Sydney Swans

Sydney Swans is the name by which the Sydney Swans Football club, an Australian rules football club, is popularly called. As is suggested by the very name of the club, this football club is based in Sydney in New South Wales and came into formation in the later half of the 19th century in the year 1874. During its initial years, the Sydney Swans were known as the South Melbourne Football Club after the name of the place where the team was founded. The name permanently changed into Sydney Swans once the team shifted base to New south Wales and emerged a the first non-Victorian team to play Australian football. Today, the home ground of Sydney Swans is at the Sydney cricket Ground but it has won the most games at the Telstra Stadium, the home ground of St. Kilda Saints. It is one of the most successful clubs in the Australian Football League and has recorded quite a considerable number of wins in the championships, being champions in 1909, 1918, 1933 and again very recently in 2005.

The Sydney Swans emerged to be the most successful of all Australian football teams in the 1930's when an appearance in the finals of the VFL became a regular affair for the time, although they sealed the final victory only in 1933. this was also the period when the team earned for itself the famous nickname of 'Swans', a result of the many West Australian players the team possessed. Later the 'Swans' was adopted as a part of the official name of the Sydney Football Team. In the remaining part of the decade the team could only seal mediocre success in the league games and could not taste any dynamic success until 1945 when they made an appearance in the Grand Final of 1945. The 1945 final match against Carlton also gave birth to the most shameful incident in the club's history when a total of 9 players were reported by umpires.

During all these years, Sydney Swans still remained the South Melbourne Club, but after all the success in the period before and after the WWII, the team lost its winning streak. 1946 saw the team struggle which trait was to continue well during the 1950's. It was not until 1970 and with the emergence of legendary player, Norm Smith that south Melbourne could garner any considerable success. In a desperate attempt to bring success into the team, the team relocated to Sydney in 1982 and adopted Sydney Swans as their official name. Their early years in Sydney also saw them being typecast into a flashy and showy team whose rich status was best reflected in captain Warwick Capper. Capper was also responsible for making the team play in a number of league finals during the 80's.

Immediately after the gaiety of the 80's, the 90's saw the team face immense financial crisis and also deliver poor performances. Without the assistance of the Australian Football League, the Sydney Swans could not have managed to regain their former glory in the Australian football leagues. It was with the aid of captains Dennis Carroll and Paul Kelly that the Swans were able to seal some success in the league games. Legendary coaches Ron Barassi and Dermott Brereton brought salvation for the team and saved it from the brinks of extinction. Sydney Swans once again became the toast of the nation and the media when Tony Lockett entered the team and immediately after the team was able to a make a string of grand final appearances. Their success as a team reached its peak in the 2005 finals when they emerged winners. The current coach of the team is Paul Roos while its present captains are Barry Hall, Leo Barry and Brett Kirk.