1997 turned out to be a major turn
around for the club with the Bulldogs finishing 3rd after being 15th in 1996.
They have not missed out on the finals since. From the year 2000 they moved
their home ground to Colonial Stadium.
On the 7th 2000 March 2000 the inaugural meeting of the "Premiership Players
Club" was held at the MCG to help raise funds for charity. One Footscray player
was included in the 20 players pictured on the A4 sheet of 20 P stamps of the
millennium issue. He was
Jack Collins. The stamps were
also displayed on a set of 20 first day covers by Havilah Enterprises.
The 25th May 2000 marked the release of club and individual
2000
Personalised Stamps.
On the 28th March 2001 the second annual meeting of the "Premiership
Players Club" was held at the MCG to help raise funds for charity. One Bulldog
player was included in the 20 players pictured on the A4 sheet of 20 P stamps of
the globe and map issue. He was
Charlie Sutton. The stamps were
also displayed on a set of 20 first day covers by Havilah Enterprises.
The 30th March 2001 saw the release of the
2001
Personalised Stamps.
The Bulldogs had a poor season finishing tenth.
On the 27th March 2002 the third annual meeting of the "Premiership
Players Club" was held at the MCG to help raise funds for charity. One Bulldog
player was included in the 20 players pictured on the A4 sheet of 20 P stamps of
the sand, sea and sky overlaid by the Southern Cross issue. He was
Doug Reynolds. The stamps were
also displayed on a set of 20 first day covers by First Class Collectables.
On the 4th April 2002
the Footscray Football Club, in association with the Western Bulldogs, at a gala
dinner at the Crown Palladium announced there
Team of the
Century. Chris Grant, Brad
Johnson and Tony Liberatore were the only current players.
On the 15th May 2002 the
2002
Personalised Stamps were released.
The Bulldogs finished out of the eight in 12th position. There season was
plagued with continual talk of financial problems. On the weekend
of 27-28 July 2002
Tony Liberatore
retired after a long career.
A cover by First
Class Collectibles was released to commemorate his retirement.
The Annual Premiership Players Club P stamp Sheet of 20
players was released on the 26th March 2003. The Bulldogs player featured was
Ron Stockman.
On the 22nd April 2003 the
2003
Personalised Stamps were released.
On the 7 July 2003 at the Regent Theatre Ballroom 5
players were inducted into the AFL Hall Of Fame. One was Footsctay's
Arthur Olliver.
Rohan Smith
made the All Australian Team.
2003 was a disaster with the Dogs loosing their Captain in the first game,
for the season. They won the wooden spoon.
In mid April the
2004
Personalised Stamps were released. This year they were a booklet
of 20 stamps showing 10 players, rather than the A4 sheet.
Wally Donald
was
included in the 20 players of the "Premiership Players
Club".
Scott West
made the All Australian Team.
On the 1st April 2005 the Western Bulldogs
booklet of the
2005
Personalised Stamps was released. On the weekend commencing
29th July 2005
Brad Johnson played his 250th game for the Western Bulldogs. Commemorative Covers showing
Johnson
were released by First Class
Collectables. They also
issued covers to commemorate the Best and Fairest winners including
Scott West.
On the 20th
March 2006 the Bulldogs
booklet of the
2006 Personalised Stamps was
released.
Round 16 was the Heritage Round with clubs wearing jumpers from a previous era. Onlycovers
released a cover for each club
including the
Western Bulldogs FC.
On the 5th August 2006 a cover
commemorating
Chris Grant's
record 330 games for the Western Bulldogs was released.
2007 was a
rebuilding year with the plugging of holea with players like Jason Akermanis.
The
2007 Personalised Stamps were issued in
booklet form. The 2008 and 2009 seasons were more successful with the dogs
making the preliminary Final each year. The
2008 Personalised Stamps
and
2009 Personalised Stamps
were issued as cover packs.