Time for Footscray FC to step out of Essendon FC shadow

[acker]

Interesting and provocative OP.

In a sense, our re-branding in 1997 was all about doing precisely what this OP is suggesting.

I think the re branding in 1997 failed because it abandoned our traditional name Footscray and lumped us with a generic name Western which is used by our AFL competitors Greater Western Sydney and West Coast

After the Godfather and Underbelly nobody has suggested Carlton should change it's name for re branding nor St Kilda after the Happy Hooker movie about street walkers

Melbourne have not dropped the Demons due to Religious pressure

Essendon have not dropped the Bombers due to Peace Activists

 

[dogwatch]

Yeah, it's unlikely to change now but when you talk about the club you either say the Bulldogs or the Western Bulldogs (which is a 4-syllable mouthful). You can't just say "Western" like we used to say Footscray. That annoys the crap out of me. Not exactly a marketing coup.

The only other clumsy name in the league is GWS and I reckon that will come back to haunt them in due course too.

 

[j0rdy1]

The only other clumsy name in the league is GWS and I reckon that will come back to haunt them in due course too.

What could you name them though? Western Sydney? Blacktown Giants? Neither much better, they will turn into us where you just call them the Giants. I don't know anyone who calls the Dogs by their full name, I use it when I'm talking to someone who doesn't know much about footy other then that its just the Dogs.

 

[Tallsies]

Every great club has to start somewhere - why should we move or just be the current power clubs Bi###es

I think the my club is better than that

They've had 87 years in the league and still can't get their act together!

 

[Unnamed1]

Hate to bring up old sectarian issues..but Essendon Catholic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please..... They were a freemason club who never had a Mick play for them till the early 50's..fact!
Footscray on the other hand were not sectarian based but rather trade union..No ticket no start.
Sheedy's mother refused to follow Essendon till her last breath because of their traditional links to the goat riding Masons, the Catholic clubs were Collingwood Norffff and Richmond.
As an aside to the issue, rather than days gone by kids do buck the trend of their parents traditional support, you need two things to lift your base...success and Marquis player.
Just have a look around any oz kick or local footy club training,how many Buddy Franklin or Geelong jumpers do you see?

Very happy to stand corrected, thanks very much for the history! Very interesting.

I presume you meant marquee player (cf Marquis - there is nothing noble about buddy)

 

[Barkly St End]

You can't just say "Western" like we used to say Footscray. That annoys the crap out of me. Not exactly a marketing coup.

True. I've always barracked for Footscray, that's what I called it, I rarely referred to it as the Bulldogs, so the switch to THE Western Bulldogs certainly forced one to change the habits of a lifetime.

I've gotten more used to just calling them the dogs in recent years.

But the important point you are making, and I agree with it, we now no long have an alternate single word geographic name like pretty much every other club in the comp (except the West Coast Eagles, although at least you can call them West Coast, but we can't call ourselves Western).

GWS has muddied the waters something shocking now.

I suspect that's why the AFL saw the need to squeeze "Greater" in there, so there wouldn't be three teams starting with "West..."

 

[acker]

Yeah, it's unlikely to change now but when you talk about the club you either say the Bulldogs or the Western Bulldogs

Why with Rugby League becoming more prevalent even on TV in Footscray, Yarraville, Williamstown, Altona and most of Western Melbourne it is worse

Canterbury Bulldogs are often the 1st Bulldogs many Australians think about

Western Bulldogs name in a marketing sense outside South West Melbourne is a DUD

 

[SonOfScray]

FNWB!

Nicknames like the 'Bulldogs' are subject to change. IMO.

 

[Eastdog]

I think this "western growth corridor" is a bit of a furphy as far as the Dogs are concerned.

I reckon that the AFL supporter demographic for this area is going to be similar to any of the other growth corridors - Craigieburn, Pakenham, Whittlesea etc., irrespective of the fact that we are closest to it. Collingwood and Essendon supporters will dominate and then we'd come in somewhere near the bottom.

My main concern is the membership "churn" rate each year. Roughly 5k members down this year on last season, equates to about 15%(??) down. This is what is killing us.

I definitely believe that we should focus on all the growth areas in Melbourne to get support especially for a club like ours. That is easy said than done and the way I see is the amount of success a club has will get the supporters. I reckon we should try and market ourselves to the whole of the city like a lot of the other clubs do. Today supporters of clubs come from everywhere and not just from one specific area.

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

I definitely believe that we should focus on all the growth areas in Melbourne to get support especially for a club like ours. That is easy said than done and the way I see is the amount of success a club has will get the supporters. I reckon we should try and market ourselves to the whole of the city like a lot of the other clubs do. Today supporters of clubs come from everywhere and not just from one specific area.

The club has it's East meets West day, which is well attended. For me, I live in the North East region, and we have a few doggie supporters up here including a top dog member. I know that Shepparton has an active support group, and supporters come from as far away as Echuca each week.

