Bulldog (October)

On this first Saturday of October, not last in September, a touch of Empire. “The Old English Bulldog,” we’re told, “possessed a muscular, stocky body and vice-like jaw that clamped shut with tremendous force, making it well-suited to the violent sport of bullbaiting.” Footscray Club was called the Bone Mill Fellows, reference to the abattoirs, Saltwater Lads, and Tricolours before adopting its current nickname in 1928. A bulldog ran onto the Western Oval, accidentally leading the players out against Collingwood, "to the wild applause of the callow youth", wrote one match reporter.