The 1996 season was the 100th and final season of the Fitzroy Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and its 113th season overall. The year saw significant turmoil for the club, which announced during the season that it would merge with the Brisbane Bears.

Fitzroy claimed the wooden spoon after finishing last on the ladder for the second season in a row and seventh season overall. The club won just one senior match, defeating by 31 points at Whitten Oval in round 8. Its final-ever AFL match was also against Fremantle, when it was defeated by 86 points at Subiaco Oval in round 22. In the reserves competition, Fitzroy finished tenth out of twelve teams and won seven matches, including its last match of the season.

Following the conclusion of the season, Fitzroy's AFL operations were merged into those of the Brisbane Bears, who became the Brisbane Lions from 1997. Fitzroy did not resume playing operations until 2009, when it merged with the Fitzroy Reds and entered the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA).

Season summary Financial troubles and merger

During the 1986 season, Fitzroy was more than one million dollars in debt. A merger with was proposed but did not occur, while another merger with was announced in October 1989 but collapsed after Footscray supporters secured sufficient money and sponsors to prevent it from taking place. In 1995, Fitzroy general manager John Birt said the club was "strong enough to be here for many years to come".

On 28 June 1996, the Nauru Insurance Company (a creditor of the Fitzroy Football Club), appointed Michael Brennan to administer the affairs of the club to ensure a loan of was to be repaid. During the season, there were fears that the club would collapse mid-season because of its lack of cash, but this was averted when the AFL guaranteed funds that allowed Fitzroy to continue in the competition for the remainder of the season.

Discussions were most advanced with . By the beginning of July 1996, Fitzroy had agreed to arrangements to become the North Fitzroy Kangaroos Football Club. Negotiations for elements including the new club's colours, guernsey and song were to be settled by the morning of 4 July 1996 by the Fitzroy board. However, later that afternoon, Brennan (who had been appointed to temporarily replace Fitzroy's board) agreed to merge the club's AFL operations with the Brisbane Bears, with the agreement of the AFL Commission and a majority vote of the AFL's constituent clubs. AFL chairman Ross Oakley described the Fitzroy–Brisbane merger as "the absolute best outcome for the competition".

Round 8: Final AFL win

Fitzroy's final win in the AFL occurred on 18 May 1996 at Whitten Oval. The Lions were playing , who had won three of their first seven matches of the season but were coming off a 96-point loss to . Fitzroy had lost to Fremantle on two occasions during the 1995 season, including in round 3, which was Fremantle's first AFL victory.

The Lions led at every break and won the match by 31 points. Anthony Mellington kicked four goals, while Chris Johnson recorded 24 disposals and kicked three goals to earn three Brownlow Medal votes.

It was Fitzroy's first win since round 8 of the 1995 season (364 days prior), ending a 21-match losing streak; its next senior win was in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) almost 13 years later, when they defeated on 18 April 2009. The crowd of 5,083 was the lowest for any AFL match in 1996, the lowest VFL/AFL crowd at Whitten/Western Oval since 1934, and the lowest-ever crowd for a Fitzroy match at the venue.

Playing list A total of 36 players played senior matches for Fitzroy during the 1996 season. Chris Johnson, who later played 205 matches with the Brisbane Lions, was the last remaining player to have been on Fitzroy's AFL list when he retired at the end of 2007.

No. Player Statistics (season) Statistics (career) Games Goals Games Goals 1 16 6 70 49 2 22 19 59 67 3 18 22 24 24 4 21 4 102 18 5 21 9 47 12 6 0 0 0 0 7 19 13 59 54 8 22 5 60 40 9 2 0 2 0 10 14 7 184 347 11 6 3 41 11 12 20 5 20 5 13 2 0 2 0 14 4 0 38 4 15 2 1 2 1 16 0 0 157 19 17 16 15 60 30 18 0 0 9 2 19 7 1 63 9 20 8 3 88 64 21 0 0 28 21 22 22 6 22 6 23 19 6 168 69 24 11 5 27 18 25 18 11 163 178 26 4 0 5 0 27 16 2 28 2 28 7 1 12 2 29 14 10 14 10 30 17 4 17 4 31 19 6 47 9 32 11 1 125 36 33 16 0 26 1 34 16 9 30 17 35 4 0 25 7 36 3 3 21 13 37 22 15 26 16 38 2 0 30 12 39 5 11 8 11 40 13 1 13 1 41 3 2 15 7 42 0 0 0 0

