Brunswick Street, Fitzroy C.1944
This shot was taken on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy: a near northern Melbourne suburb. The photo was taken just north of Alexandra Parade.
The W Class tram is headed for East Preston via St Georges Road and Plenty Road. However the ‘hangers-on’ photographed here will alight a couple of hundred metres further on at their destination: The Brunswick Street oval, home of The Fitzroy Football Club.
Fitzroy had a very good season in 1944, as evidenced by the crowd numbers. In fact they went on to went on to win the Premiership in that year.
Interesting to note the men all appear to be wearing suits, aside from the (war-time) soldier in full uniform.
BRIEF HISTORY…
The Fitzroy Football Club was formed in 1883, becoming the 7th team to join the Victorian Football Association (VFA). They became a successful club winning the VFA premiership in 1895.
In 1897, they were one of eight clubs to break away from the VFA and form the new Victorian Football League (VFL), later AFL.
They were known initially as the Maroons, then the Gorilla’s and most recently The Lions.
The club suffered financially during the 1980s and 1990s and were eventually placed into administration. It’s operations were merged with the Brisbane Bears (Brisbane Lions) in 1997, who maintain a strong connection with Fitzroy.