Brisbane Lions

**Brisbane Lions**
Names
Full name	Brisbane Lions Australian Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Lions
	Season 2008
Top Goalkicker	Daniel Bradshaw
Best & Fairest	Jonathan Brown (incumbent)
Club Details
Founded	1996
Colours	Home: Maroon, Gold and Blue; Victoria: Red, Gold and Blue (This is done to represent Fitzroy Football Club)
Competition	Australian Football League
Chairman	Tony Kelly
Coach	Michael Voss
Captain(s)	Jonathan Brown
Ground(s)	The Gabba (Capacity: 42,000)
Other information
Official website	www.lions.com.au

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Brisbane Lions Australian Football Club (the trading name for the Brisbane Bears-Fitzroy Football Club) is an Australian Football League club based in Brisbane, Queensland. It is the most successful AFL team this century, having appeared in four consecutive AFL Grand Finals between 2001 and 2004, winning three (2001, 2002 and 2003).

The Brisbane Lions is the only AFL club based in Queensland.

Club history

Merger

On 4 July 1996 the Australian Football League (AFL) approved the first ever club merger in Victorian Football League (VFL) and AFL history. The Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions combined to form the Brisbane Lions. The merged entity was to play its home games at The Gabba.

Prior to the merge the Brisbane Bears had enjoyed a successful season, losing the Preliminary final to the eventual Premiers, North Melbourne. In contrast, Fitzroy had finished in last place for two successive seasons, although they contained a number of promising young players.

The Brisbane Lions were officially launched on 1 November 1996, joining the national competition in 1997.

Finding a place in the competition (1997 - 2000)

Lions players in training

In their first year in the Premiership the Lions made the finals, finishing in eighth position. The following year, however, they finished in last position, despite boasting a talented playing list. Accordingly, inaugural coach John Northey was sacked with eight rounds remaining in the season. During the off-season the club hired Leigh Matthews, who in 1990 had delivered Collingwood its first premiership since 1958.

Matthews, who was voted the player of the century in 2000, played his entire career with Hawthorn and brought many of the Hawthorn disciplines to the Lions. Within a season the Lions had risen from the bottom of the ladder to 4th, before losing to the eventual premiers the Kangaroos in the preliminary final.

Three-peat premiership success (2001 - 2003)

The club won its first AFL premiership by defeating Essendon 15.18 (108) to 12.10 (82) in the 2001 AFL Grand Final. Lions utility player Shaun Hart won the Norm Smith Medal as best on ground in the Grand Final. On the morning after winning the flag, the club took the premiership cup to the Brunswick Street Oval in Fitzroy, the original home of the Fitzroy Football Club. It was an important way of connecting with Melbourne-based Lions fans, many of whom had previously supported Fitzroy, and of winning over disaffected Fitzroy fans who had not started supporting the Brisbane Lions post-merger by honouring the history of the club. The Premiership Cup then made its historic first trip to Brisbane, a traditionally rugby league focused city.

In the same year, Brisbane Lion (and former Bear) midfielder Jason Akermanis won the league's highest individual honour, the Brownlow Medal.

In 2002, the Lions won back-to-back premierships when they defeated Collingwood 9.12.66 to 10.15.75 in the 2002 AFL Grand Final in cold and wet conditions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Early in the contest the Lions lost both ruckman Beau McDonald and utility player Martin Pike (who had already amassed 9 possessions in the first quarter) to injury and had to complete the match with a limited bench. Despite not scoring a goal in the first quarter, the undermanned Lions overcame a spirited Collingwood in the closest Grand Final in 15 years. Controversy surrounded the awarding of the Norm Smith medal for best player in the Grand Final to Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley. The voting panel cast its votes 20 minutes before the conclusion of the match. However, Lions captain Michael Voss was dominant in the final quarter to lead his team to victory and many speculated that, had voting taken place at the final siren, Voss may have won the award over Buckley. The voting procedure was changed for subsequent Grand Finals.

In the same year, Brisbane Lion midfielder Simon Black won the Brownlow Medal for best and fairest player of the 2002 season.

In 2002 former Brisbane lawyer Michael Bowers became Chief Executive Officer as part of a move to turn around the Club's problematic finances.^{[citation needed]}

In 2003, the Brisbane Lions became the first Grand Final participant in AFL history to have three Brownlow Medallists in its lineup, the 3 being 1996 winner Michael Voss, 2001 winner Jason Akermanis and 2002 winner Simon Black.

