title: Vehicle armour

text: Newer materials are being developed. One such, aluminium oxynitride, is much lighter but at US$10–15 per square inch is much more costly.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Ceramic's precise mechanism for defeating HEAT was uncovered in the 1980s. High speed photography showed that the ceramic material shatters as the HEAT round penetrates, the highly energetic fragments destroying the geometry of the metal jet generated by the hollow charge, greatly diminishing the penetration. Ceramic layers can also be used as part of composite armour solutions. The high hardness of some ceramic materials serves as a disruptor that shatters and spreads the kinetic energy of projectiles.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Composite armour is armour consisting of layers of two or more materials with significantly different physical properties; steel and ceramics are the most common types of material in composite armour. Composite armour was initially developed in the 1940s, although it did not enter service until much later and the early examples are often ignored in the face of newer armour such as Chobham armour. Composite armour's effectiveness depends on its composition and may be effective against kinetic energy penetrators as well as shaped charge munitions; heavy metals are sometimes included specifically for protection from kinetic energy penetrators.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Composite armour used on modern Western and Israeli main battle tanks largely consists of non-explosive reactive armour (NERA) elements - a type of Reactive armour. These elements are often a laminate consisting of two hard plates (usually high hardness steel) with some low density interlayer material between them. Upon impact, the interlayer swells and moves the plates, disrupting heat 'jets' and possibly degrading kinetic energy projectiles. Behind these elements will be some backing element designed to stop the degraded jet or projectile element, which may be of high hardness steel, or some composite of steel and ceramic or possibly uranium.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Soviet main battle tanks from the T-64 onward utilised composite armour which often consisted of some low density filler between relatively thick steel plates or castings, for example Combination K. For example, the T-64 turret front and cheek was originally filled with aluminum, and then ceramic balls and aluminum, whilst some models of the T-72 features a glass filler called "Kvartz". The tank glacis was often a sandwich of steel and some low density filler, either textolite (a fibreglass reinforced polymer) or ceramic plates. Later T-80 and T-72 turrets contained NERA elements, similar to those discussed above.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Belt armour is a layer of armour-plating outside the hull (watercraft) of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers, cruisers and some aircraft carriers.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Typically, the belt covers from the deck down someway below the waterline of the ship. If built within the hull, rather than forming the outer hull, it can be fitted at an inclined angle to improve the protection.


title: Vehicle armour

text: When struck by a shell or torpedo, the belt armour is designed to prevent penetration, by either being too thick for the warhead to penetrate, or sloped to a degree that would deflect either projectile. Often, the main belt armour was supplemented with a torpedo bulkhead spaced several meters behind the main belt, designed to maintain the ship's watertight integrity even if the main belt were penetrated.


title: Vehicle armour

text: The air-space between the belt and the hull also adds buoyancy. Several wartime vessels had belt armour that was thinner or shallower than was desirable, to speed production and conserve resources.


title: Vehicle armour

text: "Deck armour" on aircraft carriers is usually at the flight deck level, but on some early carriers was at the hangar deck. (See armoured flight deck.)


title: Vehicle armour

text: Armour plating is not common on aircraft, which generally rely on their speed and manoeuvrability to avoid attacks from enemy aircraft and ground fire, rather than trying to resist impacts. Additionally, any armour capable of stopping large-calibre anti-aircraft fire or missile fragments would result in an unacceptable weight penalty. So, only the vital parts of an aircraft, such as the ejection seat and engines, are usually armoured. This is one area where titanium is used extensively as armour plating. For example, in the American Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II and the Soviet-built Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack aircraft, as well as the Mil Mi-24 Hind ground-attack helicopter, the pilot sits in a titanium enclosure known as the "bathtub" for its shape. In addition, the windscreens of larger aircraft are generally made of impact-resistant, laminated materials, even on civilian craft, to prevent damage from bird strikes or other debris.


title: Vehicle armour

text: The most heavily armoured vehicles today are the main battle tanks, which are the spearhead of the ground forces, and are designed to withstand anti-tank guided missiles, kinetic energy penetrators, high-explosive anti-tank weapons, NBC threats and in some tanks even steep-trajectory shells. The Israeli Merkava tanks were designed in a way that each tank component functions as added back-up armour to protect the crew. Outer armour is modular and enables quickly replacing damaged parts.


title: Vehicle armour

text: For efficiency, the heaviest armour on an armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is placed on its front. Tank tactics require the vehicle to always face the likely direction of enemy fire as much as possible, even in defence or withdrawal operations.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Sloping and curving armour can both increase its protection. Given a fixed thickness of armour plate, a projectile striking at an angle must penetrate more armour than one impacting perpendicularly. An angled surface also increases the chance of deflecting a projectile. This can be seen on v-hull designs, which direct the force of an Improvised explosive device or landmine away from the crew compartment, increasing crew survivability.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Beginning during the Cold War, many AFVs have "spall liners" inside of the armour, designed to protect crew and equipment inside from fragmentation (spalling) released from the impact of enemy shells, especially high-explosive squash head warheads. Spall liners are made of Kevlar, Dyneema, Spectra Shield, or similar materials.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Appliqué armour, or add-on armour, consists of extra plates mounted onto the hull or turret of an AFV. The plates can be made of any material and are designed to be retrofitted to an AFV to withstand weapons that can penetrate the original armour of the vehicle.


title: Vehicle armour

text: An advantage of appliqué armour is the possibility to tailor a vehicle's protection level to a specific threat scenario.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Vehicle armour is sometimes improvised in the midst of an armed conflict by vehicle crews or individual units. In World War II, British, Canadian and Polish tank crews welded spare strips of tank track to the hulls of their Sherman tanks. U.S. tank crews often added sand bags in the hull and turrets on Sherman tanks, often in an elaborate cage made of girders. Some Sherman tanks were up-armoured in the field with glacis plates and other armour cut from knocked-out tanks to create "Improvised Jumbos", named after the heavily armoured M4A3E2 assault tank. In the Vietnam War, U.S. "gun trucks" were armoured with sandbags and locally fabricated steel armour plate. More recently, U.S. troops in Iraq armoured Humvees and various military transport vehicles with scrap materials: this came to be known as "hillbilly armour" or "haji armour" by the Americans. Moreover, there was the Killdozer incident, with the modified bulldozer being armoured with steel and concrete composite, which proved to be highly resistant to small arms.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Armour with two or more plates spaced a distance apart, called spaced armour, has been in use since the First World War, where it was used on the Schneider CA1 and Saint-Chamond tanks. Spaced armour can be advantageous in several situations. For example, it can reduce the effectiveness of kinetic energy penetrators because the interaction with each plate can cause the round to tumble, deflect, deform, or disintegrate. This effect can be enhanced when the armour is sloped. Spaced armour can also offer increased protection against HEAT projectiles. This occurs because the shaped charge warhead can detonate prematurely (at the first surface), so that the metal jet that is produced loses its coherence before reaching the main armour and impacting over a broader area. Sometimes the interior surfaces of these hollow cavities are sloped, presenting angles to the anticipated path of the shaped charge's jet in order to further dissipate its power. Taken to the extreme, relatively thin armour plates, metal mesh, or slatted plates, much lighter than fully protective armour, can be attached as side skirts or turret skirts to provide additional protection against such weapons. This can be seen in middle and late-World War II German tanks, as well as many modern AFVs. Taken as a whole, spaced armour can provide significantly increased protection while saving weight.


title: Vehicle armour

text: The analogous Whipple shield uses the principle of spaced armour to protect spacecraft from the impacts of very fast micrometeoroids. The impact with the first wall melts or breaks up the incoming particle, causing fragments to be spread over a wider area when striking the subsequent walls.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Sloped armour is armour that is mounted at a non-vertical and non-horizontal angle, typically on tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles. For a given normal to the surface of the armour, its plate thickness, increasing armour slope improves the armour's level of protection by increasing the thickness measured on a horizontal plane, while for a given area density of the armour the protection can be either increased or reduced by other sloping effects, depending on the armour materials used and the qualities of the projectile hitting it. The increased protection caused by increasing the slope while keeping the plate thickness constant, is due to a proportional increase of area density and thus mass, and thus offers no weight benefit. Therefore, the other possible effects of sloping, such as deflection, deforming and ricochet of a projectile, have been the reasons to apply sloped armour in armoured vehicles design. Another motive is the fact that sloping armour is a more efficient way of covering the necessary equipment since it encloses less volume with less material. The sharpest angles are usually seen on the frontal glacis plate, both as it is the hull side most likely to be hit and because there is more room to slope in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle.


title: Vehicle armour

text: "Explosive reactive armour", initially developed by German researcher Manfred Held while working in Israel, uses layers of high explosive sandwiched between steel plates. When a shaped-charge warhead hits, the explosive detonates and pushes the steel plates into the warhead, disrupting the flow of the charge's liquid metal penetrator (usually copper at around 500 degrees Celsius; it can be made to flow like water by sufficient pressure). Traditional "light" ERA is less effective against kinetic penetrators. "Heavy" reactive armour, however, offers better protection. The only example currently in widespread service is Russian Kontakt-5. Explosive reactive armour poses a threat to friendly troops near the vehicle.


title: Vehicle armour

text: "Non-explosive reactive armour" is an advanced spaced armour which uses materials which change their geometry so as to increase protection under the stress of impact.


title: Vehicle armour

text: "Active protection systems" use a sensor to detect an incoming projectile and explosively launch a counter-projectile into its path.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Slat armour is designed to protect against anti-tank rocket and missile attacks, where the warhead is a shaped charge. The slats are spaced so that the warhead is either partially deformed before detonating, or the fuzing mechanism is damaged, thereby preventing detonation entirely. As shaped charges rely on very specific structure to create a jet of hot metal, any disruption to this structure greatly reduces the effectiveness of the warhead. Slat armour can be defeated by tandem-charge designs such as the RPG-27 and RPG-29.


