Editing Sydney Swans (section)

===Swans move to Sydney: 1982–1984===
In 1982, the club was still technically a Melbourne-based club which played all of its home games at the [[Sydney Cricket Ground]].<ref name="Officially">{{cite news|newspaper=The Sun News-Pictorial|location=Melbourne|first=Peter|last=Simunovich|title=The Swans – officially|date=3 June 1982|page=67}}</ref> Its physical "home club" was the "Southern Cross Social Club" at 120a Clovelly Road, Randwick<ref name="History">{{cite web|url=https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/club/history/timeline/1960-1984|title=Timeline: Tough times see the Swans fly north (1960–1984)|access-date=9 April 2022}}</ref> In response to the move, the club's sponsors, [[Alan Bond|Bond Corporation]] pulled out and the club was left without a major backer.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126870826 |title=VFL needs business infusion to Canberra |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=56 |issue=16,906 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=10 January 1982 |accessdate=16 September 2022 |page=18 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> At a major launch in Sydney, Aylett vindicated the league's decision, announcing it had signed a new sponsor, Ward Transport, and that on-field success for the Swans would soon follow.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126881051 |title=AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL VFL confident of Sydney success |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=56 |issue=16,952 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=25 February 1982 |accessdate=16 September 2022 |page=42 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The Swans experienced success in the 1982 Escort Championships with 1,000 supporters packing out the Chevron Hotel ballroom in King Cross in response to the win, however Channel Seven did not broadcast the match in Sydney.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126885283 |title=AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL Swans' song of victory |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=56 |issue=17,098 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=21 July 1982 |accessdate=16 September 2022 |page=1 (SPORTS SECTION) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> 

{| style="margin-right:4px; margin-top:8px; float:right; border:1px No. 000 solid; border-radius:8px; background:#fff; font-family:Verdana; font-size:8pt; text-align:center;"
|-
| width=200 | ''[[1982 Escort Championships|1982 Escort Championships Final]]'' || ''G'' || ''B'' || ''Total''
|-
| style="text-align:left" |  {{AFL Swa}}|| '''13''' ||'''12''' ||'''90'''
|-
| style="text-align:left" |  {{AFL NM}} || 8 || 10 || 58
|-
| Venue: [[Waverley Park]]
| colspan=3 | Crowd: 20,028
|}

The club won their first official Sydney home game against Melbourne in front of 15,764.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126913492 |title=The Swans go 'home' |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=56 |issue=16,986 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=31 March 1982 |accessdate=16 September 2022 |page=38 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

In June 1982, it dropped the name "South Melbourne", officially becoming "the Swans" for the rest of the season.<ref name="Officially" /> The name change, however, did not endear either the Sydney media or the Sydney public, and after successive games at home, began to draw as few as 10,000. Despite just missing the finals, and some good wins at home and respectable home crowds against league leaders Carlton and Richmond, the lack of success and cold reception in Sydney led to the lustre quickly leaving the league's glamour team.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126897801 |title=AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL Tigers, Blues set for thriller |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=56 |issue=17,039 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=23 May 1982 |access-date=16 September 2022 |page=28 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> It was officially renamed the "Sydney Swans" in 1983.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/all-our-cygnets-are-in-a-row-for-diehard-swans-fans-the-bloods-run-deep-20220922-p5bka2.html |title='All our cygnets are in a row': For diehard Swans fans, the Bloods run deep |work=The Age |date=24 September 2022 |access-date=5 October 2024}}</ref>

In 1983 average crowds in Sydney continued to plummet to 12,000 and Swans supporter packages dropped to as low as 100 members (well short of the 20,000 average crowds predicted by the VFL's 1980 Hennessy Report).<ref name="Timeline">[https://www.footyindustry.com/?page_id=1469 Towards a National Competition – Timeline of VFL/AFL Expansion] from Sport Industry AU</ref> Television ratings and sponsorship revenue in Sydney were also far below the league's expectations.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116377815 |title=Australian Football: Will the VFL's card house come tumbling down? |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=57 |issue=17,358 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=8 April 1983 |accessdate=27 May 2022 |page=22 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name="Crisis">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article259491101 |title=The Football Crisis and Corporate Sponsorship |newspaper=[[Tribune (Australian newspaper)|Tribune]] |issue=2339 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=25 July 1984 |access-date=27 May 2022 |page=17 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Operating at a loss well short of the VFL's predicted $750,000 a year profit<ref name="Timeline" /> poor financial performance continued to drown the club in 1984, with the club flagging pay cuts to its players in order to survive.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122532554 |title=Internal strife ruffles Swans |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=59 |issue=17,965 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=5 December 1984 |accessdate=3 August 2022 |page=1 (SPORTS SECTION) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Coach Ricky Quade resigned and caretaker coach Bob Hammond, despite showing some promise, was unable to turn the club's poor performance around.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127212343 |title=AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL New Swans coach faces problems |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=58 |issue=17,812 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=5 July 1984 |accessdate=3 August 2022 |page=24 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In order to keep the club solvent during this time, the VFL began to write loans to the Swans that the club would have been unable to pay off on its own.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127002461 |title=AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL Answer sought for VFL woes |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=58 |issue=17,791 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=14 June 1984 |accessdate=3 August 2022 |page=28 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The Swans were the league's most reliant on sponsorship and subsidies from the VFL to stay solvent and meet player payments due to its continued poor crowds, public apathy and poor TV ratings.<ref name="Crisis" />

Public support for the Swans in Sydney was so bad that by the start of the 1985 season, the VFL began to backflip and the league's administrators, having sunk large amounts of money into the club began looking to offload it.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122480474 |title=AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL Swans face more drama |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=59 |issue=18,018 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=27 January 1985 |access-date=10 December 2021 |page=5 (SPORT) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/club/history/timeline/1984-1989|title=Timeline: Privatisation (1985–1989)|access-date=9 April 2022}}</ref>