With a number of players under an injury cloud, and having lost to Collingwood in a semi-final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground two weeks previously, the Lions went into the game as underdogs. However, they sealed their place in history as an AFL dynasty by thrashing the Magpies in cool but sunny conditions. At one stage in the final quarter the Lions led by almost 80 points before relaxing when the match was well and truly won and allowing Collingwood to score the last 4 goals. The final score of 20.14.134 to 12.12.84, saw the club become only the third in AFL history to win three consecutive Premierships and the first to do so since Melbourne in 1957. Simon Black claimed the Norm Smith Medal with a dominant 39 possession match, the most possessions ever gathered by a player in a Grand Final.^{[citation needed]}

The end of Matthews' era (2004 - 2008)

2004

In 2004, the Lions fell just short in its quest for a fourth consecutive flag, losing to Port Adelaide in the 2004 AFL Grand Final. At the twenty minute mark of the third quarter, the Lions led, but were over-run by a fresher Port Adelaide which had two additional days to prepare for the match as a result of playing their preliminary final on a Friday night.^{[citation needed]}

Despite requests for fair treatment, the Lions were forced to play its preliminary final against Geelong at the MCG on the following evening, despite the club having fairly earned the right to stage a home final. This resulted in Brisbane travelling home to prepare for the grand final on the Sunday morning while their grand final opponents Port Adelaide, a team which in fact had earned the two extra days preparation because of their finishing minor premiers, were into their second recovery day. That may have became a telling factor during the final 30 minutes of the premiership decider.^{[citation needed]}

During this four year period, the Brisbane Lions became the most dominant team of the modern era. Many purists have argued that in the time of salary cap and a player draft specifically designed to assist the weaker clubs, not to mention the travel demands of modern football, the performance of the Brisbane Lions during this period is unequalled by any club in history including the Collingwood side which claimed four consecutive flags in the late 1920s, and the Melbourne side which won 5 out of 6 premierships from 1955-1960.^{[citation needed]}

2005

Rnd	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Opp	StK	PA	Syd	Haw	WCE	Ess	WB	Ade	Ric	Kan	Fre	Car	Gee	Mel	Col	WCE	Ess	WB	Haw	Syd	PA	StK
Venue	G	AS	G	MCG	G	TD	G	AS	G	G	SO	TD	G	G	G	SO	G	TD	G	TS	G	TS
Result	W	L	L	L	L	W	L	W	L	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	L	L	L
Margin	23	2	6	46	59	73	23	9	4	19	33	58	69	74	78	23	13	28	41	84	30	139

The Lions had an inconsistent season in 2005, and fell away badly towards the end, losing many games by very large margins. This culminated in a record 139-point defeat at the hands of the St Kilda, whom they previously defeated in round one in a controversial encounter^{[citation needed]}. They finished a disappointing eleventh - out of the finals for only the second time in the club's history. When able to field its strongest lineup, the Lions produced some strong performance reminiscent of its triple premiership days however, injuries to Justin Leppitsch, Jonathan Brown, Nigel Lappin, and the retirements of premiership players such as Marcus Ashcroft, Alastair Lynch, Martin Pike, Shaun Hart and Craig McRae had taken its toll and the club played more first year players than any other side in the competition.

2006

Rnd	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Opp	Gee	Ess	StK	Ric	WCE	Syd	Haw	PA	Fre	Col	Ade	WB	Car	Mel	Kan	Haw	Ess	Gee	Ric	WCE	Syd	StK
Venue	SS	G	TD	G	S	G	C	AS	G	MCG	G	G	G	G	TD	G	TD	G	TD	G	TS	G
Result	L	W	L	L	L	L	W	W	W	L	L	L	W	L	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	L
Margin	77	18	37	14	59	32	40	69	68	26	15	42	15	8	1	10	37	17	82	62	57	51

Lions began the 2006 season optimistically, but injuries again plagued the club, whose players recorded an AFL record total of 200 matches lost to injury for the season.

