They defeated Fremantle at home in the first qualifying final in Round one of the finals series and so earned a one-week break. As of 2019, the Sydney Swans have not lost a premiership match by more than 100 points since Round 10, 1998.[73]. Attendances and memberships in Sydney grew dramatically during the Lockett era, helped out by the Super League War plaguing Rugby League. Former North Melbourne premiership-winning forward John Longmire took over as coach of the Swans as part of a succession plan initiated by Paul Roos in 2009 prior to the beginning of the 2011 season. Capper was sold to the Brisbane Bears for $400,000 in a desperate attempt to improve the club's finances. After several years with only limited success, South Melbourne next reached the grand final in 1945. Carlton won the match by 28 points, and from then on, South Melbourne struggled for many years. The other clubs were St Kilda Football Club, Essendon Football Club, Fitzroy Football Club, Melbourne Football Club, Geelong Football Club, Carlton Football Club and Collingwood Football Club. The 2014 AFL season began with some difficulties for the Swans. The Swans lost all three of those significant matches. At the end of the 1896 season, Collingwood and South Melbourne finished equal at the top of the VFA's premiership ladder with records of 14–3–1, requiring a playoff match to determine the season's premiership; this was the first time this had occurred in VFA history. In 1961, the school and other musical houses granted South Melbourne a copyright to adapt the Victory March into the new club song, which replaced an adaptation of Springtime in the Rockies by Gene Autry. Three more wins followed, against West Coast, Brisbane and Essendon respectively before a shock loss to Richmond in round 8 by a solitary point, after a kick after the siren. [25] It was not until 1983 that the club formally moved all its operations to Sydney and became the Sydney Swans. During Capper's peak years, the Swans had made successive finals appearances for the first time since relocating. Sydney was able to recruit another St Kilda export in the Lockett mould, Barry Hall. By the end of the 1970s South Melbourne were saddled with massive debts after struggling for such a long period of time. A group of financial backers including Mike Willesee, Basil Sellers, Peter Weinert and Craig Kimberley purchased the licence and bankrolled the club until 1993, when the AFL stepped in. The 16th-place finish was also the lowest in club history. A preliminary final against the Brisbane Lions in 2003 attracted 71,019 people. In a bid to be more gender inclusive, a leading AFL club have changed the words in their club song. Previously, a reserves team was first created for South Melbourne in 1919, initially in the form of the Leopold Football Club, which was the leading junior club in the district and which had won five Metropolitan Junior Football Association premierships in its history. Between 1945 and 1981, South Melbourne made the finals only twice: under legendary coach Norm Smith, South Melbourne finished fourth in 1970, but lost the first semi-final; and, in 1977, the club finished fifth under coach Ian Stewart, but lost the elimination final. The Sydney Swans' mascot for the AFL's Mascot Manor is Syd 'Swannie' Skilton. Despite its historical lack of success, South Melbourne/Sydney has provided more Brownlow Medal winners (14) than any other club. Paul Kelly (born 28 July 1969) is a former Australian rules footballer, winner of the Brownlow Medal and captain of the Sydney Swans for ten seasons. The Swans won eight games – as many as they did in the previous three seasons combined – and finished with a percentage of over 100 (in fact, they have managed such consistently ever since). The Opera House design was first used at the start of the 1987 season, replacing the traditional red "V" on white design. Sydney's tight-knit football community is reeling after former Swans star Brad Seymour's shock split from his model turned author wife Melissa after almost 20 years of marriage. The club was based at Lake Oval, also home of the South Melbourne Cricket Club. The Swans started off the 2016 season with a convincing 80-point round 1 win against Collingwood, with new Swans recruit Michael Talia suffering a long term foot injury. The 2006 AFL Grand Final was contested between the Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 30 September 2006. South Melbourne was a junior foundation club of the Victorian Football Association in 1877, and attained senior status in 1879;[14] The South Melbourne amalgamation with neighbouring Albert-park Football Club in 1880, formed a club that became the strongest in metropolitan Melbourne. The Swans then made the finals for four of the next five full years that Rodney Eade was in charge. (74) to 21.11.