title: Vehicle armour

text: Electric armour is a recent development in the United Kingdom by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. A vehicle is fitted with two thin shells, separated by insulating material. The outer shell holds an enormous electric charge, while the inner shell is at ground. If an incoming HEAT jet penetrates the outer shell and forms a bridge between the shells, the electrical energy discharges through the jet, disrupting it. Trials have so far been extremely promising, and it is hoped that improved systems could protect against KE penetrators. The developers of the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) series of armoured vehicles are considering this technology.


title: Ruf CTR

text: The Ruf CTR (Group C, Turbo Ruf) also known as the CTR Yellowbird or simply Yellowbird, is a limited-production, high performance sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Ruf Automobile. Introduced for the 1987 model year and based on the Porsche 911, the CTR featured an enlarged and highly tuned version of Porsche's 3.2 litre flat-six cylinder engine, lightened body panels, an integrated roll cage (adding chassis stiffness in addition to occupant safety), upgraded suspension and braking systems, a custom-designed transmission, and several unique trim pieces such as polyurethane bumpers, and the use of the side-mounted oil filler (a Porsche feature for the 1972 model year only) necessitated by relocating the oil tank forward to clear the intercooler on that side.


title: Ruf CTR

text: The car received its nickname, "Yellowbird", during testing by "Road & Track" magazine, whose staff members noted the contrast created by its yellow paintwork against the overcast skies on the day of their photo shoot.


title: Ruf CTR

text: The CTR (abbreviation of "Group C Turbo Ruf") was based on the 1987 911 Carrera 3.2 as opposed to the 930; Porsche's factory turbocharged version of the 911. The decision to base the car on the Carrera 3.2 was made because of the 3.2's slightly lower curb weight and drag coefficient. Factory body panels including the doors, hood and engine cover were replaced with aluminum pieces, helping to reduce an additional of weight as compared to the vehicle's factory curb weight. Efforts to reduce drag, the use of fiberglass front and rear bumpers and a pair of intake ducts on the rear flares to allow airflow to the intercoolers topped the list of body modifications. The rear arches were also slightly increased in width to accommodate the larger Speedline wheels.


title: Ruf CTR

text: In addition to the lighter panels, considerable modifications were made to the engine, including boring the cylinders out to to increase displacement from to , adding an uprated DME fuel injection system originally designed for the Porsche 962 race car. A specifically designed turbo system featuring large twin-turbochargers and twin intercoolers were the main highlights of the modifications done to the engine, bringing total output to at 5,950 rpm and of torque at 5,100 rpm.


title: Ruf CTR

text: At the time, Porsche offered the 911 3.2 with a 5-speed manual transmission, but the 930 featured only a 4-speed manual transmission, chosen because it was the only unit manufactured by the company that could handle the turbocharged engine's high power output. Not content with only four forward gears and unable to satisfactorily modify the 5-speed unit, Ruf chose to use a new five-speed transmission of their own design on the CTR, which also gave them full freedom to customise gear ratios. An upgraded suspension system, 17 inch Ruf Speedline alloy wheels, diameter Brembo braking system, and Dunlop's Denloc system performance tyres were used.


title: Ruf CTR

text: The company debuted the vehicle at the end of 1987 with pricing set at US$142,900 (approx US$362,000 in 2022), although that number could vary depending on whether a given customer ordered it directly from Ruf or brought in a car purchased via dealer for conversion. Ruf manufactured only 29 cars from chassis bought from Porsche; about 20–30 cars were built from customers' Carreras.


title: Ruf CTR

text: Ruf rated the CTR at and of torque. It is said that the official power output of 469 PS was the lowest dynamometer reading of all the CTR engines tested while the average figure was closer to or even higher.


title: Ruf CTR

text: Weighing in at , the CTR had a 0-60 mph acceleration time of 3.65 seconds and a top speed in excess of 210 mph. Although the Porsche 959 was faster in terms of acceleration to 60 mph, the Yellowbird could outperform all competition when it came to top speed, topping out at , a top speed that made it the fastest production car in the world at the time of its introduction.


title: Ruf CTR

text: The CTR could generally outperform most of the other high performance cars of the time, including the Ferrari Testarossa and Lamborghini Countach. In addition, despite being slower than the Porsche 959 in accelerating from 0-60 mph, it could outperform the Porsche 959, Ferrari F40 and the Lamborghini Diablo accelerating from 0-100 mph and attain a higher top speed.


title: Ruf CTR

text: The CTR was also a highly competent track vehicle, and for several years it held the unofficial lap record at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife track.


title: Ruf CTR

text: The Ruf CTR had its first appearance in April 1987 at the "World's Fastest Cars" contest held by American car magazine "Road & Track" where it was designated "The Fastest Production Car in the World".


title: Ruf CTR

text: It accelerated from 0-60 mph in 4.0 seconds, 0-100 mph in 7.3 seconds, 0–200 km/h in 10.5 seconds, mile in 11.7 seconds at and reached a top speed of , beating the competition by . Editor Paul Frère shouted "This is faster than I've ever gone in my life!" during a ride.


title: Ruf CTR

text: In 1988, "Auto Motor und Sport" organized a high speed test at Nardò Ring where the Ruf CTR was the fastest reaching , surpassing a Porsche 959 s (), two Ferrari F40s ( each) and a Mercedes AMG 6.0 32V (). At one point it achieved an unofficial .


title: Ruf CTR

text: In 1989, test driver Stefan Roser drove the CTR around the Nürburgring. The laps were captured on camera and released by Ruf in a video called "Faszination on the Nürburgring" which became famous. "Car & Driver" called it "groundbreaking, enthralling and influential" and for Top Gear it's the "best" and "most exciting" lap for watching.


title: Ruf CTR

text: In 2004, a Ruf CTR was able to keep up with newer sports cars like the Porsche Carrera GT, the Enzo Ferrari and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren at the "Autocar" 0-100-0 challenge and impressed the audience, so did another one - with more than 100,000 kilometers on its odometer - at the "Road & Track" standing mile contest 2005. Steve Millen, after testing a CTR, stated: "That thing's a blast. It accelerates hard. It's a real old-school car with a lot of torque and power. Just awesome. What a rush. It pulled the whole way through."


title: Ruf CTR

text: The Ruf CTR is a playable/drivable car in the video games "", "Project Gotham Racing 3", "Project Gotham Racing 4", "", "Forza Motorsport 4", "Forza Motorsport 5", "Forza Horizon", "Forza Horizon 2", "Assetto Corsa", "Project CARS", and most of the "Gran Turismo" series games.


title: Ruf CTR

text: At the 87th Geneva Motor Show held from 9 to 19 March 2017, exactly 30 years after the original CTR was launched, Ruf presented a new model paying tribute to the original CTR. The new CTR utilises an in-house developed carbon fibre body bearing resemblance to a Porsche 964 along with an aluminium chassis resulting in a dry weight of . The car is not based on the 911, unlike the original CTR. The new CTR is powered by a 3.6-litre water cooled twin-turbocharged Flat-6 engine producing at 6,750 rpm and of torque at 4,000 rpm. The car is capable of accelerating from 0–100 km/h (62 mph) in under 3.5 seconds and can reach a top speed of . Power is sent to the rear wheels through a 6-speed manual gearbox. The car also sports retro components based on the original CTR such as the 'whale tail' rear wing five-spoke wheels, interior and the steering wheel. Only 50 examples of the 2017 CTR will be produced.


title: Unisphere

text: The Unisphere is a spherical stainless steel representation of the Earth in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens. The globe was designed by Gilmore D. Clarke as part of his plan for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Commissioned to celebrate the beginning of the space age, the Unisphere was conceived and constructed as the theme symbol of the World's Fair. The theme of the World's Fair was "Peace Through Understanding", and the Unisphere represented the theme of global interdependence, being dedicated to "Man's Achievements on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe".


title: Unisphere

text: The Unisphere measures high and in diameter. It sits atop a tripod base with over 500 steel pieces representing the continents, as well as three steel rings representing the first artificial satellites orbiting Earth. Around the Unisphere is a reflecting pool measuring in diameter. The base is surrounded by 48 pairs of fountainheads, which were intended to conceal the tripod supporting the globe.


title: Unisphere

text: Clarke devised plans for the Unisphere while aboard an airplane in 1960. New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses, who had already rejected two plans for iconic structures at the 1964 Fair, approved Clarke's proposal in early 1961. After further refinements, the Unisphere was constructed by American Bridge Company, a division of U.S. Steel, from March to August 1963. Over 51 million people visited the Unisphere during the World's Fair, after which it became a permanent attraction of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. In the 1970s, the Unisphere was not maintained and became visibly dirty; it was restored in the early 1990s. The Unisphere was made a New York City designated landmark in 1995 and, after another period of disrepair, it was restored in the early 2010s.


title: Unisphere

text: Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, a former ash dump in the borough of Queens, was used for the 1939/1940 New York World's Fair. At the conclusion of the fair, it was used as a park. The Flushing Meadows site was selected in 1959 for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Gilmore David Clarke and Michael Rapuano, designers of the original World's Fair layout, were retained to tailor the original 1939 park layout for the new fair. New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses was president of the World's Fair Corporation, which leased the park from the city until 1967, after the fair's completion.


title: Unisphere

text: After the 1964 fair was announced, Moses wished to make a symbol that represented the fair's theme of "Peace Through Understanding", which would also have some "significance or meaning for the average person". The symbol would also celebrate the beginning of the space age. Moses first asked designer Walter Dorwin Teague to make a "Theme Center". Teague designed the center as a inverted cone surrounded by a spiral, rising from a reflecting pool. Moses declined the proposal, calling it a "cross between a part of a brake engine and a bed spring, or should I say between a Malayan Tapir and a window shutter". Another proposal was devised by Paul Rudolph on behalf of the Portland Cement Association. This plan called for a saucer measuring in diameter and tilted 18 degrees from the ground, with a restaurant, exhibits, educational and recreational facilities, and "planetary viewing stations". Moses also rejected Rudolph's proposal.


