Melbourne Hawks
Encyclopedia
The Melbourne Football Club/Hawthorn Football Club merger was a planned Australian Football League
team that would have consisted of the merger between the Melbourne
and Hawthorn Football Club
s at the end of the 1996 season. Out of all the proposed merger combinations in the 1990s, it was seemed as ideal as it was known that Hawthorn had a football team which ranked as one of the best of all time but were in a dire financial situation, as opposed to Melbourne which had a sound financial base but were a club which historically did not perform on-field.
n VFL
competition had undertaken a large expansion program which saw the league expand from being a state-based competition (centred around the inner suburbs of Melbourne
) to a national competition. The decision to undertake this expansion was in response to elite national leagues being run by other sporting codes (for example the Australian Rugby League
, the National Basketball League
, and the National Soccer League
), which threatened to undermine interest in football at both a junior, and elite level. The VFL/AFL expansion included new teams from Perth
, Adelaide
, Brisbane
, in the addition to the relocation of South Melbourne
to Sydney
, and saw the league change its name from the VFL to the AFL.
The expansion led to Victoria holding a disproportionately large number of teams relative to the other states. By the mid 1990s, there were 11 teams based in Victoria - 10 of those in the inner suburbs of Melbourne - and concerns were raised about the long term viability (both on the field, and in an economic sense) of some of the 'weaker' Melbourne-based clubs. Members of the AFL Commission
(the governing body for the competition) began to worry that, relative to the new interstate clubs and more powerful Victorian-based teams, the weaker Melbourne-based clubs would not have a sufficiently large supporter base to survive in the new national competition. Statistics published in newspapers like the Herald Sun
showed that several Melbourne based clubs (including Hawthorn and Melbourne) only had a fraction of the membership base either their interstate, or cross-town rivals. It was suggested by some at the time that the Melbourne market could realistically support no more than six to eight teams.
The AFL, under CEO
Ross Oakley
, proposed that the preferred outcome for these smaller Melbourne-based clubs would be to merge (or amalgamate) with other smaller teams. According to the AFL at the time, mergers would create super-clubs which would retain at least some of the traditions and history of its former teams; clearly preferable to having both teams eventually financially collapse. Merging with other Melbourne based clubs, rather than relocating interstate, would allow local supporters to continually attending their team's matches. Based on this logic, the AFL undertook an active program of pursuing mergers between Melbourne-based clubs. The AFL began this policy by offering A$
6 million to any newly merged football team (an offer which grew to A$8 million by mid-1996).
Within Melbourne, discussions about potential mergers were often greeted with deep suspicion and open hostility. While the growth of a national competition from the former VFL has arguably been highly beneficial to the code of Australian rules football
overall, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, many Melburnians were opposed to reform attempts. The merger debate led to widespread accusations that the league's administrators had grown 'out-of-touch' with the sport's grass-roots supporter base. The league openly discussing the elimination of some Melbourne based clubs through mergers led to widespread anger, and disillusionment, towards the league.
, as well as various combinations of Melbourne, Hawthorn, St. Kilda
, Footscray, Fitzroy, and North Melbourne
.
Carlton
, Collingwood
, Essendon
, Geelong and Richmond
were generally exempt from these proposals due to their financial success.
It is perhaps from a combination of these reasons that negotiations would proceed further between Melbourne and Hawthorn than between other potential merger partners.
Some commentators noted that the merged team would more closely resemble Melbourne than Hawthorn and speculated whether Hawthorn suffered from a weaker bargaining position as a result of its weak financial situation.
(who is a respected former Hawthorn footballer) launched the Operation Payback campaign. Aided by business acumen of former Pacific Dunlop Executive Ian Dicker the campaign, which would be backed by other former Hawthorn footballers including Dermott Brereton
, was multifaceted and included a number of aims:
, who was aided by millionaire businessman Joseph Gutnick
. Gutnick, a Melbourne supporter who had accumulated his wealth (and earned the nickname "Diamond" Joe Gutnick) through investments in Western Australian mining, pledged to donate A$1 million to Melbourne if the merger vote was defeated.
