A lot can happen in twenty years. We've compiled some of the key moments of Collingwood's online existence since its launch in 1995.

1995

- The official website of the Collingwood Football Club, collingwoodfc.com.au, is launched in October and announced to the club’s members in its In Black and White magazine by General Manager Rob Petrie.

- Nick’s Collingwood Page is launched by Tasmanian supporter Mike Wilson and his son, Nick.

1996

- The first known capture of collingwoodfc.com.au that still exists, is dated to 1 November 1996. It welcomes supporters to ‘Mag’Net’, and includes a full rundown of the Copeland Trophy that was recorded “live” on the Internet on 4 October.



The site promises a refurbishment for 1997, telling fans “in the future most letters will be placed on a bulletin board for all supporters around the world to read.”

The 1996 incarnation of the website lists a player of the time who was concurrently serving as a staff member. Brett James, who played 42 games between 1994 and 1996, was one of the club’s two groundsmen in ‘96.

1997

- Nick’s Collingwood Page introduces the first live scoreboard in Australia, giving access to scores and game information to all Internet users around the world.

- Nick’s Collingwood Page introduces its guest book and Bulletin Board, followed by a fan mail facility allowing supporters to send direct fan mail to the club

1998

- A re-design for collingwoodfc.com.au, with a landing page requiring a click through to a homepage portal that was split into three segments: one for sponsors, one for headlines and one for the latest news. Curiously, the website hosts a page that details the itinerary of the players’ end-of-season trip. Sadly, the link is now broken.

1999

- Nick’s Bulletin Board moves to a phpBB format, which necessitates user registrations for the first time. The current Bulletin Board remains, as do its first posts.

- The first known sighting of Extreme Black ‘n White, a Collingwood website run by ‘Hotrod’ that gained a cult following early in the 2000s. President Eddie McGuire has been known to post on both Extreme Black ‘n White and Nick’s Bulletin Board as either ‘emcguire’ or ‘the president’ in the years since.

20 YEARS OF COLLINGWOODFC.COM.AU

- Extreme Black ‘n White wasn’t the only fan site to hit the net that year. The Collingwood Rant arrived and quickly became one of the Internet’s must-reads each week as its manager, Sly, took his sharp wit and matched it with an intimate knowledge of Collingwood and Australian football to the world. The site charted the club’s rise from the wooden spoon to back-to-back Grand Finals, and few Collingwood games were complete without a read of the Rant.

- There was one more fan driven website to emerge in ’99: BigFooty.com. It’s now a part of the football subculture, but it established a separate Collingwood forum in its earliest days (it remains one of the club’s busiest websites).

- The official Collingwood website was still titled ‘In Flight with the Pies’ as late as October, when it wished Nathan Buckley well after securing his fourth Copeland Trophy.

2000

- collingwoodfc.com.au underwent its first major revamp as it welcomed in the new millennium, including a new, more user-friendly format that focused on news and supporter offers.



In the March edition of the In Black and White magazine, an article titled ‘Pies weave new Web’ told the story of the club’s realisation that it needed to overhaul its new link between its day-to-day happenings and its supporters around the world.

“When Eddie McGuire took over at Victoria Park, he promised that the new motto would be ‘Nothing but the best for Collingwood,” it began.

“Members and fans will be well aware of the difficulties we’ve had accessing an updated web site in recent months. But all that changes now, with the new sit being operated by Sportsview, updated regularly and containing just about every bit of information a Magpie fan could need.”

Sportsview was an Internet business that owned the rights to five club websites – Collingwood, Carlton, Hawthorn, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs.

Its investors included Steve Vizard and Eddie McGuire, and remained in control of the club’s site until the end of 2001 when Telstra’s partnership with the AFL began.

The two page spread showcased what collingwoodfc.com.au was capable of in 2000, boasting the latest news, player information, historical details, match reports, and photos and videos.

Of interest was the Master Class section, which allowed supporters to ask questions of the players and coaching staff.

“Want some tips on the skills of Australian football?” it asked.

“Or maybe how to train properly? Or it could be questions about diet, preparation, exercises, injury treatment… You deliver the questions and we’ll get the answers for you, direct from the Magpie experts.”

“The Collingwood Football Club’s website is at the forefront of technology and leading the way with information for all Collingwood people,” Robert Pyman, a former player and then the club’s Communication/ Media Manager, told In Black and White.

“The website will in the future become a mini TV station. We are providing the most recent news, events and action involving the Collingwood Football Club.

“The Collingwood website will lead the pack in terms of providing up to date information, footage (video and still) as well as audio interviews with coaches and players.

“Collingwood is not only providing fantastic statistical data dating back decades, but is also providing the most recent news and facts involving Collingwood and football. Our site is a secured site in which membership and merchandise can be bought.”

It appeared Rob Petrie’s bold predictions just five years earlier were about to come to fruition.

Elsewhere, the fight for media rights was beginning to heat up in the digital landscape.

“A battle of a new form commenced on Tuesday 15 February 2000 when several AFL clubs indicated they were planning to show matches on their web sites,” wrote Footy Stats’ Kevin Taylor.

