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. 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. After the spat, Jack led the Swans to an emphatic upset victory against Geelong, booting 3 goals and gathering 24 possessions in the one-sided 38-point victory at Simonds Stadium. The Swans defeated Adelaide by 29 points in their qualifying final at AAMI Stadium, thus earning a week off and a home preliminary final, where they then defeated Collingwood by 26 points to qualify for their first grand final since 2006, ending an eleven-match losing streak against the Magpies in the process. Lockett became a cult figure in Sydney, with an instant impact and along with the Super League war in the dominant rival rugby league football code in Australia, helped the Swans to become a powerhouse Sydney icon. [4][5] According to Roy Morgan Research, they have also been the most supported club among all AFL supporters every year since 2004.[6]. 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. The Swans’ successive finals appearances saw crowds during this time peak at an average of around 25,000 per game. Finally, in early December, the Keep South at South board resigned and a board in favour of the move to Sydney was installed.[24]. 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. Edelsten also introduced the "Swanettes", becoming the sole such American-style cheerleading group among VFL teams following the disbandment of Carlton's Blue Birds in 1986. Paul Kelly is one of the greatest South Melbourne/Sydney Swans players of all time. In the grand final, the Swans defeated Hawthorn by ten points in front of 99,683 people at the MCG, with Nick Malceski kicking a snap goal with 34 seconds left to seal the Swans' fifth premiership and first since 2005. [c] Premierships were won as South Melbourne. They started the season poorly with just one win in their first seven matches, although they would briefly recover after winning five of the next seven games. The Swans' headquarters and training facilities are located at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the club's playing home ground since 1982. After leading by a scant 2-point margin at half time, the Bulldogs pulled away towards the end of the fourth quarter to hand Sydney their second grand final loss in three years. The Swans spent the middle part of the 2008 season inside the top four, however a late form slump which yielded only three wins in the last nine rounds saw the Swans drop to sixth at the conclusion of the 2008 regular season. [d] Between 2013 and 2018 the club competed in five grand finals and lost all of them. Edelsten resigned as chairman in less than twelve months, but had already made his mark. This grand final would be the last match South Melbourne would play in the VFA, as the following season they would be one of eight founding clubs forming the breakaway Victorian Football League. Paul Maurice Kelly AO (born 13 January 1955) is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter and guitarist. The Swans' victory over Geelong was overshadowed by the news that co-captain Jarrad McVeigh's baby daughter had died in the week leading up to the match, forcing him to miss that match. The rivalry with Hawthorn has been more recent, mostly defined by two grand finals (2012 and 2014). The final would create history, being the first Sydney Derby to be played in a final. It was the Swans' first win over the Cats since 2006 and its first win at the ground since Round 8, 1999. Players left the club in droves, including Brownlow Medalist Greg Williams, Bernard Toohey and Barry Mitchell. In recent years, the club has proven to be one of the most consistent teams in the AFL era, failing to make the finals in only five seasons since 1995, playing the most finals matches and winning the second-most matches overall (only behind Geelong) since 2000 and boasting a finals winning record of over 50% in the same period. The 16th-place finish was also the lowest in club history. In past and recent years the Seven Network broadcast Swans games to viewers in Sydney and most of N.S.W. 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. John Longmire says his players executed their plan perfectly against the Tigers, but…, Sam Wicks speaks post-game after his three-goal performance against Richmond in Round…, Jordan Dawson speaks with SwansTV after a strong victory over Richmond at the MCG in…, See all the highlights from the Sydney Swans round three clash with the Richmond…, Dane Rampe is ready to tackle one of the AFL's most unenviable assignments. This policy is said to have paid off in the Roos era, as they implemented a strict culture of discipline at the club. Articles about the Swans can occasionally be found in local community newspapers, free magazines and Sydney street press publications. The Swans rebounded with unconvincing wins against Port Adelaide and Brisbane Lions, before suffering their heaviest defeat for 17 seasons against the Hawks by 89 points. The Swans