It is important to note, however, that this opposition was not universal: several thousand members (as noted earlier) ended up voting in favor of the merger proposal; including a majority of Melbourne supporters. In some cases, those supporting the merger were equally as passionate as those who opposed it.
saw Melbourne and Hawthorn play each other in the last round of that season. "The Merger Game" as it was called, was a spirited contest, as it was a likely possibility that it would be the last Hawthorn vs. Melbourne contest and, as the result that Melbourne could not make the finals and Hawthorn needed to win the game by any margin to have any chance to contest the 1996 finals series, many fans saw this game as a last chance to see their team play football.
63,196 fans went to the Melbourne Cricket Ground
to see Dunstall
kick 10 goals and the Hawthorn Hawks win by one point. In a now-famous moment of defiance to both the league and his team's board, Chris Langford
(Hawthorn's full back) took off his Hawthorn jumper and proudly held it above his head while leaving the field. Prior to the game, an 'anti-merger' rally, led by Scott, was held at Hawthorn's then training ground, Glenferrie Oval
.
Later in the round, Richmond
lost to the North Melbourne
by a large margin. This loss ensured that Hawthorn were playing in the finals. Hawthorn would get knocked out by the Sydney Swans
, by one goal, in the first week of the 1996 finals, a week after the merger votes.
The debates about the merger were passionate, with Scott (in a now famous moment) at one point holding up a mock-up of the Melbourne Hawks jumper, and proceeding to rip off a Velcro
hawk and yellow V-neck to reveal a Melbourne jumper underneath. Prior to the commencement of the meetings, vocal anti-merger supporters chanted team songs and anti-merger slogans.
While Melbourne members (aided by a large bloc of proxy votes and the inability of all interested parties to get inside the hall to vote) voted 4,679 to 4,229 in favour of the merger, Hawthorn members overwhelming voted against it by a vote of 5241 to 2841 and the proposal was defeated. Large-scale resignations followed on both boards as those who had supported the merger fell on their swords; several prominent members of the anti-merger campaigns (including Dicker, Scott, Brereton, and Gutnick) would take senior executive or board positions at both clubs in the wake of the merger. The two sides continue to play in their original form to this day.
and Brisbane
clubs had been merged by the directive of the AFL commission to take effect as the Brisbane Lions
on 1st November 1996. Footscray and North Melbourne also changed their names to the Western Bulldogs and the Kangaroos respectively to attract more fans, having both been considered for mergers in the last two decades.
A decade later, merger and relocation talks amongst Victorian clubs continue. In 2007, the AFL pushed for the Kangaroos to move to the Gold Coast
as part of another attempted push for national expansion following the inclusion of Port Adelaide and Fremantle
into the league in the late 1990s, as well as attempting to increase North's memberships (which were amongst the lowest in the league). The club was offered a lucrative deal, including already established facilities and a stadium to play in on the Gold Coast but James Brayshaw
became the figurehead for the club and the proposal was once again turned down. The Kangaroos later reverted back to their old North Melbourne tag and Brayshaw became the club's president. The Gold Coast Football Club came into existence anyway and first competed in the AFL in 2011.
At the start of the 2008 season
, Melbourne were once again considered for merger or relocation negotiations after revealing that their membership numbers had been amongst the lowest in the league for a long period of time and their financial position was becoming seriously poor. It also did not help that the club lost its first game of the season by 104 points to Hawthorn, who would go on to win the Grand Final that season. Former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon
proposed on Footy Classified
, following the round's proceedings, that Melbourne may very well be the Fitzroy of the modern era in their inability to perform for extended periods both on and off the field.
In stark contrast, Hawthorn, the 2008 premiers, has managed to grow from strength to strength on and off the field. At the conclusion of the 2008 season, Hawthorn was on the verge of becoming the first VFL/AFL club to record a A$5 million profit. The Hawks have since become the first Victorian club to achieve 50,000 members, which occurred in the 2009 season.
Midway through the 2010 season
, Melbourne chairman Jim Stynes
announced that Melbourne had paid off all debts. This, coupled with a rise off the bottom of the ladder and record club membership, secured Melbourne's short-term future as a stand-alone club.
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
team that would have consisted of the merger between the Melbourne
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
and Hawthorn Football Club
Hawthorn Football Club
The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
s at the end of the 1996 season. Out of all the proposed merger combinations in the 1990s, it was seemed as ideal as it was known that Hawthorn had a football team which ranked as one of the best of all time but were in a dire financial situation, as opposed to Melbourne which had a sound financial base but were a club which historically did not perform on-field.
