A history of your AFL club’s jumper
HAWTHORN used to wear red, white and blue and nearly every club has changed its jumper at least once. What has your club worn over the years? VOTE: WHO HAS THE BEST JUMPER?
AFL News
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
WHETHER it’s a sash or stripes, yellow and black or blue and red, we all know the colours that distinguish our team.
However, for some teams the designs we love weren’t always the ones that belonged to our teams.
SCROLL DOWN TO VOTE ON YOUR FAVOURITE AFL JUMPER
If you remember the AFL’s now-defunct Heritage Round you may recall your club sporting a vintage AFL jumper that held little or no resemblance to their regular one. That round was a brief glance back in time to the guernseys our teams used to wear back in the early days.
Take a look at the history behind your club’s jumper and see how much it has changed over time.
RICHMOND
Richmond joined the VFL in 1908 and claimed yellow and black as their colours from the get-go, but it wasn’t until 1914 that they started donning the yellow sash.
Before that Richmond wore yellow and black vertical stripes on their first lace-up jumper with long woollen sleeves.
They then opted for a predominantly black jumper with a yellow band around the middle, before opting for the yellow sash in 1914.
Since 1914 the Tigers’ jumper hasn’t fundamentally changed but there have been tweaks. The sash has been reversed, widened and removed from the back of the guernsey with players wearing yellow numbers from 1995-2004, and turned to gold before changing back to a bold yellow this year Tiger fans have come to love.
ESSENDON
In 1875 Essendon’s colours were recorded as blue guernsey and knickerbockers with a red and black cap. A red sash was added in 1877 and has been there ever since, although in the early days it could be over the left or right shoulder — sometimes both versions appearing in the same team.
An interesting note from history is that Essendon was the last team to adopt sleeveless jumpers in 1961.
NORTH MELBOURNE
North Melbourne’s jumper has evolved a number of times, almost always featuring blue and white.
In 1886 horizontal blue and white hoops were changed to vertical stripes to distinguish the club from Footscray and Geelong — the earliest clash jumper?
In the early 1900s several versions were tried including a navy blue jumper with the letters NMFC on the front — a design that looks a lot like Carlton’s guernsey.
When it joined the VFL in 1925 the Roos had a predominantly blue jumper with a white V on the front before adopting blue and white vertical stripes in 1933.
Numerous slight alterations have followed to the number of stripes, the collar and number font to reach the jumper we see today.
ADELAIDE CROWS
Adelaide played its first season in the AFL in 1991 in a blue, yellow, and red hoop jumper and that jumper hasn’t changed all that much over time.
Only minor details have been varied such as adding a white outline on the numbers, removing the yellow cuffs and adding navy panels on the side.
Last year the team returned to the full hoops of the original design.
HAWTHORN
Hawthorn wasn’t always brown and gold. The club wore a gold jumper with a blue V in the VFA (after earlier experimenting with a black jumper with a red sash) before changing to brown and gold in 1914.
During their 10 seasons in the VFA they sported a brown guernsey with a yellow yolk and the HFC initials in gold on the left breast.
Like North Melbourne, Hawthorn then joined the VFL in 1925 and not in the jumper the club wears today.
Hawthorn played for one year in mustard jumpers with a brown V then for 25 years in brown guernsey with a gold V before donning gold and brown vertical stripes in the 1950 season. This came seven years after the club changed its nickname from the Mayblooms to the Hawks.
The club lost every game in the 1950 season, which might leave fans wondering if the change in jumper design had anything to do with it.
WEST COAST
West Coast’s official colours are navy and gold but were previously royal blue and gold when the club joined the AFL in 1987.
The jumper had a reboot in the year 2000 with vertical yellow, blue and white stripes covered by the club eagle logo.
Last year the club returned to the original design and their guernsey emulates the original “yellow peril” jumper worn in 1987.
GEELONG
Geelong’s blue and white hoop guernsey has been worn since the club’s inception in the mid-1800s. The design is said to represent the white seagulls and blue water of Corio Bay.
It was a Geelong player’s guernsey that led to a change in the rules around uniforms in the 1980s.
Despite going out of vogue with the introduction of dyed woollen guernseys, some players continued to wear lace-up jumpers through the 1970s and 80s because they were tight and made players hard to tackle.
However, this was outlawed after Melbourne champion Robert Flower broke his finger in the laces of Geelong’s Michael Turner in 1986.
SYDNEY
While the jumper Sydney wears now was born out of the club’s move to the Harbour City from South Melbourne there were many alternate designs before South Melbourne settled on the famous white and red V.
South Melbourne donned red and white horizontal stripes, vertical stripes, a red sash on a white jumper, and red jumper with the white South Melbourne emblem on the front before settling on the white jumper with the red V in 1932.