title: Unisphere

text: The idea for the Unisphere occurred in September 1960 as Clarke was doodling on an airplane from Ohio to New York. Clarke had sketched a metal armillary on the rear of an envelope. By the time he got to his office, Clarke had refined his plan into a revolving globe with rings of latitude and longitude. Clarke asked another architect working under his office, William S. Boice, to sketch the structure. Since the method of the sculpture's revolution had not yet been determined, Boice drew fountains to conceal the base. The Unisphere was conceptually designed in aluminum with metallic mesh continents. The globe would be tilted 23.5 degrees and would measure across. Capital cities would be represented on the globe by three sizes of lights, with larger lights for capitals deemed more important. Clarke showed the plan to Moses, who approved of it.


title: Unisphere

text: Moses announced plans for the Unisphere in February 1961. The Unisphere would replace the Trylon and Perisphere from the 1939 World's Fair, which Moses said he "never understood". According to Moses, the Unisphere "illustrates, symbolizes and embodies man's achievements on a shrinking globe in an expanding universe". The structure was to be constructed by American Bridge Company, a division of U.S. Steel. Further refinements were made by another of Clarke's architects, Peter Martecchini, who decided to place three columns at the globe's pedestal after playing with a rubber ball belonging to one of his sons. Martecchini developed a working model for a moving platform, composed of three pegs, each topped by a pair of metal disks and a toothed disk with a bolt, supporting a plywood platform. A model of the proposed work was unveiled in 1962.


title: Unisphere

text: Clarke's idea underwent a further refined industrial design in stainless steel by industrial designers at Peter Muller-Munk Associates. Some of the original design details were controversial. Several landmasses such as Cyprus and Crete had been left out of the original design, and the lights representing capital cities were criticized on the grounds that the process of selecting "important" capitals was subjective. U.S. Steel rejected the idea of a spinning globe due to high costs, though it did retain Martecchini's idea of a three-pointed pedestal. In addition, the globe was reduced from after Clarke talked with U.S. Steel's board chairman Roger Blough, who said the globe would only be as high as a ten-story brick building outside his office. The final design was similar to the original, but the fountains were arranged differently.


title: Unisphere

text: Construction on the Unisphere started on March 6, 1963. The globe was built within 110 days, and the last landmass was installed on August 13, 1963. When the Unisphere was being built, Blough took credit for the structure. He did give an award to M. Legrain-Eiffel, whose grandfather Gustave Eiffel's company had designed and built the Eiffel Tower. The Unisphere was dedicated in early March 1964, and the base of the Unisphere hosted a dance ball the same month, attended by four hundred people. U.S. Steel constructed the Unisphere for free; as compensation, the company's name was placed on marketing materials throughout the fair.


title: Unisphere

text: The globe became the icon of the 1964 World's Fair. A special commemorative stamp issue was issued starting in April 1964, depicting fair attractions such as the Unisphere. The globe was also depicted on media and souvenirs promoting the fair. The Unisphere's popularity was also increased by the presence of fountainheads around the globe's base, which cooled down fair visitors on hot days. During the fair, dramatic lighting at night gave the effect of sunrise moving over the surface of the globe. Additionally, the capitals of nations were marked by lights. One of these lights is placed at the location of the Kahnawake Indian Reservation, which the Mohawk ironworkers requested to be placed there to honor their labor. Over the course of the fair, many of its 51 million visitors passed by the Unisphere.


title: Unisphere

text: In March 1966, after the conclusion of the fair, U.S. Steel donated $100,000 to make the Unisphere a permanent attraction at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. These funds were allocated toward a lighting system for the globe, as well as a water-recirculation system for the pools. The park was reopened the next year following a major renovation, and the Unisphere was permanently retained as a park feature. At first, the park was lightly used, and a "Newsday" article in 1969 reported that the fountains at the Unisphere had been turned off. The globe was covered in grime by the 1970s, while the pools were shut off and tagged with graffiti. In 1978, the US Open tennis tournament was moved from the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills to Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. Parts of the park were repaired or expanded for the tournament, including the fountains of the Unisphere, which were reactivated in 1978 for the first time in ten years. In 1983, officials celebrated the 300th anniversary of Queens' founding at the base of the Unisphere.


title: Unisphere

text: Arne Abramowitz became administrator of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in 1986 and soon began planning a renovation of the park. The following year, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) announced an $80 million rehabilitation of the park. The renovation had been planned since the early 1980s but had been deferred due to a lack of funding. By this time, the city was shutting off the Unisphere's fountains during festivals to prevent people from wading into them. The restoration called for new mechanical systems, lighting, retaining walls, benches, paving, and trees to be installed in Unisphere Plaza at a cost of between $5.7 and $5.9 million. A second phase would landscape the surrounding grounds for $40 million. In 1989, a NYC Parks official observed that landmasses of countries like India and Vietnam would be lifted from their mountings on particularly windy days.


title: Unisphere

text: The grounds around the Unisphere were landscaped in 1992, but the renovation of the Unisphere itself was delayed due to a lack of money. Preservationists objected when some of the trees around the Unisphere, dating to the 1964 World's Fair, were removed and replaced with trees that were easier to maintain. The restoration of the Unisphere, which began in 1993, included numerous structural repairs and removal of grime accumulation on the steel. The fountains were replaced and new floodlighting was installed. Furthermore, two of the surrounding lawns were planted with rose gardens. As part of the park-wide renovation, the entrance of the Queens Museum, to the west, was relocated so it faced the Unisphere directly, rather than in the opposite direction. The restoration was completed in May 1994. Architectural critic Herbert Muschamp wrote that, while "nothing can compensate for the loss of context around this metallic centerpiece", the globe had started to gleam "with something like its former high spirits". That year, the Annual Building Awards in Queens gave the Unisphere an award for best rehabilitation.


title: Unisphere

text: In February 1995, several Queens residents petitioned to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to designate the Unisphere as an official city landmark. Although the structure was only thirty years old, one speaker said "its symbolism precedes its age". At the time, there were relatively few city landmarks in Queens compared to the total number of landmarks citywide, but other structures such as the Lewis H. Latimer House and Vander Ende–Onderdonk House were receiving landmark protection. The LPC designated the Unisphere as a landmark that May. Though the landmark status ensured the Unisphere's preservation, other relics of the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs had become dilapidated or were being demolished at the same time.


title: Unisphere

text: The fountains at the Unisphere's base were shut off in 2001 due to citywide water restrictions; they were not reactivated until early 2003, seventeen months later. The pool around the globe was also drained because Mayor Michael Bloomberg had prohibited water from being used for ornamental purposes. By 2008, city officials planned to fix the pipes under the Unisphere. At the time, the fountains leaked excessively; to save money, NYC Parks only operated the fountains throughout the entire day whenever the US Open was being held. Due to concerns by city officials that people would wade into the pools, some officials had proposed several years prior that the Unisphere be surrounded by a fence or bushes, but former parks commissioner Henry Stern had expressed opposition to such proposals. Local media reported in 2009 that grass had begun to grow within the steel mass representing Antarctica. NYC Parks officials suspected that bird feces and an accumulation of leaves had contributed to an environment in which seeds could germinate.


title: Unisphere

text: The Unisphere's fountains were rededicated on August 12, 2010, after a $2 million restoration of the pumps, valves, and paintwork. The refurbished fountains operated daily during the summer for the first time in more than two decades. In the September 2010 Brooklyn/Queens tornadoes, the landmass representing Sri Lanka was blown off the Unisphere. The piece was reinstalled the following year. After the fountains were turned back on, visitors often played within the pool and fountains, especially after a neighboring set of fountains to the east broke down. This was despite the fact that people were technically not allowed to enter the pool and fountains. To prevent people from being hurt by the powerful fountainheads, NYC Parks added barricades, opened fire hydrants, and hired patrol officers to deter people from going into the pool. Even so, some people still entered the pool.


title: Unisphere

text: The Unisphere is the world's largest globe. It measures in diameter, rises , and weighs . Including its inverted tripod base, which is made of sturdy low-alloy steel, the Unisphere weighs . The globe is constructed of Type 304L stainless steel. The continents on the globe are fabricated with a special texture-pattern by Rigidized Metals Corporation. The horizontal beams on the frame are meant to represent longitude lines. Over five hundred pieces of steel were used in the construction of the globe. The Unisphere is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees, which is Earth's normal tilt.


title: Unisphere

text: Three large orbit rings of stainless steel encircle the Unisphere at various angles. These orbit rings are believed to represent the tracks of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space; John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth; and Telstar, the first active communications satellite. The early design was to have a ring for each of a dozen satellites in place at the time of the World's Fair. This proved impractical, not only in the number of satellites but also in the height of their orbits and the fact that geostationary satellites had no orbit path. As a result, a symbolic number of three was chosen for aesthetic reasons. The three rings were connected with aircraft cable to the rest of the structure. Another proposal entailed having lights revolve around the satellite rings, but this idea was also decided against.


title: Unisphere

text: The landmasses of the Unisphere are made of metal sheets that are laid in contours. The shapes had to be placed at regular intervals while also accurately representing the globe, and could not be cross-braced or overly thick; furthermore, wind was trapped by the shapes' concave inner surfaces. As such, a stress transfer pattern was developed, and the meridians and parallels were varied in dimension, thereby making the Unisphere structurally stable as well as accurate in design. U.S. Steel's administrative vice president Austin J. Paddock said that some 670 mathematical equations needed to be solved simultaneously to determine the exact layout of the Unisphere. The shape of the steel sheets was devised using a computer. The surface area of the landmasses totals over , effectively acting as a large sail.


title: Unisphere

text: The Unisphere is centered in a circular reflecting pool, with a floor of poured concrete surrounded by a bulkhead of granite and concrete. Forty-eight pairs of fountainheads, on the outer edge of the pool, are designed to obscure its tripod pedestal. Prior to the 1990s renovation, there were 48 single fountainheads. Two pumps in the pool recycle the water that is used in the fountainheads. The effect is meant to obscure the tripod supporting the Unisphere, making the globe appear as if it is floating in space. From the perimeter of the reflecting pool, the Unisphere is meant to depict the Earth as seen from away.


