National Search Announced to Find BOQ’s #1 Lions Fan!

Monday, 05/07/2010 

Fan-fare like no other for leading Brisbane Lions supporter Fans. 

They can lift a team from doom to zoom. They can change a score with their collective voices. They take players to a new level of performance. They are the colour behind the courage of athletes. They are the heart and soul of sporting clubs. 

Today a national search was launched to find BOQ’s #1 Lions Fan - the person most passionate, the character most colourful in their commitment to the Club and the one who most lives and breathes the Brisbane Lions!  

The reward for such unbridled Brisbane Lions loyalty will be fan-fare like no other. BOQ is rewarding fans’ loyalty and passion for the Club by giving them the opportunity to win the ultimate Brisbane Lions experience including exclusive access to a Brisbane Lions training session, seats near the interchange bench alongside the umpires and ground manager, inner-sanctum access on match-day and much more. This type of access into the heart of the Club has never been offered to a Brisbane Lions fan before. 

BOQ Managing Director Mr David Liddy said he can’t wait to see who might be uncovered in this national search. 

“We are looking to find that very special fan, the one who truly lives and breathes the Brisbane Lions,” Mr Liddy said. 

“They might be the fan who has attended every single Brisbane Lions match, or the fan that has flown from interstate to watch all home matches at the Gabba. It might be the fan who has painted their car in Brisbane Lions colours, is covered in Brisbane Lions tattoos, or the child who has turned their bedroom into their very own ‘Lions Den’. Or maybe it’s the footy mad mum who wraps her kids in Brisbane Lions colours at every match and cheers loudly from the stands,” he said. 

“We have plenty of passionate fans not only in Queensland, but all over the country. There are Brisbane Lions Supporter Groups in Perth and Adelaide as well as a huge contingent in Melbourne who grew up with Fitzroy and remain faithful to the Club today,” Mr Liddy said.  

“There is one particular fan in Melbourne who has been a member for 44 years. She is currently the president of the Brisbane Lions’ cheer squad in Victoria and her mother was the first woman to receive Life Membership of an AFL/VFL club! In Brisbane we have a fan who has only missed six matches since the first ever match at Carrara, plus another who is a fourth generation Brisbane Lions member!”  

“It is these people with great stories and great passion that we would like to thank for their amazing support.” 

Club Captain Jonathan Brown and the entire Brisbane Lions team are also behind BOQ’s search to find their biggest fan. 

“When you’re out on the field and almost exhausted, the collective cheers from our fans and the roar of the grandstand definitely gets you going,” Brown said. 

“They are the ones that make you run that little bit faster and push that little bit harder. Our fans help get us over the line.” 

“We know our fans are passionate – and some fanatical. It’s these people BOQ want to find and thank for their unwavering support of this great Club and its players. It’s a great opportunity to reach out and give back to those who have supported us so much,” he said. 

The national search was launched today at the Gabba by (players names etc here) prior to the commencement of the Brisbane Lions’ Junior Members Footy Clinic. The search will finish on Wednesday 18 August at 5pm and BOQ’s #1 Lions Fan will be revealed on Friday 20 August.  

The BOQ #1 Lions Fan will be rewarded with the following money-can’t-buy experiences surrounding the Brisbane Lions’ Round 22 match against the Sydney Swans at the Gabba:

  • Gain access to the final Brisbane Lions home match training session and receive a football to be signed by the players
  • Take a friend to the Brisbane Lions pre-match Inner Sanctum experience to see your team warming up
  • Run on field with Brisbane Lions’ mascot Bernie ‘Gabba’ Vegas
  • Be interviewed by the Match Day MC in front of the Gabba crowd
  • Take a friend to sit with umpires and the Brisbane Lions Team Manger for the 1st half of the match, then enjoy the exclusive and fully catered BOQ Blue Room suite for the 2nd half of the match
  • Get a pair of Brisbane Lions player’s footy boots creatively painted by a child from the Royal Children’s Hospital
  • Walk away with a great Brisbane Lions merchandise pack 

How to enter the Search for the BOQ #1 Lions Fan: 

  • Fans can upload their photos, stories and/or videos to the official BOQ #1 Lions Fan micro-site - http://www.number1fan.com.au/  
  • Fans can record a message and enter at the #1 Fan Locker-Room which will be set up at the Gabba’s main entrance at the following homes matches: Saturday 10 July (Round 15), Saturday 31 July (Round 18) and Sunday 15 August (Round 20) 
  • Fans will also be able to enter via roving photographers located around the Gabba precinct at the following homes matches: Saturday 10 July (Round 15), Saturday 31 July (Round 18) and Sunday 15 August (Round 20) 

A Snapshot: 

BOQ – We are one of Australia's most dynamic banks, yet we have a 136 year history.  We believe in offering our customers an exceptional face to face service experience, but we also invest in all of the other contact points our customers need like Internet Banking, Phone Banking and even Mobile Phone Banking. 

We continue to grow our national network of more than 260 branches and agencies, have one of Australia's most widespread ATM networks and a competitive business banking division. 

And we are the Bank with Owner-Managers.  We operate a unique Owner-Managed Branch model that puts bank managers in charge of their branch and in touch with customers.   So local people not only run our branches, they own them.  This means they're actually running a small business, so they get what it means to deliver personal service. 

The Brisbane Lions - The Brisbane Lions Australian Football Club was formed on 4 July 1996 when the AFL approved a merger between the Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy Football Clubs. The new Club was launched on 1 November 1996 and joined the national competition for Season 1997. 

It was the first union of two clubs in VFL/AFL history – a combination of vibrant Queensland ambition with established Victorian heritage. The Bears were just starting to find their feet in the AFL 'big time' after a troubled 10-year infancy between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, but without the long-term backing to mount a serious challenge. 

Then there was Fitzroy – a traditional club of 110 years' standing that had fought the odds more often than most. But as financial pressures threatened to terminate them both, they accepted a merger in preference to the extinction offered by a foreign takeover. 

Individually, the Bears and Fitzroy might’ve struggled. But together they would emerge as a formidable force in Australia’s fiercest sporting competition. The Brisbane Lions became a legitimate two-city team which went on to claim an historic premiership ‘three-peat’ from 2001 to 2003 and contest the 2004 Grand Final. They are now widely recognised as the greatest AFL team of the modern era. 

The triple premiership was a major breakthrough for the code’s promotion in Queensland. Coach Leigh Matthews, skipper Michael Voss and his team-mates became household names in the Sunshine State. It was the making of AFL in Queensland and a wonderful launch pad for the Brisbane Lions’ roaring future.