bulldogs would finish fifth after losing to Carlton in the last round. The Blues would go on to win the premiership that year. In 1946 Footscray finished a strong third, but yet again fell in the first semi final with Melbourne defeating them. That caused a fall to ninth in 1947, but they bounced back in 1948 and finished fourth. But then it happened again - a loss in the first semi final, this time to Collingwood. Another fall to ninth followed in 1949 but there was no rebound this time as the Bulldogs finished tenth in 1950.
In 1951 they were back again finishing fourth, but like clockwork they fell at the first hurdle courtesy of Essendon. Another fall to tenth was almost predictable in 1952 and Footscray were getting an unwanted reputation for not getting it done and then reacting badly. But in 1953 it finally changed. The Bulldogs finished third and finally they won the first semi final, defeating Essendon by 8 points. They would run into a fired up Geelong but at least they knew now how to win a final.
And in 1954 Footscray would make the finals in successive years for the first time, and finish second in their best season to date. And it got better as they would defeat minor premiers Geelong to progress to their first VFL grand final ever. It would be Melbourne who would challenge them for the premiership, but after a six goal first quarter there would be nothing to stop the Bulldogs. The 51 point victory was sweet for the western suburbs, but it would be a long time before they tasted success again.
In 1955 Footscray were desperately unlucky not to make the finals. They lost their spot in the four on percentage after Essendon shockingly thrashed top two side Collingwood and tried to make it up by thumping North Melbourne in the final round. Essendon defeated Hawthorn and held fourth spot by just 0.6 percent. In 1956 the Bulldogs had better luck defeating Carlton in the last round to take fourth spot by half a game. They pipped Geelong in the first semi final but ran into Collingwood in the preliminary final. A slip to sixth followed in 1957 and then a slide to eleventh in 1958 before the club's first ever VFL wooden spoon in 1959 and their first since 1918 in the VFA.
== 1960's ==
There was a slight improvement in 1960 with a rise to tenth, but in 1961 the Bulldogs were back in the mix finishing fourth although they could have missed if Fitzroy hadn't been upset in the second last round by wooden spooners North Melbourne. In the first semi final Footscray got past St Kilda, and then they upset Melbourne to enter the grand final against Hawthorn in the first ever grand final between two of the 1925 debutantes. The Bulldogs though couldn't get it done, and they wouldn't make the grand final again for many years.
In 1962 Footscray finished fifth before sliding to ninth in 1963. They got back to seventh in 1964 but then they dropped to tenth in 1965 and only avoided the wooden spoon by percentage after a win over Melbourne in the final round. It was tenth again in 1966 before they dropped to the wooden spoon again in 1967. In 1968 they rose to tenth again before finishing eleventh in 1969 despite six wins.
== 1970's ==
The new decade began better as Footscray finished seventh in 1970 and then eighth in 1971 and seventh in 1972 - all with the same number of wins (eleven). A slip to ninth followed in 1973, but in 1974 in Round 21 the Bulldogs locked in their place in the finals with a narrow win over St Kilda. They then sent a shudder through the finalists with a last round seven point win over minor premiers Richmond. But in the elimination final they were thrashed by Collingwood putting an end to that rally.
It was seventh with eleven wins again in 1975, but they were back in 1976 - by the skin of their teeth. They had to beat minor premiers Carlton in the last round to hold their place in the five, should Melbourne defeat Collingwood as expected. Melbourne did win, but Footscray somehow scored a draw to keep their finals place. They faced Geelong in the elimination final and were only beaten by seven points in a fine effort.
It was back to seventh in 1977 and then a slide to eleventh in 1978 before a slight improvement to ninth in 1979.
== 1980's ==
The 1980's began with the Bulldogs finishing tenth in 1980 only one game away from the wooden spoon. A slip to eleventh followed in 1981 and then rock bottom hit in 1982 as the club won the wooden spoon for the first time since 1967.
But brighter times seemed to be ahead with a rise to seventh in 1983 with a repeat in 1984 only missing the finals by percentage. The promise was finally rewarded in 1985 with a massive leap to second on the ladder and their first finals appearance since 1976 as well as their highest season finish since their premiership year of 1954. Hawthorn though thrashed them in the qualifying final. Footscray bounced back with a win in the first semi final against North Melbourne - their first ever VFL finals clash - but Hawthorn ended their season by a much narrower margin.