won their final 4 games to secure a top 4 finish, against Collingwood, Greater Western Sydney, St Kilda and Gold Coast. They won their first match of the interrupted 2020 season against Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval by three points, but won only four more games for the season, missing the finals in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1994–95. The club eventually broke the drought in 2005 and won another premiership in 2012. He flourished in his new surroundings and eventually became a cult figure and club leader in his own right. The nadir came with three consecutive wooden spoons in 1992, 1993 and 1994. The current predominantly red design appeared at the start of the 1992 season. Then, from 2003 until 2010, the Sydney reserves recombined to a single team, which contested the higher standard AFL Canberra, winning four consecutive premierships between 2005 and 2008. 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. The Sydney Swans' mascot for the AFL's Mascot Manor is Syd 'Swannie' Skilton. Updated: 30 March 2021Source(s): Playing list, Coaching staff. The Swans only kicked 2 goals after half-time with Giant Jeremy Cameron outscoring them in the third quarter alone with 3 goals. Initially playing in the Victorian Football Association (VFA), the Swans joined seven other clubs in founding the breakaway Victorian Football League (now known as the AFL) in 1896. There were obvious parallels to the signing of Lockett (a powerful, tough forward from St Kilda with questions over his discipline and attitude), which left Hall with much to live up to. They narrowly missed the finals in 1952, but from 1953 to 1969, they never finished any higher than eighth on the ladder. By Sydney Swans Media on [8][9] Following the amalgamation, the club retained the name South Melbourne, and adopted the club's now familiar red and white colours from Albert-park. [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). Matches were telecast either live, on a 30–90-minute delayed broadcast or late-night replay. During the first five years at the ground average crowds were high, but issues with the surface as well as fan and player disengagement resulted in the club ending its association with the venue. 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 clash guernsey is a predominantly white version of the home guernsey similar to the original Opera House guernsey design, including a white back, but it is rarely used, since the two Queensland clubs (the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns) and cross town rivals GWS Giants are the only clubs with which there is a clash. The Swans faced the Eagles in a rematch in the AFL Grand Final on 24 September 2005, and this time, they prevailed by four points, final score 8.10 (58) to West Coast's 7.12 (54). The Swans remain one of only two clubs to have scored consecutive team tallies above 200 points, the only other being Geelong in 1992. Barassi left an improving team, a club in a much better state than he found them. The club missed the finals in 1946 and continued to fall such that by 1950 they were second-last on the ladder. Hafey, in turn, used his knowledge of Geelong's contracts to recruit David Bolton, Bernard Toohey and Greg Williams, who would all form a key part of the Sydney side, at a league-determined total fee of $240,000 (less than the $500,000 Geelong demanded and even the $300,000 Sydney offered). The loss signalled the end of the Swans coaching career of Paul Roos as well as that of the playing career of Brett Kirk. Following the end of the second world war, South Melbourne consistently struggled, as their traditional inner-city recruiting district largely emptied as a result of demographic shifts. [18], On grand final eve, 1935, as the Swans prepared to take on Collingwood, star full-forward Bob Pratt was clipped by a truck moments after stepping off a tram and subsequently missed the match for South. The rivalry grew in 2013, when Hawthorn forward Lance Franklin transferred to the Swans as a free agent on a nine-year, $10 million deal. The Swans kept the Cats goalless for the first quarter, and were never really challenged in their 37-point triumph. (Siren in background)...The longest Premiership drought in football history is over! For the first time since 2011, the Swans failed to make a preliminary final. The Swans developed a famous modern rivalry against the Perth-based West Coast Eagles between 2005 and 2007, when six consecutive games between the two teams, including two qualifying finals and two grand finals, were decided by less than a goal. 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. 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. [b] In the opening seconds of the final quarter with Southport leading 76 - 16, Southport was found to have 19 men on the field. [citation needed], In March 2021, the Swans made a slight but inclusive change to the penultimate line of their club song, with the words "while her loyal sons are marching..." changing to "while our loyal Swans are marching...".