title: Unisphere

text: The Unisphere is built on a concrete foundation, which includes the piling ring that supported the Perisphere of the 1939 World's Fair. The marshy soil of Flushing Meadows needed special consideration during the original 1937 Perisphere construction. The Perisphere, and subsequently the Unisphere, employed a foundation of 528 pressure-creosoted Douglas fir piles of in length. Before construction of the Unisphere, three piles were tested for structural integrity and all were found to be sound throughout their entire length. Six hundred additional piles were built specifically for the Unisphere.


title: Unisphere

text: Pathways radiate axially from the Unisphere to the north, northeast, southeast, and south. There are plaques facing the four major paths that extend from the Unisphere. The courts of the former Louis Armstrong Stadium, to the north, had been oriented along the same axis as the Unisphere. Additionally, a pair of promenades extend east of the Unisphere, with the Fountains of the Fairs between the paths. The entrance to the Queens Museum is directly west of the Unisphere, while the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is to the north and the New York State Pavilion is to the south.


title: Unisphere

text: When originally proposed, the Unisphere was negatively received by critics. "The Village Voice" quoted people who called it "probably one of the most uninspired designs we have ever seen", while "Newsday" opined that the globe was "deathly dull" and "looks like an ad for Western Union". "Oculus" magazine criticized the design as "a heavy, literal version of the ancient armillary sphere, with decoration by Rand McNally". Ralph Caplan wrote for "Industrial Design" that Moses's defense of the Unisphere was motivated by animosity toward the older structure. "Progressive Architecture" described it as "like the set for the 'spectacular' finale of a 1930s Warner Brothers musical". Walter McQuade wrote for "The Nation" that the Unisphere was a "bit of roadside inspirational decoration, a trite cartoon in iron" that portended badly for the 1964 World's Fair, while Bruno Zevi for Italian magazine "L'Architettura cronache e storia" called it a "silly idea" and petitioned U.S. President John F. Kennedy to prevent the Unisphere from being installed.


title: Unisphere

text: Only one positive criticism emerged when the globe was announced, when the National Arts Club called it "one of the outstanding achievements in structural sculpture of this decade". Remarking on the initial negative reception of the Unisphere in 2010, "The Wall Street Journal" said that the Unisphere was perceived as a symbol of the "banal, corporate atmosphere" of the 1964 World's Fair. Despite the largely negative criticism of the Unisphere from architectural critics, it was positively received by the visitors. After the fair, the Unisphere remained a tourist attraction through the 21st century. "The New York Times", in 2014, said the Unisphere was the only relic of the 1964 World's Fair that "was untarnished by time and enhanced by memory".


title: Unisphere

text: According to "Smithsonian" magazine, "The Unisphere became the space age logo of the fair, a steel Earth at the Ptolemaic hub of a Googie-style Jetsons universe", despite the overall limited success of the 1964 World's Fair. The Unisphere became an unofficial symbol of Queens after the World's Fair. In 1990, the office of the Queens borough president depicted the Unisphere in its insignia, and advertisements for Continental Airlines and Bloomingdale's also depicted the globe. By the mid-1990s, it was being shown in numerous commercials and as a part of several montages of New York City. One person interviewed by "The New York Times", who depicted the Unisphere on her products, said that the Unisphere had become popular because "People have run out of symbols of New York".


title: Unisphere

text: The Unisphere has been used as a setting or backdrop for several films, music videos, and TV episodes, notably the American sitcom "The King of Queens"; the television show ""; the Marvel Cinematic Universe films "Iron Man 2", "", and ""; and the movie "Men in Black". It has also been the subject of Seth Fein's experimental documentary, "Between Neighborhoods" (2018).


title: Unisphere

text: Several people have climbed the Unisphere throughout its history. In 1976, George Willig and Jerry Hewitt scaled the structure for a short documentary made by New York University student Paul Hornstein, who had wanted "to prove that we can do a full-scale, high-quality movie production on our own". A member of the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion also climbed the Unisphere in September 2019 to hang a banner protesting the 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires. At least two climbers have died after slipping from the Unisphere: a 23-year-old who fell from the side of the structure in 1976, and a man who fell into the globe in 1990.


title: Robin Guthrie

text: Robin Andrew Guthrie (born 4 January 1962) is a Scottish musician, songwriter, composer, record producer and audio engineer, best known as the co-founder of the alternative rock band Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has performed guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and other musical instruments, in addition to programming, sampling and sound processing.


title: Robin Guthrie

text: Following the break-up of Cocteau Twins in 1998, Guthrie released his first solo record, "Imperial", in 2003 on Bella Union Records. Guthrie's next release, which was co-written with Harold Budd, was the film score for Gregg Araki's "Mysterious Skin". The soundtrack was released in May 2005 by Commotion and consists of 15 complete songs based on the short pieces used in the film.


title: Robin Guthrie

text: In 2006, Guthrie signed a four-album solo deal with Darla Records, the first product of which was the album "Continental". In February 2007, American webzine "Somewhere Cold" voted "Continental" best album of 2006, on their "2006 Somewhere Cold Awards Hall of Fame", and ranked Guthrie "Artist of the Year". He subsequently released two four-track EPs, "Everlasting" and "Waiting for Dawn".


title: Robin Guthrie

text: Two more collaborations with Harold Budd (who had previously announced his musical retirement) were released simultaneously in 2007. "After the Night Falls" and "Before the Day Breaks" were both co-composed, co-produced and played with Budd. Like the soundtrack to "Mysterious Skin", both albums are slow, drifting pieces primarily utilising treated guitar and piano.


title: Robin Guthrie

text: Guthrie has also collaborated with singer Siobhan de Maré (formerly of Mono) as the band Violet Indiana. Their first full-length album, "Roulette", was released in 2001. A second album, "Russian Doll", followed in 2004. In March 2006 Guthrie reported on his weblog that the group had started work again on new material.


title: Robin Guthrie

text: In May 2009, "Mirrorball", an album-length collaboration between Guthrie and John Foxx was released on Metamatic Records.


title: Robin Guthrie

text: A new solo album, "Carousel", was released via Rocket Girl in Europe on 1 September 2009 and Darla Records on 15 September 2009. Additionally, Guthrie issued the "Angel Falls EP" in early 2009, and the "Songs to Help My Children Sleep EP" in October 2009. A further EP "Sunflower Stories" was released in March 2010


title: Robin Guthrie

text: Guthrie's most recent releases are "Emeralds" (2011) and two collaboration albums with Harold Budd, "Bordeaux" and "Winter Garden" (with Eraldo Bernocchi) (both 2011).


title: Robin Guthrie

text: He played guitar on the Telefon Tel Aviv track "The Sky Is Black", from "The Birds" EP (2012). Guthrie released "Fortune", his newest full-length album on 26 November 2012.


title: Robin Guthrie

text: In 2015, Guthrie and friend Mark Gardener of Ride wrote, performed and recorded an album "Universal Road" together.


title: Robin Guthrie

text: Guthrie currently tours live under the name "The Robin Guthrie Trio" consisting of himself, Steve Wheeler (on bass) & Antti Mäkinen (on drums). He works and lives in France with his wife Florence.


title: Robin Guthrie

text: In 1986, Robin Guthrie produced Felt's fourth studio album, "Ignite the Seven Cannons", and the following year, he produced The Gun Club's fourth studio album, "Mother Juno" in Berlin. In 1990 he produced Lush's second EP "Mad Love" and a few other songs scattered on various compilation albums. He went on to produce their 1992 debut album "Spooky" and "Black Spring EP" (1991).


title: Robin Guthrie

text: In 2005 Guthrie mixed Amber Smith's third studio album entitled "RePRINT" which brought the band an international breakthrough.


title: Oppidum

text: An oppidum (plural oppida) is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. "Oppida" are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretching from Britain and Iberia in the west to the edge of the Hungarian plain in the east. These settlements continued to be used until the Romans conquered Southern and Western Europe. Many subsequently became Roman-era towns and cities, whilst others were abandoned. In regions north of the rivers Danube and Rhine, such as most of Germania, where the populations remained independent from Rome, "oppida" continued to be used into the 1st century AD.


title: Oppidum

text: is a Latin word meaning 'defended (fortified) administrative centre or town', originally used in reference to non-Roman towns as well as provincial towns under Roman control. The word is derived from the earlier Latin , 'enclosed space', possibly from the Proto-Indo-European , 'occupied space' or 'footprint'. In modern archaeological usage "oppidum" is a conventional term for large fortified settlements associated with the Celtic La Tène culture.


title: Oppidum

text: In his "Commentarii de Bello Gallico", Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age settlements he encountered in Gaul during the Gallic Wars in 58 to 52 BC as "oppida". Although he did not explicitly define what features qualified a settlement to be called an "oppidum", the main requirements emerge. They were important economic sites, places where goods were produced, stored and traded, and sometimes Roman merchants had settled and the Roman legions could obtain supplies. They were also political centres, the seat of authorities who made decisions that affected large numbers of people, such as the appointment of Vercingetorix as head of the Gallic revolt in 52 BC.


title: Oppidum

text: Caesar named 28 "oppida". By 2011, only 21 of these had been positively identified by historians and archaeologists: either there was a traceable similarity between the Latin and the modern name of the locality (e.g. Civitas Aurelianorum-Orléans), or excavations had provided the necessary evidence (e.g. Alesia). Most of the places that Caesar called oppida were city-sized fortified settlements. However, Geneva, for example, was referred to as an "oppidum", but no fortifications dating to this period have yet been discovered there. Caesar also refers to 20 "oppida" of the Bituriges and 12 of the Helvetii, twice the number of fortified settlements of these groups known today. That implies that Caesar likely counted some unfortified settlements as "oppida". A similar ambiguity is in evidence in writing by the Roman historian Livy, who also used the word for both fortified and unfortified settlements.


title: Oppidum

text: In his work "Geographia", Ptolemy listed the coordinates of many Celtic settlements. However, research has shown many of the localisations of Ptolemy to be erroneous, making the identification of any modern location with the names he listed highly uncertain and speculative. An exception to that is the "oppidum" of "Brenodurum" at Bern, which was confirmed by an archaeological discovery.


