There’s been a lot of talk of dates in the last 24 hours.

Yesterday’s 22-point VFL Grand Final victory over Box Hill was Footscray’s first day flag since the Terry Wallace’s coached Footscray reserves saluted in 1998.  

Some even talked of the win being a three-peat of sorts after the Dogs went back to back in the 1923-24 seasons before leaving the then VFA for the big league the following year.

But not many of the 23,816 fans who turned up to Etihad Stadium on Sunday would have given much thought to the afternoon of 8 October, 1989. 

That was the day that the ‘Save the Dogs’ committee organized a rally to raise funds to help stave off a VFL imposed merger with Fitzroy.

It’s a day that holds just as much significance for the club as the ’54 flag and you can bet it was on the mind of Bulldogs president Peter Gordon when that final siren sounded and the Footscray Bulldogs were again premiers.

“I hope everybody gets something out of this,” Gordon said

“The benefit of the AFL team going forward and the development is a really important thing but for us Footscray diehards, to hear that chant go up in that last quarter, to see that sea of red, white and blue, that was something really, really special.”

The President was at his inspiring best in the rooms after the game, imploring people to get behind a club who through its wildly successful VFL experiment has given its success starved fans a glimpse of what could be.

“What you saw today is the future of the Western Bulldogs.

“Everyone knows how good our best 9, 10, 11, 12 elite young under 21 players are and what a dominant force they are going to be in the competition for the next 10 years.”

The future is indeed bright at the Kennel but you could forgive the President for thinking about the past yesterday, if only for a moment.