“The League however are adamant the clubs do not have rights to the images.

Carlton, Collingwood, Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs all launched updated web sites on Tuesday.

“Fairfax Business web pages reported:

“The listed Web-development company MultiEmedia is moving into the sports webcasting business by taking a 23 per cent stake in Sportsview.com.au, a company involving Mr Steve Vizard and Mr Eddie McGuire. Sportsview has the Internet rights to four AFL clubs.

“MultiEmedia, 5 per cent owned by a co-founder of Microsoft, Mr Paul Allen, listed in May as an Intranet and website development company. It has not revealed the price paid for the Sportsview equity.

“But together the companies hope to create Australia's leading sportscasting Internet business, and already have their sights set on the AFL's Internet rights and the international market.””

“Carlton, along with Collingwood, Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs, has effectively signed a 10-year agreement with the Internet carrier Sportsview.com.au in a complicated deal that stipulates that the signing-on club will do all in its power to secure Internet broadcast vision of AFL games,” Footy Stats wrote a month later.

- An unofficial Collingwood fan website was launched, known as fromtheouter.com. It was run by a group of supporters who provided a hardcore look at the club and its rapid rise under Mick Malthouse. It remained live until February 2003.

- From The Outer wasn’t the only fan site to gain prominence in the year 2000. The Buckley Surfers emerged as an online force courtesy of their match analysis, must-read opinion pieces and good humour and would remain so for much of the decade that followed, even securing a one-on-one interview with the man whom their site was named after.

2001

- The format of the site remained the same, save for some minor tweaks that saw the news content fattened out on the homepage.

- The March edition of In Black and White boasted the website “is constantly ranked among the most popular sports sites in the country. If you haven’t already, find out why! Get all the latest news, exclusive player interviews, match reports, upcoming events and much more. You can also log on to receive free, daily email updates.”

2002

- Telstra’s entry into the AFL broadcast ranks saw the league and club websites undergo a major overhaul, with content provided by Sportal and shared by both the league and its clubs.

- collingwoodfc.com.au underwent a revamp, emerging in a similar format to fourteen other clubs plus the league itself. Essendon remained separate to the deal, and instead maintained management of its own web design and format (it would remain this way until the end of 2012).



- Features of the new-look site included BigPond video and audio from club press conferences, Josh’s Mailbag, where young gun Josh Fraser took questions from supporters, and a Voice from the Outer column, written by one of the club’s most ardent and well-known fans, ‘Flounder’, who was known for his work on fromtheouter.com.

2003-2004

- The club website maintained a similar format and feel as it had when relaunched in 2002.

- In 2003, the site featured a segment titled ‘Talking with Taz’, where Chris Tarrant answered questions in depth each month. The following year saw the introduction of Ask the Coaches, featuring a selection of questions emailed to a Yahoo.com.au email address.

2005-2006

- A time of great change in Collingwood’s online world. President Eddie McGuire signalled as much in the March 2005 edition of the In Black and White magazine.

“Our Internet site will be a major focus this year as communication on-line with our members and supporters becomes increasingly important. Our website, www.collingwoodfc.com.au, will be re-launched at the start of the season and I urge all supporters to enjoy and make use of the site, and to join our email database.”

Change was afoot, and the President was ready to drive it.

Between 2002 and 2004, the majority of the site’s content was provided externally.

All that was about to change.

“I have often read the criticism of the official website on here,” McGuire wrote on Nick’s Bulletin Board on 10 March, shortly before hosting The Footy Show.

“Having said that the good news is that the club has just appointed an internet expert with international sporting experience to crank up our site to the level expected of our club,” the President continued.

“In the next few weeks I will invite all interested supporters to join me for a meeting to make sure the site is delivering what you all want.

“So far, from what I've seen and from the meetings I've been involved in, I am for the first time very excited about what we will be able to produce.

“To get a head start for the upcoming meeting and to give those like London Dave and country and interstate users the opportunity to have their say can I ask you to tell me what you want.

“Broadband gives us a huge opportunity to do great things how many are on this?”

- The winds of change saw Clinton Bown appointed to head the club’s digital content.

Bown and Amber Crimmins oversaw the introduction of CTV – CollingwoodTV.

As far back as 2000, the club had hoped to create its online television station.

Now, five years later, it was starting to become a reality.



“Now available 24 hours a day, Collingwood TV (CTV) is your online ‘access all areas’ pass to the mighty Magpies,” the club proudly told its supporters.

“Collingwood TV is currently available via broadband on BigPond, or supporters outside Australia can sign up as international subscribers via the Collingwood website.

“CTV – black and white TV in full colour!”

- The website, too, underwent an overhaul. Bown and Crimmins provided content for the site from inside the club, while new segments such as ‘The Week That Was’ and the Black & White Show made their debut. Later in the year, CTV joined the team during its high altitude training camp in Arizona.

- collingwoodfc.com.au underwent some minor tweaks, including further detail added to its player profiles and the arrival of Magpie Radio and shows such as The Locker Room (with Paul Licuria and Shane Wakelin) and Pie Night (with Conno and Driver).