title: Oppidum

text: In archaeology and prehistory, the term "oppida" now refers to a category of settlement; it was first used in that sense by Paul Reinecke, Joseph Déchelette and in reference to Bibracte, Manching, and . In particular, Dehn suggested defining an oppidum by four criteria:


title: Oppidum

text: In current usage, most definitions of "oppida" emphasise the presence of fortifications, so they are different from undefended farms or settlements, and urban characteristics, marking them as separate from hill forts. They are often described as 'the first cities north of the Alps', though earlier examples of urbanism in temperate Europe are also known. The period of 2nd and 1st centuries BC places them in the period known as La Tène. A notional minimum size of has often been suggested, but that is flexible and fortified sites as small as have been described as "oppida". However, the term is not always rigorously used, and it has been used to refer to any hill fort or circular rampart dating from the La Tène period. One of the effects of the inconsistency in definitions is that it is uncertain how many "oppida" were built.


title: Oppidum

text: In European archaeology, the term "oppida" is also used more widely to characterize any fortified prehistoric settlement. For example, significantly older hill-top structures like the one at Glauberg (6th or 5th century BC) have been called "oppida".


title: Oppidum

text: Such wider use of the term is, for example, common in the Iberian archaeology; in the descriptions of the Castro culture it is commonly used to refer to the settlements going back to the 9th century BC. The Spanish word , also used in English, means 'a walled settlement' or 'hill fort', and this word is often used interchangeably with "oppidum" by archaeologists.


title: Oppidum

text: According to pre-historian John Collis oppida extend as far east as the Hungarian plain where other settlement types take over. Around 200 "oppida" are known today. Central Spain has sites similar to oppida, but while they share features such as size and defensive ramparts the interior was arranged differently. "Oppida" feature a wide variety of internal structures, from continuous rows of dwellings (Bibracte) to more widely spaced individual estates (Manching). Some "oppida" had internal layouts resembling the "insulae" of Roman cities (Variscourt). Little is known, however, about the purpose of any public buildings.


title: Oppidum

text: The main features of the "oppida" are the walls and gates, the spacious layout, and usually a commanding view of the surrounding area. The major difference with earlier structures was their much larger size. Earlier hill forts were mostly just a few hectares in area, whilst "oppida" could encompass several dozen or even hundreds of hectares. They also played a role in displaying the power and wealth of the local inhabitants and as a line of demarcation between the town and the countryside. According to Jane McIntosh, the "impressive ramparts with elaborate gateways ... were probably as much for show and for controlling the movement of people and goods as for defense". Some of the "oppida" fortifications were built on an immense scale. Construction of the 7km-long "" at Manching required an estimated 6,900 m³ of stones for the façade alone, up to 7.5 tons of iron nails, 90,000 m³ of earth and stones for the fill between the posts and 100,000m³ of earth for the ramp. In terms of labour, some 2,000 people would have been needed for 250 days. The 5.5km-long of Bibracte may have required 40–60 ha of mature oak woodland to be clear-felled for its construction.


title: Oppidum

text: However, size and construction of "oppida" varied considerably. Typically "oppida" in Bohemia and Bavaria were much larger than those found in the north and west of France. Typically "oppida" in Britain are small, but there is a group of large oppida in the south east; though oppida are uncommon in northern Britain, Stanwick stands out as an unusual example as it covers . Dry stone walls supported by a bank of earth, called Kelheim ramparts, were characteristic of oppida in central Europe. To the east, timbers were often used to support the earth and stone ramparts, called "Pfostenschlitzmauer" (post slot wall) or "Preist-type wall". In western Europe, especially Gaul, the "murus gallicus" (a timber frame nailed together, with a stone facade and earth/stone fill), was the dominant form of rampart construction. Dump ramparts, that is earth unsupported by timber, were common in Britain and were later adopted in France. They have been found in particular in the north-west and central regions of France and were combined with wide moats ("Type Fécamp"). Oppida can be divided into two broad groups, those around the Mediterranean coast and those further inland. The latter group were larger, more varied, and spaced further apart.


title: Oppidum

text: In Britain the "oppidum" of "Camulodunon" (modern Colchester, built between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD), tribal capital of the Trinovantes and at times the Catuvellauni, made use of natural defences enhanced with earthworks to protect itself. The site was protected by two rivers on three of its sides, with the River Colne bounding the site to the north and east, and the Roman River forming the southern boundary; the extensive bank and ditch earthworks topped with palisades were constructed to close off the open western gap between these two river valleys. These earthworks are considered the most extensive of their kind in Britain, and together with the two rivers enclosed the high status farmsteads, burial grounds, religious sites, industrial areas, river port and coin mint of the Trinovantes.


title: Oppidum

text: Prehistoric Europe saw a growing population. According to Jane McIntosh, in about 5,000 BC during the Neolithic between 2 million and 5 million people lived in Europe; in the late (pre-Roman) Iron Age (2nd and 1st centuries BC) it had an estimated population of around 15 to 30 million. Outside Greece and Italy, which were more densely populated, the vast majority of settlements in the Iron Age were small, with perhaps no more than 50 inhabitants. While hill forts could accommodate up to 1,000 people, "oppida" in the late Iron Age could reach as large as 10,000 inhabitants.


title: Oppidum

text: "Oppida" originated in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. Most were built on fresh sites, usually on an elevated position. Such a location would have allowed the settlement to dominate nearby trade routes and may also have been important as a symbol of control of the area. For instance at the "oppidum" of Ulaca in Spain the height of the ramparts is not uniform: those overlooking the valley are considerably higher than those facing towards the mountains in the area. The traditional explanation is that the smaller ramparts were unfinished because the region was invaded by the Romans; however, archaeologist John Collis dismisses this explanation because the inhabitants managed to build a second rampart extending the site by to cover an area of . Instead he believes the role of the ramparts as a status symbol may have been more important than their defensive qualities.


title: Oppidum

text: While some "oppida" grew from hill forts, by no means all of them had significant defensive functions. The development of "oppida" was a milestone in the urbanisation of the continent as they were among the first large settlements north of the Alps that could genuinely be described as towns or cities (earlier sites include the 'Princely Seats' of the Hallstatt period). Caesar pointed out that each tribe of Gaul would have several "oppida" but that they were not all of equal importance, implying a form of settlement hierarchy, with some "oppida" serving as regional capitals. This is also reflected in the archaeological evidence. According to Fichtl (2018), in the first century BC Gaul was divided into around sixty (the term used by Caesar) or 'autonomous city-states', which were mostly organized around one or more "oppida". In some cases, "one of these can be regarded effectively as a capital."


title: Oppidum

text: "Oppida" continued in use until the Romans began conquering Iron Age Europe. Even in the lands north of the River Danube that remained unconquered by the Romans, "oppida" were abandoned by the late 1st century AD. In conquered lands, the Romans used the infrastructure of the "oppida" to administer the empire, and many became full Roman towns. This often involved a change of location from the hilltop into the plain.


title: Tafl games

text: Tafl games ( ], also known as hnefatafl games) are a family of ancient Nordic and Celtic strategy board games played on a checkered or latticed gameboard with two armies of uneven numbers. Most probably they are based upon the Roman game Ludus latrunculorum.


title: Tafl games

text: Names of different variants of Tafl include Hnefatafl, Tablut, Tawlbwrdd, Brandubh, Ard Rí, and Alea Evangelii. Games in the tafl family were played in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Britain, Ireland, and Lapland. Tafl gaming was eventually supplanted by chess in the 12th century, but the tafl variant of the Sami people, tablut, was in play until at least the 18th century. The rules for tablut were written down by the Swedish naturalist Linnaeus in 1732, and these were translated from Latin to English in 1811. All modern tafl games are based on the 1811 translation, which had many errors. New rules were added to amend the issues resulting from these errors, leading to the creation of a modern family of tafl games. In addition, tablut is now also played in accordance with its original rules, which have been retranslated.


title: Tafl games

text: The term (Old Norse: "table", "board"; ) is the original Norse name of the game. (roughly , plausibly realised as ), became the preferred term for the game in Scandinavia by the end of the Viking Age, to distinguish it from other board games, such as (chess), (Tables) and (Fox games), as these became known. The specific name possibly arose as meaning "board game of the fist", from ("fist") + , where "fist" referred to the central king-piece.


title: Tafl games

text: The precise etymology is not entirely certain but certainly referred to the king-piece, and several sources refer to as "King's table". In Anglo-Saxon England, the term also referred to many board games. It is not known if the Anglo-Saxons had a specific name for the game or if they generically referred to it as in the way that modern people might refer to "cards".


title: Tafl games

text: Several games may be confused with games, due to the inclusion of the word in their names or other similarities. is the Old Norse name for Fox and Geese, a game dating from at least the 14th century. It is still known and played in Europe. is the Old Norse name for Tables (the medieval forerunner of Backgammon). is the Old Norse name for chess. or (Modern Irish: ) was played in Ireland. The Welsh equivalent was and the Breton equivalent ; all terms mean "wood-sense". This popular medieval game was played with equal forces on each side and thus was not a variant, but rather may have been the medieval descendant of the Roman game or .


title: Tafl games

text: The only variant of tafl where a relatively unambiguous has survived into modern times is tablut, the Sámi variant of the game which was recorded by Linnaeus during his expedition to Lapland in 1732.


title: Tafl games

text: As for the medieval game, no complete, unambiguous description of the rules exists, but the king's objective was to escape to (variously) the board's periphery or corners, while the greater force's objective was to capture him. Although the size of the board and the number of pieces varied, all games involved a distinctive 2:1 ratio of pieces, with the lesser side having a king-piece that started in the centre.


title: Tafl games

text: There is some controversy over whether some tafl games (i.e. Hnefatafl and Tawlbwrdd) may have employed dice.


title: Tafl games

text: "Alea evangelii", which means "game of the gospels", was described, with a drawing, in the 12th-century Corpus Christi College, Oxford manuscript 122, from Anglo-Saxon England. It was played on the intersections of a board of 18×18 cells. The manuscript describes the layout of the board as a religious allegory, but it is clear that this was a game in the Tafl family.


