There is no problem with Bulldogs as the clubs nickname- that is fine. However it is WRONG for it to be the de-facto real name as it is now.
All clubs have a nickname- bar one which is us. That is because Bulldogs has been incorporated into the official name- the two worded name Western Bulldogs. So therefore we do not really have a nickname.
Nicknames are given to people or organizations for reasons such as, fun, (good natured) derision, irony or even just to state the obvious. They are not there to take over and run the show.
Would you ever see a document full of nicknames that degenerates into slang and low brow language for a wedding invitation as below?
But that is what we are as the Western Bulldogs- the nickname has taken over. By using nicknames instead of your genuine name for a formal occasion you slide down a slippery path to Bogan hood.
Here are the some names of both past and present VFL/AFL Chairman or Presidents of Victorian clubs. One President of a club has his name written informally. As this is consistent with what happened at that club, there are no prizes for guessing which president is described by a nickname.
| President/Chairman | His Team | President/Chairman | His Team |
| Dr Sandy Ferguson | Hawthorn | Mr. John Meere | North Melbourne |
| Mr. Frank Costa | Geelong | Mr. Greg Sewell | Essendon |
| Mr. Maurie Fleming | Richmond | Mr. Frank Bibby | Fitzroy |
| Mr. Jeffrey Kennett | Hawthorn | Mr. Ian Wilson | Richmond |
| Mr. Graeme Huggins | St Kilda | Mr. Tom Sherrin | Collingwood |
| Dr Tony Capes | Footscray | Mr. Greg Westaway | St Kilda |
| Mr. Harry Curtis | Collingwood | Mr. Leon Wiegard | Fitzroy |
| Dr Kevin Threlfall | Geelong | Mr. Ivan Rohrt | Carlton |
| smorgo | Western Bulldogs | Sir Billy Snedden | Melbourne |
| Mr. Graham Smorgon | Carlton | Mr. Jack Jennings | Geelong |
| Mr. Colin Stubbs | Essendon | Mr. Lindsay Fox | St Kilda |
| Mr. Dyson Hore- Lacy | Fitzroy | Mr. Frank Trainor | North Melbourne |
| Dr Don Duffy | Melbourne | Mr. Al Boord | Richmond |
| Mr. Ernie Clarke | Collingwood | Mr. Archie Crofts | South Melbourne |
| Mr. Otto Grobbecker | Footscray | Mr. Ron Hovey | Geelong |
| Mr. Phonse Tobin | North Melbourne | Mr. Ranald McDonald | Collingwood |
| Mr. Ray Dunn | Richmond | Mr. Allan Hird | Essendon |
| Mr. George Sayer | Footscray | Mr. Phil Ryan | Hawthorn |
Unbelievable site, love the old logos of the clubs and you make a point by using the invite scenario. Great website…
Thought provoking.
Thanks for the research & creative effort.
The wikipediq history of our great club is also worth a readm
Long live traditional football and football tradition. Melbourne Croatia fans out west are going through the same feelings – banned from the A-League due to their ethnicity. PS that wedding invitation is hilarious.
I feel your pain.. i am not a Footscray supporter, however a few years back the AFL started referring to my team North Melbourne as simply “kangaroos”.. it was around the time there was word of moving us to sydney. thankfully that idea went out the window, and we have somehow managed to get our real name back as of recent and wear the North Melbourne name with pride.
However there is a lot of talk about the lack of money our team has at the moment, and a lot of people suggest to me there are plans to relocate us to Tasmania. Now i live in Tasmania but if this ever happened to the team that i love and have followed all my life i would most probably lose interest in the game at all.
the merging, relocating, or relabelling of football teams with a long history in our league just shows the only true motivation the AFL has these days is money, and I will NOT support a team that only exists to be a experiment / potential cash cow for the powers that be.
So Sandy isn’t a nickname or at least short for Alexander. Do you think Maurie Fleming’s mother didn’t call him Maurice?
Do you seriously think that none of the other people you have named didn’t have nicknames?
BTW try calling David Smorgon ‘Smorgo’ the next time you see him and see what sort of reaction that you get.