That semed to hurt the Bulldogs as they slipped to eighth in 1986. In 1987 with a round to go they had to beat Melbourne and hope Geelong were beaten to make the finals. Geelong lost, but so did Footscray allowing Melbourne in instead with the Bulldogs left in seventh place. In 1988 Footscray again finished eighth before crashing to thirteenth in the now 14 team competition in 1989.
== 1990's ==
The summer preceeding the 1990 season was a turning point for the Bulldogs. The AFL announced the merger of Footscray and Fitzroy, calling the new club the Fitzroy Bulldogs. The whole of the western suburbs rallied around the club in an instant preventing the merger from happening. (Admin note - I maintain to this day that the AFL would have got away with this merger had they called them the Footscray Lions) On the field the Bulldogs finished seventh that season.
Footscray finished tenth in 1991, but then vindication arrived in 1992 with the club leaping back into the finals finishing second. In the final six that meant a qualifying final against top side Geelong and a loss put the Bulldogs in the first semi final. They defeated St Kilda but in the preliminary final they ran into Geelong again and were beaten. The club slipped the ninth in 1993.
In 1994 Footscray returned to the finals finishing fifth in the first season of the final eight. The Bulldogs again faced Geelong and were beaten albeit by just 5 points. But despite getting another chance Footscray were defeated easily by Melbourne to end their season. In 1995 the Bulldogs finished seventh, but would again be faced with Geelong. This time the season ended immediately. In 1996 Footscray dropped to fifteenth just one rung off the wooden spoon, ironically won by their proposed merger partners Fitzroy in their final season.
In 1997 the Bulldogs decided on a name change to recognise the wider region it represented, Melbourne's western suburbs. The change to the Western Bulldogs was embraced and on the field it worked as well as the club leapt back into the finals finishing third. A good win over Sydney combined with an upset loss by Geelong gave the Bulldogs the week off and they had Adelaide in the preliminary final pnly to celebrate early when a shot for goal that the players thought was a goal was signalled a behind, and the Crows pounced to steal the game and went on to win the flag.
In 1998 the Western Bulldogs finished second and scored a strong win over West Coast for the week off again. That led to another clash with Adelaide in the preliminary final but this time the Crows thrashed them. In 1999 the Bulldogs finished fourth and faced West Coast in the qualifying final for the second year in a row. This time the Eagles would be victorious. The Dogs had another chance but the trip to Brisbane was too much and the Lions would end their season.
== 2000's ==
The new millenium arrived and the Bulldogs finished seventh in 2000, running into Brisbane again and being defeated for a season exit. They slipped to tenth in 2001 and that was followed by twelfth in 2002. In 2003 the club crashed back to the wooden spoon for the first time since 1982. A rise to fourteenth followed in 2004, and then a further rise in 2005 to ninth only missing the finals by half a game although they needed Port Adelaide and Fremantle to play a draw to steal eighth place. After Sydney won the 2005 flag the Bulldogs were now the holders of the longest premiership drought in the VFL/AFL.
In 2006 the Bulldogs made the finals finishing eighth. A good win over Collingwood in the elimination final started the finals campaign, but then the Bulldogs were thrashed in the first semi final by West Coast to put the brakes on the campaign. A slip back to thirteenth followed in 2007, but in 2008 they were back big time finishing third. A comfortable loss to Hawthorn in the qualifying final didn't help, but the Bulldogs bounced back against Sydney in the first semi final to enter a preliminary final clash with Geelong. But the Cats were too good.
In 2009 the Bulldogs finished third again and ran into Geelong again in the qualifying final. The Cats won again albeit it by 14 points. The Bulldogs fought back again in the first semi final defeating Brisbane strongly. The preliminary final was against St Kilda and in a close game the Bulldogs were defeated by 7 points to end their season. It seemed that a grand final, let along a premiership, was as far away as ever.
== 2010's ==
The Western Bulldogs had another crack in 2010, finishing fourth. Collingwood thrashed them in the qualifying final by 62 points, but the Bulldogs came back with a fighting 5 point win over Sydney in the semi final. But in the preliminary final they would succumb to St Kilda by 24 points. That led to a few years out of the finals, finishing tenth in 2011 and then dropping to fifteenth in 2012 - a finish repeated in 2013. The club would finish fourteenth in 2014. A small revival followed in 2015 making the finals and finishing sixth, only to suffer a 7 points loss to Adelaide in the elimination final.