Justin Leppitsch was forced to retire through injury and with season ending injuries to prominent players Nigel Lappin, Chris Scott, Ashley McGrath, Richard Hadley, Anthony Corrie and key ruckman Jamie Charman, coach Leigh Matthews was forced to debut an unprecedented number of youngsters and rookies and due to this, the club experienced inconsistent results. While many of the new youngsters displayed great promise, and continued to attack the ball and tackle opponents in typical Brisbane Lions spirit, it became evident during the final few matches that the young Lions were clearly into rebuilding mode. With AFL Rising Star nominations to Michael Rischitelli, Cheynee Stiller and Matthew Moody and the emergence of rookie Jason Roe among others, the future looks promising, but the realists also know that the rebuilding phase will take a few years.

Despite the young team losing more home games than ever before, and reducing the Gabba's status as a fortress that intimidated opposition teams, the Lions still produced average crowds the equal of the Rugby League premiership winning Brisbane Broncos.

Justin Leppitsch and Brad Scott announced their retirements during the season. A controversial feud between the club and Jason Akermanis divided supporters of the club and received massive publicity, resulting in Akermanis being stood down for the last seven matches of the season by his senior playing peer group who felt that his loyalty to the club and playing group was compromised.

After the 2006 home and away season it was revealed that major sponsor AAPT would not be renewing their sponsorship. It was announced shortly after that Vodafone had signed a sponsorship deal with the club worth 5.4 million dollars over three years.

The Brisbane Lions team of the decade fullback Mal Michael announced his retirement from football on Thursday 5 October due to lack of motivation and desire to pursue other non-football related activities. While at the Lions he was one of the premier fullbacks in the AFL and was very unlucky not to receive an All-Australian honour and was a pivotal figure at the Brisbane Lions and played a significant role in each of the grand finals contested. In highly controversial circumstances, a contract loophole enabled Mal to sign with the Essendon Bombers and continue his career there.

Inspirational Skipper Michael Voss also announced his retirement from football on Friday 6 October due to the stress placed on his body from years of football and a chronic knee injury. He was the co-captain of the team from 1997 to 2000 with Alistair Lynch before leading the side for the remainder of his career, including the historic three straight premierships. In his final season of football, Voss still played 21 out of a possible 22 games, missing one game through knee soreness which turned out to be the same knee which led to his retirement.

At the completion of the 2006 season Chris Johnson remains as the last ever representative of the Fitzroy Football Club to be playing senior AFL football.

2007

Rnd	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Opp	Haw	StK	Syd	Kan	Car	Fre	Ade	Ess	Col	Ric	WB	Gee	PA	WCE	Mel	Car	Col	Kan	Haw	Syd	Ade	Gee
Venue	G	G	SCG	GC	TD	G	G	TD	G	TD	G	SS	G	SO	G	G	MCG	G	MCG	G	AS	G
Result	W	W	L	L	W	W	L	L	L	D	L	L	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	D	L	L
Margin	25	52	27	24	12	45	31	64	33	0	23	50	7	27	44	117	93	37	24	0	26	42
Ladder	1	1	3	7	6	3	6	11	12	11	12	13	13	13	12	12	11	8	8	9	10	10

The Brisbane Lions finished runner up in the NAB pre-season cup, and then went on to create history by being the first team in the history of the AFL to have 5 co-captains. They started the season with a convincing 25-point win over Hawthorn, 9.15.(69) to 6.8.(44) and a massive win, after tributes to former captain, Michael Voss, against the St. Kilda Football Club, with a 52 point margin.

On Sat 12 May, the Lions marked Leigh Matthews' 200th game in charge of the team against the Crows

On Saturday 19 May, against Mal Michael's new team, the Essendon Bombers, the Lions began confidently, but eventually succumbed to their biggest loss in season 2007, by a margin of 64 points. The Lions lost to Collingwood by 33 points at the Gabba in Round 9 and drew with Richmond at Telstra Dome with the final scores 10.13 (73)-apiece.

On Thursday 7 June Lions co-captain Simon Black and former Lions captain Michael Voss were charged an assault that allegedly took place on the eve of the 2006 AFL Grand Final.^[1] Against Jason Akermanis' new side, the Western Bulldogs, in Round 11, the Lions yet again began confidently, kicking the first two goals of the game before being overrun. The Lions did failed to score a goal in the second quarter but came back in the last to reduce the margin to 23 points, holding the Bulldogs goalless in the final term. Akermanis kicked two consecutive goals in the first quarter to take the margin out to 15 and 21 points respectively.