Background
Since the mid 1980, the formerly all-VictoriaVictoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
n VFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
competition had undertaken a large expansion program which saw the league expand from being a state-based competition (centred around the inner suburbs of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
) to a national competition. The decision to undertake this expansion was in response to elite national leagues being run by other sporting codes (for example the Australian Rugby League
Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
, the National Basketball League
National Basketball League (Australia)
The National Basketball League, also known as the iiNet NBL Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Australasia....
, and the National Soccer League
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...
), which threatened to undermine interest in football at both a junior, and elite level. The VFL/AFL expansion included new teams from Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, in the addition to the relocation of South Melbourne
South Melbourne, Victoria
South Melbourne is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne...
to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, and saw the league change its name from the VFL to the AFL.
The expansion led to Victoria holding a disproportionately large number of teams relative to the other states. By the mid 1990s, there were 11 teams based in Victoria - 10 of those in the inner suburbs of Melbourne - and concerns were raised about the long term viability (both on the field, and in an economic sense) of some of the 'weaker' Melbourne-based clubs. Members of the AFL Commission
AFL Commission
The AFL Commission is the official governing body of the Australian Football League , the elite national Australian rules football competition....
(the governing body for the competition) began to worry that, relative to the new interstate clubs and more powerful Victorian-based teams, the weaker Melbourne-based clubs would not have a sufficiently large supporter base to survive in the new national competition. Statistics published in newspapers like the Herald Sun
Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...
showed that several Melbourne based clubs (including Hawthorn and Melbourne) only had a fraction of the membership base either their interstate, or cross-town rivals. It was suggested by some at the time that the Melbourne market could realistically support no more than six to eight teams.
The AFL, under CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
Ross Oakley
Ross Oakley
Ross Oakley is an Australian businessman and former Australian rules footballer with St Kilda in the VFL. He is CEO of the Victorian Rugby Union and was appointed CEO of the new the Melbourne Rebels rugby union franchise in September 2010.-Playing career:Oakley attended Wesley College, Melbourne ...
, proposed that the preferred outcome for these smaller Melbourne-based clubs would be to merge (or amalgamate) with other smaller teams. According to the AFL at the time, mergers would create super-clubs which would retain at least some of the traditions and history of its former teams; clearly preferable to having both teams eventually financially collapse. Merging with other Melbourne based clubs, rather than relocating interstate, would allow local supporters to continually attending their team's matches. Based on this logic, the AFL undertook an active program of pursuing mergers between Melbourne-based clubs. The AFL began this policy by offering A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
6 million to any newly merged football team (an offer which grew to A$8 million by mid-1996).
Within Melbourne, discussions about potential mergers were often greeted with deep suspicion and open hostility. While the growth of a national competition from the former VFL has arguably been highly beneficial to the code of Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
overall, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, many Melburnians were opposed to reform attempts. The merger debate led to widespread accusations that the league's administrators had grown 'out-of-touch' with the sport's grass-roots supporter base. The league openly discussing the elimination of some Melbourne based clubs through mergers led to widespread anger, and disillusionment, towards the league.
Merger proposals
Upon pressure and incentives from the league, and saturation of the dire warnings about the consequences of too many teams based in Melbourne, a number of Melbourne based clubs began investigating and pursuing potential mergers. Some proposals raised in the local media included a possible amalgamation of Footscray and FitzroyFitzroy Football Club
The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
, as well as various combinations of Melbourne, Hawthorn, St. Kilda
St. Kilda Football Club
The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed The Saints, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club plays in the Australian Football League, the sport's premier league....
, Footscray, Fitzroy, and North Melbourne
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
.
Carlton
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
, Collingwood
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
, Essendon
Essendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
, Geelong and Richmond
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
were generally exempt from these proposals due to their financial success.
The case for the Melbourne Football Club/Hawthorn Football Club planned merger
Of the potential mergers that were speculated about in the media, the one which perhaps seemed to make the most sense was the potential merger between Melbourne and Hawthorn. On the surface, the merger appeared to make sense for a number of reasons:- Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Hawthorn had fielded exceptional teams which had won the club a succession of grand finalAFL Grand FinalThe AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions for that year...
appearances (eight in nine years) and premierships (five in nine years). Hawthorn, under then-coach Ken JudgeKen Judge- Playing career :He was recruited from East Fremantle Football Club to Hawthorn and made an immediate impact in his VFL debut in 1983, being part of a premiership side in his first season and winning the Hawks' Best First Year Player award...
