Why do you barrack for the Doggies?

[RedWhite&Blue]

Followed in dad's footsteps - as I believe everyone should. Barracking for a football team should be like taking a surname. I'm sorry but when I speak to people and they tell me that their dad supports Carlton and they support Essendon I look at them suspiciously and think 'What is wrong with you, don't you know the rules!'
I grew up in St Kilda's heartland and never had one friend at school that barracked for the Doggies. Makes you tougher when you have to defend your team with no help. Dad would pull any Bulldogs stories out of the paper and leave them on my bed for me to read, never missed one article. Dad would take me to all the games as kid and while he was getting pissed in the bar after the game I'd be hangin out with the local kids - Great stuff

 

[ubolt]

What i remember most from the game is someone kicking a goal from about 55 metres out and the whole crowd went completely silent. I remember it being such an eery feeling when that happened, it was weird

 

[The Coon Dog]

saw the Dogs beat Adelaide at Football Park, Round 1, 1992 (i think Round 1 anyway) when i was Seven years old. Thought i would stick with the winning team from then on.

Adelaide 2.3 6.9 6.11 12.15 (87) lost to
Western Bulldogs 6.3 9.5 13.11 17.12 (114)
Football ParkMar 22 (Sun)

 

[ubolt]

brings back some fond memories Coon Dog.

 

[carps]

I used to barrack for Fitzroy and then in '96 when they joined Brisbane I had to make a decision follow Brisbane (unVictorian option) or find a new team and after a couple of years in the wilderness I choose the Dogs because I had a few mates who supported them and I was born in Melbourne's western suburbs. I have been a member since 2001 and haven't had a moments regret.

 

[dales.girl38]

It's great to read all of these stories of loyalty and everything...my older brother played Vic kick for a year, but lost interest in footy, then after a few years my mum tried to get him back into football, but foolishly chose the match against North Melbourne...I can't remember which year, I think it's the one in Year of the Dogs, where we got flogged by about 130 points...that didn't go down too well, he didn't go to another football match for about 4 years, and even that didn't last long!

 

[always right]

Father grew up in Yarraville supporting the bulldogs (actually played with EJ when he played for Braybrook as a youngster. Mum barracked for carlton. Both bought their first house at Glen Waverley when it was farmland. Attended school with millions of Richmond supporters when it was their zone and they were successful (unbearable...and is behind by intense hatred for them).

Despite being a Carlton supporter (no longer quite as passionate it should be said) Mum joined my father rattling the tins when we looked like disappearing and hence became the most devoted dogs supporter you could find. At that moment the family was complete...mum, dad, brother, sister and myself all diehard dogs.

Now have my own family of five who go every week to see the dogs play. My children are as passionate if not moreso than I ever was.....makes a father proud.

 

[lifelike_]

The influence of my old man. Probably the best thing he's ever done for me! His old man played 7 or 8 games for the Doggies in the 30's so it was pretty much a given.

Couldn't imagine barracking for any other club.

 

[Chicago1]

I just wrote this last month in the thread about my first AFL game:

The Bulldogs BF people have heard this all before, but...

Round 1 1976 - Footscray vs Essendon - Western Oval.

I had arrived in Melbourne the previous August('75) and didn't have any real time to form an interest in the footy that season, though I had been asked by some North supporters if I wanted to go to the '75 Grand Final with them. I declined. (I guess I might have become a Kangaroos supporter if I would have gone. Glad I didn't.)

Another American teacher and I decided to check out the footy to see what it was like. She lived in Moonee Ponds so decided to barrack for the Bombers and since I lived in Maribyrnong, I decided to go for the Bulldogs, without knowing anything about either team. It cost $2 for standing room and the Footy Record was 20c I believe. Of course we didn't understand what was really happening throughout the match, but it sure was exciting. I became enthralled with Gary Dempsey's marking ability. I had never seen anything like it. I was hooked. Oh, and the Bulldogs wore red, white and blue so it was an easy fit. The part that sealed the deal was when Footscray lost by one point. I had my team. As a long standing, fiercely loyal Chicago Cubs fan, I guess I've always been a fan of the underdog.(The Cubs last World Series Championship was in 1908.) Boy, I certainly know how to pick my teams, but I wouldn't change a thing!

I attended a few more matches that year, one at VFL Park that I attended with two Collingwood supporters. Footscray won that afternoon and they didn't speak to me all the way back to the Western Suburbs. That was my real introduction to footy "culture".