At a rainy Skilled Stadium two weeks later, the Lions failed to score a goal in the first half and never looked like coming back, going down to their second biggest loss of the season so far. On 30 June, Brisbane faced Port Adelaide and led by seven points at quarter time before being overrun in the second, the Power booting 7 goals to 2 to led by 19 points at half-time. At three-quarter time, the Lions were down by 28 points and 40 points a few minutes early into the final term before they fought back to level the scores at 105-all courtesy of a Jonathan Brown from a free kick. A minute later, a 50-metre penalty gifted Port Adelaide's Brett Ebert a goal and managed to hold on for a 7-point win.

On 22 July, the Lions faced a struggling Carlton Blues side who were on the back of a 62-point thrashing to Sydney the previous week. Brisbane kicked 8.5-0.3 in the last quarter, the final margin being 117 points, Brisbane's biggest ever win over Carlton, bettering their 103-point loss to Carlton in Round 10, 1987. Also, gun forward Jonathan Brown became the first player in Brisbane Lions/Brisbane Bears history to kick 10 goals in a match, beating Brad Hardie (1989) and Daniel Bradshaw (2005) who both kicked nine goals. This resulted in the sacking of the opposition coach after a run of poor results.In Round 17, the Lions celebrated their return to the Melbourne Cricket Ground with a 93 point defeat of Collingwood. Jared Brennan played the best game in his 54 game career, scoring 7 goals and 5 behinds.

Rhan Hooper received a 3 match ban for striking Hawthorn's Rick Ladson, Joel Macdonald and Troy Selwood missed the must-win clash against Sydney. Brisbane started off well with Richard Hadley booting the first goal of the game but poor kicking and too many turnovers saw them trail by 10 points at quarter-time before Jonathan Brown evened the scores at 24-all at half-time. The Lions failed to score a goal in the third time-scoring 0.3 to the Swans' 3.5. However, they jumped straight out of the blocks in the first 3 minutes, with Jonathan Brown putting the Lions in front with his second for the night. But with less than four minutes remaining, Brett Kirk thought he'd won the game for Sydney only for Jonathan Brown to kick a 55-metre goal just before the full-time siren to secure a 9.9 (63) to 8.15 (63) draw.

The Lions failed to make the finals for a third successive year and lost Chris Johnson and Chris Scott to retirement. Youngster Cameron Wood was traded to Collingwood in exchange for Pick 14, which the Lions gave to Melbourne for Travis Johnstone. On the last day of the 2007 trade week, Richard Hadley was traded to Carlton for pick #52.

2008

Main article: Brisbane Lions season 2008

Rnd	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Opp	WCE	Col	Syd	PA	Haw	Mel	Gee	Car	StK	NM	Fre	WB	Ade	Mel	Ess	WCE	Ric	NM	Haw	WB	Car	Syd
Venue	SO	G	G	AS	G	G	SS	TD	G	G	G	MCG	G	MCG	TD	G	TD	GC	AUS	G	G	SCG
Result	L	W	L	W	L	W	L	W	W	W	W	L	W	L	L	W	L	L	L	W	L	L
Margin	16	2	17	20	12	52	27	33	46	31	22	63	13	1	37	46	3	8	69	11	6	61
Ladder	12	10	11	9	10	8	10	8	8	7	7	7	6	7	7	6	8	9	9	9	10	10

The Lions began the 2008 NAB Cup shakily, losing to Essendon by 27 points. The 2008 home and away campaign started with a game against the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco Oval, in which the Lions lost by 16 points. In their second match at home at the Gabba, the Lions wrestled with an in form Collingwood and eventually triumphed by two points. Jed Adcock scored the winning goal for the Lions. After a 17-point loss to the Sydney Swans the next week (Rivalry Round), the Lions managed a record breaking comeback against Port Adelaide after turning around a 47-point deficit half way through the third quarter, to come out winners by 20 points by the final siren. The Lions were then defeated by Hawthorn by 12 points followed by a sound victory over Melbourne by 52 points. They suffered another defeat to Geelong by 27 points followed by the Lions' first consecutive wins for the season with wins over Carlton by 33 points and Saint Kilda by 46 points. This was followed up by wins over North by 31 points and Fremantle by 22 points. The winning streak would eventually be snapped by a defeat from the Bulldogs by 63 points. The team struggled for the rest of the season and missed out on the finals with a 10-12 record, losing 3 games despite having at least 5 more scoring shots in each of those games. Coach Leigh Matthews resigned at the end of the season after 10 seasons and 3 premierships with the club.

