Western Bulldogs

Full name	Western Bulldogs Football Club
Emblem	The Bulldogs
Playing strip	Blue guernsey with red and white stripes and bulldog figure
Founded	1883
Sport	Australian rules football
League	Australian Football League
Ground	Telstra Dome
Capacity	53,339
Club song	Sons of the West
President/Chair	David Smorgon
Coach	Rodney Eade
2005	9th of 16

The Western Bulldogs, formerly known as the Footscray Football Club or The Bulldogs is an Australian Football League (AFL) club based at the Whitten Oval in western suburban Melbourne, Australia, drawing its supporter base from this traditionally poor, industrial, and less leafy part of Melbourne. Virtually since its founding, it has been one of the league's less successful clubs, both in terms of on-field success and off-field resources. Image File history File links Western Bulldogs FC Logo File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1883 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search Australian rules football at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. ... Jump to: navigation, search This is a page about the national league in Australian Rules Football. ... This page is for Telstra Dome, Melbourne. ... Jump to: navigation, search This is a page about the national league in Australian Rules Football. ... Whitten Oval is a stadium in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... Jump to: navigation, search Melbourne is the capital and largest city of the state of Victoria, and the second largest city in Australia (after Sydney), with a population of 3. ...

It has won only one premiership, while playing in the VFL/AFL, in 1954. Jump to: navigation, search 1954 was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

This success was in no small part due to two champions of the club- Charlie Sutton the wiley and tough Captain/Coach and the clubs and one of Australian Rules' best ever players, Ted Whitten, otherwise known as 'Mr Football'. Charlie claims to have invented the modern play on style of football- run, handball, run, kick. While Teddy Whitten has been the source of more arguments on who is the greatest player than any other to grace the fields of Australian Rules Football. Considered by many to be the greatest Australian-rules football player of all time, Edward John Ted Whitten (1933-1995) lived his entire life for football: his club--Footscray (Western Bulldogs), his state team---Victoria and any fan or anybody in earshot of this larger-than-life character. ...

Both before and after 1954 the club struggled to make the final '4' however it almost always managed to hold itself a few games above the 'cellar dwellers' on the ladder.

Photo of Western Bulldogs warmup 2004

It had players of both quality and character such as Charlie and Ted, later Gary Dempsey the heroic ruckman who was badly burnt in bushfires in 1967 but managed to take out the games top individual award the 'Brownlow' in 1975. Or Dougie Hawkins the rogish lad as much at home with a beer as taking on the likes of 'Dipper' on the outer wing of the Western (Whitten) Oval. Even Simon 'the Pieman' Beasley a deadly accurate Full Forward and stockbroker who broke the image of blue collar players at the club. (He's now a bookmaker- not so different from a stockbroker!) Western Bulldogs Warmup against Collingwood 2004 Digital Photo I took before game. ... Western Bulldogs Warmup against Collingwood 2004 Digital Photo I took before game. ...

In the dim distant past (1900 to 1925) the club won a string of premierships in the VFA, but after the mightiest clubs had broken away and formed the VFL, the forerunner of the AFL.

Under tightly focussed management by club president David Smorgon, driven coaching by Terry Wallace, and the on-field leadership of Chris Grant and Tony Liberatore, the club had a relatively successful period through the mid- to late 1990s, making the finals from 1997 to 2000. However, without a premiership win, the club's future as ever looks on a knife's edge. After a 'quiet' period under former coach Peter Rohde, the Bulldogs are looking to a brighter future with the appointment of Rodney 'Rocket' Eade as coach in 2005. This was done with the Bulldogs winning 11 games and finishing 9th on the ladder, just missing out on the finals by 1/2 a game. Missing the finals was dealt a blow to both players and supporters of the team as hot late season form saw the team being considered real premiership contenders, even though a finals berth had not been secured. Hawthorn Premiership Player (Australian Rules Football), Western Bulldogs Coach 1996 to 2002 Terry Wallace was a good if not outstanding centre position player in a champion team at Hawthorn, briefly at Richmond and at Footscray (Western Bulldogs). ...

Brownlow Medal Winners

• Allan Hopkins (1930)
• Norman Ware (1941)
• Peter Box (1956)
• John Schultz (1960)
• Gary Dempsey (1975)
• Kelvin Templeton (1980)
• Brad Hardie (1985)
• Tony Liberatore (1990)
• Scott Wynd (1992)

Jump to: navigation, search 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1956 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Schultz is a former Australian rules football player, who played for the Footscray Football Club and is one of the clubs greatest players. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Scott Wynd is a legend and a dserving winner of the 1992 brownlow Medal. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

Team of the Century

In May 2002, the club announced a team of the greatest players from the last century. This article is about the month of May. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

John Schultz is a former Australian rules football player, who played for the Footscray Football Club and is one of the clubs greatest players. ... Considered by many to be the greatest Australian-rules football player of all time, Edward John Ted Whitten (1933-1995) lived his entire life for football: his club--Footscray (Western Bulldogs), his state team---Victoria and any fan or anybody in earshot of this larger-than-life character. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Scott West is an Australian Football League player who plays for the Western Bulldogs. ... Scott Wynd is a legend and a dserving winner of the 1992 brownlow Medal. ...

External links

• Official Website of the Western Bulldogs Football Club
• BigFooty Western Bulldogs Fan Forum
• Full Points Footy History of the Western Bulldogs Football Club