By Luke Brailey
Back to Belmore Inc. President

Spirit, honour and tradition: these are some of the core values that bind a team, and a club, together. Without these elements a club cannot survive. It's what creates success and nurtures a prosperous future. However, the Bulldogs board believes it can survive without one of these major core principles: tradition.

The Bulldogs board's decision to move its home base from Belmore to Homebush fundamentally destroys one of the club's key icons, Belmore Sports Ground. Just like the famous walk through the twin columns to Wembley Stadium, the journey from Belmore station to the club's spritual kennel is as traditional as the club is standing. It is these forms of traditional values that keep fans coming back each and every week, and ensures future generations do also.

Furthermore, the Bulldogs are known widely in the football community as the 'Family Club', which makes the situation more puzzling. The notion of family, or as it is described in the Collins English Dictionary, is (1) a primary social group consisting of parents and their offspring, the principle function of which is provision for its members, (2) all the persons living together in one household and (3) a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation. Basically, the notion of family is togetherness, to be close to home. How does the move from Belmore to Homebush justify a 'family' logic within the club? We do not share a common affiliation or conviction with the Wests Tigers or the South Sydney Rabbitohs, who also call Telstra Stadium home.

The announcement at the 2007 Bulldogs AGM to move to Homebush for the next 15 years was made at a time when the mood of Bulldogs supporters could best be described as one of uncertainty and total bewilderment, verging on anger and frustration. The agreement with Telstra Stadium is going to require a great deal of scrutiny. The board should also be concerned about the dilemma of pursuing funds for the upgrade of Belmore Sports Ground.

If the football club has the ability to allocate a select number of their home games to Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast, Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford and Ericsson Stadium in New Zealand, why aren't they able to allocate those home games to an upgraded Belmore Sports Ground? Certainly, the Bulldogs have a strong support base outside of the Canterbury-Bankstown area and they should be acknowledged for allowing those fans a chance to see their favourite players in action but what about the supporters in traditional blue and white heartland?

Recently, Bulldogs supporters have heard a lot of positive news about Homebush. Such as, "for the second year running the Bulldogs home crowd has hit over the 18,000 mark, an increase of 22% over the 2004 season." [Bulldogs 2006 Annual Report] However, out of the Bulldogs' 11 home games staged at Telstra Stadium in 2006, only 3 managed to attract a crowd of more than 18,000. This is at a venue that can accommodate 80,000 spectators. Why are they not drawing 40,000 to 50,000 per game? It is like saying the Titanic was in perfect shape, not counting the iceberg.

There has been a lack of co-operation between the Bulldogs board of directors, Canterbury Council and Government representatives. Trying to grasp whether or not adequate strategies were implemented by the Bulldogs to procure funds from the State or Federal Government for a refurbishment of Belmore Sports Ground remains a difficult task. This will no doubt be an issue the Back to Belmore committee will continue to pursue.

Therefore, it is in the best interest of the community that all parties involved understand the dilapidated sporting venue is worthy of being upgraded. To do this we will need the football club's full and unequivocal support. Our committee has a very specific course of action in mind for implementing strategies to ensure Belmore Sports Ground is ressurected.

The Back to Belmore committee wants to work with the Bulldogs CEO, Malcolm Noad, to forge strong, viable and workable solutions to have the Bulldogs playing at Belmore again. However, Mr Noad has shown disinterest and an unwillingness to co-operate. We must convince the CEO that Bulldogs supporters have a genuine desire to return to our rightful home ground. We urge Mr Noad to be more responsive to the mood of Bulldogs supporters. The Bulldogs can return to an upgraded Belmore Sports Ground in the long-term future. Anyone who denies this possibility is either a fool or a charlatan, but Back to Belmore's task nonetheless remains formidable.

I respect the Bulldogs' rights to make informed decisions about the future of the club. However, our committee is not convinced that the club has fully examined the Belmore issue before choosing its present course at Telstra Stadium. It is evident that the football club is willing to follow a path that seems to be in opposition to the will of Bulldogs supporters. If the Bulldogs choose to follow that path, they do so at their own peril because to follow their current strategy is to break one important binding value: tradition.