A peculiar affliction plagued Australian Football in the late 20th century, with clubs across Victoria dropping their local identities in favor of "national appeal". The one that most people remember is Footscray's change to the Western Bulldogs, having stuck to this day. However, both St Kilda and North Melbourne had similar crises of identity, with North Melbourne making an official change in the early noughties and St Kilda's brief nominal relocation survived by it's VFLW affiliate.
Given the reliance of team songs on a club's local moniker, changes in team name will inevitably lead to changes in team songs. The Western Bulldogs theme is a great example. Originally Sons of the 'Scray, the song was re-recorded as Sons of the West. This new version included multiple lyric changes, shifting the tone of the song from happy to menacing; the dogs were now snarling rather than smiling, and any references to remaining positive in the face of defeat were dropped.
However, the 'Scray was not the only victim of marketing departments hungry for greater relevance to football fans nationwide. In 1998, North Melbourne decided to copy the Bulldogs' homework and attempted to become the "Northern Kangaroos"; the AFL rejected this change. Not to be deterred, in 1999 they changed their name officially to "The Kangaroos", dropping the North Melbourne identifier all together in an attempt to become a "national club". This, like the Bulldogs' change, meant a change in team song. The club moved from "North Melbourne's on the Ball" to "The 'Roos are on the Ball", and Good Old North Melbourne became the Good Old Kangas. Fans, however, felt differently, and after unsuccesful stints playing home games in Sydney, Ballarat, and the Gold Coast, the 'Roos finally hopped back to Arden St. and reclaimed the North Melbourne name and song in 2007.
St Kilda were another victim of the frenzy to dissassociate from traditional heartland regions, with the move from the Junction Oval to Moorabin seen as necessitating a name change from St Kilda to - you guessed it - the Southern Saints. Cardinal directions seemed to be a trend among teams at this time, and the club executives in fact referenced the Western Bulldogs rebrand as inspiration. The name was adopted in some club merchandise, such as the album cover for the song The Saints Fight Back, a
commemorative track for the 21st anniversary of the club's move to Moorabin that was also played as a theme song for a brief time. The name change, along with the song change, were heralded in at the start of the 1986 season, with the team running through a banner reading "A new name, a new outlook, we're on the improve and we're fighting back". I don't know how long this rebrand lasted, though by 1987 they'd returned to the St Kilda name. However, the Southern Saints didn't die altogether - the name was given to their VFLW affiliate when they entered the competition in 2018. Interestingly, this team still sings the St Kilda song, despite the Southern name.
Ultimately, only the Bulldogs' name change remains, and both St Kilda and North Melbourne sing their traditional songs again - although, in St Kilda's case, the song isn't their first, with "We do like to be beside the seaside" once the club's tune of choice. It seems like the craze of removing teams from their suburban roots has, for now, passed - though perhaps another song change isn't as far away as we think...
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