The following events will soon be consigned to Club history as the Lions gear up for another assault on the AFL Premiership in 2012.
The Lions will count down the 10 significant moments from 2011 throughout December, with the final instalment featuring on Friday 23 December - prior to the Club’s official closure for the New Year period.
MOMENT #8: HISTORY ON SHOW
CLICK HERE to watch the video from the Fitzroy memorabilia display’s grand opening in Melbourne
Ever since it was officially announced that Fitzroy and the Brisbane Bears would merge to become the Brisbane Lions on Thursday 4 July 1996, the Fitzroy-Brisbane Lions Historical Society has remained committed to honouring the Club’s proud history in Victoria.
Club stalwarts Arthur Wilson and George Coates were initially entrusted with the responsibility of preserving Fitzroy’s 100-year legacy by retrieving, restoring and maintaining its valuable memorabilia items and historic artefacts post-merger.
But the task proved difficult from the outset.
As Arthur Wilson revealed, around 30 per cent of the memorabilia was stolen from the Fitzroy hotel once the merger was announced.
''People just took it off the walls,'' Wilson said. ''We had the police chasing a bit of it at one stage and got quite a lot back. And a lot of it just turned up, you know, mysteriously arrived on the doorstep.''
Much like the club itself, Fitzroy’s memorabilia was constantly on the move. It went from the Brunswick Oval, to the Junction Oval, to the Lakeside Oval, and then found its way to a couple of storage facilities in Northcote before being put on display at the Fitzroy hotel.
Post-merger, those items that could be salvaged were placed in a new storage facility, while some went on the walls at the Lions’ former Victorian home at The Manningham Club.
But the grand plan was always to find a suitably safe and secure venue that could house a Fitzroy memorabilia display that would remain in perpetuity for future football generations to enjoy.
On Wednesday 23 November 2011 - more than 15 years since the merger was formalised - Fitzroy’s much travelled memorabilia finally found a permanent home at Etihad Stadium.
It proved a proud moment for the Fitzroy-Brisbane Lions Historical Society who - together with the Brisbane Lions, the Fitzroy Past Players & Officials Association and Etihad Stadium - had helped bring this project to fruition.
The grand opening of the impressive memorabilia display saw close to 600 fans marvel at some of the Club’s relics from bygone eras, including seven of Fitzroy’s retrospective VFL Premiership Cups which had been purchased by the Club courtesy of the Historical Society’s continued fundraising initiatives.
It proved a significant moment not just in the context of the year, but in the ongoing recognition and celebration of the Brisbane Lions’ unique history.
The Brisbane Lions sincerely appreciate the efforts from everyone involved in the process, and encourage all fans to visit the display sometime in the near future to see our rich history for themselves.
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RELATED LINKS
Lions history alive in Melbourne
Lions’ pride on display
PREVIOUS MOMENTS
#10: CELEBRATING GREATNESS
#9: BLOODING YOUNG CUBS
