Merc, in one of my conversations with Steve 2, he said that the people who make the most noise are the most passionate. Perhaps they just don't want us around anymore?

I have to agree with the op that it does feel like the end of innocence. I've had one of the most disappointing weeks in terms of football supporting I can remember (and that's saying a lot after 16 years with this club). Being locked out of the club by security, the way the changes were made (and their magnitude) and my apparently never ending quest for some kind of response or recognition for the Victorian banner crew has truly opened my eyes. I remember when this club cared and when it understood that while winning is pretty darn important, it's not the be all and end all of a football club.

I'm upset that the jumper I loved so much has been replaced by people that didn't love it as much as I did.

The purple red white and green colours of our jumper were our original colours as was the anchor, the symbol of our club, and many like me embraced them and respected them.

The colours and the anchor were part of our Afl heritage. It saddens me to realise that this aspect of our heritage wasn't considered strong enough to keep and to cherish.

Will I continue to support the "club" I've followed for all these years? Yes, of course. It is said that it is bigger than the individual and I agree. It is even bigger than the two steves and those board members who decided on the demise of a portion of our heritage.

Didn't the bigger Steve once hold the lofty position of marketing manager at West Coast? I wonder if it was him who introduced ochre as an "acceptable" colour for a jumper?

Yes, hang in there Block and do the best you can for him - we're thinking of you.

And, to the Vic Cheer Squad that ran into a locked gate (and a couple of Smiley's ex-All Black mates) and then had to drink the mini-bar dry just to face Steve and his mates at the Doig, hang in there as well. That was a bummer - don't toss your red and green fluffies away next year. I'll be watching/listening you guys on the telly, as much as I was proud of the noise you made this year I will be even more proud to see some red/green/purple fluffies going wild behind the goals next year.

To be honest I have often wondered about Fitzroy supporters who seemed to have trouble accepting the merger with Brisbane, just accept it and move on I thought.

I have also wondered about the Victorian members of clubs who have rallied so hard against mergers of their clubs ... I always thought "your club would still exist, surely it would be okay".

But this change, seemingly small in comparison to a merger has left me gutted. How can the Anchor mean so little? Like others I was drawn to Freo becuase they were different, 4 colours, a different jumper, a different song, the cooky anchor ceremony, that winning was not everything. It just felt so different to the Eagles.

I have always felt like I fell in love with Freo, I was a Claremont supporter far more than an Eagles supporter in the late 80s and early 90s. I followed the Eagles, but with no passion and was bored by them in reality. I was living in Sydney in 1995 and watched the first derby on tv. I remember watching Peter Matera chasing some Freo player with the ball and for the first time in my life I didnt want Matera to catch them. My heart had been won and from that moment we were linked.

I could not be at our first final and had to watch it on tv. It hurt to be so ripped apart by Essendon, but seeing the crowd applaud that terrible loss has been my proudest moment of being a lover of the Fremantle Football Club. I know Eagles fans who have never understood how we could applaud defeat, they never understood that we could see past that moment, see back to the joy that season had brought and forward to a brighter future. It really felt like cheering on a loved one even though they had just embarassed themselves on national tv.

I think like others I know see Freo as no different to any other club in the AFL, its like a little part of me has died. I thought we weren't just a corporation, but it turns out we are. The love I have had for Freo had turned out to be unrequited.

I just don't know if I will love them next year. I will probably support them, but I doubt it will mean as much. I used to think that I wished things had been different in 2006 and we could have won a flag for McManus and Parker, I used to think I wished things had been different this year and we could have won it for Haze. But now I just wish we could have won it for me when I loved the club.

I completely understand those Victorian members now, I understand the pain they fought against.

Well having just finished reading all the posts on this topic I feel myself very reminiscent.Not the least of which was that first final, standing and clapping the players off the field and listening to the disbelief from Cometti and his ilk, the releasing of mayhem when Justin kicked that goal and Farmer raising his arms to the skies.
My passion has been stirred on many levels, the stories of loss and loss to come I can only empathise with and wish you and your pop well.
The main thing I can't understand is where were the elected 'by us' board members in all this. Why was there no stand or at least 'leak 'when it would have counted. Stuff the gagging isn't that what they are there for, member issues. If they couldn't understand the passion it would arouse why are they there.
Procedures c..p If we all held ourselves to that the world would be worse off and it seems to me some of us have been left feeling unheard.

The fact that this has fractured the supporter base into 2 camps is undeniable.

What truly stuns me is the people saying we should just accept it and move on......what are we bloody sheep?

Polly's comment, whilst funny, is also spot on. History is full of people who "just accept it and move on" - we are the supporters and members and it's time we realised that in our wallets we hold the power and with our voices united we cannot be silenced.

So I will continue to fight and I will fight until our jumper is restored but more importantly I will fight so that next time a steve has a "great idea" he'll think twice about how he goes about implementing that great idea.

Dogs roll over, man walks upright!

Condolences Blocker, make the most of the time you've got left with him.

You know, this could be a marketing move like "New Coke".

I don't wish to be a party pooper and a tad late with the news folks, but the Age of Romaticism died a few decades into the nineteenth century folks. That's about 200 years ago, give or take a few years.
That said, I do admire Shane's defiance and his take on Fremantle history.
His passion reminds me a bit of myself, when I walked out on the Nuclear Disarmament Party Split in Melbourne in 1983/4. There is a lot to be said for standing up for what you believe.
But then, how far do you really want to go?

There is a zen saying. Right Wing? Left Wing? Same bird.

It is a business game guys. Unfortunately. And just about everyone has their price.

Okay, so this is all about business and dollars. We are one of the most financial clubs in the league. We have recently had some big sponsors come on board. We have done this while being different and while having our colours and our anchor. I can't really see how this will bring in more dollars for the club.

If people think that passion doesn't play a part in football clubs anymore, just ask a Melbourne supporter how they feel about their club.

The thing that gets me is that there was no communication with members at all about this before it happened. If there is a compelling argument for the change, why haven't we heard it?

Steve?

If the steves wanted to add some extra jumpers into the Freo jumper pool comprising of home and away jumpers, the numerous training jumpers, the purple haze jumper and the few heritage jumpers we've had over the years; they could have done so without too much fuss.

What I don't understand is why completely eliminate the home playing jumper from the jumper pool? If the powers to be on the Freo board wanted to bring on an alternative to our home jumper I don't think anyone would have had too much to complain about.

For example we could have jumpers for home games on Saturdays, for home games on Sundays, for Friday games, for night games, for twilight games, for games when dimwitrio is in attendance, for heritage games, for games at the "G" or in Launceston etc etc.

If the steves want to do some marketing to get extra cash then they would have all the jumpers they need to go to market with.

I wish they would just tell us why they wanted to get rid of the anchor?