[56]. [25] It was not until 1983 that the club formally moved all its operations to Sydney and became the Sydney Swans. 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. 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 Port Adelaide, St Kilda, Geelong and the latter two to Essendon respectively. [46] In response to continued discussions between the club and league, as well as lobbying by the AFLPA,[47] the league further relaxed the trade restrictions for the Swans during the 2015 AFL Finals. The Swans NEAFL/reserves team have played some home matches at the oval, which has grassed hills and standing areas for several hundred spectators. The Sydney Swans v Collingwood match on 23 August 2003 set an attendance record for the largest crowd to watch an AFL game outside of Victoria with an official attendance of 72,393 and was the largest home and away AFL crowd at any stadium for 2003. Attendances and memberships in Sydney grew dramatically during the Lockett era, helped out by the Super League War plaguing Rugby League. The jumper is white with a red back and a red yoke with a silhouette of the Sydney Opera House at the point of the yoke. 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. Subsequent wins over Fremantle, Port Adelaide, North Melbourne and Hawthorn saw the Swans sit second behind West Coast on percentage after Round 5, but the Swans would proceed to lose three of their next four matches before embarking on a nine-match winning streak between Rounds 10 and 19 inclusive. This dropped them into a semi-final against the Geelong Cats at the SCG on 9 September, and the Swans trailed the Cats 31–53 before Nick Davis kicked four consecutive goals, with the last one a matter of seconds before the siren, to win the game for Sydney by 7.14 (56) to 7.11 (53). 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. [42][43] It was, however, announced in March 2014 that this allowance would be scrapped. The Swans will field a reserves team in the Victorian Football League from 2021. 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. [26] The likes of Gerard Healy, Merv Neagle and Paul Morwood were also poached from other clubs, and failed approaches were made to Simon Madden, Terry Daniher, Andrew Bews and Maurice Rioli.[27]. The Swans lost their first game after the bye, their 3rd of the season to Richmond at the SCG, 11.11 (77) to 14.11. In Round 17, the Swans defeated Carlton to match a winning streak set three times in club history, the last of which came way back in 1935,[38] and eventually closed out the season with their first minor premiership in 18 years and a club record 17 wins for the season, eclipsing the previous highest of 16, which was achieved on six past occasions in 2012, 1996, 1986, 1945, 1936 and 1935. During Capper's peak years, the Swans had made successive finals appearances for the first time since relocating. The club defeated Carlton by five points in the elimination final before losing to the Western Bulldogs in the semi-finals for the second time in three seasons. It was during the regular season that the Swans caused the upset of the season, defeating the star-studded Geelong Cats on its home ground, Skilled Stadium, where the home tenant had won its past 29 games in succession, and its past two matches at the ground by a combined margin of 336 points, in Round 23. Attendances consistently dropped below 10,000 when the team performed poorly between 1990 and 1994. Select from premium Sydney Swans Club Launch of the highest quality. Until 1991, the back of the jumper was white with the yoke only extending to the back of the shoulders and each side of the jumper had a red vertical stripe. From 2002 to 2011 Network Ten televised all Swans games played in Melbourne and outside New South Wales live, but on a half-hour delay when played in Sydney for Sydney viewers and via affiliated stations in N.S.W and Canberra. In the first preliminary final at the MCG on 16 September against St Kilda, the Swans used a seven-goal blitz in 11 minutes of the fourth quarter to overturn an 8-point deficit and overrun the Saints by 15.6 (96) to 9.11 (65). The following week they defeated GWS by 25 points, with Lance Franklin kicking 4 goals. His consistently spectacular aerial exploits earned him the Mark of the Year award in 1987 while his goalkicking efforts (amassing 103 goals in 1987) made him runner up in the Coleman Medal two years running. It was also the first time that the Giants would make the finals in their fifth year. He played six seasons at Richmond, making 89 senior appearances.   Premiers   Grand Finalist   Finals   Wooden spoon. The Premiership was the Swans' first in 72 years and their first since being based in Sydney. After a bye in Round 14, the Sydney Swans lost their first game after, again with the last kick of the game, by 4 points. May 9th, 2019 . Nick Davis! [63] However the club pulled out of the agreement in April 2020 due to the financial implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.