The Bulldogs returned in 2016 and made the finals for the second year in a row, finishing seventh. The campaign began strongly with an imposing 47 point win over West Coast. This was followed by an upset victory over Hawthorn in the semi final by 23 points. The Hawks had won the previous three premierships in a row. That put the Bulldogs in the preliminary final, pitting Melbourne's western suburbs against Sydney's - West Sydney. In a rough game, it would be Melbourne's west with the bragging rights by just 6 points, and the Bulldogs were in their first grand final snce 1961. Their opponents were Sydney. The game was close for most of the day before the Bulldogs edged away in the final quarter to nail the 22 point victory and their first flag since 1954. The drought was broken.
A hangover followed in 2017 with the club slipping to tenth. Another struggling season followed in 2018 with a drop to thirteenth. But the Bulldogs returned to the finals in 2019 finishing seventh, only to be trounced by Sydney rivals the Giants in the elimination final.
== 2020 ==
The Western Bulldogs started the 2020 season poorly with a belting at the hands of Collingwood before the season was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the season resumed in June the Bulldogs were dealt another loss by St Kilda, slamming them on the bottom of the ladder. But the rebound was big - five wins from six games had them in the eight. Three straight losses followed however dropping the Bulldogs back to eleventh. Two good wins had them back in the eight again but another loss and then an ill timed bye put the pressure on.
However the Western Bulldogs finished the season well with three straight wins, and that was enough to finish seventh and make the finals. But the season would end in the first week with a 3 point loss to St Kilda.
== 2021 ==
The Bulldogs started 2021 on fire, winning the first six games. They came to grief at the hands of reigning premiers Richmond but that was followed by another three wins leading to the blockbuster clash with the other top side Melbourne - after the Bulldogs had retaken top spot on the back of Melbourne's first loss. The Demons though would win this one. After the bye the Bulldogs would be beaten by Geelong but then two wins would have them back on top again, only for another loss to cost them again. Three more wins, including a return clash with Melbourne and an avenging victory, kept the Bulldogs in the top two - but then three losses in the last three rounds caused them to crash to fifth at the end of the home and away season.
That meant an elimination final against Essendon, played in Launceston due to the pandemic. The Bulldogs would win this comfortably by 49 points to have fans thinking 2016 as it was also from the lower half of the top eight that the flag that year had been won from. They got a fright at the Gabba from Brisbane in the semi final, but somehow the Bulldogs pulled that one out by a point. Determined, they went to Adelaide and kicked Port Adelaide out of the finals in emphatic fashion by 71 point to make the grand final - against the side they'd fought for top spot with all year, Melbourne. But it wasn't to be. The Demons were too good in Perth.
== 2022 ==
The Bulldogs lost to Melbourne again in the opening round of the 2022 and they were spasmodic exchanging wins and losses before three wins on the trot culminating in a 101 point hiding of West Coast had them in the eight. But a loss to Geelong had them out again going into the bye. In the second half of the season it was two wins and then two losses over the next eight rounds, and on each occasion they got the second win they would be in the eight. With two rounds to go they were tenth. The Bulldogs defeated West Sydney in the second last round, but a win over Hawthorn in the final round would not get them into the eight if Carlton beat Collingwood. The Bulldogs did win - and the Magpies did them the favour by knocking Carlton out of the eight to let the Bulldogs in.
But they went no further. Fremantle ended their season in the elimination final by 13 points.
== 2023 ==
Two rather large losses opened the 2023 season for the Bulldogs, but the next eight rounds featured only one loss (to Port Adelaide) and wins over the highly rated Brisbane and Carlton. That had them in sixth spot, but getting into the top four was another matter. Three straight losses didn't cost them their spot in the eight and a win over North Melbourne that was far from impressive led into the bye. Somehow they stayed in the eight despite three losses and only three wins, but then two losses leading up to the final round to lowly Hawthorn and lowly West Coast finally cost them their finals berth. They had one last chance - beat Geelong and hope that Carlton beat West Sydney. The Bulldogs did their part, but the Giants also won to keep the Bulldogs out and finishing ninth. The losses to the Hawks and the Eagles proved costly.
== Reserves ==
Footscray were a part of the VFL Reserves competition from it's admission to the VFL in 1925. From then until 1999 they would win six flags - in 1936, 1945, 1962, 1988, 1994 and 1998. In 2000 the reserves aligned with VFL club Werribee and this would last until 2007 without a flag. In 2008 the alignment was shifted to old VFA rival Williamstown and this lasted until 2013. The Bulldogs would play a stand alone team from 2014, and called it Footscray. This would reap immediate results with the 2014 VFL flag. This was followed in 2016 with another - to go with the club's AFL flag that season.
Category:Australian FL clubs