, had also undertaken a youth recruitment campaign which had netted the club a number of promising players, including future Brownlow MedalBrownlow MedalThe Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
ist Shane CrawfordShane CrawfordShane Barry Crawford is a former Australian rules footballer, having played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League...
.- In contrast, Melbourne had not won a premiership in more than three decades, and suffered from relatively weak on-field performance.
- Melbourne was in a relatively strong financial position.
- In contrast, Hawthorn was suffering from mounting debts, and financial losses. It had struggled to obtain and maintain corporate sponsorship; at one point in 1992 not having a corporate sponsor in spite of having won the previous Grand Final.
- Hawthorn had a centralised training facility, administration centre, and social club (on land owned by the social club) at its Glenferrie OvalGlenferrie OvalGlenferrie Oval is an Australian rules football stadium located in Hawthorn, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.It is the historic home of and is synonymous with the Hawthorn Football Club, who played there from 1903 and as a VFL/AFL club from 1925–1973, and retained the ground as an...
complex. The team's training facilities had recently been upgraded and were amongst the best in the league.- In contrast, Melbourne did not have a central base: it trained at the Junction OvalJunction OvalThe Junction Oval is an historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its location near the St Kilda Junction gave rise to its nickname...
in St KildaSt Kilda, VictoriaSt Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
, had its administration facilities in Jolimont, and had a social club in SandringhamSandringham, VictoriaSandringham is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Sandringham had a population of 8693.-History:...
.
- In contrast, Melbourne did not have a central base: it trained at the Junction Oval
- Both clubs were perceived to have had a traditionally middle-class supporter base; Melbourne had a historical connection to the MCCMelbourne Cricket ClubThe Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
, while Hawthorn was based in the middle class, inner-eastern suburb of HawthornHawthorn, VictoriaHawthorn is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara...
. - Both clubs, in contrast to the stronger Melbourne based clubs (like CollingwoodCollingwood Football ClubThe Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
, CarltonCarlton Football ClubThe Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
, or EssendonEssendon Football ClubThe Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
), and the stronger interstate teams (like the Adelaide CrowsAdelaide CrowsThe Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed The Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia, playing in the Australian Football League ....
, or West Coast EaglesWest Coast EaglesThe West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...
), had a relatively small membership base.
It is perhaps from a combination of these reasons that negotiations would proceed further between Melbourne and Hawthorn than between other potential merger partners.
Negotiations
The negotiations advanced considerably and settled on a number of key aspects of the proposed team. Speculation about ongoing merger negotiations often appeared in the mainstream media prior to the official announcement, with several key details leaking to the press. Key points agreed upon during negotiations prior to the official announcement included that:- The new team's name would be "Melbourne" and would use Hawthorn's "Hawks" nickname
- The new team's guernsey would resemble Melbourne's, except feature a gold 'V' and a gold Hawk
- The amalgamated team would use Melbourne's red and blue with Hawthorn's gold
- Hawthorn's Hawk would be the new team's logo
- New club Best and Fairest award to be known as the Crimmins-Truscott Trophy
Some commentators noted that the merged team would more closely resemble Melbourne than Hawthorn and speculated whether Hawthorn suffered from a weaker bargaining position as a result of its weak financial situation.
Don Scott and Operation Payback
In the wake of the official merger announcement, Don ScottDon Scott (footballer)
Don Scott is a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League. Scott was a fearless ruckman and premiership captain for Hawthorn Football Club....
(who is a respected former Hawthorn footballer) launched the Operation Payback campaign. Aided by business acumen of former Pacific Dunlop Executive Ian Dicker the campaign, which would be backed by other former Hawthorn footballers including Dermott Brereton
Dermott Brereton
Dermott Hugh Brereton is a former Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League, regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. Of Irish descent , he is known for his aggressive style of play. Brereton kicked 464 goals and played in five Premierships for during...
, was multifaceted and included a number of aims:
- To launch a motion officially opposing the merger proposal, and to present the anti-merger case, at the extraordinary general meeting where Hawthorn members would vote upon the merger proposal;
- To run a fund raising campaign to alleviate Hawthorn's immediate debt problems;
- To secure business support (including potential sponsors and bank overdrafts) for the ongoing survival of Hawthorn;
- To secure the support of prominent past and present footballers for the anti-merger campaign at Hawthorn.
