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Martin Flanagan

Martin Flanagan

Martin Flanagan is a journalist and author who writes on sport, Australian culture and the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous Australia.

New renders for the proposed Macquarie Point Stadium.

I love Tassie footy and we need a team. But the AFL’s stadium ultimatum takes a special kind of arrogance

The still unborn Tasmanian Devils are now front and centre in the island’s culture wars. It didn’t have to be like this.

  • Martin Flanagan

Latest

Clubs in Tasmania are struggling for numbers.

The AFL had one job – protect the game. But in Tasmania, it’s dying

I love football, still do, and that’s why to every footy lover outside Tasmania I say – if the game dies in Tasmania, it can die anywhere.

  • Martin Flanagan
Tom Wills as a young man in 1857 or 1958.

Tom Wills remains a major figure in Australian history

A research discovery has suggested Tom Wills, one of the founders of Australian football, participated in the murder of Aboriginal people. Martin Flanagan says the historical document contains gross distortions, and that he remains one of the most dramatic figures in Australian history.

  • Martin Flanagan
Michael Perry, 90, was brought up in the circus.

The lion tamer who saw three Melbourne flags barracks for another

No AFL supporters are stereotyped more than Melbourne’s, but some of the great characters Martin Flanagan has met in football are Melbourne supporters.

  • Martin Flanagan
LAUNCESTON, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 29: Mason Redman of the Bombers is tackled by Laitham Vandermeer of the Bulldogs during the AFL First Elimination Final match between Western Bulldogs and Essendon Bombers at University of Tasmania Stadium on August 29, 2021 in Launceston, Australia. (Photo by Steve Bell/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

‘Smart, skilful, up for big challenges’: young Dog lights up Launceston gloom

The Scots have a word – dreich. A dreich day is a grey, gloomy day and they have a lot of them. Launceston had one yesterday which was unfortunate because it was hosting the elimination final between Essendon and the Bulldogs.

  • Martin Flanagan
Authentic: Peter Gutwein watches his son playing football from the David Boon Stand in Launceston with his wife Amanda.

Thanks for bringing finals to Launceston, but the AFL owes Tasmania

The movement for a Tasmanian AFL team is better organised than ever before, and it has a leader like it’s never had before.

  • Martin Flanagan
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Jane Tewson with Mariam Issa and Russell Smith of Igniting Change, 2011.

Jane Tewson's life is good news for all of us

I wrote my new book because I wanted my granddaughter to know "there is an obstinate force for good in the world, and here is an example of it”.

  • Martin Flanagan
Michael Long leaps for joy after his defining goal in Essendon's 1993 premiership.

Farewell to Melbourne, and some parting advice for the AFL

An Age stalwart is saying goodbye to Melbourne after writing about everyone from Weary Dunlop to Archie Roach. And then there was the footy.

  • Martin Flanagan
The (younger) brothers Flanagan, Tim and Martin.

'I learnt the meaning of the word brother from Tim'

Tim was the one who encouraged me to write. He kept a copy of everything I wrote.

  • Martin Flanagan
Martin Flanagan and his granddaughter Annie at the footy.

The power of the game, and its people, make me forget about everything else in the world

Martin Flanagan presents an ode to football in his last column for The Age.

  • Martin Flanagan