 

[paulveed]

I believe the old local tribalism where it relates to attaching to a football club has long gone. People these days live a much more mobile life style, and are no longer tied to where they or their families reside.
Support as some have pointed out above is far more directly linked to success on the field. Kids today are less inclined to be influenced by where they live, and even who their family supports than they were in times gone by. Their peers, and as I said, on field successes are far bigger draws. Now we see any team regularly on tv and other mass media, and therefore become far more familiar with players, colours, clubs than people where way back when you usually only saw opposition/other teams once or twice per season.

While I understand the name change to Western Bulldogs from a strategic perspective, like many others I don't see it as having been a huge success unfortunately. I also agree it is ungainly, and having us now only one of three "Wests" is less than ideal.

I freely admit my affiliation is to the Footscray name, being a traditionalist at heart, but that is not my prime driver in believing the present name situation is not in our best long term or strategic interest.

What I do feel however, is that should we move to operating a stand alone reserves team in the VFL in future, naming it Western Bulldogs would be a serious mistake. Doggies in the VFL should be known as Footscray. This would not only link into the rich history and tradition of the Footscray Football Club in the VFL, but would give something to those of us who to varying degrees feel disenfranchised by the move to the WB name.
Now before anyone tries suggesting that people would find this situation [ seniors and reserves having different names] confusing, it would be no more so than our reserves being Werribee and or Williamstown.

 

[Barkly St End]

What I do feel however, is that should we move to operating a stand alone reserves team in the VFL in future, naming it Western Bulldogs would be a serious mistake. Doggies in the VFL should be known as Footscray. This would not only link into the rich history and tradition of the Footscray Football Club in the VFL, but would give something to those of us who to varying degrees feel disenfranchised by the move to the WB name.
Now before anyone tries suggesting that people would find this situation [ seniors and reserves having different names] confusing, it would be no more so than our reserves being Werribee and or Williamstown.

That's fair enough, I think many would agree with you there.

 

[Eastdog]

I think this "western growth corridor" is a bit of a furphy as far as the Dogs are concerned.

I reckon that the AFL supporter demographic for this area is going to be similar to any of the other growth corridors - Craigieburn, Pakenham, Whittlesea etc., irrespective of the fact that we are closest to it. Collingwood and Essendon supporters will dominate and then we'd come in somewhere near the bottom.

My main concern is the membership "churn" rate each year. Roughly 5k members down this year on last season, equates to about 15%(??) down. This is what is killing us.

That would be interesting to have data of the spread of Bulldog supporters in Melbourne compared to the other clubs.

 

[LondonBulldog]

I'm with you Acker, anything can happen, successs creates supporters, exposure, tv slots, nights games, young people to the club etc.
So long term winning is the best option, easier said than done.
Yet don't believe just because a club has history of being good means they will always be good and others cannot come up.
Up until the 60's the biggest AFL club was clearly Melbourne in terms of premiership, supporters etc, closely followed by Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and a lesser extent Richmond.

Melbourne and Collingwood went on to have premiership droughts. Melbourne has not recovered yet has a sleeping membership if they become a power again.

Best is to keep doing what we are, get into the schools have good years and it will flow.

Using the Premier league as an example is pointless, its in not a even comp, no draft, no salary cap, team which sends the most will finish top 4. It not even a competition anymore.

 

[paul scholes]

Hate to bring up old sectarian issues..but Essendon Catholic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please..... They were a freemason club who never had a Mick play for them till the early 50's..fact!
Footscray on the other hand were not sectarian based but rather trade union..No ticket no start.
Sheedy's mother refused to follow Essendon till her last breath because of their traditional links to the goat riding Masons, the Catholic clubs were Collingwood Norffff and Richmond.
As an aside to the issue, rather than days gone by kids do buck the trend of their parents traditional support, you need two things to lift your base...success and Marquis player.
Just have a look around any oz kick or local footy club training,how many Buddy Franklin or Geelong jumpers do you see?

What snags said. My kids( primary school) in the inner west have a sports uniform day.
The 08 - 10 period stack of Bulldog guernseys, hazard to guess more than half.
Last year there was barely a quarter decked out in their Dogs gear. Success Success Success

 

[Eastdog]

At the end of the day we can go on about tapping into certain regions to gain support but in the big scheme of things it is all about sustained success. Who knows if we were like Hawthorn in the 80s we might of stayed as Footscray and have 50,000 members and an even spread of fans across the city. I wonder what the support for AFL clubs is like in the western region.

 

[Buckingham]

Keep an eye out at Round 1 game for long time Footscray FC member Bill Andrew handing out 'Bring Back Footscray' stickers and t-shirts. His slogan is ' We've got the hoops back, now let's get our name right'. It's part of Bill's passionate campaign to restore our club's name back to Footscray. I'll be there to help him!

 

[BIG_BONTS]

Footscray belongs in the VFL. For the same reason why we don't see Frankston as a national anything team in any sport.