Voss' new era (2009 - present)

2009

Main article: Brisbane Lions season 2009

Rnd	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Opp	WCE	Car	Syd	Col	Gee	Ess	Ric	Ade	StK	NM	Car	Haw	Mel	PA	Gee	Fre	NM	Col	Ess	WB	PA	Syd
Venue	G	ES	G	G	KP	G	MCG	G	ES	ES	G	AUS	G	AS	G	SO	G	MCG	MCG	G	G	SCG
Result	W	L	W	L	L	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	L	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Margin	9	19	33	17	93	43	26	36	16	18	6	42	55	48	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ladder	6	11	5	8	13	9	6	5	6	4	6	5	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

The Lions made a good start in the 2009 NAB Cup under new senior coach Micahel Voss by registering a 9 point win over Saint Kilda. However this was followed by a series of losses in the pre-season to Essendon, Melbourne and Richmond. The Lions then began the premiership season well with wins against the West Coast Eagles and hoodoo rivals, the Sydney Swans, but lost their recent strong form over Carlton with a loss of 19 points.

Team of the Decade

The first AAPT Brisbane Lions Team of the Decade was unveiled at the club’s gala 10 year anniversary black tie ball before 800 people at the Brisbane Convention Centre on Thursday, 22 June 2006.^{[citation needed]}

Backs: Chris Johnson, Mal Michael, Darryl White

Half-Backs: Marcus Ashcroft, Justin Leppitsch, Chris Scott

Centres: Nigel Lappin, Michael Voss (c), Brad Scott

Half-Forwards: Jason Akermanis, Jonathan Brown, Craig McRae

Forwards: Luke Power, Alastair Lynch, Daniel Bradshaw

Rucks: Clark Keating, Simon Black, Shaun Hart

Interchange: Martin Pike, Tim Notting, Jamie Charman, Richard Champion

Coach: Leigh Matthews

Corporate

Membership base and sponsorship

Crowds and memberships for the Brisbane Lions grew dramatically during the four seasons in which they made the AFL Grand Final. Since then, with the team being less successful, attendances have declined, but have remained stable over the past three seasons. In 2009 the Lions found it so difficult to sell corporate boxes that they resorted to doing so on a game-by-game basis.[2]

Year	Members	Finishing position¹	Average home crowd (excluding finals)^[2]	Major Sponsor	Minor Sponsors
1997	16,679	8th	19,550	Carlton & United Breweries
1998	16,108	16th	16,675	Carlton & United Breweries
1999	16,931	Preliminary Finalist	21,890	AAPT
2000	20,295	Finals	27,406	AAPT
2001	18,330	Premiers	27,638	AAPT
2002	22,288	Premiers	26,895	AAPT
2003	25,578	Premiers	31,717	AAPT
2004	30,941	Grand Finalist	33,619	AAPT
2005	30,027	11th	33,267	AAPT
2006	26,459	13th	28,630	AAPT	Triple M Brisbane, Nova 106.9
2007	23,072 ^[3]	10th	28,848	Vodafone	Triple M Brisbane, Nova 106.9
2008	23,079	10th	28,128	Vodafone	Triple M Brisbane, Nova 106.9
2009	24,389 ^[4]	n/a	n/a	Vodafone

following finals matches

Due to their merger with Fitzroy, approximately 6,700 of Lions members are based in Melbourne.^{[citation needed]}

The current major sponsor is Vodafone which has been since AAPT decided not to renew its agreement at the end of the 2006 season^[5]. Minor sponsors include radio stations Triple M Brisbane and Nova 106.9.

