Mount Buller Demons

The is a current football club in the.

One of the two original teams which has maintained existence throughout the length of the competition without succumbing to a merge or fold, the other being the Won, it was originally named Team Pump, after the team's creator, then named BIG POPPA PUMP, but after two seasons with the name, it was eventually ruled out in favour of the name that has stuck until today.

The formation and early days
On January 27, 2001, BigFooty user Broadbridge_20 created a thread highlighting his desire to create a team called Team Pump. The team was formed and created its own GeoCities website, which it used to display team and squad news. This sparked an early thread from QT of the (then Team Kournikova).

Broadbridge went absent on the eve of the inaugural season, leading to both speculation about his security in the role as well as more anger from the Titans. He returned a few days later, but the Demons had not started particularly well, leading to a team restructure from creator. He continued to post team sheets, with both he and jod23 stepping up, and they along with Broadbridge took the Demons to the first ever finals series. It was fleeting, however, as they lost at home to the Wonders by 44 points.

Broadbridge did not take an early finals exit well, stating it was "unacceptable" and looking to make changes in an effort to lift the team further for Season 02. QT made a play for Macca19, who played all 13 games, to join the Titans, but this fell through as the Demons considered him required. Samuel was also contemplating joining the as GordonNoel wanted to leave, but Arnold Schwarzenegger was stubborn on a two-for-one trade. A deal was eventually reached, with GordonNoel joining the Demons in a swap for i_luv_westcoast and Woofer. The Demons also picked up Santos L Helper a day later, described by Broadbridge as "a star recruit".

Despite the work he had put in to the club over its debut season, Broadbridge decided to step down from the captaincy at the end of Season 01, announcing jod23 and Macca19 as co-captains.

Season 14
EBIAC led from the front with the commencement of the home and away season, enjoying his best start to a season yet, kicking six goals amongst bags of possessions on-ball. This form was maintained until a points penalty was highly disputed between himself and administrator boncer34. EBIAC, fed up with the decision and the competition as a whole, promptly quit the Sweet FA, announcing Juggalo Balla as the man in charge.

The gaping hole was filled in by a surge in form from Juggalo and the rest of the group, and they carried out the start from EBIAC, finishing second on the ladder. They won an away final against the Dragons, who had dominated the entire season, but couldn't take the final step to the elusive premiership and what would have been their first, losing to Baghdad Bombers in the ultimate game.

Breakout seasons from Deddy and Eth resulted in them tying in the best and fairest count, with the former also placing second in the EKA Medal and the latter winning the Mobbenfuhrer Medal.

Season 15
Season 15 started on a bright note, with many Demons - most notably doggies ftw on-ball - enjoying fantastic runs with form, and it resulted in a 4-0 start to see them second on the ladder, and even to first the next round following a loss to fellow top team, the West Coast Wonders. That was, however, a one-week occurrence, and a drop in from saw them performing superbly one week and dismally for the next two.

With teams around them performing consistently well, and the Demons not, their grasp in the top two began to weaken, and then the top four, and by the end of round nine they had dropped out of the top four altogether, and their blistering form a thing of the past.

The team continued to drop matches, although intertwined were some contests that reminded the league why they finished runner-up in the previous season, but overall it was a long run of little impressive form that saw them drop as low as seventh before winning the last game of the year to finish fifth and outside of finals contention, winning four games from their last 13.

It was a player exodus that hurt the club most, however. Juggalo Balla stepped down from his controversial tenure as captain, announcing then-vice captain Eth as his successor, before ending up at the Bombers for Season 16. Deddy, after a brilliant first two seasons, quit the club effective immediately late in the season and became a vice captain of expansion club Gold City Royals, and on-baller doggies ftw followed him. Veteran cats2rise also made his way back to the Gumbies, while full forward Rhodesy_Blues briefly entered retirement, but re-joined the club soon after.

Season 16
With a club looking to have drastically diminished in on-field calibre, the Demons revamped their playing list, bringing in 11 new faces prior to the start of the season.

It was a new-look team that took to the field in the pre-season, as their first game against the Swamprats featured nine players who were yet to represent the club. The Demons fought hard throughout the pre-season but were unable to clinch a win, losing multiple games by under 10 points, and as such didn't progress through to the latter stages of the competition, but the form shown by newbies such as raven echo, Footypie32 and Bartel gave them promise and hope for the home and away season.

The Demons started the season strongly once again, but the form lasted longer than the four weeks of Season 15. Footypie32, lanky_wes and Gentlemen established themselves quickly in the midfield, and the team appeared to have been rejuvenated. Consistently putting wins on the board, they pushed up to second in the home and away season as of round 15, once again behind rivals West Coast. Unfortunately, this form subsided, as they lost four of their past six games in the home and away season, unable to combat a tough run home, and finished fifth, qualifying for the finals. This run of poor form continued, and despite a home ground advantage in the Elimination Final against the Swamprats, they capitulated to lose by 44 points.

Season 17
A new season began positively for a similar looking group. The Demons recruited Danger in Texas from long-time rivals Won and his strong start with the club led to a quick addition to the leadership group, along with best first year player Footypie32.