(137). Some of their best wins include against the reigning premiers the Bulldogs, GWS, and comeback wins against Richmond and Essendon. The Swans defeated St Kilda in an elimination final at Docklands Stadium before losing to Hawthorn in the semi-finals the following week. He played six seasons at Richmond, making 89 senior appearances. Paul Kelly Fans, New Braunfels, Texas. Barassi left an improving team, a club in a much better state than he found them. Former Hawthorn player Rodney Eade took over the reins in 1996 and after a slow start (they lost their first two games of the season), turned the club around into powerful force. [10] Nicknamed the "Southerners", the team was more colourfully known as the "Bloods", in reference to the bright red diagonal sash on their white jumpers[11][12] (the sash was replaced with a red "V" in 1932). [24] Its physical "home club" was the "Southern Cross Social Club" at 120a Clovelly Road, Randwick, New South Wales which became bankrupt in 1987; new Sydney Swans Offices were then set up in the newly built Sydney Football Stadium. The Swans bounced back against Adelaide with a convincing win 52-point win, but lost their next game to Geelong at Simmonds stadium; a close affair that Geelong blew apart in the 3rd quarter. Ryan O'Keefe was named the Norm Smith Medallist and the Swan's best player in September, The Swans' 2013 season was marred by long-term injuries to many of its key players, namely Adam Goodes, Sam Reid, Lewis Jetta, Rhyce Shaw and Lewis Roberts-Thomson, among others; despite this setback, the team were still able to reach the finals for the fifteenth time in 18 seasons, reaching the preliminary finals where they were defeated by Fremantle at Patersons Stadium, its first loss at the venue since 2009.[36][37]. The 63-point loss was Sydney's biggest ever loss in a grand final and their biggest defeat all season, meaning Hawthorn would become back to back premiers for the second time in their history. The venue has been home to Swans home games since the club's relocation to Sydney in 1982. The club also fields a reserves team, which since 2021 has competed in the VFL/East Coast League. The club's form was to slump in the following year. After a loss to North Melbourne in Round 4, the Swans' won twelve games in a row, including victories against 2013 grand finalists Fremantle and Hawthorn, Geelong by 110 points at the SCG and then ladder leaders Port Adelaide. [39] The following week was no better with a road trip to Perth and another loss, this time to the Eagles by 52 points, the scoreline ultimately flattering the Swans. The club had been operating at a loss of at least $150,000 for the previous five years. However, they managed to win 13 of their last 15, losing both their games to Hawthorn by 1 goal. Paul Kelly of the Sydney Swans AFL games played and stats. Edelsten resigned as chairman in less than twelve months, but had already made his mark. (95).   Premiers   Grand Finalist   Finals   Wooden spoon. The AFL stepped in to save the Swans, offering substantial monetary and management support. Most Swans matches can be heard by listeners in the Riverina region of N.S.W. It was also the first time that the Giants would make the finals in their fifth year. The nickname, which was suggested by a Herald and Weekly Times artist in 1933, was inspired by the number of Western Australians in the team (the black swan being the state emblem of Western Australia), and was formally adopted by the club before the following season 1934. [6], Legend: Although the headcount could have seen Southport's score re-set to zero, the infringement was instead deemed an interchange breach with no material impact on the outcome of the game, resulting in Southport's score standing.[69]. It won premierships in 1909, 1918 and 1933 before experiencing a 72-year premiership drought—the longest by any team in the competition's history. As reigning premiers, the Sydney Swans started the 2006 season slowly, losing three of their first four games, including in round one to an Essendon side that would finish near the bottom of the ladder with only three wins and a draw, and finish with the worst defensive record of any side for the season (Sydney, conversely, had the best defensive record of any side).