Financial performance

In 2008 the Brisbane Lions recorded a loss of $2,200,200.^[6] CEO Michael Bowers has been reported to be "buoyed" by the additional 16 members that the Lions have signed up in 2009.^[7]

Grand Final Performances

Main article: 2001 AFL Grand Final


2001 Carlton & United Breweries AFL Grand Final	G	B	Total
Brisbane Lions	15	18	108
Essendon	12	10	82
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground	Crowd: 91,482

Main article: 2002 AFL Grand Final


2002 Carlton & United Breweries AFL Grand Final	G	B	Total
Brisbane Lions	10	15	75
Collingwood	9	12	66
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground	Crowd: 91,817

Main article: 2003 AFL Grand Final


2003 Carlton & United Breweries AFL Grand Final	G	B	Total
Brisbane Lions	20	14	134
Collingwood	12	12	84
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground	Crowd: 79,451

Main article: 2004 AFL Grand Final


2004 Toyota AFL Grand Final	G	B	Total
Brisbane Lions	10	13	73
Port Adelaide	17	11	113
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground	Crowd: 77,671

Individual awards

Best and Fairest Merrett-Murray Medal

Year	Player(s)
2008	Jonathan Brown
2007	Jonathan Brown
2006	Simon Black
2005	Jason Akermanis
2004	Nigel Lappin
2003	Michael Voss
2002	Simon Black
2001	Simon Black & Michael Voss
2000	Michael Voss
1999	Jason Akermanis & Justin Leppitsch
1998	Chris Scott
1997	Matthew Clarke

Brownlow Medal winners

Leigh Matthews Trophy winners

Michael Voss - 2002 (with Luke Darcy), 2003

Norm Smith medal winners

Shaun Hart - 2001
Simon Black - 2003

Mark of the Year winners^{[citation needed]}

Jonathan Brown - 2002

Goal of the Year winners^{[citation needed]}

Jarrod Molloy - 1999
Jason Akermanis - 2002

Coleman Medal winners

Jonathan Brown - 2007

All-Australian players

Jason Akermanis - 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004
Chris Johnson - 2002, 2004
Nigel Lappin - 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
Simon Black - 2001, 2002, 2004
Craig Lambert - 1996
Justin Leppitsch - 1999, 2002, 2003
Michael Voss - 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002 (captain), 2003 (captain)
Luke Power - 2004
Jonathan Brown - 2007 (vice-captain)
Leigh Matthews 2001, 2002, 2003 (coach)

National team representatives (since 1999)

Craig McRae - 1999
Jarrod Molloy - 1999
Marcus Ashcroft - 1999
Jason Akermanis - 1999, 2000
Justin Leppitsch - 1999, 2000
Simon Black - 2001
Nigel Lappin - 2001
Darryl White - 2001
Chris Scott - 2001
Brad Scott - 2002
Luke Power - 2000, 2003
Mal Michael - 2004
Chris Johnson - 2002, 2003, 2005
Michael Voss - 2006
Justin Sherman - 2006
Jared Brennan - 2008

Jim Stynes Medallists (best player national team)

Jason Akermanis - 1999

Club facts

Premierships

Grand Finalists/Runners Up

2004

Pre-Season Grand Finalists

2001
2007

AFLQ Premierships

2001

Coaches

John Northey - 1997 – 1998
Roger Merrett - 1998
Leigh Matthews - 1999 – 2008
Michael Voss - 2009 -

Captains

Michael Voss (co-captain: 1997–2000; captain: 2000–2006)
Alastair Lynch (co-captain: 1997–2000)
Chris L. Johnson (co-captain: 2007)
Nigel Lappin (co-captain: 2007-2008)
Simon Black (co-captain: 2007-2008)
Luke Power (co-captain: 2007-2008)
Jonathan Brown (co-captain: 2007-2008; captain: 2009-)

Biggest home crowds

Rank	Crowd	Round/Season	Result	Opponent	Brisbane Lions	Opposition	Margin	Venue	Day/Night/Twilight
1	37,224	15/2005	Win	Collingwood	19.19 (133)	7.13 (55)	+78	The Gabba	Night
2	37,032	PF/2001	Win	Richmond	20.16 (136)	10.8 (68)	+68	The Gabba	Night
3	36,803	4/2003	Win	Collingwood	14.11 (95)	11.15 (81)	+14	The Gabba	Night
4	36,467	3/2004	Win	Collingwood	21.11 (137)	12.5 (77)	+60	The Gabba	Night
5	36,197	1/2003	Win	Essendon	14.20 (104)	8.13 (61)	+43	The Gabba	Night
6	36,149	10/2001	Win	Essendon	15.12 (102)	10.14 (74)	+28	The Gabba	Night
7	36,077	17/2005	Win	Essendon	17.12 (114)	14.17 (101)	+13	The Gabba	Night
8	35,898	3/2002	Win	Essendon	17.15 (117)	9.13 (67)	+50	The Gabba	Night
9	35,823	21/2004	Win	St Kilda	20.10 (130)	13.7 (85)	+45	The Gabba	Day
10	35,221	21/2005	Loss	Port Adelaide	7.9 (51)	11.15 (81)	-30	The Gabba	Night

