The Highs and Lows of the Essendon Bombers

The Essendon Bombers have been a major force in the AFL over the years, but what has made them the success we see today? With Essendon merchandise sales and spectator numbers ever rising,  the Dons are a club with a rich history and have had their share of successes and dark times too. Let us look at some of the highs and the lows of how one of the oldest AFL clubs made its mark as a force to be reckoned with.

Essendon was one of the founding clubs of then VFL and made its mark right away by winning the inaugural VFL season in 1897 in the VFL finals series. With several more premierships under its belt in 1901by defeating Collingwood in the Grand Final the Bombers took success later on in 1911 by winning another premiership title with defeat over Collingwood and again in 1912 with defeat over South Melbourne.

An historic period of success

Essendon played a large part in many firsts for the sport during the early years, such as competing in the very first night match against Melbourne in which the ball was painted white for better visibility. Their first title in any competitions was back in 1891 when they won the VFA premiership title. They continued this dominant display of success with premiership wins in 1892, 1983 and 1984 making an historic period of success, many say thanks to the legendary centre-half forward Albert Thurgood.

Essendon was the only club to ever win a premiership without a grand final. In the 1924 season, no Challenge Final or Grand Final was staged and in place was a round-robin to determine the premiership. The top four clubs were pitted against each other to find the premiership winner. Essendon had already beaten their rivals Fitzroy and South Melbourne which meant that their 20-point loss to Richmond was all that was needed to clinch victory thanks to a higher point percentage over the Tigers.

In the modern era of 2000 onward, Essendon started the new millennium with a 20-match unbeaten run before losing out to the Bulldogs. The Bombers finished the seasons as premiership winners for the 16th time with a defeat over Melbourne. This concluded the most dominant season of AFL by a single club in the history of the sport.

The financial factor

Essendon saw a decline in success after the spectacular season of 2000 and with the players salary cap coming into force, Essendon had to part ways with many key players in their squad. Some of the more popular players such as Chris Heffernan, Gary Moorcroft and Damien Hardwick left the club with terminated contracts whilst retirees Mark Mercuri, Joe Misti and Sean Wellman also left the club.

The club continued its downward spiral with unsuccessful attempts at the premiership and saw its worse season in 70 years in 2006. The club had finished second from bottom in the league with just three wins and a single draw from 22 games in the season.

The slow road to recovery started in 2011 with James Hird who took over as team coach. Essendon managed to finish 7th in the league thanks to Hird with the assistance of Mark Thompson. The club was in the process of recovery until the 2013 season when the AFL and the Australian sports anti-doping authority started an investigation as to the use of illegal substances.

Multiple resignations followed

These investigations hurt Essendon merchandise sales and the public image of the club, and when the club was found to be guilty of bringing the game into disrepute, Essendon was fined $2m and stripped from early draft picks. James Hird was suspended for a period of 12 months and the chairman and CEO of the club resigned their posts due to the controversy.

The club continues its goal of recovery in these troubled times. And being one of the oldest clubs with a remarkable history of success and firsts in the sport, the club has plenty of fans to continue to show their support and get behind the Dons. It’s really quite remarkable how quickly the club has bounced back with a fine start to the 2014 AFL season.

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How the Popularity of the AFL is Booming to Record Levels

The Australian Football League is one of the world’s most popular national sports with booming numbers of both participants and spectators alike. With each coming season, scores of fans tune in to matches on sports networks, attend the blockbuster games and even watch online.

The 2014 season is set to be the biggest season for AFL yet with huge ticket and merchandise sales leading the way. Let’s take a deeper look into the statistics.

The average attendance for AFL games continues to grow year on year making the sport one of the most popular spectator sports in the country. In 2012, the total number of spectators for the entire season amounted to a staggering 6,778,559 spectators through the 207 games played leading to a season average of 32,747 per game across the board. The Collingwood Magpies achieves the highest gross attendance figures with a total of 1,145,476 for their 23-game season which averaged out as 45,819 per game.

The 2013 AFL premiership season gained extra fans with its 207-game season long attendance figure of 6,931,085. This averaged out at 33,484 per game. 2013 saw Richmond increase their fan base attendance with a figure of 1,137,980 tickets sold for the season giving them an average of 49,477 per game.

