The Brisbane Lions might not be participating on that final Saturday in September this year, but there are a handful of individuals currently involved at both 2014 AFL Grand Finalists, the Sydney Swans and Hawthorn, who have a history with our Club.

Sydney Assistant Coach John Blakey is the probably closest football-related association.

Blakely not only played 135 in eight season with Fitzroy from 1985-92, but also spent four seasons under Leigh Matthews as an Assistant Coach of the merged Lions from 2003-2006.

He re-joined the Club just in time to be part of the Lions’ third straight premiership success in 2003, and even took the reins for one senior match in Round 18 of 2005 when Matthews was unable to fulfil his role as Senior Coach due to family reasons.

The current-day Swans boast a couple of other former Lions in key positions off the field, in the form of CEO, Andrew Ireland, and Player Personnel Manager, Kinnear Beatson.

Ireland spent more than a decade as Chief Executive at the Bears/Lions and famously oversaw the Club’s 2001 premiership triumph before heading to Sydney, while Beatson was largely responsible for the recruitment of many of the Lions recent champions – including Simon Black and Jonathan Brown.

There are fewer connections between the Lions and Hawthorn, with the only current figure at the Hawks with a history at Brisbane/Fitzroy being Andrew Gowers.

Gowers, who currently holds a position on Hawthorn’s Board of Directors, played 51 games for the Bears/Lions from 1995-99, after first playing in 89 senior matches (and a couple of premierships) with the Hawks.

There is also a loose connection between the Club and one of the umpires who will officiate Saturday’s big game, with Mathew Nicholls a previous Victorian-based employee of the Lions during the early stages post-merger.