South Melbourne wore the design until the club was relocated in 1981, when they adopted the red and white with the opera house silhouette at the point yolk. No drastic changes have been made to the jumper since but the classic South Melbourne white with the red V made it’s return for Heritage Round in 2003 and 2004.
ST KILDA
From inception St Kilda players have worn red, white and black — the original design was thin stripes. That had to change during World War 1 to avoid wearing the colours of the German army.
The club opted for yellow, red and black to honour Belgium, Australia’s ally in the war.
In 1923 the club returned to its original colours but went for the wider stripes supporters know today. The only other change the club made to its jumper was from 1997-2001 when the club’s emblem featured in the design.
BRISBANE LIONS
Like their start in the AFL, the Brisbane Lions jumper is a merger of Fitzroy’s guernsey and the Brisbane Bears.
The Lions adopted the navy and maroon from Fitzroy’s early jumpers which featured a navy panel on the top the guernsey and maroon on the bottom.
The Lion that features on Brisbane’s guernsey is also credited to Fitzroy, which featured the Lion emblem on their jumper as early as 1968.
The emblem was modernised in 2010 but fans rejected the “Paddlepop” Lion design and the old Fitzroy lion returned in 2014.
CARLTON
Carlton fans can often be heard saying that they have the best guernsey in the league and considering it’s never changed over the course of the club’s history, this may be true.
The biggest change over time for Carlton has been the font of the club logo, from the Old English font in the early 1900s to the more rounded logo in the early 2000s and back to the original monogram on today’s jumper.
MELBOURNE
The Dees are another team whose jumper has faced a few transformations before the red V on navy was decided upon in 1935.
In the club’s first 15 years a plain navy jumper with a red collar was used and then a red V was added in 1919.
In 1925 the red V was swapped for a red band around the middle and more red around the collar.
The club donned that design for 10 years until they settled on the jumper the team wears today; a bright royal blue version introduced for colour TV in 1975 was retired after 10 years..
PORT ADELAIDE
In 2014 Dennis Cometti described Port Adelaide’s elimination final strip as the “best uniform in the competition”.
However, he wasn’t talking about the team’s usual black, teal and white jumper. He was referring to Port’s heritage jumper — the colours worn by the club in the SANFL since 1902.
The guernsey is nicknamed the prison bars but the design reflects the wharf pylons on the Port River.
Due to the similarities with Collingwood’s guernsey, Port Adelaide wasn’t allowed to wear the guernsey when they joined the AFL.
The club developed teal, black and white jumpers to placate Collingwood and have adopted several designs in their brief history including more than one attempt to incorporate a lightning bolt before adopting the white and teal V.
FREMANTLE
Fremantle joined the AFL in 1995 in dashing green, purple and red guernseys with a white anchor adorned on the front.
The jumper was distinctive but a bit busy. Alternatives including a mostly green design and a purple jumper with a green, white and red stripes and a faded anchor were tried before the Dockers decided that less is more and in 2010 opted for the purple and white uniform they wear today.
WESTERN BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs have always worn the red, white and blue but in 1935 the club decided their original jumper wasn’t distinctive enough.
The club revolutionised the design to vertical stripes in red, white and blue on the front.
The jumper didn’t stick around long though (it was rumoured to have shrunk when laundered) and at the end of the 1935 season the jumpers were “destroyed” when they were dry cleaned.
Whether that was for better or worse is yet to be determined.
The Bulldogs returned to their blue jumper with red and white hoops around the middle for four decades before the design changed again in the 1970s with brighter colours and a wide red hoop bordered by narrow white hoops.
In 1997 a stylised Bulldogs logo was added when the club changed its name from Footscray to the Western Bulldogs. The snarling dog was ditched and the old hoops were reinstalled in 2016.
COLLINGWOOD
Collingwood celebrated its 125th birthday this year and so did its uniform as it hasn’t changed in the club’s history.
Like Carlton, Essendon, Geelong and Adelaide, Collingwood has taken the, ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ approach with its black and white striped guernsey.
As yet, the youngest teams in the AFL Gold Coast and GWS have yet to change up their playing jumpers.
But as history has suggested, anything is possible in the guernsey design stakes.
READ MORE:
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE BEST AND WORST AFL LOGOS
12 PEOPLE WHO TRIED A FOOTY CAREER BEFORE BECOMING FAMOUS FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
WEIRD AND WACKY AFL RULES FROM 1850-2000
AFL RULES YOU NEVER KNEW EXISTED
The players that made Robbo want to do a top 57
The hardest spot to pick in the top 50 isn’t No.1. It’s actually No.50. Robbo names the players he wanted to fit into his annual list – but couldn’t.
Max’s Metrics: Numbers behind stars Saint’s staggering contract
Max King has signed an eye-boggling new contract after the Saints lined his numbers up against past greats. They liked what they saw and here is how the spearhead compares to 12 others.