2007

- Now under the control of Nick Hulett, collingwoodfc.com.au again underwent a revamp. The AFL’s 2002-2006 broadcast rights had expired, and a new deal involving Telstra covered 2007-2011. As a result, the league and its clubs (bar Essendon, who remained in control of its own website) had an online revamp. The format took some time to be bedded down, and much of it focused on flash players.

- One of the features of the new look website was Harry O’Brien’s new column, titled ‘Harry’s headline’.

- CTV continued to grow, with Hulett its new presenter, publishing the key Copeland Trophy speeches online direct from the Crown Palladium. On Magpie Radio, player-run shown, The Squawk, made its debut.

2008-2011

- It was time for another tweak from the league’s web design team. This time, it was a more user-friendly format and one that placed a much lesser reliance on flash players.

- Jonathon Bernard joined the team and produced its web content, hosting its CTV content such as The Magpie Minute, a short, sharp match preview alongside Hulett.

- Collingwood launched its first social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter in 2009. Published on 19 May, the club’s first tweet read: “CFC website homepage: http://flic.kr/p/6pd4vR the first cfc image uploaded”.

Later in the year, the official Twitter account announced the return of Nathan Buckley to complete the club’s coaching succession play: http://twitpic.com/bvrmn - Bucks is back!

- As Collingwood took out its 15^th premiership, the club reached its own online milestone when it hit became the AFL’s first to reach 100,000 Facebook fans (or as they were then known) in 2010.

“The Facebook page was launched in early 2009 and has been incorporated into the club's communication strategy with its members and supporters,” wrote collingwoodfc.com.au.

“The page houses the running pulse of the Magpie Army.”

- The club continued to develop CTV to the point where it was now producing a weekly selection show, In Black and White Tonight, hosted by Michael Christian, Paul Licuria and Christi Malthouse.

- CTV launched its first YouTube account in 2009. This Black & White Show hosted by Marty Clarke was the first to be uploaded:



- In 2011, the club launched its Instagram account, @collingwood_fc

2012

- From the humble computer to the box in your lounge room: Collingwood launched The Club, a half-hour magazine style television show that aired on Fox Footy each week between 2012 and 2014. The first show featured Mick Malthouse’s final speech to his players after losing the 2011 Grand Final and vision from inside the operating theatre during Brent Macaffer’s knee reconstruction. It set a remarkably high bar, and the show continued to find ways to tell different elements of the club’s story to its supporters. Each segment was uploaded to CTV shortly after it aired on Foxtel.

- Late in the year, collingwoodfc.com.au underwent another major revamp. On this occasion, the website was relaunched in December. This time, it featured a larger hero carousel on the home page and greater integration of the BigPond video player.

“After reviewing feedback from the Magpie Army, we have created a website that is fresh and features content of the highest quality, be it written or visual,” wrote the site’s editors in December.

2013-2014

- For years, club websites had been directing their focus towards the here and now. There is so much news popping up on a daily basis that it can be difficult to spend time on a club’s history.

That all changed with the launch of forever.collingwoodfc.com.au.

The work of Jonathon Bernard, club historians Michael Roberts and Glenn McFarlane and the team at Penso was finally realised in August 2014 when the club’s ultimate online historical archive was launched.

“Collingwood Forever is a project dedicated to honouring the rich history of Australia’s mightiest sporting club, the Collingwood Football Club.

“This interactive and ever-evolving archive provides a place for Collingwood supporters to access the profiles of every past player, find match results dating back to 1897, a timeline showcasing the history of their club and a depth of feature articles.

“Supporters have the ability to research, discover and learn about the famous characters and iconic moments that make up the tapestry of the Collingwood Football Club.”

- The Club came to a close at the end of its third season, after 73 episodes of inner sanctum access, the likes of which the league had never seen.

2015

- In place of The Club came the relaunch of CollingwoodTV.

CollingwoodTV (nee CTV) released its first documentary, produced by video director Brayden Cocks, following the first-to-fourth year players on a training camp in Falls Creek.

On the eve of the season, CollingwoodTV was officially relaunched with On The Bus, an inner sanctum documentary capturing the story of the pre-season.

Each week, the club’s digital team produced a raft of online television shows from its own studio inside the Holden Centre.

Mondays With Maxy, hosted by Nick Maxwell and Michael Christian, provided in depth analysis of the weekend’s performance, good, bad or ugly.

Director of Football Neil Balme, back at the club after eight years at Geelong, recorded the weekly Injury Update every Monday afternoon.

CollingwoodTV broke new ground every Tuesday, hosting a VFL studio show with Marcus Wagner, Anthony Rocca and Brent Macaffer that began to develop something of a cult following (even if that was just in the eyes of its hosts and producers!).

On Thursday evenings, Team Sheet’s Sarah Allen and Neil Balme delivered the selection and player news direct to supporters’ desktops, tablets and smartphones, while a pre-game show, Lachlan Wills’ Collingwood Countdown, was beamed around the MCG before each home game.

Amongst it all stood the Black & White Show. It might be eleven years old, but CTV’s first player driven show is still going as strong as ever.