The Ashes have been reclaimed, the tennis is all over, and now we officially begin footy pre-season. It's a magical time of year where every footy fan dares to dream. Miracles happen! Your team that missed finals last year may burst out and go all the way! (Yes, even you North!)
Humans have evolved to forget many traumas of childbirth and the relentlessness of raising a baby. Which is a cunning trick by nature to trick us into having multiple children. It's the same with footy, during the barmy nights of February when we read of our heroes training the house down with their elite muscular pre-season bodies, we forget that for the majority of footy fans 2026 will end in frustration.
A large portion of that frustration will be directed at the men and women in flouro. So just to remind you that footy fandom is a cruel existence, I've researched the worst umpiring decision against each club for the 21st century:
*The point of this article isn't to name and shame umpires who've made errors. We all know it's a hard job and we're all human. Don't get personal, just yell into the abyss like a well-adjusted grown up.
Hawthorn
2001 Preliminary Final. In some matches, a team gets the rub of the green; in this game, Essendon got a full-body Swedish massage of the green. The most controversial call was this goal by Scott Lucas, which was clearly marked by Adrian Cox. The goal umpire called it a behind, then was told to change it to a goal by the field umpire. Now the margin was 34 points at this stage, but the Hawks clawed their way back to a nine-point deficit, and probably should have won. Obviously, the AFL was outraged and declared that Hawthorn shall be the umpires' pets for the rest of the 21st century.