title: Tafl games

text: Ard Rí (Gaelic: "High King") was a Scottish tafl variant played on a 7×7 board with a king and eight defenders against sixteen attackers. This is the least documented of the known tafl variants.


title: Tafl games

text: Brandubh (or brandub) () was the Irish form of tafl. From two poems it is known that it was played with five men against eight, and that one of the five was a "Branán", or chief. A number of 7×7 boards have been found, the most famous being the elaborate wooden board found at Ballinderry in 1932, featuring holes for pegged pieces, possibly to allow for portability of the game. The name "brandubh" means "black raven".


title: Tafl games

text: Original rules were not found, but using these 7x7 boards, the text of the two poems and the Tablut rules as a basis, the World Tafl Federation was able to reconstruct balanced rules validated by several tests.


title: Tafl games

text: Despite its small size board and the speed of the games, Brandubh offers an undeniable tactical and strategic exercise where the first mistake very often leads to defeat. The small number of pieces means that each of them must often simultaneously defend and attack: it is therefore easy to forget one of these tasks if one focuses too much on the other. As in the great games of Tafl, sacrifices are useful, especially for the defenders, but with only four pieces, it is important not to weaken the king too early in the game.


title: Tafl games

text: Hnefatafl (sometimes now referred to as "Viking Chess") was a popular game in medieval Scandinavia and was mentioned in several of the Norse sagas. Some of these saga references have contributed to controversy over the possible use of dice in playing hnefatafl. The rules of the game were never explicitly recorded, and only playing pieces and fragmentary boards are extant, so it is not known for sure how the game was played. If dice were in fact used, nothing has been recorded about how they were employed. Archaeological and literary sources indicate hnefatafl may have been played on a 13×13 or an 11×11 board.


title: Tafl games

text: Hnefatafl became a popular game in Northern Europe during the Viking era (end of the 8th century to 1000 CE), a turbulent time full of conflicts. When chess became a popular game during the Middle Ages, the rules of hnefatafl were forgotten over time. Hnefatafl was particularly popular in Nordic countries and followed the Viking civilization to other parts of Europe, primarily to the British Isles and the Viking country of Gardarike in what is now part of Russia.


title: Tafl games

text: The game developed differently at different locations. Archaeologists have found editions in places such as Ireland and Ukraine. Hnefatafl literally translates to "fist table", from the Old Norse (equivalently in modern Icelandic) "hnef", 'fist', and "tafl", 'table'.


title: Tafl games

text: The rules for Norse tafl were lost, but in the 1900s attempts were made to reconstruct the game based on the rules for the Sámi tafl game tablut. The rules for tablut had been written down in the 1700s, and translated from Latin to English in the 1800s (see ). Unfortunately, the rules were poorly translated from Latin and gave unbalanced , mainly due to the mistaken idea that the king must be surrounded on four sides to be captured – instead of two. Different innovations were made to create a game that favoured the defender side less, such as limiting the king's escape possibilities to the corners (instead of the entire edge of the board), making the king "weaponless" (unable to participate in capture), making the initial starting points of the attackers inaccessible for the king, and making it easier to capture the king against the corner fields of the board.


title: Tafl games

text: Today, many different versions of modern hnefatafl are in play – both online and on physical boards that are sold commercially. One variant used in tournaments is Copenhagen hnefatafl, which also features a "shield wall" mechanism to capture several soldiers at once, and an "exit fort" rule that enables the king to escape on the edge while otherwise being limited to escape in the corners.


title: Tafl games

text: This variant, from Sápmi, is the best documented historical tafl variant. It is unique among tafl games in that it is known to have still been played in the 18th century. It may also have survived into the late 19th century. P. A. wrote that the Sámi played a chess-like game where the pieces were called "Swedes and Russians", which follows Sámi tafl terminology.


title: Tafl games

text: Carl Linnaeus recorded the rules of tablut and a drawing of the board and pieces in his journal, during his 1732 "Expedition to Lapland" where he travelled in the area of the Lule Sámi – along the Lule River on the Swedish side of the border, and in Salten on the Dano-Norwegian side of the border.


title: Tafl games

text: The game may have been called something other than tablut by the Sámi, since the word (also rendered ) simply means "to play board games". Linnaeus likely misunderstood the word describing the general activity as the name of the game. However, tablut has been established as its modern name, since no other name for it is known. For the same reason, another traditional Sámi board game is today called or which similarly just means "game board" and "playing a board game".


title: Tafl games

text: The game was played on a 9×9 mat of embroidered reindeer hide. In his diary, , Linnaeus explained that the players referred to the defending pieces as "Swedes" and the attacking pieces as "Muscovites". The name of the latter pieces reflect the Grand Duchy of Moscow, a regional rival of Sweden, which changed its name to the Tsardom of Russia in 1547. Linnaeus does not describe the pieces as being differently colored, but his drawing shows that one side's pieces are distinguished by being notched (the Muscovites). This way of distinguishing board game pieces is known from other traditional Sámi board games (cf. Sáhkku and Dablo).


title: Tafl games

text: This variant (pronounced ) was played in Wales. It is described as being played with 8 pieces on the king's side and 16 on the attacker's side. The rules were taken from an incomplete account of the game by Robert ap Ifan, with a drawing in a manuscript dated 1587, and the gaps were filled in by using Tablut rules. His version was played on an 11×11 board with 12 pieces on the king's side and 24 pieces on the opponent's side. His passage states:


title: Tafl games

text: The above tawlbwrdd should be played with a king in the centre and twelve men in the places next to him, and twenty-four men seek to capture him. These are placed, six in the centre of each side of the board and in the six central positions. And two move the men in the game, and if one [piece] belonging to the king comes between the attackers, he is dead and is thrown out of the game, and the same if one of the attackers comes between two of the king's men in the same manner. And if the king himself comes between two of the attackers, and if you say 'Watch your king' before he moves to that space, and he is unable to escape, you capture him. If the other says 'I am your liegeman' and goes between two, there is no harm. If the king can go along the [illegible] line, that side wins the game.


title: Tafl games

text: Certain modern board games not generally referred to as "tafl", "tablut" or "hnefatafl" have nevertheless been based on tablut rules, or the rules of other tafl games reconstructed on the basis of tablut. They bear significant resemblance to the other tafl games, but with some important differences.


title: Tafl games

text: Around 1960, Milton Bradley published "Swords and Shields", which was essentially Tablut as recorded by Linnaeus and erroneously translated by Troilius, but with the Swedes transformed into shields (with a king shield) and the Muscovites transformed into swords.


title: Tafl games

text: "Breakthru" was developed in the 1960s as part of the 3M bookshelf game series. It features tafl-like symmetry, but with twelve defenders plus one "flagship" (cf. "king") pitted against twenty attackers upon a tiered board, so that the objective of the defenders is to escort the flagship from the centre to the outer zone of the board. Apart from the distinction of the inner zone and outer zone, there are no distinctive spaces on the Breakthru board. Breakthru also features a distinctive double move, whereas no evidence points to such a move in any of the historical games.


title: Tafl games

text: "Thud", a modern game inspired by a series of fantasy novels by Terry Pratchett (which in turn were inspired by the historical tafl games, as reflected in the game's Dwarfish name, "Hnaflbaflsniflwhifltafl"), also features the general symmetry of tafl games, although it is played on an octagonal board with only eight defenders pitted against thirty-two attackers. Thud also features a "Thudstone" (cf. "konakis"), but no kingpiece. There are also important differences in the moves and attacks in Thud.


title: Tafl games

text: There have long been controversies concerning imbalance of the game, as rules for certain modern tafl games strongly favor the defenders. This imbalance results from a mistranslation of Linnaeus' rules for tablut, a Sámi tafl game from the 1700s, which were subsequently used as the basis for reconstructions of rules for medieval tafl. Newer translations of Linnaeus' tablut rules reveal a balanced game. After this change, tablut can be said to be slightly in favor of the attackers rather than the defenders: according to statistics, the attackers overall win marginally more often (on average 9% more).


title: Tafl games

text: There are several rule modifications that have been made to produce more balanced play than in the mistranslation of the tablut rules. These include a weaponless king (the king cannot participate in captures), escape to the corners (rather than to the edges), or hostile attacker camps (the king and defenders may be captured against a vacant attacker camp square). Schmittberger (1992) even reveals some workarounds to produce more balanced play without modifying the rules of gameplay.


title: Tafl games

text: One such solution is by bidding: Players take turns bidding on how many moves it will take them to win the game. The lowest bidder gets the king. Thus, one player may open with a bid of 15 turns, the other player may counter with a bid of 14 turns, and the first player, more confident in his ability to escape in 13 rounds than in his ability to contain for 14, may bid 13 and take the king's side. If that player does not escape within 13 turns, the other player wins. Another workaround is to play a two-round match, in which players switch sides after the first round. If the king escapes both rounds, the winner is the player whose king escaped in the fewest turns.


title: Tafl games

text: Hnefatafl was mentioned in several of the medieval sagas, including "Orkneyinga saga", "Friðþjófs saga", "Hervarar saga", and others. These three period treatments of Hnefatafl offer some important clues about the game, while numerous other incidental references to "Hnefatafl" or "Tafl" exist in saga literature. Sagas help indicate the widespread use of board games just by mentioning them—although rituals varied in the Viking period from region to region, there were some underlying basics to culture. The fact that the sagas mention board games indicates this use because the sagas are read and understood by a very large audience.


title: Tafl games

text: In "Orkeyinga saga", the notability of Hnefatafl is evident in the nine boasts of Jarl Rögnvald Kali Kolsson, who tops his list with skill at "Tafl". In "Friðþjófs saga", a conversation over a game of Hnefatafl reveals that the king's men are red and the attackers white, and that the word "hnefi" does indeed refer to the kingpiece. The most revealing – and yet most ambiguous – clues to Hnefatafl lie in a series of riddles posed by a character identified as Odin in disguise (see Gestumblindi) in "Hervarar saga".