AFL season Lightning Premiership

Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores Venue Crowd Ladder Home Away Result 1 Friday, 9 February (7:30 pm) Waverley Park — —

Ansett Australia Cup

Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores Venue Crowd Ladder Home Away Result 1 Monday, 26 February (8:00 pm) Waverley Park 4,818 —

Home-and-away season

Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores Venue Crowd Ladder Home Away Result 1 Saturday, 30 March (2:10 pm) Whitten Oval 10,239 12th 2 Saturday, 6 April (2:10 pm) Whitten Oval 8,685 13th 3 Saturday, 13 April (2:10 pm) Whitten Oval 14,345 16th 4 Saturday, 20 April (2:10 pm) Waverley Park 17,625 16th 5 Sunday, 28 April (2:10 pm) The Gabba 14,495 16th 6 Saturday, 4 May (2:10 pm) Whitten Oval 13,497 16th 7 Saturday, 11 May (2:10 pm) Optus Oval 16,176 16th 8 Saturday, 18 May (2:10 pm) Whitten Oval 5,083 15th 9 Friday, 24 May (8:10 pm) MCG 19,964 15th 10 Saturday, 8 June (2:10 pm) Whitten Oval 9,701 16th 11 Sunday, 16 June (2:10 pm) Whitten Oval 10,836 16th 12 Saturday, 22 June (2:10 pm) Waverley Park 16,217 16th 13 Saturday, 29 June (2:10 pm) Whitten Oval 10,504 16th 14 Saturday, 6 July (2:10 pm) Optus Oval 12,748 16th 15 Friday, 12 July (6:40 pm) WACA 22,044 16th 16 Sunday, 21 July (2:10 pm) Victoria Park 23,567 16th 17 Sunday, 28 July (12:40 pm) Football Park 31,880 16th 18 Sunday, 4 August (2:10 pm) Whitten Oval 8,757 16th 19 Saturday, 10 August (2:10 pm) Whitten Oval 7,781 16th 20 Saturday, 17 August (2:10 pm) Optus Oval 6,469 16th 21 Sunday, 25 August (2:10 pm) MCG 48,884 16th 22 Sunday, 1 September (12:10 pm) Subiaco Oval 22,574 16th

Ladder

Reserves season Home-and-away season Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores Venue Crowd Ladder Home Away Result 1 Saturday, 30 March (11:15 am) Whitten Oval — 7th 2 Sunday, 7 April (10:50 am) SCG — 11th 3 Saturday, 13 April (11:15 am) Whitten Oval — 10th 4 Saturday, 20 April (11:15 am) Waverley Park — 6th 5 Saturday, 27 April (11:15 am) Optus Oval — 8th 6 Saturday, 4 May (11:15 am) Whitten Oval — 6th 7 Saturday, 11 May (11:00 am) Optus Oval — 5th 8 Saturday, 18 May (11:15 am) Whitten Oval — 8th 9 Friday, 24 May (5:15 pm) MCG — 6th 10 Saturday, 8 June (11:15 am) Whitten Oval — 8th 11 Sunday, 16 June (11:15 am) Whitten Oval — 9th 12 Saturday, 22 June (11:15 am) Waverley Park — 9th 13 Saturday, 29 June (11:15 am) Whitten Oval — 9th 14 Saturday, 6 July (10:45 am) Windy Hill — 10th 15 Sunday, 14 July (11:00 am) Whitten Oval — 10th 16 Sunday, 21 July (11:15 am) Victoria Park — 10th 17 Saturday, 27 July (11:15 am) Whitten Oval — 10th 18 Sunday, 4 August (12:00 pm) Whitten Oval — 10th 19 Saturday, 10 August (10:00 am) Moorabbin Oval — 11th 20 Saturday, 17 August (11:15 am) Optus Oval — 12th 21 Sunday, 25 August (11:05 am) MCG — 11th 22 Saturday, 31 August (11:15 am) Waverley Park — 10th

Awards and milestones Robert McMahon was Fitzroy's 1157th VFL/AFL player and final AFL debutant.

Milestones Rd Player Milestone Opponent Venue Ref 1 Scott Bamford AFL debut Whitten Oval Brad Cassidy AFL debut Matthew Primus AFL debut Mick Dwyer Club debut 6 Nick Carter AFL debut Whitten Oval Shane Clayton AFL debut Brent Frewen AFL debut 13 Jason Ramsey AFL debut Whitten Oval 18 Robert McMahon AFL debut Whitten Oval 20 Stephen Paxman 100th AFL game Optus Oval

See also 1996 Brisbane Bears season

References