This year marks my 30th year as a Footscray/Western Bulldogs member. Sadly it doesn't look like I'll be able to buy my membership ticket in person in Melbourne like I did last year. However, I'm keeping the last week in September open this year...

 

[Chicago1]

Followed in dad's footsteps - as I believe everyone should. Barracking for a football team should be like taking a surname.

If I would have done that when I was growing up, then I guess I should be a Chicago White Sox(baseball) fan instead of a Chicago Cubs fan. In that case I would have been celebrating a White Sox World Series win two years ago rather than continuing to wait for a Cubs win. It's now 99 years and counting... Yeah... maybe I should have listened to my dad.

 

[Curly5]

Family first - I am a third generation Doggies fan. We lived within walking distance of the WO, so we always went to the home games. I don't remember going to many away games as a child, except the 61 GF . Our dad was a foundation member of the Kennel Masters coterie group and got all the players' autographs for us kids.

In later years I went travelling, had a family and paid less attention to the footy, although I was always a Bulldogs supporter if anyone asked. My interest was revived in the early 80s when, after seemingly decades as cellar-dwellers, the Dogs made the finals a couple of times.

Ironically, since we moved to Qld in the late 80s, and especially in the last decade, my enthusiasm has risen to a higher level than ever before. No doubt TV and newspaper coverage have vastly improved the profile of AFL in general and the Bulldogs in particular. The internet has been fantastic for keeping me and many other "exiles" up to date with what's happening at our club and helping us feel involved.

 

[Captain Sensible]

You guys who were locals and then moved and those who are interstate supporters, I have a question. Given that the internet allows you to keep up with things better do you think it contributes to your support of the bulldogs?


I guess what I want to know is are you a keener/more enthusiastic fan with the better access we have these days?

 

[Chicago1]

If not for the Internets, I wouldn't have a clue as to what was happening about the footy or Australia. It still amazes me that I can listen to the radio live from Melbourne. In fact I'm listening to 774 ABC Melbourne at the moment. Thank you, Al Gore.

This site especially has helped me keep up my enthusiasm for the Doggies. Six years ago this month I joined BF and the rest is history.

 

[Curly5]

I would have to say yes to that question. I often wonder what it would be like to live in Melbourne again, and if I would go to all the games played there. Probably I would go, but I've got used to the good view on TV, the regular replays, the absence of yobbos in the loungeroom (apart from the strangely quiet Cats fan ) and the cheap snacks.

 

[hoianbulldog]

You guys who were locals and then moved and those who are interstate supporters, I have a question. Given that the internet allows you to keep up with things better do you think it contributes to your support of the bulldogs?


I guess what I want to know is are you a keener/more enthusiastic fan with the better access we have these days?

Internet and TV coverage certainly help keep the enthusiasm up. I would have hated living interstate back in the days when only 2 or 3 games were partly replayed on TV.

 

[Wind Sock]

You guys who were locals and then moved and those who are interstate supporters, I have a question. Given that the internet allows you to keep up with things better do you think it contributes to your support of the bulldogs?


I guess what I want to know is are you a keener/more enthusiastic fan with the better access we have these days?

I lost interest when I moved to England in 1974 and stayed till early '81. In those days you had to go to Australia House to read the Australian papers. The old State Savings Bank branch in the Strand also used to put teh football scores and ladder in their window. Whenever I came to London, I'd go past and catch up but it wasn't the same.

I spent '84 working in New Zealand. I'd catch some football on Radio Australia and my dad sent me the Age monday football pages each week.

I now live in Wollongong. Now that the game is national, I see a lot of games, ours and others on TV. I never miss a match when I'm in Melbourne. I missed the media focus on football up here—all Swans. I found the club website helpful but not enough to satisfy me. This site is where I pick up information now. Even though a lot of reports aren't reliable, you sort it out pretty quickly just as you would in Melbourne. So the answer is yes, it helps a lot, but I'm no more an enthusiasitc supporter than I was before I became internet savvy, I just have a better idea what is happening and get to hear each match on internet radio if it isn't televised. (Driving around Wollongong looking for a place where I could catch a match on radio with adequate reception is a thing of the past.)