title: Tafl games

text: One riddle, as stated in Hauksbók, refers to "the "weaponless" maids who fight around their lord, the [brown/red] ever sheltering and the [fair/white] ever attacking him", although there is controversy over whether the word "weaponless" refers to the maids or, as in other versions, to the king himself, which may support the argument that a "weaponless king" cannot take part in captures (see Balance of play above). One may also note that the assignment of the colours of brown or red to the defenders and fair or white to the attackers is consistent with "Friðþjófs saga".


title: Tafl games

text: Another of Gestumblindi's riddles asks, "What is that beast all girded with iron, which kills the flocks? He has eight horns but no head, and runs as he pleases." Here, it is the answer that is controversial, as the response has been variously translated as: "It is the húnn in hnefatafl. He has the name of a bear and runs when he is thrown"; or, "It is the húnn in hnefatafl. He has the name of a bear and escapes when he is attacked." The first problem is in translating the word "húnn", which may refer to a die (as suggested by the former translation), the "eight horns" referring to the eight corners of a six-sided die and "the flocks" that he kills referring to the stakes the players lose. Alternatively, "húnn" may refer to the king, his "eight horns" referring to the eight defenders, which is more consistent with the latter translation, "He has the name of a bear and escapes when he is attacked." Ultimately, the literary references prove inconclusive on the use of dice in Hnefatafl.


title: Tafl games

text: There have been many archeological discoveries of tafl games and gaming pieces found in various Warrior Burials. One example was a wooden board and a single gaming piece made of horn found in a ship burial at Gokstad in southeastern Norway. Another example was twenty-two gaming pieces made of whalebone found in Orkney.


title: Tafl games

text: Some finds have occurred in religious sites. A gaming board dated to the 8th century or earlier, was dug up in 2018 at the site of the later Scottish Monastery of Deer. As another example, a small worked glass piece was discovered in 2019 on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, target of a famous Viking raid in 793 A.D. The piece was blue in colour, with swirls etched into the glass, and was topped with small white glass droplets, thought to symbolise a crown. The piece, thought to be a gaming piece for Hnefatafl or a related game, came from a trench that has been dated to the eighth to ninth centuries.


title: Tafl games

text: The material used to make both the board game and the gaming pieces has varied: from walrus ivory to bone to amber to wood.


title: Tafl games

text: In some boat burials there have been wooden board games found. There have been very few actual boards found in these burials, implying that having these board games included was extremely rare. However, this is believed to be due to wood readily being destroyed by cremation fires or decaying over time.


title: Tafl games

text: The first major attempt to revitalize tafl was the publication of "The Viking Game" in 1981. This was essentially the Sámi game tablut of the 1700s, as mistranslated by Troilius in 1811, and with the modern innovation that the king's escape possibilities were limited to the corners. The latter was done in order to compensate for the imbalanced gameplay resulting from the notion that the king must be surrounded on all four sides. In "The Viking Game" the pieces drawn by Linnaeus, which reflected traditional Sámi game piece design (see: Tablut), had been replaced by pieces influenced by Norse medieval aesthetics. The game booklet did not inform players that the rules were drawn from the Sámi game tablut, and claimed that "hnefatafl" was last played "in Lapland in 1732" without mentioning the Sámi at all. The Sámi game terminology such as "raichi", "tuichu" and "konokis" was also not included in the booklet.


title: Tafl games

text: This game did much to spark the interest in tafl games, and also began the modern evolution of the game as players attempted to remedy the game which was still unbalanced in the king's favor.


title: Tafl games

text: In 2008, Hnefatafl was revived by Peter Kelly in the island of Fetlar in Shetland, where the annual World Quickplay Hnefatafl Championships are now held each summer under the auspices of the Fetlar Hnefatafl Panel. The term "quickplay" refers to the time limit of ten seconds per move, marked by the sounding of a gong. The Fetlar rules were for some time the standard in international hnefatafl play, but have since largely been superseded by Copenhagen Hnefatafl, which builds on Fetlar Hnefatafl.


title: Tafl games

text: After the rules for tablut were retranslated and published online (2007–2013), this historical game has also gained in popularity. A tournament was held in England in 2017.


title: Tafl games

text: Tafl games can be played online on sites similar to Chess.com. Aage Nielsen created his site in 1998, and currently hosts the World Tafl Federation Hnefatafl Championship Tournament. Another Hnefatafl game site was launched in 2014, by Jacob Teal and John Carlyle. Variants of tafl playable online today include Copenhagen Hnefatafl, Tablut, and many others.


title: Tafl games

text: In August 2011 the association 'World Tafl Federation' was formed, with Tim Millar - Chairman and Adam Bartley - Vice Chairman. Since 2011 the World Tafl Federation has been holding annual world hnefatafl championships.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL).


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL club the Fitzroy Lions, and the 1987 Queensland based expansion club the Brisbane Bears, with the colours of maroon, blue, and gold being drawn from both parent clubs.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The Lions are one of the most successful AFL club of the 2000s, appearing in four consecutive Grand Finals from 2001 to 2004 and winning three premierships (2001, 2002, 2003). They play home matches at the Gabba, which was also the site of their offices and training facilities until moving these to Springfield Central Stadium in Ipswich in 2022.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The Lions also field teams in two other competitions. They were a foundation team in the AFL Women's competition in 2017 and have featured in three grand finals in that time, winning the premiership in 2021 and finishing runners-up on the other occasions. They have also fielded a reserve men's team in several leagues over the years, and since 2021 the reserves team has competed in the Victorian Football League.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The history of the Brisbane Lions traces back to the formation of the Melbourne-based Fitzroy Football Club on 26 September 1883 at The Brunswick Hotel. The Victorian Football Association (VFA) made changes to their rules, allowing Fitzroy to join as the seventh club in 1884, playing in the maroon and blue colours of the local Normanby Junior Football Club.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: They quickly became one of the most successful clubs, consistently in the top four, and drawing large crowds to their home at the Brunswick Street Oval in Edinburgh Gardens. This success was capped off by Fitzroy winning the VFA premiership in 1895.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: Fitzroy would then go onto be one of the eight break away clubs who formed the Victorian Football League in 1897.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: They would continue their VFA form and be a powerhouse in the early days of the new VFL, winning a total of eight premierships, of which seven (1898, 1899, 1904, 1905, 1913, 1916 and 1922) were won whilst they were nicknamed the Maroons and one (1944) as the Gorillas.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The club also boasted 6 Brownlow Medal winners who were Haydn Bunton Sr., Wilfred Smallhorn, Dinny Ryan, Allan Ruthven, Kevin Murray, and Bernie Quinlan.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The club to changed its nickname to the Lions in 1957, but when Fitzroy was evicted from its home ground of Brunswick St Oval in 1965, this began a sustained period of poor on-field performance and financial losses. Despite a revival in the '80s, when the Lions made the finals four times under the coaching of Robert Walls and David Parkin, and the playing group of 1981 Brownlow Medallist Bernie Quinlan, Ron Alexander, Garry Wilson, Gary Pert and Paul Roos, the club's financial situation was perilous.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The VFL's plans to move or merge struggling Fitzroy to Brisbane pre-dated the Brisbane Bears, and negotiations between the league and the club began in 1986 with the playing group voting for a move to Brisbane. However, Fitzroy resisted the move despite significant incentives and in response, the VFL made the decision to cut any further financial assistance to the club, which contributed to its ultimate demise. By the start of the 1996 season, they were almost at the end of their financial tether. With no home ground, back to back wooden spoons, and their future under a cloud, Fitzroy began to consider options for survival.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The Brisbane Bears were born in 1987 and initially played home matches at Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast. In its early days, the club was uncompetitive on the field and struggled to shake the derisive tags which included "The Cararra Koalas" (in reference to the Gold Coast home and the somewhat tame marsupial) and "The Bad News Bears".