With these increasing attendance figures, the sport has grown in many different ways. Merchandising has become a huge growing sector for the AFL with jersey sales increasing year on year. With all popular sports comes sporting icons, and the AFL is no different. There are a few AFL players who sell more merchandise than others thanks to both their commercial appeal as well as their performances on the field.

Lance Franklin is one of those players who has achieved the status of most popular merchandising icon, with the 2012 and 2013 seasons behind him he managed to sell more jerseys, badges, t-shirts and caps by more than double the sales of any other player. The percentage of jersey sales have also increased year on year to end a booming year of 2013.

The highest number of jersey sales went to Essendon, Hawthorn and West Coast, with Franklin’s team mate Cyrol Rioli coming in a close second. Other notable shirt sellers include Carlton skipper Chris Judd, with Brownlow medallist Chris Judd making the top four.

With spectacular sport on display at many of the AFLs more popular events, you can see why this sport has captivated the imagination of a nation. With a growing popularity year on year, many new household names are being etched into the history books to make the Australian Football league one of the biggest sports nationwide.

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The Illustrious History of The Australian Football League

In 1857, Tom Willis returned to Australia and became one of the founders of arguably the most illustrious sport to ever grace the country. After becoming a seasoned rugby captain as well as a formidable cricketer during his school years, Willis got together with his cousin H.C.A Harrison and their associates J.B Thompson and W.J Hammersley to formulate the rules. What followed this momentous date included over 155 years of action packed and unforgettable sport. 

AFL has today grown into an international phenomenon, with television deals helping finance both the clubs and the league, advertising deals with shirt sponsors as well as merchandising sold in ALF shops making up huge revenue. Audience figures have steadily risen over the past 20 years making the AFL league today unrecognisable from its very early beginnings.

On the 10th of July 1858, Melbourne Football Club was formed and soon had their first match against Scotch College in Yarra park. The two teams were joined by Geelong Football Club in 1859 and soon saw the arrivals of Adelaide F.C and Carlton Football Club joining the ranks. The sport was incredibly popular for a somewhat newly invented sport, but due to the rules and regulations, the spectacle of seeing a mix of different sports in a single area was hard to resist.

Times of important rule changes

Over the coming years, the sport saw numerous other teams joining the league including a second team from Melbourne in the form of North Melbourne Football Club. In 1873/4, new rules were drawn up to ensure that all players were required to be registered to one club only. Club kits were also introduced for the teams. In 1877 when the Victorian Football Association was established, the oval pitch design replaced the traditional rectangle like before.

In 1886, the four quarters where introduced to take over the game of two halves that was previously played. This year also saw important changes in the rules to allow a centre bounce at the start of each game, each quarter and after a goal had been scored. Other important additions to the rules were brought in such as the addition of goal and boundary umpires and their ability to report players, the official sanctioning of player payments and further advancements.

The modern era

The 90s saw the league officially branded as the Australian Football league with modern branding and advertising. 1996 saw the league celebrate its centenary and quickly devised the Australian Football League hall of fame. The era was a time of fraught financial difficulty for many clubs and whilst talk of mergers lay on the table, the deal to merge Hawthorn with Melbourne fell through.

Fitzroy finally merged with Brisbane to form the Brisbane lions and the AFL saw another addition to the league in the form of Port Adelaide. The era was also a time for rule changes that had a big impact on the game. New regulations came in the form of the Blood Rule, the introduction of a third umpire and the addition of allowing four interchange player to the field.

With a new lease of life during the millennium, teams were able to move away from their smaller venue for league matches allowing for a huge increase in audience numbers. Waverley Park and the MCG in Melbourne were used to delight capacity crowds and further boost attendance revenue income for both the league and teams.

In recent times, Geelong has come to dominate many seasons over the past few years contesting four grand finals and winning three of them gaining much acclaim. Hawthorn and Collingwood have also seen success in contesting three and winning two finals and contesting two and winning one final respectively.

The sport continues to gain ever larger audiences, with access to ALF online matches as well as television rights for audiences to watch at home. This growth has also seen an increase in merchandising, seeing AFL stores selling out of popular shirts as soon as they are stocked making it one of the most popular sports in Australian history.