[64]. The 2006 AFL Grand Final was contested between the Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 30 September 2006. Roos continued a record as a successful coach with the Swans for the eight full seasons that would follow. [41] The following week the Swans were knocked out of the finals in a one-sided contest against North Melbourne, struggling to score throughout the first half with the game effectively over by half-time. [59][60][61] The oval is located less than one hundred metres adjacent to the SCG and since undergoing a redevelopment in 2018/19, has the same dimensions as the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne. In a low-scoring first half, the Swans were very competitive, trailing by only 2 points. Roos represented Fitzroy and Sydney during the 1980s and 1990s. The team enjoyed little success in the Victorian competition; it was the only reserves team never to win a premiership, and its best performances were losing grand finals in 1927, 1956, 1980 and 1995. The Sydney Swans is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), having been a founding member of the competition since 1897. Ahead of their first final against cross-town rivals the Giants, the Swans confirmed that they would play all home finals at the SCG except for Sydney Derbies, which would be played at ANZ Stadium. The venue has been home to Swans home games since the club's relocation to Sydney in 1982. [20] The name stuck, in part due to the club's association with nearby Albert Park and Lake, also known for its swans (although there are no longer any non-native white swans and only black, indigenous swans in the lake). via the ABC Riverina – Wagga Wagga (2RVR) service, on the 675 AM frequency. The 2014 AFL Grand Final was played on Saturday 27 September 2014 in near perfect weather conditions, with Sydney seen as favourites leading up to the match. [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 Hawks dominated the game quite early and eventually defeated the Swans 11.8. The rivalry was highlighted by Sydney's four-point win against West Coast in the 2005 Grand Final, and West Coast's one-point win against Sydney in the 2006 Grand Final. 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 league had started moving a few premiership matches to the Sydney Cricket Ground annually since 1979, and in 1981 was preparing to establish an entirely new, 13th VFL club in Sydney after the Fitzroy Lions staved off a proposed relocation to become the Sydney Lions in late 1980. Paul Kelly. 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. For the first time in 72 years, the Swans are the champions of the AFL! ", For the records of every player to play for the club, see, Tony Lockett and grand final return: 1995–2001, Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees. The Swans defeated St Kilda in an elimination final at Docklands Stadium before losing to Hawthorn in the semi-finals the following week. However, the new board did not have the power to unilaterally stop the move to Sydney: under the VFL constitution, to rescind the decision that had been made on 29 July required a three-quarters majority in a vote of all twelve clubs, and at a meeting on 14 October it failed to obtain this majority. Paul Kelly of the Sydney Swans celebrates winning the 1995 Brownlow Medal in Melbourne, Australia. [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. By the 1960s it was clear that South Melbourne's financial resources would not be capable of allowing them to compete in the growing market for country and interstate players, and their own local zone was never strong enough to compensate for this. The team was almost always competitive but never won a premiership, eliminated in the Eastern Conference Grand Finals in 2011 and 2012; then losing the overall NEAFL grand final five times: 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018. In 2000, the Swans reserves team – known as the Redbacks – joined the Sydney AFL competition, but was so dominant in the lower competition that it withdrew prior to the finals series because the club felt the difference in standard was too greatly in favour of the Swans. The club's major sponsor is QBE Insurance. Match coverage can be heard anywhere in the world via live streaming at the official AFL website or by downloading the AFL app for smartphones such as the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy. At roughly the same time, Hawthorn legend Dermott Brereton was also recruited, albeit with little on-field impact. 