Joe Gutnick
In the weeks following Scott's launch of the Operation Payback campaign, a similar anti-merger campaign was launched for the Melbourne Football Club by former premiership player Brian DixonBrian Dixon
Brian Dixon is a former Australian rules footballer and Victorian Politician.Dixon played 252 VFL games for Melbourne between 1954 and 1968, playing mostly on the wing...
, who was aided by millionaire businessman Joseph Gutnick
Joseph Gutnick
Joseph Isaac Gutnick is an Australian businessman and mining industry entrepreneur. He is also an ordained rabbi and is well known for his philanthropy in the Jewish world.-Business holdings:Among Gutnick's business holdings:...
. Gutnick, a Melbourne supporter who had accumulated his wealth (and earned the nickname "Diamond" Joe Gutnick) through investments in Western Australian mining, pledged to donate A$1 million to Melbourne if the merger vote was defeated.
Popular backlash to the merger proposal
Following the launch of Operation Payback, and Gutnick's campaign at Melbourne, a vocal backlash to the merger proposal emerged amongst the supporters at both clubs. Banners with slogans including "No Merger" and "Operation Payback" became a common fixture at both Hawthorn training sessions, Hawthorn matches, and at Glenferrie road. Other signs appeared, including several which decried the system of 'proxy votes' for members unable to attend the anti-merger meeting (it was speculated by some of those who opposed the merger proposal that proxy votes would help the pro-merger cause).It is important to note, however, that this opposition was not universal: several thousand members (as noted earlier) ended up voting in favor of the merger proposal; including a majority of Melbourne supporters. In some cases, those supporting the merger were equally as passionate as those who opposed it.
The Merger Game
The end of the 1996 season1996 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1996.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Lighting Premiership:...
saw Melbourne and Hawthorn play each other in the last round of that season. "The Merger Game" as it was called, was a spirited contest, as it was a likely possibility that it would be the last Hawthorn vs. Melbourne contest and, as the result that Melbourne could not make the finals and Hawthorn needed to win the game by any margin to have any chance to contest the 1996 finals series, many fans saw this game as a last chance to see their team play football.
63,196 fans went to the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
to see Dunstall
Jason Dunstall
Jason Hadfield Dunstall is a former Australian rules football player for the Hawthorn Football Club of the AFL. He is the third greatest goalkicker in the history of the VFL/AFL. Dunstall is regarded as one of the greatest full-forwards to have ever played, kicking 1254 goals, a feat only...
kick 10 goals and the Hawthorn Hawks win by one point. In a now-famous moment of defiance to both the league and his team's board, Chris Langford
Chris Langford
Chris Langford is a former professional Australian rules footballer who is currently a game administrator.Langford is best known for his 303 game career for the Hawthorn Hawks between 1983 and 1997. He captained the club in the 1994 season and earned All-Australian selection. It was his second...
(Hawthorn's full back) took off his Hawthorn jumper and proudly held it above his head while leaving the field. Prior to the game, an 'anti-merger' rally, led by Scott, was held at Hawthorn's then training ground, Glenferrie Oval
Glenferrie Oval
Glenferrie Oval is an Australian rules football stadium located in Hawthorn, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.It is the historic home of and is synonymous with the Hawthorn Football Club, who played there from 1903 and as a VFL/AFL club from 1925–1973, and retained the ground as an...
.
Later in the round, Richmond
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
lost to the North Melbourne
Kangaroos Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
by a large margin. This loss ensured that Hawthorn were playing in the finals. Hawthorn would get knocked out by the Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
, by one goal, in the first week of the 1996 finals, a week after the merger votes.
The vote
Both the Hawthorn and Melbourne Football Clubs called extraordinary general meetings - Hawthorn held their meeting at the Camberwell Civic Centre, while Melbourne held its meeting at Dallas Brooks Hall. To the surprise of the respective clubs' boards, the meeting halls were filled, with more members and supporters of each team watching proceedings on large monitors outside. Entrepreneurial peddlers set up stalls selling merchandise along the long queues into the respective meeting halls.The debates about the merger were passionate, with Scott (in a now famous moment) at one point holding up a mock-up of the Melbourne Hawks jumper, and proceeding to rip off a Velcro
Velcro
Velcro is the brand name of the first commercially marketed fabric hook-and-loop fastener, invented in 1948 by the Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral...
hawk and yellow V-neck to reveal a Melbourne jumper underneath. Prior to the commencement of the meetings, vocal anti-merger supporters chanted team songs and anti-merger slogans.
