Bless you Bloodspirit. Your post brought a tear in my eye. Love this club more than ever!I absolutely count myself as one of these. I have lived in Sydney more or less or all my life, have no significant connection to Melbourne, and didn't start following footy until the 90s. Despite this, I really value, promote and defend our South Melbourne heritage. I want to educate others about it (Swans fans and others alike). I want to honour the contributions of past players and supporters, to "remember" the past glories and lean years and great characters and events (even though I never witnessed them myself).
The history enriches my fan experience - it connects me to a richer and more complex tapestry and helps me to engage, and banter with, supporters of other clubs. (I'm always happy to explain to Carlton fans that one of the reasons they rate as my equal least favourite club is the way they way were so eager to see us go down the gurgler and dance on our grave before we relocated.) I also care a lot that old South supporters feel included and part of our club and I don't want you to feel you got left behind and replaced. We were SMFC and SMFC remains a huge and important part of our heritage. It's almost 'one team, two cities' - except I don't want to disenfranchise all the terrific supporters we have around Australia and around the world.
I also love the South jumper and am all in favour of connecting with our 'South' fanbase by wearing it for our away matches, especially in Victoria.
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