The funniest things we’ve seen on the footy field

Watching footy can bring up just about every kind of emotion imaginable. A single game can cause sheer joy, heartbreak, nerves, anger and relief all within a half an hour! But something that’s a bit rarer on the field is humour. While we all appreciate the lighter side of the game off field and in the media, it’s not every day you see a genuinely funny thing happening when you’re watching an intense game of footy. That’s what makes them so enjoyable! Here we count down some of the more memorable hilarious moments you might remember.

1.Corey Enright running around in his jocks

This is truly one of the classic moments in recent times and has simply got to be at the top of the list. In a relatively one-sided matchup against the Brisbane Lions, Corey Enright side stepped a tackle on the forward flank, but the defender did manage to rip of his shorts before he got the kick away. This is something that happens from time to time, but what happened next was a bit out of the ordinary. There was no break in the play so Enright had to man his position or risk giving a kick or even a goal away to his opponent. When the ball came back into Geelong’s backline, the Cats regained possession and Enright received a handball before getting a kick in his jocks! Unfortunately it resulted in a turnover but the kick still brought a smile to the face of coach Bomber Thompson.

2. Umpire marking the ball

 

Peter Carey umpired 307 matches at the senior VFL/AFL level, including 4 grand finals. But the game we’ll always remember him for was played between Fremantle and St Kilda at Subiaco in 1997. The then-veteran ump marked a kick from Adrian Fletcher on his chest, before promptly blowing the whistle and calling a ball up. Most put this down to a moment of confusion for Carey, a mental blank where he acted impulsively. Some might even say it shows that he wished he could be playing at the professional level! We can’t even imagine what the consequences would be from the AFL today, but at the time it was more or less laughed off. Although Carey went on to umpire just 8 more senior matches.

3. Mcnarmara going the wrong way 

This is a classic funny moment that can happen in just about every ball sport. We’ve seen it in basketball, soccer and many times in AFL. Jamie McNamara’s time came in 2009. Against the Cats, the West Coast youngster broke through getting a clearance out of a throw in on the wing, before taking off at lightning speed towards the Geelong goal. He even managed to get a kick away before pulling it (obviously realising what he’d done). This resulted in the kick more or less directly going to an opponent in the forward line and resulted in a goal for them. No doubt McNamara got a spray from his coach.

4. Cale Morton picking a fight

There’s plenty of players in the AFL that you might not describe as big and burly, you’ve got to admire a player that can stand his ground and defend his teammates regardless of his size. Melbourne’s Cale Morton however, may have got a bit ahead of himself when he picked a fight with Port Adelaide big man Brendan Lade. Lade tackled Morton as he got a handball off and gave him a shove for good measure, so Morton pushed him right back. Lade then gave chase and Morton was off the races – really it looked like a scene from a school playground more than an AFL football match, but we can’t say we haven’t thoroughly enjoyed it!

There are many other funny moments that have happened on field. Any you can think of?

Premiership merchandise – the perfect gift for a Hawks fan this Christmas!

So the AFL season is well and truly over, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to forget about your favourite team!  Christmas is the perfect excuse to come to Spectator Sports Online and order your official premiership gear.

If you’re struggling for gift ideas (let’s face it, most of us are) chances are you’re going to be able to find something suitable for your friend or family member on our website. Not to generalise, but Australian men are simple enough people – we like sports, beer and girls – so anything to do with that and you can’t go wrong!

 

If you’ve got a Hawthorn fan on your hands, you’re in luck. Yes the Hawks are a mighty club and they’ll probably be in the mix for the premiership again this coming season, but you never know – it could be years until Hawthorn bring home the bacon again! Any self respecting supporter knows that getting your hands on that gear that shows you were there when they went all the way is a must. So spoil your loved one without spending an arm and a leg. Check out these official premiership items:

Apparel

We’ve got official Hawthorn 2013 premiership T-shirts and polo shirts in a range of styles, colours and sizes as well as caps, scarves and hoodies. You can even get a cap and shirt combo and save!

 

Footballs
We’ve got indoor and outdoor footballs in the Hawks colours. I can tell you from experience there’s nothing more fun than an indoor game of footy – just be sure not to break anything! Otherwise, why not kick your new footy outside with a few family members after Christmas lunch?

