Melbourne’s Duncan Family are Three Generation Brisbane Lions Fans - Could They be the BOQ’s #1?

Monday, 05/07/2010 

Melbourne’s Lorraine Duncan is in the middle of three generations of Brisbane Lions Fans – her mother Lorna (83 years-old) was the first lady to receive Life Membership of an AFL/ VFL club, Lorraine herself has been a member for 44 years and is President of the 190-strong Lions Cheer Squad in Victoria, and her two children are both Brisbane Lions fans. They even have Brisbane Lions tattoos on their ankles to prove it! 

Could this three-generation Lions Fan Family be the Club’s biggest fans? 

BOQ aims to find out, having launched a national search to find the Brisbane Lions’ leading fan - the person most passionate about the mighty Brisbane Lions team, 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 special 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. 

But back to the Duncan family.  Lorraine’s mother Lorna Duncan, from Ringwood in Melbourne, ignited the AFL passion in the family. She was at the famous 1944 Grand Final supporting the Fitzroy Lions, and she took Lorraine along as a baby. As soon as Lorraine turned five, Lorna signed her up as a member and she has remained ever since – 44 years! 

In 1996, when Lorraine, who lives in Scoresby, heard that the mighty Fitzroy Lions were to merge with the Brisbane Bears, it was like she had lost her best friend. But when she, and three generations of her family, watched the newly formed Brisbane Lions run on to the field at Waverley in their jumpers, and heard the team song, she knew they were her team through and through. Her loyalty remained strong. That’s a fan!   

Lorraine is now President of the Lions Cheer Squad in Victoria, one of 190 members, many of whom travel all over the country to support the Lions. 

However it’s not until people witness Lorna, Lorraine and her children Jacinta (24 years-old) and Josh (19 years-old) at an actual game, that the true meaning of the word fan can be understood. 

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 who 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 wants 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 on Monday 5 July at the Gabba by Brisbane Lions Vice-Captains Luke Power and Simon Black, Assistant Coach Jade Rawlings, former Brisbane Lions great Richard Champion, and BOQ CEO David Liddy, 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 special 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 onto the 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 on the sidelines alongside the umpires and ground manager for the first half of the match, then enjoy the exclusive and fully catered BOQ Blue Room suite for the second 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 v St Kilda), Saturday 31 July (Round 18 v Melbourne) and Sunday 15 August (Round 20 v Adelaide)
  • 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 v St Kilda), Saturday 31 July (Round 18 v Melbourne) and Sunday 15 August (Round 20 v Adelaide)