The Demons started well, until poor form hit early in the season, culminating in a 92-point loss to at home. However, they bounced back, winning five of their next six games to sit second on the ladder. An impressive back end to the home and away season, in which they won 10 of their last 13 games, saw them finish first on the ladder, only the second time they had done this in their history. However, despite the likelihood of a Grand Final, needing only one win to make it, they crashed out, losing to the Dragons and Wonders in consecutive finals to finish third and miss altogether.

Season 18
In Season 18 the Demons made history, winning four consecutive finals to win their first ever premiership.

Season 19
The Demons couldn't consistently find their premiership-winning from the previous season. They did enough to finish sixth after the home and away season before a loss to the in their elimination final ended their finals run abruptly.

Season 20
Mount Buller made history in Season 20 alongside the Won as the only two teams to last the entire 20 seasons of the.

The Demons were more proactive in the off-season. With Footypie32 joining Eth as co-captain, they secured the signature of Wonders veteran croweater 41 as well as promising rookies Van_Dyke and Bosley. They joined cats2rise, who made his Mount Buller return earlier in the off-season, and gave the Demons a new, fresh strength on and off the field.

They didn't take long to gel, with the Demons winning three of their first four games.

Colours
The Demons wear the colours of red and navy blue, similar to that of the AFL team of the same name. The latest guernsey features a red base with a navy blue upper section above white mountainous peaks, and their clash guernsey is an all-white design, with the peaks coloured red. It was introduced prior to the start of Season 16, and was designed by Andonis1997.

The former guernsey contained a navy blue base with a red trim and red band horizontally across the middle, with the shape of the peak of Mount Buller cut out of the band, a stronger relation to their AFL counterpart. Demons stalwart Joe King designed the team logo.

Home ground
The Demons play at the Snow Dome, an oval located within the heights of Mount Buller. They have done so since the team was renamed – and presumably relocated – at the start of Season 03. Prior to then, there is no official record of where the team's headquarters resided.

Not a great deal has been documented about the state of the ground. It can be assumed through references though that the capacity lies around 30,000 and is a large vendor of yellow snow cones. It also has light towers equipped for night Qooty.

Club honours

 * Premierships: Season 18
 * Minor premierships:  Season 03, Season 17
 * Pre-season premierships: Season 10, Season 11

Honour roll
* Best and fairest determined by total Exie points for the season, versus a traditional count

Deestroy Medal (best and fairest)

 * Three times: EBIAC (S08, S09, S12)
 * Two times: BT (S03, (S05); Eth (S14, S15); lanky_wes (S16, S17)
 * One time: Warrior (S01); Macca19 (S02); footyman (S04); Daniel138 (S06); V_Townsend (S07); TigerGlory (S10); cooney (S11); Freakie (S12); Gus (S13); Joe King (S13); Deddy (S14); Footypie32 (S18; HawkPatrol (S19)

cats2rise Medal (leading goalkicker)

 * Four times: cooney (S16, S17, S18, S19)
 * Three times: cats2rise (S11, S12, S13)
 * Two times: BT (S03, S05)
 * One time: Warrior (S01); Broadbridge_20 (S02); footyman (S04); Daniel138 (S06); DeledioToTambling (S07); EBIAC (S08); Larkis (S09); okeydoke7 (S10); Juggalo Balla (S14); Rhodesy_Blues (S15)

Mobbenfuhrer Medal winners

 * BT (S03); cooney (S13); Eth (S14); lanky_wes (S17)

EKA Medal winners

 * Gus (S12)

AlfAndrews Medal winners

 * Juggalo Balla (S14)

Deestroy Medal winners

 * footyman (S03); doggies ftw (S14)

Frankston Rover Award winners

 * Logger (S16, S18)

All-SFA representatives
The Demons have had 21 players achieve selection in the Sweet FA's All-SFA team, and 29 selections overall. Current captain Eth leads the pack with five selections over a five-season period.


 * Five times: Eth (S14, S15, S16, S17, S18)
 * Four times: EBIAC (S09, S10, S12, S13)
 * Three times: Footypie32 (S16, S18, S19)
 * Two times: BT (S03, S04); cooney (S10, S12); Freakie (S11, S12); lanky_wes (S16, S17)
 * One time: SHADOW (S01); LocalYokel (S01); Jod23 (S01); Daddy_4_Eyes (S01); Lamby23 (S03); Deestroy (S03); Broadbridge_20 (S03); Somefella (S04); Rooster Demon (S04); Gatsid (S05); Demon21 (S05); okeydoke7 (S10); TigerGlory (S10); Deddy (S14); Juggalo Balla (S14); Gentlemen (S17); Smartys Power (S19)

Match records

 * Highest score: 29.12.186 vs. 18.6.114, Round 4, Season 08
 * Lowest score: 3.9.27 vs. 7.6.48, Grand Final, Season 14
 * Highest losing score: 19.33.147 vs. 22.23.155, Round 12, Season 02
 * Lowest winning score: 7.12.54 vs. 7.10.52, Round 11, Season 02
 * Biggest winning margin: 119 - 27.15.177 vs. 8.10.58, Round 5, Season 05
 * Biggest losing margin: 102 - 12.8.80 vs. 28.14.182, Round 19, Season 06