2017 marks 20 years since the Western Bulldogs' 1997 season, a year that saw the club undergo a momentous transformation, both on and off the field.

1996 had been a year of change at Footscray. After competing in finals in both 1994 and 1995, the Bulldogs on-field fortunes took a downhill turn and the club finished second-last on the ladder, behind Fitzroy.

By the time the team took the field in Round 1, much had already changed at the club that had been based at the precinct now called Victoria University Whitten Oval for well over 100 years.

The biggest of those changes was the club's name. From 1997 the Club would be known as the Western Bulldogs, as it sought to make a greater connection with Melbourne’s western corridor and indeed the state’s west.

Coinciding with the name-change was a move to play its home games at Optus Oval (now Ikon Park), sharing the ground with traditional tenants Carlton.

After more than a century of exploiting the unique wind advantage that many cold winter VU Whitten Oval afternoons had afforded the Bulldogs, this was another shift that would take some time for the Bulldogs faithful to take on board.

But new coach Terry Wallace (who had taken over the role from Alan Joyce late in 1996) had spent the summer months of 1996-97 changing the focus of his side to an offensive, skill-based game style, and the more sheltered environs of Optus Oval were perhaps an attractive proposition for the Bulldogs players.

After round 14 of that season, and beating Carlton on the two clubs' shared turf in round 14, the Western Bulldogs were a game clear at the top of the ladder and the AFL's glamour side.

The Dogs had a brief slump before recording wins in the final four rounds to shore up a top three place. That final run of wins saw the Bulldogs stop by at VU Whitten Oval for one final game at its spiritual home, an appropriately dour low-scoring affair in which the Dogs prevailed over West Coast by 18 points.

If the Western Bulldogs had been impressive in the 1997 home-and-away season, the first final against Sydney saw them take their new high-skill game to a whole other level.

The Bulldogs stunned the Swans with a nine-goal-to-nil first term and cruised to 35-point win, earning them a week off and a direct path to a preliminary final against Adelaide.

History of course tells us that the Bulldogs fell short of winning that match, the Crows coming from nearly five goals behind early in the final quarter to snatch a two-point win.

While the Bulldogs fell short of a Grand Final that year, and again in 1998, the change of name and home ground heralded a new era of success for the Western Bulldogs, which ultimately culminated in a premiership in 2016.

The Bulldogs would feature in September again in 1998, 1999 and 2000 (a year which saw the team move to a new permanent home ground at Etihad Stadium), the first time in the club's history it had made finals in four consecutive years.

In 20 seasons since adopting the new identity, the Western Bulldogs have featured in finals 10 times, made six preliminary finals and achieved premiership glory for the first time in 62 years.

While the name Footscray is preserved forever via the letters FFC emblazoned on the back of the players' jumpers and through the club's VFL side (which makes a further nod to the club's roots by playing home games at VU Whitten Oval), the Western Bulldogs name is now synonymous with a team that is a core player in our indigenous code's flagship national competition.