[34]. Sydney lost their first game against Greater Western Sydney and then to Collingwood before becoming the first non-South Australian team to win at Adelaide Oval defeating Adelaide by 63 points with Lance Franklin and Luke Parker kicking 4 goals each. Find the perfect Sydney Swans Club Launch stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. They missed the finals for the first time in a decade, finishing 15th on the ladder with eight wins and 14 losses. The Paul Kelly Cup, named after the former Swans captain and Brownlow medallist, is the largest AFL primary school competition in the state. It was their earliest exit from the finals since 2001 and was a culmination of a mostly disappointing season, as only victories against lesser teams saw them through to a fifth consecutive finals campaign. On 31 July 1985, for what was thought to be $6.3 million, Geoffrey Edelsten "bought" the Swans; in reality it was $2.9 million in cash with funding and other payments spread over five years. Instead of a 100-goal-a-season forward, Sydney's goalkicking was led by Bernard Toohey (usually a defender) with 29 in 1989, then Jim West with 34 in 1990. Six players rotated as captain throughout the rest of the season: Brett Kirk (Rounds 7, 8, 19 and 20), Leo Barry (Rounds 9, 10, 21 and 22), Barry Hall (Rounds 11, 12 and the entire finals series), Ben Mathews (Rounds 13 and 14), Adam Goodes (Rounds 15 and 16) and Jude Bolton (Rounds 17 and 18). Paul Kelly of the Sydney Swans Biography. In the first preliminary final the Swans had a convincing win against North Melbourne, which led them to their fourth grand final in 10 years. They won their next game by 55 points against the Demons, in a fourth quarter breeze. In 2011 the Swans reserves team joined the newly established North East Australian Football League with the rest of the AFL Canberra competition, and was able to play regular matches against other AFL reserves teams from the Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast Suns and GWS Giants. This video shows highlights of Brownlow Medalist Paul Kelly. The 2010 season saw Sydney return to the finals by virtue of a fifth-place finish at the end of the regular season. Nick Davis! In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the VFL became strategically interested in seeing a club based in Sydney, as part of a long-term plan to broaden the appeal of the game in Queensland and New South Wales, beyond its traditional Victoria base. The introduction of the GWS Giants to the AFL in 2012 resulted in the formation of the Sydney Derby. He is named after Swans legend Bob Skilton. In 1987, the Swans scored 201 points against the West Coast Eagles and the following week scored 236 points against the Essendon Football Club. During this time, the side was largely held together by two inspirational skippers, both from the Wagga Wagga region of country New South Wales, Dennis Carroll and later the courageous captain Paul Kelly. The story was pretty much the same in the preliminary final against the Geelong Cats at the MCG. [13] The colourful epithet the "Bloodstained Angels" was also in use. View Advanced Stats. It was during this era that the Swans picked up the likes of Paul Williams, Barry Hall, Craig Bolton, Darren Jolly, Ted Richards, Peter Everitt, Martin Mattner, Rhyce Shaw, Shane Mumford, Ben McGlynn and Mitch Morton, amongst others, and giving up higher order draft picks meant the Swans missed out on the likes of Daniel Motlop, Nick Dal Santo, James Kelly, Courtenay Dempsey and Sam Lonergan who went to … [68] The club's seconds (and later, reserves) team, competed in the VFL reserves and its successor, the Victorian State Football League, until that competition's demise at the end of 1999 – despite the club having moved to Sydney in 1982. Sydney needs to stay strong: Paul Kelly. A familiar face was in the SCG stands last Friday night, watching his son make his Swans reserves debut, A super-impressive Sydney outfit has handed the reigning premiers a lesson in…, See all the photos from the Sydney Swans Round Three clash with Richmond at the MCG. Foxtel also signed a new broadcast deal for the 2012 – 2016 seasons which included screening all AFL matches (including all Swans games) live across Australia on their Fox Sports and Fox Footy channels. They were quick to bounce back the following week, thumping the Adelaide Crows by 6 goals, with Franklin and Tom Papley kicking 4 goals a piece, after a blistering 7 goal to 1 quarter. Between 2001 and 2002 the Swans affiliated themselves with the Port Melbourne Football Club in the VFL, sending most of its reserves players there, while also retaining the Redbacks in the Sydney AFL as a junior development team – which was more suited to the level of competition, but had limited onfield success.