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Q&A with The Royal Perth Browns Backers of Western Australia

By Thomas Moore

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The Browns Backers Worldwide is considered to be one of the largest organized fan clubs in all of professional sports with members and clubs established throughout the world.

The organization exists as a non-profit group to actively support and positively promote the Cleveland Browns.

Today, in the first of a series focusing on the best fans in the NFL, we talk with Bruce Millinger, president of The Royal Perth Browns Backers of Western Australia, one of two clubs in that country. Millinger was kind enough to join us for a virtual Q&A on the club and what it is like to be a Browns fan almost 12,000 miles away from the shores of Lake Erie.

Question: How did your chapter come about?

Bruce: I moved here in 2003, after 30 years in The Land ’o Cleve. As an 18-year season ticket holder, I began to suffer from Browns withdrawal upon arrival on the shores of Oz. Now, the main sport here is Aussie Rules Football (not even close to “American” football … which is called “gridiron” here) … go Fremantle Dockers!

Related: The Day The Tickets Arrive

So, in the entire country, there was nothing at all, fan-based, associated with any U.S. football team.  OK, time to do something!  I got in touch with Browns Backers International, found out what I needed to do to set up an international Browns Backers chapter (10 members) and I went from there.

“We even have one member, from Tasmania, a born-and-bred Aussie, who does head to Cleveland every year just to catch a game. We do have our dedicated members!” – Bruce Millinger

There are quite a number of American expats here in Perth that were, and still are, quite enthusiastic for putting a Browns Backer chapter together (actually, any American football team chapter), and so The Royal Perth Browns Backers of Western Australia was born.  We have been up to 27 members, but that number can fluctuate as the expats come and go from Perth, although there is a hardcore group of 15 of us. Yes, we also have some local Aussies that have been indoctrinated to the joys of “gridiron.”

Question: What is the atmosphere like when the group gets together for a game?

Bruce: It’s tough to watch a game live here. With the 12-hour time-zone difference, a Sunday 1 p.m. start in Cleveland is Monday 1 a.m. here in Perth. We are the most distant (from Cleveland) Browns Backers chapter on the planet – 11,857 miles, crossing two continents, one ocean, the Equator, the International Date Line, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

However, when the Browns play a night game, the 8 p.m. kickoff is 8 a.m. here in Perth, so we can have Brekkie with the Browns (brekkie is Aussie slang for breakfast). There is an American-style sports bar here in Perth that picks up ESPN and will open up for us in the morning for games — that works out great for us … you just have to call in sick (chuck a sickie in Aussie slang) to work that day.

Yes, it’s a great time!

Question: The NFL is working hard to be a global force; how much interest do you see the game having outside of your Browns Backers’ group in your area?

Bruce: Honestly, not a lot. As I said, the primary sport of interest here is Aussie Rules Football, followed by cricket (I’m sorry, but when one game lasts for 5 days, and there is an afternoon tea break each day … that is not a sport), Rugby League and Rugby Union (they say the rules are different, but you couldn’t prove it by me) and soccer.

It’d be great to have a game here in Oz, like baseball just did in Sydney, but I don’t see that happening in the foreseeable future.

Question: The Browns are trying to win with a dominant defense and running game, rather than a dominant quarterback. Can they pull it off?

Bruce: They have to! We apparently don’t have a dominant quarterback.

Question: “In Pettine We Trust!” Yes or No?

Bruce: Nope. Great slogan, but we just don’t have the team to support it … yet.

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Question: Have you ever been to Cleveland for a game or does the group have any plans to do so?

Bruce: Personally, each time I go back to Cleveland I make contact with the Browns. I’m either at a practice or a game, depending on the season. Remember, from Perth, it’s a five-and-a-half-hour flight to Sydney, then 14 hours to L.A. and then another five hours to Cleveland (and that’s not counting layovers and going thru immigration and customs). I get to the States two times a year, but to Cleveland, every other year.

So, the short answer is “yes” — any time I’m in Cleveland when the Browns are in town, I’m there. Same goes for other members of the chapter. We even have one member, from Tasmania, a born-and-bred Aussie, who does head to Cleveland every year just to catch a game. We do have our dedicated members!

Question: What’s the best part about being a Browns fan?

Bruce: Probably the camaraderie here in Perth, so far from Cleveland, and the common bond when we get together for a game or the annual beach picnic.

Next: Is Johnny Manziel a bad backup QB?

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