Eddie McGuire says Port Adelaide’s latest attempt to wear prison bars jumper “out of the question”
Eddie McGuire has reaffirmed his stance about Port Adelaide’s push to wear its historic prison bars jumper as an online petition supporting the idea gathers momentum.
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Collingwood president Eddie McGuire says Port Adelaide’s bid to wear its iconic prison bars guernsey in Showdowns remains “out of the question” as support ramps up for the push.
Port Adelaide’s online petition to wear the top in future Showdown’s has ticked over the 34,000 mark.
It will form part of a formal submission to the AFL expected in the coming weeks, with Port’s executive general manager Matthew Richardson saying the club would wait for the right time to present to the league.
After wearing the iconic guernsey in the Round 2 Showdown, as part of its 150th year anniversary celebrations, Port launched the online petition to gain support in its bid to don the prison bars in all future clashes with Adelaide.
Richardson said the historic jumper was “generational and powerful”.
“That is one of the great things about Port Adelaide there are grandparents sitting there telling their grandkids about running out at Adelaide Oval in the 1950s and 1960s running around in the prison bar jumper,” he said.
“Imagine that grandparents at the Showdown explaining that story to their grandkids and the significance of it so we just think it is a really powerful symbol not only of our club but football in South Australia.”
“We will do it in the right way and we think we have a really strong case, the heritage of showdowns and the significance of that guernsey,” he said.
McGuire has been a fierce critic of the Power’s push to don the prison bars in future Showdowns, threatening legal action against Port for what he says would be a breach of copyright.
When it was mentioned by former Port Adelaide player Dwayne Russell on radio on Wednesday that he hadn’t asked him about the prison bars debate in their interview, McGuire said he didn’t need to “worry about a question” and the Power should just enjoy their fine form of late.
“It’s out of the question don’t worry about that,” McGuire said on SEN.
“Just wear the one you are wearing it’s fantastic enjoy it, you are playing well you are on top of the ladder.”
Port Adelaide did get approval from the AFL and Collingwood in 2007 to wear the prison bars in all Heritage Rounds thereafter.
But there hasn’t been a Heritage Round since and the Power are asking the AFL to honour that 2007 agreement saying the Showdowns are about SA footy’s heritage.
Port chairman David Koch said there was no handshake agreement that Port Adelaide would sign a “once and done” agreement on the jumper and in fact the Power refused to sign off on anything preventing the club from wearing the guernsey beyond 2020.
Port Adelaide did get approval from the AFL and Collingwood in 2007 to wear the prison bars in all Heritage Rounds thereafter.
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But there hasn’t been a Heritage Round since.
Richardson said the club was simply asking the AFL to honour that 2007 agreement.
“The significant of the Showdown is that it about the heritage of South Australian footy,” he said.
“We would like to think that heritage didn’t start in 1997, it started before then through the way the Crows were established
“Really that rivalry was born well before 1997, the Showdown was the centrepiece of South Australian footy and that guernsey
Wearing the prison bar guernsey just adds even more to the rivalry and to the significance of the game.”
Richardson also said the club had support in their bid from rival fans.
“Because they too are passionate about their club and guernsey and it is almost the principle of it,” he said.
You can sign the petition online.