 

[Warner_Bros_FC]

We still haven't got our socks right..

 

[Buckingham]

Footscray belongs in the VFL. For the same reason why we don't see Frankston as a national anything team in any sport.

Does this apply to other clubs like Richmond, St Kilda, Hawthorn etc??

 

[Predator35]

While I like the idea of us playing the interstate teams at Ballarat I don't think the Mafia(AFL) will let us.

Sorry to intrude guys, I live just out of Ballarat and am 15 year Tiger member and if the dogs played games up here I would buy a 3 game/Ballarat membership. I know alot of people who aren't dogs supporters would also do this. It would be brilliant.

Also I still call them Footscray. Bring it back I say.

 

[Eastdog]

I hope soon we can be know as the Footscray Football club again.

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

I think that the club in some ways is missing a target area to build our membership. The membership campaigns of last year and this year is focusing on working class roots, people doing it hard in the Western suburbs etc etc. If you have a look through the Western Bulldogs members thread, two thirds roughly are university educated people working in lucrative industries, high powered jobs, or have their own successful businesses and companies. We seem to be the alternate team for those people who have a social conscience (that was my reason to go for the doggies to begin with), not saying having a uni degree makes you instantly rich (as a social worker I can vouch for that) but most of us on here are on the upwardly mobile side, or working towards it. I know there are some students on here struggling a bit and can't afford memberships, but that will change eventually. The Club should be marketing to appeal to that demographic, it will also shift the perception that we are a grungy little club always looking for a buck.

To back up my argument, think of our social club membership, and the price of memberships, they are higher than most of the other clubs, so when we hear about membership numbers, we don't hear about membership revenue, which equalises things a bit. (What completely stuffs us up as a club, is the dam stadium deal with Ethiad and our historic debt which is gradually coming down, and the perception that we are so small big sponsors are not interested in us.)

Yes there is a strong link for people who grew up in the West, but I am staggered at the amount of people living and working overseas who support the doggies. That cross section don't exactly represent the stereotypical Footscray supporters of working in a factory or on a Centrelink pension does it?

I didn't do much business or marketing at uni, but if I recall it correctly, when the mass LG type product came in, small business survived by become 'niche' areas, small exclusive, personal providers who got away from the standardised McDonalds type product. My point is that one of the things I hate when we play Essendon or Collingwood, is that you can never get a car park, have to queue for ages to get anything, can't get a decent seat etc etc. Our Club is about quality not quantity - should and could we market the club this way. What do you all think?

 

[Silent Alarm]

Sorry for popping in so often. If another club had one of your blokes, I wouldn't be intruding.

The thing I've always thought about the Bulldogs is that you have a lot going for you. You have the entire western suburbs. And from my understanding of Melbourne (probably wrong), a pretty large about is residential. That's a big target market. Only GWS share a specified market so large.

Then, you have the demography of that area. Plenty of immigrants. Naturally, they prefer soccer because it's what they're used to. But it's not impossible to get kids from Asian and African countries into footy. Don't underestimate the social presence the sport has, and the pressure that comes with that.

Then there's the colours. Who doesn't like blue? If not, who doesn't like red? I reckon a Bulldog is a cool mascot. But that's probably because I'm a South Freo (Bulldogs) fan...

The main issue is a lack of success. And I support Freo, so I'm not being a patronising or douchey arseh*le. I'm just sayin'. Collingwood is full of hipsters. It's tiny in geography and population. But there's the allure of success, as well as the generational thing.

If any club was to relive the Lions of the early 00s, no club would benefit more than the Western Bulldogs.

 

[Silent Alarm]

I think that the club in some ways is missing a target area to build our membership. The membership campaigns of last year and this year is focusing on working class roots, people doing it hard in the Western suburbs etc etc. If you have a look through the Western Bulldogs members thread, two thirds roughly are university educated people working in lucrative industries, high powered jobs, or have their own successful businesses and companies. We seem to be the alternate team for those people who have a social conscience (that was my reason to go for the doggies to begin with), not saying having a uni degree makes you instantly rich (as a social worker I can vouch for that) but most of us on here are on the upwardly mobile side, or working towards it. I know there are some students on here struggling a bit and can't afford memberships, but that will change eventually. The Club should be marketing to appeal to that demographic, it will also shift the perception that we are a grungy little club always looking for a buck.

I've always thought Melbourne Heart should get the hipster demographic.

Because that's essentially what you're implying, right? Kind of liberal, uni-educated, smart, socially conscious, fashionable young people.

Footscray is so close to the city that it'll be gentrified in less than ten years. Isn't that what they say? Weren't cool-meccas of Fitzroy and Collingwood pretty stingy, run drown, and drug and crime-riddled less than 20 years ago?

Success (I mean a flag) for the Bulldogs could coincide with Footscray becoming the new Fitzroy. Y'know, five to six-ish years.