Club History What's your most heartbreaking loss 💔

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One that really bothered me, we played Carlton I reckon it was late 2000s maybe early 2010s, we were up by about 50 points in the second - Carlton had about 4-5 big player outs, ripe for the taking and we just inexplicably rolled over, and let them kick like 8 in a row and went on to lose
Fevalenko.
 
Imagine if Carlton had of won the flag that year.
Correct ! I went the next week with a Norf mate. We got the margin and The Norm Smith medalist (Shannon Grant) Always said, yep the prelim was heartbreaking, if that bucket of vomit had won the next week ? Kill me then, kill me now.
Thank you Norf.
 
1999 on the day for sure although it did drive us to have the year we did in 2000.
Two narrow losses in 1996 finals against Brisbane and Sydney had some sting.
Getting smashed by Fitzroy in the 1979 Elimination final still sticks in my mind. Was the first final we had played in for 6 years . I started going to games in 1974 so I had never been to a final. Was so excited and the game was over at 1/4 time. It was a new level of disappointment.
'79 elim, first memory of that one, Robert Hyde, knee brace, he could barely jog let alone run. Bill Stephens coach ? '79, the birth of Eliminitis.
 

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The only game I ever cried over was my first ever game I attended when we lost to Geelong after 16 straight wins and handed them the double chance in ‘81.

The others mentioned in the OP hit me in a different visceral way.

The 83, 90, and 01 GFs hurt in that order.

There’s dozens of games where I’ve wanted to throw a brick through the tv but the one that immediately springs to mind is the Gary Rohan mark in the goal square when the TV was seriously cringing in a corner as I menacingly rose out of my chair.
 
Anyone that doesn't have '99 at the top of the list isn't serious. It's number one. By a mile.

It doesn't matter that it wasn't a Grand Final. It cost us a premiership so it may as well have been.

Everything about it makes it the worst:

  • it was against Carlton
  • it was by one point
  • we had nine more scoring shots
  • We would have won the Grand Final (North only had exactly the same amount of scoring shots as Carlton in the Grand final, and Carey and Stevens weren't fully fit and we'd already beaten them twice. Hell, Carey kicked 10 and they STILL couldn't beat us.)
  • It cost us the premiership record (we would have been on 17 flags for the last 25 years)
  • Carlton, themselves finished 6th; they were smashed by 76 points in week one, and ended up getting a second chance which adds an element of unfairness to the whole thing.

I mean of course 1990 was bad, but we were out of form going into that game and were never going to win that match. We lost badly and deserved to lose. In 1999 we should have won. 1999 was WAY worse than 1990. Miles worse. 1990 was like watching an inevitable trainwreck where you knew what was going to happen. 1999 was having your heart ripped out. They are totally incomparable.
 
Recency bias, but Round 12 vs the Suns.

We were on a hot streak without a loss.

5 points down, 2 minutes to go after kicking the last couple of goals to give us a sniff of a comeback.

Laverde miraculously spoils it in defense which creates a springboard to attack, but hospital handballs which leads to Caldwell eventually with the ball who is touched by a Suns player and drops the ball to be pinged for HTB. Ball spills too far from Caldwell for Jye to pick it up and Laverde passes it to the wrong player. 50m penalty and Suns goal to kill any hope.

The feeling at the time was we were due for a loss particularly because everyone was losing to Gold Coast at their home ground so to have bucked the expected trend both internally and externally I felt would've gone on to galvanise the group from thereon in. The loss did come but it came in such a BS fashion.
 
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Essendon North Melbourne 2014 Elimination final.

Remember taking Dad for Father’s Day & got prime level 2 seats. Thought we were home for all money at half time. Needless to say we weren’t and in frustration, punched a concrete pillar on the way out and broke my hand in 2 places.
 
Anyone that doesn't have '99 at the top of the list isn't serious. It's number one. By a mile.

It doesn't matter that it wasn't a Grand Final. It cost us a premiership so it may as well have been.

Everything about it makes it the worst:

  • it was against Carlton
  • it was by one point
  • we had nine more scoring shots
  • We would have won the Grand Final (North only had exactly the same amount of scoring shots as Carlton in the Grand final, and Carey and Stevens weren't fully fit and we'd already beaten them twice. Hell, Carey kicked 10 and they STILL couldn't beat us.)
  • It cost us the premiership record (we would have been on 17 flags for the last 25 years)
  • Carlton, themselves finished 6th; they were smashed by 76 points in week one, and ended up getting a second chance which adds an element of unfairness to the whole thing.

I mean of course 1990 was bad, but we were out of form going into that game and were never going to win that match. We lost badly and deserved to lose. In 1999 we should have won. 1999 was WAY worse than 1990. Miles worse. 1990 was like watching an inevitable trainwreck where you knew what was going to happen. 1999 was having your heart ripped out. They are totally incomparable.