title: Brisbane Lions

text: After the collapse of the business empire belonging to Bears deputy chairman Christopher Skase and the resignation of chairman Paul Cronin, the club was taken over by the AFL and re-sold to Gold Coast hospitality businessman Reuben Pelerman.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: Off-field, Pelerman was losing millions of dollars annually on the club and at one point in 1991 told Bears coach Robert Walls that he was closing it down. The Bears would go onto finish last in 1990 and 1991.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: To survive, The Bears experimented with playing matches at the Gabba in Brisbane in 1991, moving all home matches to the venue ahead of the 1993 season.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: As part of the club's move to the Gabba, Pelerman agreed to release the Bears from private ownership and revert to a traditional club structure in which the club's members were able to elect the board.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: Membership and attendances instantly tripled now that the club was finally playing in their home city of Brisbane.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The Bears only qualified for the finals series in 1995 and 1996, and the closest the club came to a Grand Final was in 1996, its last year in the competition, when it lost to North Melbourne by 38 points in the preliminary final.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: On extremely shaky financial ground, the Bears struggled to generate many revenue opportunities in their short and turbulent ten-year existence. Despite improving it's on field fortunes, and drafting exciting young players on such as Michael Voss, Justin Leppitsch, Jason Akermanis, Darryl White, and Nigel Lappin, the clubs existence was still at threat due to severe financial problems, and since 1990 The Bears had been actively exploring merger options with Fitzroy.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: Fitzroy's directors had agreed in principle to merge with the 1996 premiers, North Melbourne, as the "North-Fitzroy Kangaroos". However, that proposal was rejected 15–1 by the AFL Commission, reportedly out of concern that an all-Victorian merge would be too powerful. Instead, Fitzroy was placed into administration, and its administrator accepted an offer to merge its football operations with Brisbane.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The merged team would be based in Brisbane, and Bears coach John Northey would become coach of the merged club.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: However, it adopted an identity, logo, song, and guernsey based on those of Fitzroy, would take eight Fitzroy players in the draft, three Fitzroy representatives would serve on the board (including former Fitzroy champion Laurie Serafini), and the Lions would keep an office in Melbourne.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The eight Fitzroy players who would join the Brisbane Lions were Brad Boyd, Chris Johnson, Jarrod Molloy, John Barker, Nick Carter, Simon Hawking, Scott Bamford and Shane Clayton.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The Brisbane Lions were officially launched on 1 November 1996, joining the national competition in 1997.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: In their debut year as a combined club, the Lions narrowly made the finals, finishing in eighth position. They ended up with the same win–loss record as fellow 1997 newcomers Port Adelaide, who missed out due to having an inferior percentage. Their first two games were against the eventual grand finalists of that year, Adelaide and St Kilda. They went down to Adelaide by 36 points before recording an emphatic 97-point thrashing of St Kilda in round 2. The Lions met St Kilda again in a cut-throat away qualifying final, going down by 46 points after leading the Saints at half-time. The Brisbane Lions in 1997 remain the only new team in VFL/AFL history to have made the finals in their first season.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: Despite a talented playing list, the disruption of the merger and injuries to key players Michael Voss and Brad Boyd took their toll. The Lions would go onto finish in last position at the end of the 1998 season. Accordingly, Northey was sacked as coach with eight rounds remaining in the season. During the off-season, the club hired Leigh Matthews, who in 1990 had delivered Collingwood its first premiership since 1958.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: Matthews, who was voted "Player of the Century" in 2000, played his entire career with Hawthorn and brought many of the Hawthorn disciplines to the Lions. Importantly, he forced the Lions to embrace and acknowledge their Fitzroy heritage with murals and records being erected at the Gabba, and past players names being placed on lockers. Within a year, the Lions rose from the bottom of the ladder to fourth. The 1999 season included a Round 20 Gabba match where the Lions led Fremantle by 113 points at half-time after having kicked 21 goals. Their half-time score of 21.5 (131) still remains the highest half-time score in VFL/AFL history. Brisbane would win their first finals as a merged entity against Carlton and the Western Bulldogs before losing to the eventual premiers, the Kangaroos, in a 1999 preliminary final. The Lions played finals again in 2000 but bowed out in the second week after losing an away game to Carlton by 82 points.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: In this time period the club drafted and recruited key players who would go onto be pillars of the Lions triple premiership years. Victorian Luke Power, Fitzroy father-son selection Jonathan Brown, and exciting WA product Simon Black would come via the draft, and Brad Scott, Mal Michael, and ex-Fitzroy B&F winner Martin Pike would be recruited from Hawthorn, Collingwood, and North Melbourne respectively.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The Lions began 2001 by making the final of the Ansett Australia Cup, their first pre-season grand final. They went down by 85 points away to Port Adelaide, who they had also been scheduled to play in Round 1 at the same venue. After an inconsistent start to their 2002 season, the Lions took on the reigning premiers Essendon in Round 10. Brisbane finished as 28-point victors, and head coach Leigh Matthews famously used a "Predator" quote, "if it bleeds, we can kill it", to inspire his team for the game. The Lions would then win 16 games straight, finishing the year undefeated and booking their place in the 2001 AFL Grand Final to play Essendon.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: Going in as underdogs, Brisbane started the game well, scoring the first goal of the match from a free kick awarded to Alastair Lynch for holding against Dustin Fletcher. Essendon fought back late in the first quarter and then took control of the game in the second term. The Lions' poor kicking for goal almost put them out of the game in the second quarter as Essendon blew their lead out to 20 points late in the term.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: However, The Lions managed to overrun Essendon in the third term, kicking six goals to one and turning a 14-point deficit into a 16-point lead. Brisbane's pace in the midfield and the tiring legs of most of the Essendon players played a pivotal role in them taking full control of the game in the second half.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The Lions won their first premiership as a merged club comfortably, with a final score of 15.18 (108) to 12.10 (82).


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The win was topped off with Lions utility player Shaun Hart winning the Norm Smith Medal after being judged best on ground in the Grand Final.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: In 2002, the Lions won a club-record 17 games, spending most of the season firmly entrenched in the top two with Port Adelaide. They narrowly missed out on the minor premiership following a final round defeat to the Power in Adelaide. In the finals, the Lions claimed easy home victories over the two Adelaide-based teams on their way to a second consecutive Grand Final. They faced Collingwood, who had surprised many that year after having missed the finals the previous seven seasons. Brisbane ended up defeating the Magpies 9.12 (66) to 10.15 (75) in cold and wet conditions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Early in the contest, the Lions lost both ruckman Beau McDonald and utility player Martin Pike to injury and had to complete the match with a limited bench.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: In 2003, the Lions became the first team in the national era to win three consecutive premierships. With a number of players under an injury cloud—and having lost to Collingwood in a qualifying final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground three weeks previously–the Lions went into the game as underdogs. However, they sealed their place in history as an AFL dynasty by thrashing the Magpies in cool but sunny conditions. At one stage in the final quarter, the Lions led by almost 80 points before relaxing when the match was well and truly won, allowing Collingwood to score the last four goals. The final score of 20.14 (134) to 12.12 (84) saw the club become only the fourth in VFL/AFL history to win three consecutive premierships and the first since the creation of the AFL. Simon Black claimed the Norm Smith Medal with a dominant 39-possession match, the most possessions ever gathered by a player in a grand final; the record was equalled by Melbourne's Christian Petracca 18 years later in the 2021 Grand Final.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: During their premiership years, the club took the premiership cups to Brunswick Street Oval, Fitzroy, each morning after the grand final. Honouring the club's history at their traditional home ground was not only an important way of connecting with Melbourne-based former Fitzroy fans who'd supported the Brisbane Lions from the beginning but was a key step in winning over the disaffected Fitzroy fans who had not started supporting the Brisbane Lions post-merger.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The 2004 season saw Brisbane remain in the top portion of the ladder for most of the season. Reaching the finals in second position, Brisbane controversially had to travel to Melbourne to play against Geelong in the preliminary final due to a contract between the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and the Australian Football League (AFL) that required one preliminary final to be played each year at the MCG. Port Adelaide had finished on top of the ladder and hosted the other preliminary final in Adelaide. Former player Jason Akermanis has since claimed that coach Leigh Matthews was furious over the preliminary final location decision. Despite this setback, Brisbane beat Geelong and reached the grand final for the fourth consecutive year. Their opponents, Port Adelaide, playing in their first grand final, were too good on the day and recorded a 40-point win in what was the first-ever all-non-Victorian grand final. The grand final is partly remembered for a wild punch-up between Port Adelaide's Darryl Wakelin and Alastair Lynch, who was playing in his last-ever game and therefore immune from suspension.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The Lions endured a slow start to the 2005 season before having a form reversal towards the end of the year, which included ten-goal thrashings of top-four contenders Geelong and Melbourne. Going into Round 20, they were half a game clear inside the top eight and had one of the strongest percentages in the league. However, they would lose their final three games and miss the finals, with their season culminating in a record-breaking 139-point loss to St Kilda at the Telstra Dome. It remains the club's heaviest defeat, in addition to being the largest victory in the over-100-year history of St Kilda. Some believed that the St Kilda game, rather than the 2004 Grand Final, had signaled the end of Brisbane's triple premiership dynasty.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The Lions began the 2006 season optimistically, but injuries plagued the club as they again missed the finals, with Brisbane's players recording an AFL record total of 200 matches lost to injury for the season.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The Brisbane Lions 2007 season started with them finishing runner up to Carlton in the 2007 NAB Cup Grand Final. The Lions would fail to make the finals for a third successive year, again showing promising glimpses at stages, with a shock away win against reigning premiers the West Coast Eagles, and a 93-point hiding of finalists Collingwood at the MCG. They made history in 2007 by becoming the first club in the history of the AFL to have five co-captains.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The team struggled during the 2008 season and missed out on the finals with a 10–12 record, losing 3 games despite having at least 5 more scoring shots in each of those games. Following the season, Coach Leigh Matthews resigned after 10 seasons and 3 premierships with the club. The Lions appointed former player and Captain Michael Voss as the coach ahead of 2009.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: After only winning 2 games from the first 5 played in 2009, the club won 9 of the next 12 to sit in 6th on the Ladder, where they would finish the season. They would also record a strong victory over eventual premiers Geelong during this timeframe by 43 points. The club beat Carlton in their Elimination Final, coming from 30 points behind in the final quarter to win by 7 points, before losing to the Western Bulldogs in a Semi Final.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The 2009/2010 off-season was dominated by the arrival of Brendan Fevola from Carlton, with a belief in the club that Fevola could help them capitalise and improve upon their strong 2009 season. Indeed, the Lions won their first four matches of the 2010 season to be top of the ladder after four rounds, but they would only win three more games after that to finish 13th by the end of the season.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The Lions' 2010/2011 off-season was disrupted by the sacking of Fevola after just one season at the Lions, following repeated off-field indiscretions which included getting drunk in the Brisbane streets during New Year's Eve celebrations. On the field, the Lions won only four games for the year and finished 15th overall. The 2011 season saw the debut of another Queensland-based team, the Gold Coast Suns. The Suns, who were coming off a 139-point loss to Essendon the previous week, upset the Lions by 8 points in their first encounter. Despite their worst season since 1998, coach Michael Voss was granted a contract extension after the board recommended that Voss was the best man to take the club forward into the future. Leading into season 2012, only two players from the triple-premiership winning team of 2001–2003 remained: Simon Black and Jonathan Brown.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: The 2013 season started well for Brisbane, defeating Carlton in the final of the NAB Cup, with Daniel Rich winning the Michael Tuck Medal for best on ground. However, the club began its 2013 season with back-to-back losses to the Western Bulldogs and Adelaide. Injuries took a toll on the team, with young players Claye Beams and Jared Polec suffering severe injuries. In Round 13, Brisbane defeated second-placed Geelong, coming from 52 points down late in the third quarter to win by 5 points due to an Ash McGrath goal after the siren in his 200th match, in what would become known as the Miracle on Grass.


title: Brisbane Lions

text: On 25 August 2013, a former premiership player for the Lions, Justin Leppitsch, was confirmed to be the senior coach of the Lions for the next three seasons.