 

Teddy Bears

We thought our Teddy’s deserved their own section because they’re just so awesome. Grab an official Hawks premiership Ralphy bear – the perfect gift for a Hawks supporter of any age, male or female!

Other gear 

Spectator Sports Online stocks Hawks premiership gear ranging in price, so if your budget only allows you to splash out a little, we’ve got you looked after. Check out our stubby holders, bumper stickers, magnets, badges and more, all in that fabulous brown and gold. 

For more info don’t hesitate to give our shop a call!

4 Trading Blunders in the AFL

The AFL truly is a special kind of a game – it’s the best sport in the world to watch because it can be thrilling, intense and it’s tougher than any other ball sport in the world. It combines skill and strength, finesse and brawn and people of all shapes and sizes are suited to it.

But another of the great things about the game of football is in the way that it’s governed. If you look at the soccer in Europe (and all over the world), you could argue that the sport is governed completely by money. In the English Premier League for instance, the richest clubs are the most competitive clubs, and the small market teams really can’t compete. Superstars that establish themselves at small clubs are almost immediately lured to bigger clubs for bigger wages. The NBA and NFL are also dominated by what might be considered overtrading – each team is so very different season to season.

Footy, on the other hand, is a very even competition in comparison, and trades take place at an ideal frequency. We’ve certainly seen a number of questionable ones throughout the history of the game. Here are some of the more dubious decisions that footy clubs probably wish they could take back, many of which involve picks (which does blur the lines somewhat).

 

Brendan Fevola to Brisbane (2009)

Arguably one of the biggest trades of the last 5 or so years, Brisbane acquired Fevola and pick 27 in exchange for promising youngster Lachie Henderson and pick 12.  The Lions couldn’t resist the thought of having two of the then premier key position forwards in the competition. Unfortunately, this is one move that simply didn’t turn work out in the long term. A problem player with a string of off-field issues, Fevola went down with injury 11 rounds into the 2010 season, which was quite unfortunate. However, the offseason that followed was filled with indiscretions from the wayward forward, which ultimately took their toll on the Lions team and led to Fevola’s eventual sacking at the beginning of 2011. Meanwhile, Henderson has developed into a solid swing player for the Blue baggers and looks like he could kit up for many more matches.

 

Trent Croad/McFarlane to Fremantle (2001) 

 

This one’s is a little tricky because it involves a number of picks that were already highly touted and turned into exceptional players. As we’ve heard many times before, hindsight’s 20-20 but if there was one draft class the Dockers didn’t want to miss out on, it was this one. Freo had picks 1, 4, 20 and 36 in what could be described as the superdraft of the last 15 years. However, when Hawthorn offered a duo of versatile swingmen in Luke McPharlin and Trent Croad, the Dockers jumped at the chance, throwing in their pick 1, as well as their second and third round picks. While Croad only lasted in Freo for 2 years, McPharlin has had a long and prosperous career. But when you think of what could have been, you realise how good an opportunity the Dockers had. The first 3 picks of the draft were Luke Hodge, Luke Ball and Chris Judd, who have all been a part of premiership sides and have had fabulous careers. Further, Steve Johnson, Sam Mitchell Leigh Montagna wou ld have been up for grabs with Freo’s later picks. Meanwhile, they walked away with Graham Polak at pick 4, who retired after just 111 games.

 

Jason Mooney to Geelong (1998)

Another one of those poor-in-hindsight decisions that came about from a team’s need for a key position player. Geelong were after a big forward to replace Gary Ablett (always a tall task). They went for Jason Mooney, a middle of the road marking full forward – hardly worth a selection as early as pick 8. Mooney had a nice 33-goal season in his first year with the Cats, but was soon overcome buy injuries and retired 2 years later. With pick 8, Sydney got their hands on a future 325 gamer in Jude Bolton, who ended up recording the highest number of tackles of any player in the history of the game

 

Chris Groom to Fremantle (1994)

Another one of Fremantle’s biggest trading blunders was sending a young Andrew McLeod and the lesser know Matthew Collins to the Crows in exchange for injury-prone forward Chris Groom. Again, the Dockers and their fans will be imagining what could have been for many years. Groom played just 8 games in his sole year with the club, while McLeod went on to play 340 games, win 2 Norm Smith Medals and 5 All Australians and 3 Best and Fairest Medals for Adelaide.