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New Lions logo upsets Fitzroy faithful
By Laine Clark
20:16 AEST Thu Oct 29 2009
The new Brisbane Lions logo
The new Brisbane Lions logo looks like the "Paddle Pop" lion, some Fitzroy fans say.

Just one look at the new Brisbane Lions logo has made some fans so angry they are threatening legal action.

But Lions coach Michael Voss has implored irate supporters to reserve judgement until they see the big picture.

Fitzroy Football Club secretary Bill Atherton has threatened to take the Lions to court, saying the emblem change breaks the legal agreement drawn up when they merged with Brisbane in 1996.

However, Voss on Thursday urged the Lions faithful to be patient, saying they should wait until "all the jigsaw pieces are put together" before making an assessment.

The furore erupted when the Lions unveiled their new look last week, replacing Fitzroy's traditional lion silhouette with a design that showed its "fearless and determined spirit" under Voss.

The new logo - which depicts a lion's face - has received the league's approval for use in all branding and merchandise and already appears on the AFL's official website.

But Fitzroy fans are hardly pleased, dismissing the logo as "Paddle Pop Lion".

Atherton said he would take the matter to the Victorian Supreme Court, claiming it breached a clause in the merger agreement that read: "Merged Club will be the Fitzroy lion logo in perpetuity".

"We're not suing anyone. All we're going to do ... is just apply to the Victorian Supreme Court for a ruling on clause 7C and if they uphold it, then that's law," Atherton told ABC Radio on Thursday.

But the Lions countered, saying that condition about the Fitzroy lion logo existed only for the first seven years of the new club.

Voss said unhappy fans should reserve judgement until "it is all rolled out".

"Not everything has been sorted out," Voss told AAP.

"We still have major sponsors and other things to announce.

"In some ways we have only seen little bits and pieces.

"And unfortunately when some people see bits and pieces they fill in the blanks.

"But I say let's wait until all the jigsaw pieces are put together first before we start making any judgements on these things.

"When it is all rolled out I think people will be genuinely excited by what they see."

Voss said he had been "involved in the process" of the logo change and thought it looked "fantastic".

Even "mad Fitzroy supporter", Lions captain Jonathan Brown, liked it.

"I think there was a bit of an uproar about the members not being keen," Brown said on the Lions website.

"But I think most people should be pretty happy with it. The fans should still turn up.

"I was a mad Fitzroy supporter growing up as a kid so I was pretty happy with it."

But Atherton warned Fitzroy fans felt disconnected.

"There's a lot of senior Fitzroy Brisbane Lions fans that have said to me, 'look, if they take the Fitzroy lion away what's there for us?'" he said.

It's not just the logo that has upset fans.

The Lions are taking feedback from fans about changes not only to the logo but also a proposed guernsey design change.

That prompted disgruntled fans to set up the website "saveourjumper.com.au" with a petition and a letter supporters can send to the Lions.

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