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. [44] The trade ban was fought by the club before the 2015 season and a reprieve was won, with the AFL allowing the club to participate in the 2015 AFL draft. The club had early success and won three VFL premierships in 1909, 1918 and 1933. The Norm Smith Medal is awarded to the player judged best-on-ground in the AFL Grand Final: Sydney announced its team of the century on 8 August 2003: The Sydney Swans receive regular exposure from Sydney's two major daily newspapers, The Daily Telegraph, the Sydney Morning Herald and their respective counterpart publications, The Sunday Telegraph and The Sun-Herald. The Swans compete against their cross-city rivals twice every season. In the following match against the Crows, Isaac Heeney starred with 18 touches and 4 goals in a losing side. Four of those six games were finals, and 2 grand finals. The Swanettes were rapidly discontinued and no club has had cheerleaders since then. This was the first time in a finals series that former Hawk player Lance Franklin would play against his former team, one of very few players to have played back to back grand finals for two different teams. They won their next 6 leading into the bye, including home wins against Geelong and North Melbourne, and an upset away win against Hawthorn in the grand final replay. The rivalry between the Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles has become one of the great modern rivalries. After an unconvincing win the following week against Carlton, the Swans went on to win their last 5 home and away games by a combined total of 349 points, giving them top spot and a home qualifying final. AFL Statistics Home: AFL Fixture Players Teams Player Rankings Team Rankings Rising Stars AFL Draft Brownlow Medal AFL Ladder Coaches Attendances Supercoach AFL Fantasy AFL Highlights AFL Team Selections Past Players AFL Player Contracts AFL Injury List: Records : Advanced stats available for this page! As the new century dawned, Sydney implemented a policy of giving up high order draft picks in exchange for players who struggled at other clubs. The 2014 AFL season began with some difficulties for the Swans. 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. Occasionally, 702 ABC Sydney may cover Swans matches if they are played on a Saturday afternoon, regardless of where they are playing. The Swans then made the finals for four of the next five full years that Rodney Eade was in charge. They bounced back to win against top spot North Melbourne, and the Hawks at the MCG, with Lance Franklin booting 3 goals, including a bomb from 80 metres. The AFL stepped in to save the Swans, offering substantial monetary and management support. 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]. Paul Kelly (Irish musician) (born 1957), Irish traditional, bluegrass and country musician. The Sydney Swans said the change is 'reflective of who we are' as a club. I see it, but I don't believe it! After a tight slog against the Suns, the Swans played the Giants once more and were defeated in the club's 100th game. Sydney Swans Hall-of-Famer and former captain Andrew Dunkley has revealed his relationship with his former club is "non-existent" after a post-career role with the Swans never eventuated. The introduction of the GWS Giants to the AFL in 2012 resulted in the formation of the Sydney Derby. The Opera House design was first used at the start of the 1987 season, replacing the traditional red "V" on white design. [40] Ultimately the Swans would go down in a low-scoring affair, effectively kicking themselves out of the game after losing Sam Reid to a hamstring injury midway through the 2nd quarter. In 1982 the club relocated to Sydney, New South Wales, changing its name in the process and becoming the first club in the competition to be based outside the state of Victoria. “I was excited,” Kelly told SwansTV. Nevertheless, the Swans continue to have a substantial supporter base in Victoria, with attendances for Swans games in Melbourne being much higher than other non-Victorian teams. [31] With draft and salary cap concessions in the early 1990s and a series of notable recruits, the team became competitive after the early part of the decade. Swans coach Paul Roos maintained that playing contested football was the style used by all recent Premiership-winning teams, and felt that it was ironic that the much criticised strategy proved ultimately successful. Carlton won the match by 28 points, and from then on, South Melbourne struggled for many years. In the finals, the Swans won one of the most thrilling AFL preliminary finals in history after Plugger Lockett kicked a behind after the siren to win the game. The match was notable for Leo Barry's effort in nullifying the impact of St Kilda full-forward and eventual Coleman Medallist Fraser Gehrig, whom Barry restricted to only two possessions for the entire match. Erstklassige Nachrichtenbilder in hoher Auflösung bei Getty Images Some of their best wins include against the reigning premiers the Bulldogs, GWS, and comeback wins against Richmond and Essendon. 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. The Swans lost the grand final to North Melbourne, which had been their first appearance in a grand final since 1945. They followed up the next round with a 60-point win against the Blues, with new recruit Callum Sinclair kicking 3 goals.