One of the great joys of following football is not only celebrating the triumphs of your own team, but revelling in the misfortune of others.

And few teams have heaped more misery on their own supporters, and therefore enjoyment to supporters of other clubs than St Kilda, or as we at BackPageLead like to call, them, The ‘Aints, as in "ain't going to win the flag this year, or any year."

But now, they're good. Very, very good in fact. So there might not be a better time than now to take one last lingering look at what made them such lovable losers, because by 5pm Saturday, they just might be the 2009 premiers.

Here, in no particular order, are some of the reasons why we came to laugh at, or with, the Saints in the 43 years since their first and only flag.

Moorabbin: Where do you start? From coach Tony Jewell watering the ground, stubby in hand, the night before games in the mid 1980s in a hopeless attempt to bring St Kilda's highly-credentialled opponents back to the field, to the denizens of the Animal Enclosure, who didn't need a St Kilda win in order to have a good day at the footy. Then there's the Social Club, which deserves a paragraph all of its own.

The Social Club: The place where through the 70s and 80s, the Saints did most of their best work. Also the place where the start full-forward (Tony Lockett) decks the bloke who pays his check (chief executive Ricky Watt) and gets away with it.

Coaching Carousel: Let's have a closer look. Allan Jeans coaches just one flag at St Kilda, but wins three at Hawthorn. Premiership coaches Malcolm Blight, Alex Jesaulenko and Tony Jewell have their reputations tarnished a bit through their tenure at Moorabbin, with the Blight decision still puzzling to this day. Tim Watson had his shredded after two underwhelming seasons. The one good St Kilda coach (before Ross Lyon) of the last 20 years, Stan Alves, was dumped less than a year after leading the club to the 2007 grand final. Why? Apparently too hard on the players.

Player trading: The Saints have done well out of retreads such as Zac Dawson, Farren Ray, Steven King, Jason Gram, Michael Gardiner and Adam Schneider this year. But it's about time. Among the players they prem