 

[Tassie Bulldog]

As an interstate supporter, I'm definitely more passionate about footy nowadays than when there was limited coverage available. The fact that you have 24/7 access just makes it an everyday part of your life as opposed to just being a weekend thing and something for the water-cooler on Monday morning.

Still have good memories of listening on the radio every week but couldn't live without the access options nowadays. Still couldn't believe I could listen to the practice match against WCE the other week live via the Internet.

Plus every Dogs match is shown live into Tassie nowadays (no delays down here ) and whilst I would much prefer to be there in person, its the next best thing.

One thing that really seals it for me is that I can remember when Chris Grant was considering a move to Port Adelaide back in the mid 90's and me and a mate were calling the club every hour to see if he had made a decision as we had no other way of finding out. Give me today's options any day.

As for Chicago1 and his following of the Cubs, I was in the States back in late 2003 and remember the "Bartman" incident very well. After being informed of their "tragic" history and seeing their Red, White & Blue uniform I immediately started supporting the Cubs myself. Hasn't been much fun either.

 

[ArGhHhH]

My story is a bit different in the sense my parents migrated from the middle east and have no real footy background.

Grew up in the SE suburbs and used to love watching footy when i was 6-7 i started too. I used to remember Danny Southern and the way he played and that got me hooked onto Footscray.

being so young at the time Southern potrayed this image of a guy who just sat on the interchange bench and ran on the field to knock the opposite out physically, which appealed to me being so young back then.

Then it just grew on me and theres no chance in hell i'd ever think of re-considering, after going thru the prelimz loss in 97-98 and all those near brownlow misses with Grant, Darcy and West!!

 

[Bulldog Banana]

Mum & dad are originally from SA. My dad was in the RAAF and worked at Laverton air base in the early 70's. We lived in West Sunshine and my parents didnt have any strong ties to any VFL clubs. Footscray was the closest team, so we started going to all the home matches at the Western Oval. We used to stand near the umpires race and I used to laugh at my mum going ballistic at the umpires at 1/2 time when they walked up the race. (sometimes they ran to avoid the abuse!)
It has just blossomed since then, and even though I have lived in Geelong most of my life, I have never wavered from supporting the doggies. Mum & dad have dropped off following a bit, but my brother & I still buy a membership every year.
Its in the blood for good now, and I try to convince all my younger relatives to follow the dogs, (with some success) although it hard in this one team town and the cats get most of the media.

 

[Doug Chappel]

Great thread, i really enjoyed reading every1's stories

I grew up in Footscray as did my dad & all his family, barracking for any other team was never an option, the bulldogs have always been a big part of my families culture. I remember watching the doggies when i was a little kid with my dad, sometimes we'd stand in the pouring rain at the western oval & we didn't win many games, but I always loved going & watching them & I was always a proud supporter. I still live in the western suburbs & both my kids love the bulldogs & I'm still a proud supporter... Go Doggies

 

[Jean Claude Vas Deferens]

Time to bump this thread. Lots of new posters on the Bulldog board in recent times, not to mention Hodge2Franklin starting a similar theme on the main board. Anyone who hasn't contributed, go for it! Never forget from where you came....

 

[Bulldog Ben]

I barrack for the Bulldogs as the team runs in my family.

Both my uncle and gramps played football for the dogs and I have always backed them and will never stop.... I live in Brisbane but make the treck to vic once a year to attend some games as best I can. This year i saw the melbourne and collingwood games and am just getting amped to go to the brisbane game tonight!

 

[The Coon Dog]

I barrack for the Bulldogs as the team runs in my family.

Both my uncle and gramps played football for the dogs and I have always backed them and will never stop.... I live in Brisbane but make the treck to vic once a year to attend some games as best I can. This year i saw the melbourne and collingwood games and am just getting amped to go to the brisbane game tonight!

If you don't mind me asking, who are they?

 

[Bulldog Ben]

Peter Welsh (B & F 1972) & Jack Welsh

 

[The Coon Dog]

Peter Welsh (B & F 1972) & Jack Welsh

My Mum used to work with Jack at Borthwick's in the early 1970's.

As a kid I had #4 on my jumper.

I will never forget the rally at the Whitten Oval in 1989.

Peter addressed the gathering saying that that morning while in the shower he thought of his life membership of the club & realised that he didn't want to be a life member of nothing. When he got out of the shower he said he had tears rolling down his cheeks & if the club meant that much to him, he was going to do everything in his power to fight for it. Stirring stuff.