AFL Team: Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans were formerly known as the South Melbourne Football Club (from 1874 to 1982) and as the Swans Football Club starting from 1982.

The group was founded in 1874 in Melbourne. The team moved to Sydney in 1982, year where they had a total rebrand. This relocation also marked the first time in the VFA that a team was part of it outside Victoria.

Although during the first years they didn’t have a remarkable performance, it was during the start of the XX century that the team started seeing some light in such darkness.

Quick facts about the Sydney Swans

• The Sydney Swans have sixteen players in the Australian Football Hall of Fame, with four players (Bob Skilton, Roy Cazaly, Bob Pratt and Tony Lockett) considered as legends.
• Adam Goodes is the player that has played the most games in the team, with a total of 372.
• The achieved their highest score during a match against Essedon, in 1987. The total score was of 36.20 (236).
• Their lowest score happened in 1899, in a match against Carlton. The team only had a total score of 0.5 (5).
• They have earned four premierships in the AFL in four years consecutively, from 2005 to 2008. Their highest score throughout all these games was in 2007, where they played against Queanbeyan. The Swans had a total score of 18.14 (122).

Brief history of the team

As the Southern Melbourne Football Club

As the South Melbourne Football Club, the team finally earned the senior status in 1879. They earned the premierships in five years during the XIX century, during 1881, 1885, 1888, 1889 and 1890. During the 1890 VFA season, the team had a tie with Collingwood, which caused a playoff match to happen, but the Swans lost six goals to five against this team.

Another remarkable event in this team’s history is that they are one of the original clubs that founded the Victorian Football League, which was created in 1897.

The team had an excellent performance in the following years and earned three VFL premierships (1909, 1918 and 1933). However, starting from 1946, the team had a bad streak following the events of World War II. There weren’t many significant events until 1982, where the team suffered a rebrand.

As the Swans Football Club / Sydney Swans Limited

The team moved to Sydney in 1982 after struggling for multiple years. The following years were full of chaos, and suffered an inevitable financial loss from 1988 to 1994.

However, the team was able to overcome this dark time and finally regained their essence 1995. During the following years, the team was able to make it to the finals, but it wasn’t until 2005 that they entered their golden era.

As mentioned above, they won the AFL premiership during four years consecutively, and since then, the team has had an average to remarkable performance.

The Sydney Swans in the Present                                                        

As mentioned above, the team has had an excellent performance in the -21 season. They are paired with the Western Dogs as the best teams of the season as both football clubs have accumulated a total of 12 points. The other team in the top three is Melbourne, with 8 points.

 Although nothing is for sure in this league, we can certainly say that the Sydney Swans have a well-earned place in the finals. It will happen in a few weeks, and we’re excited to see how things turn out for the team. Will they be able to regain their golden era in the following years?