1990 just happened at the wrong time, we were peaking mid year, beat the pies in that epic game at VFL park Infront of a full house, first ever h&a game live on tv...but the Wce Coll draw just ruined any momentum, sitting there icing up for weeks in the finals while Collingwood kept playing. By game day, watching the players walk out usually the players have a look of determination on their face. Watson looked like he was about to walk into a meat mincer - I knew we weren't winning about then
 
After being a super passionate bomber all my life, after 99 I didn’t watch a single Essendon game until I happened to realise that the Anzac Day game was on in 2008 because I heard neighbours yelling. Zaharakis, Zaharakis and I was back.

In 99 I was 21 living in a share house with two bombers tragic mates. We cried and drank everything. I had started working and playing in bands and I just gave sport in general the proper heave ho for nearly ten years on the back of that loss.

To all you sad sacks threatening to burn your membership cards.. well I’ve done it, and I missed perhaps our best season ever.. and I deserved to.

Still haven’t watched the 2000GF.
 
I'd like to do something a little different here and make mention of two things. Most heartbreaking season and the most heartbreaking loss that year.

Most heartbreaking season: 2017

All the suspended players returned (minus Hibberd). Andy McGrath bursting onto the scene. Joe Daniher playing immensely well along with Merrett and Hurley (all getting AA selection). 2 wins against the Pies, defeating the Hawks rnd 1 & big wins against West Coast and Geelong (finally!!) - it felt like that year we were primed to do something special and there was genuine excitement for us fans. But losses to a terrible Freo team at Freo, a shitful game against the scum in the wet and that f@aaarken 8 point loss to the last placed Lions at the Docklands....those losses ensured we finished 7th. Those three games if won meant we finished 2nd and a double chance.

BUT

Most Heartbreaking loss in 2017: Sydney Round 14 @ the SCG

If we're talking about heart breaking losses then the worst one in 2017 was that Round 14 H&A loss to Sydney at the SCG. Gary Rohan kicking the winner at the death. The way he rag dolled Gleeson...why was Gleeson on him? I still ask myself that to this day, but it wasn't Marty's fault. It was a coaching staff, that included Mark Neeld, who couldn't work out how to teach the players to set up defensively & shut down a game in the last 2 minutes. Watching them piss fart around, long bombs to 3 on 1 where Joe kicked it to Walla covered by 3 players, Goddard kicking it into Papley playing on from the goal square fmd (why play on???) and watching an unmanned Dane 'Post Shaking Cheat' Rampe come down from the backline to kick it front and centre to their goal square for Rohan to take the grab.....and let's not even mention the umpiring that night.

That made me angry on a level I hadn't expected & still does.....

2017 will forever be my What If...? year.
 

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The 83 GF was not pleasant. It was my first season as a Don's supporter and I wanted to change clubs after the game with the way we rolled over. Dad, who's not a Don's fan, ignored my tears and told me to stick fat as it's what you do.

Thanks Dad, 4 flags over the next 17 years was pretty damn fine

**** you Dad, for all those reasons Howie has mentioned, plus the last 20 ****ing years!
My Dad went to that game. When he got home he was very quiet which for my Dad was rare.
When he saw that me and my brothers had been crying due to our red eyes he simply said 'Stiff upper lip up boys, we'll be ok.'

And he was very right :)
 
Was at the 83 GF as a youngster, horrific. Got absolutely pumped and Tim Watson knocked out….terrible day.

But it did make 84 and 85 that much sweeter.

Collingwood ending the drought against us in 90 was a shocker.

99 still burns.
 
Was at the 83 GF as a youngster, horrific. Got absolutely pumped and Tim Watson knocked out….terrible day.

But it did make 84 and 85 that much sweeter.

Collingwood ending the drought against us in 90 was a shocker.

99 still burns.
Thankully I was sick in 83 and could not go. I was devastated before the game as it was going to be the first GF for me as a supporter but in the end it was better not being there. 1990 does not really hold much emotion for me either as I was in Germany at the time and had not seen any footy results for 3 months.
 
Thankully I was sick in 83 and could not go. I was devastated before the game as it was going to be the first GF for me as a supporter but in the end it was better not being there. 1990 does not really hold much emotion for me either as I was in Germany at the time and had not seen any footy results for 3 months.
100% better no being there - it hurt so much.

Weird, random childhood memory - at 3/4 of 84 (at the game) I was distraught as it appeared we’d lose again. A old Irish bloke in front of me turned around and told me not to worry, he thought we’d come back and win. Who was this Irish angel? 84 would sit comfortably as best ever win.
 
100% better no being there - it hurt so much.

Weird, random childhood memory - at 3/4 of 84 (at the game) I was distraught as it appeared we’d lose again. A old Irish bloke in front of me turned around and told me not to worry, he thought we’d come back and win. Who was this Irish angel? 84 would sit comfortably as best ever win.
Surreal, only way to describe it. Surreal.
 

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Club History What's your most heartbreaking loss 💔


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