Current Squad

As of December 10 2008:

Rookies:

Notable past players

Last No. worn	Name	Games with this club	Total Games	Goals	Notes
10	Marcus Ashcroft	166	318	145	retired after the 2003 AFL season after the Brisbane Lions' 3rd successive premiership
12	Jason Akermanis	210	248	307	traded to Western Bulldogs for the 2007 AFL season
1	Richard Champion	183	183	80	retired after the 2000 season
2	Chris L. Johnson	205	264	171	retired after the 2007 season and has taken up a job as a development coach for the Brisbane Lions.
27	Clark Keating	125	139	83	delisted after 2006 after his career was shattered by injuries, he has since retired from Australian Football. He has now become the Lions' new ruck coach
23	Justin Leppitsch	227	227	194	forced to retire after a back-related injury in 2006
11	Alastair Lynch	154	306	633	one of the club's leading goalscorers, retired after the 2004 Grand Final.
15	Mal Michael	140	201	28	retired after the 2006 AFL season, saying he had lost his passion to play football, only to come out of retirement to play for Essendon.
13	Martin Pike	106	247	126	retired late in 2005 after being placed on the long-term injury list with a groin complaint
3	Michael Voss	210	289	245	called it quits after 2006 because of a knee injury
44	Nigel Lappin	218	279	178	Retired midway through 2008 due to an achilles injury. He is now and assistant coach with Geelong.

Club jumpers

The main jumper is maroon, blue and gold. Used in the majority of games.(left) The clash jumper has a significantly different design than the main. (right)

The Brisbane Lions currently use three different jumpers:

Their regular jumper of maroon, blue, and a gold lion, which is worn at home games and, if the clash jumper is not needed, at away games not in Melbourne.
Their clash jumper made up mostly of white, worn at away games when the jumpers are too similar.
Their Fitzroy jumper which is the same as their home jumper, but in the places where it is maroon, red is used, to resemble and pay respects to their defunct Victorian equivalent, Fitzroy.

Club mascot

Bernie Gabba Vegas

The Lion's Mascot Manor representative and club mascot is Bernie "Gabba" Vegas, a caricature of a lion dressed in Brisbane Lions jumper, sunglasses, wide lapels and flares, designed to resemble Elvis Presley.

Sources

"Arrested Development", The Sunday Mail', 15 July 2006. Retrieved 15 July 2006, no longer available.
"Canberra fans get a free kick in the guts after AFL drops the ball", The Canberra Times, 14 July 2006. Retrieved 16 July 2006
"Crows No. 1", Australian Football League website, retrieved 20 July 2006.
* "Eagles grab victory over Lions", Herald Sun website, Retrieved 24 March 2008.

External links

Official Website of the Brisbane Lions Football Club
The Brisbane Lions - an Overview - Official AFL website of the Brisbane Lions Football Club]
Brisbane Lions Discussion Board on BigFooty.
Brisbane Lions Discussion Board on The Animal Enclosure.

Preceded by Essendon	AFL Premiers 2001 - 2002 - 2003	Succeeded by Port Adelaide

[0] Voss, Black and Gehrig face court - AFL - Sport - brisbanetimes.com.au

[1] Attendance Summary

[2] Member Milestones from lions.com.au

[3] ttp://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25321644-19742,00.html

[4] ttp://home.aapt.com.au/At_AAPT/What_s_news/2006/AAPT_looks_to_new_sponsorship_strategy.html

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[6] ttp://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25321644-19746,00.html?from=public_rss

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Names

Full name	Brisbane Lions Australian Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Lions
Season 2008
Top Goalkicker	Daniel Bradshaw
Best & Fairest	Jonathan Brown *(incumbent)*
Club Details
Founded	1996
Colours	Home: Maroon, Gold and Blue Victoria: Red, Gold and Blue (This is done to represent Fitzroy Football Club)
Competition	Australian Football League
Chairman	Tony Kelly
Coach	Michael Voss
Captain(s)	Jonathan Brown
Ground(s)	The Gabba (Capacity: 42,000)
Other information
Official website	www.lions.com.au