While Melbourne members (aided by a large bloc of proxy votes and the inability of all interested parties to get inside the hall to vote) voted 4,679 to 4,229 in favour of the merger, Hawthorn members overwhelming voted against it by a vote of 5241 to 2841 and the proposal was defeated. Large-scale resignations followed on both boards as those who had supported the merger fell on their swords; several prominent members of the anti-merger campaigns (including Dicker, Scott, Brereton, and Gutnick) would take senior executive or board positions at both clubs in the wake of the merger. The two sides continue to play in their original form to this day.
Aftermath
Before the failed merger of Melbourne and Hawthorn, on the 4th July 1996, the FitzroyFitzroy Football Club
The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
and Brisbane
Brisbane Bears
The Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995...
clubs had been merged by the directive of the AFL commission to take effect as the Brisbane Lions
Brisbane Lions
The Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...
on 1st November 1996. Footscray and North Melbourne also changed their names to the Western Bulldogs and the Kangaroos respectively to attract more fans, having both been considered for mergers in the last two decades.
A decade later, merger and relocation talks amongst Victorian clubs continue. In 2007, the AFL pushed for the Kangaroos to move to the Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
as part of another attempted push for national expansion following the inclusion of Port Adelaide and Fremantle
Fremantle Football Club
The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed The Dockers, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia...
into the league in the late 1990s, as well as attempting to increase North's memberships (which were amongst the lowest in the league). The club was offered a lucrative deal, including already established facilities and a stadium to play in on the Gold Coast but James Brayshaw
James Brayshaw
James Antony Brayshaw is a former state cricketer and now Australian television and radio personality. As a cricketer he was known as Jamie Brayshaw. He is the son of former Western Australian cricketer and Australian rules footballer Ian Brayshaw, and the brother of Mark Brayshaw, a former...
became the figurehead for the club and the proposal was once again turned down. The Kangaroos later reverted back to their old North Melbourne tag and Brayshaw became the club's president. The Gold Coast Football Club came into existence anyway and first competed in the AFL in 2011.
At the start of the 2008 season
2008 AFL season
-Round 1 :-Round 2:-Round 3 :-Round 4:-Round 5:-Round 6 :-Round 7:-AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match:-Round 8:...
, Melbourne were once again considered for merger or relocation negotiations after revealing that their membership numbers had been amongst the lowest in the league for a long period of time and their financial position was becoming seriously poor. It also did not help that the club lost its first game of the season by 104 points to Hawthorn, who would go on to win the Grand Final that season. Former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon
Garry Lyon
Garry Peter Lyon is a former professional Australian rules football player and was captain of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League. Since his retirement from football, he has been mainly an Australian rules football media personality, featuring on television, radio and in...
proposed on Footy Classified
Footy Classified
Footy Classified , is an Australian television program broadcast on the Nine Network which discusses pressing issues relating to AFL football. It debuted on Monday 2 April 2007...
, following the round's proceedings, that Melbourne may very well be the Fitzroy of the modern era in their inability to perform for extended periods both on and off the field.
In stark contrast, Hawthorn, the 2008 premiers, has managed to grow from strength to strength on and off the field. At the conclusion of the 2008 season, Hawthorn was on the verge of becoming the first VFL/AFL club to record a A$5 million profit. The Hawks have since become the first Victorian club to achieve 50,000 members, which occurred in the 2009 season.
Midway through the 2010 season
2010 AFL season
-Premiership season:The draw for the 2010 AFL Premiership Season is not a random selection of matches, but rather is planned by the AFL. It is intended to produce a balanced draw while also providing the fans and television networks with blockbuster games. In a competition with 16 teams and 22...
, Melbourne chairman Jim Stynes
Jim Stynes
James "Jim" Stynes OAM is an Irish former professional Australian rules footballer who is currently a businessman, philanthropist, writer, youth worker, qualified teacher and chairman of Melbourne Football Club since 2008....
announced that Melbourne had paid off all debts. This, coupled with a rise off the bottom of the ladder and record club membership, secured Melbourne's short-term future as a stand-alone club.