18 Facts About Brisbane Bears

Idea of a Brisbane Bears-based VFL club had begun in 1984, with former actor and businessman Paul Cronin planning on purchasing a licence from the VFL believing that the VFL could not survive successfully without a national competition, however there were some in the VFL management that did not agree, most notably Alan Schwab.

Brisbane Bears later stated that Brisbane was the preferred city for VFL expansion and that the VFL had hoped that it could retain all of its existing clubs during the expansion phase.

In search of a marquee Queenslander, the Brisbane Bears approached up and coming Hawthorn Football Club full-forward Jason Dunstall was with a million dollar deal to spearhead the club, however declined.

The Brisbane Bears were exposed for their lack of local talent but among the local names in the inaugural squad were Gary Shaw, Frank Dunell, Tony Beckett, Darren Carlson, Allan Giffard and Stuart Glascott.

The QAFL believed that the club should be based in Brisbane Bears and supported the redevelopment of the Gabba, or secondary options of a new stadium at Boondall or Chandler.

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The Brisbane Bears pursued a number of stars aggressively and did manage a few key signings, including Collingwood's captain Mark Williams, and 1985 Brownlow Medallist Brad Hardie.

Brisbane Bears won their first game in the VFL against North Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground 19.

AFL spent significant amounts of money to help the Brisbane Bears survive over the coming years, and the club was provided with priority draft picks and special recruiting zones to give it access to some of the nation's best talent, which over the next few years allowed the club to recruit future stars such as Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis, Clark Keating, Steven Lawrence and Darryl White.

The Brisbane Bears won the wooden spoon again in 1991, but the same year saw the Brisbane Bears win the reserves premiership against Melbourne.

In 1994, the Brisbane Bears changed the club logo and the club song, and began to show signs of a competitive side and were contenders for a finals berth before falling away in the last five games of the season.

In Round 16, the Brisbane Bears trailed Hawthorn by 45 points at three-quarter time, but mounted an astounding final-quarter comeback to win the match by 7 points; it was the largest final quarter comeback in league history.

Under the coaching of former Richmond premiership player John Northey, Brisbane Bears had an excellent 1996 season, finishing third behind Sydney and North Melbourne.

Brisbane Bears came close to folding prior to its move to Brisbane Bears and the AFL began preparing a contingency for the club's demise in the event that the move failed.

The Brisbane Bears made a bid in 1990 to take over a financially struggling Fitzroy but was voted down by Fitzroy's board.

The new team was to be known as the Brisbane Bears Lions, based at Brisbane Bears Cricket Ground, with a new song, emblem and jumper all based on Fitzroy's.

Brisbane Bears' last match as a separate entity was a preliminary final on Saturday 21 September 1996 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against North Melbourne, coincidentally the same location and opponent as their first match in 1987.

Brisbane Bears lost by 38 points to North who went on to win the 1996 premiership.

Our home is mighty Brisbane Bears and we're playing for our stateThe Bear will growl across the landOur victories will be great.