The Brisbane Lions: A 30-year Football Odyssey

On the 4th July 1996, the AFL world changed forever. The first, and hopefully the last Club merger in AFL history was made official. The dying Fitzroy Lions would merge with the largely irrelevant Brisbane Bears. To form the Brisbane Lions. Some saw it as the blending of youth and energy, with a proud foundation and history. Others, particularly a good majority of the Fitzroy faithful saw it as the bastardisation of their proud club, and the erasure of 100 years of history. In any case, what followed this historic merge was a broken, divided football club, who fell off a cliff from a prelim in 1996, to a wooden spoon in 1998. The AFL had gotten what they wanted, and, in the process, they had killed 2 football clubs. The Brisbane Lions were doomed from the start, they would never amount to anything, they were a disgraced, hopeless, pathetic, incompetent, good for nothing, half a***d excuse for a football club. Until they weren’t. Thanks to several key people, and a few generational talents over the years. We avoided, would have happened every other time if we did it all over again with several pieces missing. 30 years later. We Queenslanders and holdouts from the Fitzroy years, have been blessed with 3 decades of brilliance and success. Today, in the new year of our lord, 2026, we’re looking back on 30 years of the Brisbane Lions. Thank you for watching, and for your support ❤️ 📕Chapters 00:00 - 04:53 intro 04:53 - 12:53 B.M. (Before merge) 12:53 - 15:50 Year one 15:50 - 29:11 The Lethal Lions 29:11 - 34:11 The Fall Off 34:11 - 37:11 A Hope 37:11 - 51:12 Pain 51:12 - 1:00:48 Fagan 1:00:48 - 1:15:41 2023 1:15:41 - 1:37:42 Thin Ice 1:37:42 - 2:07:19 2025 ► Follow me on Instagram:   / eggfooty   ►Follow me on Twitter:   / footyegg   ►Follow me on TikTok:   / eggfooty   ►Discord:   / discord