‘How old are you?’: Eddie McGuire wins prison bar war with David Koch

The bitter brawl between Eddie McGuire and David Koch has been decided with the Sunrise host now turning on the real reason his club was snubbed.

Eddie's war with Port Adelaide rages on.

Port Adelaide won’t be allowed to wear its prison bar guernsey as president David Koch revealed the AFL threatened to take points off the club if it donned the historic strip without approval.

It came as the Power president on Thursday turned a blowtorch on the AFL — blaming the league as the true villain to his football club in the bitter feud.

The Power had requested to wear their traditional black-and-white prison bar jumper for the Round 8 Showdown against cross-town rivals the Crows on May 8, but Collingwood objected as the strip clashes with their own black and white strips jumper.

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Ex-Magpies boss Eddie McGuire has long been protective of Collingwood’s famous black-and-white jumper and he doesn’t want to see the South Australian club rock its prison bar look this season — a point he made forcefully last night when he said he was willing to “settle the dispute in the Federal Court”.

Koch blasted the AFL on Wednesday for failing to make a ruling on whether Port can wear its iconic strip against Adelaide, complaining about it being “ridiculous” to still be waiting for an answer.

Having been given the verdict from the AFL, Koch took another swipe at league officials for treating his club as a second class citizen compared to the traditional Victorian-based clubs.

“Our frustration sits squarely with the AFL, not Collingwood,” Koch said in a Port Adelaide statement released Thursday afternoon.

“We believe our request is reasonable. This issue isn’t just about Port Adelaide. It is about the passion and connection that ALL fans have for their clubs.

“As we’ve always maintained, the AFL own the intellectual property rights to all AFL clubs, and therefore this is a decision the AFL can make independently in representing what is in the best interests of the game and ALL clubs. This is a decision for the fans, the most important stakeholders in our game. To treat our fans and the heritage of our Club in this way is disappointing.

“A key purpose of the AFL is to protect and nurture the heritage of the game. Heritage makes our game stronger. Anything we can do to strengthen this bond can only build stronger clubs which is good for the game. The AFL cares about heritage and that should include Port Adelaide’s.”

Eddie McGuire and Matthew Lloyd. Picture: Channel 9

He had earlier suggested a comment made by McGuire on TV Wednesday night suggested Collingwood and the AFL had colluded against his team.

McGuire said he knew heritage rounds were soon to be axed when the Magpies agreed in 2007 for Port Adelaide to wear the guernsey in those fixtures.

“This was signed by a president of a club who had inside knowledge that the other parties were not aware of – it begs the question if the AFL was aware of it,” he said.

“That’s a reflection of this VFL, Melbourne mafia that pat the interstate clubs on the head, pay them a bit of attention but say ‘get away, this is our game’.

“They’ve got to understand there’s no ‘V’ in AFL anymore.

“Every club has got to be respected and treated the same.

“In my finance world, that would be called insider trading.

Port Adelaide chairman David Koch says the AFL has threatened it will dock premiership points if the club dons its prison-bar jumper in next week’s Showdown without approval.

The Power has been awaiting a league response on whether it can wear the black-and-white jumper against the Crows on May 8 since making a full presentation in February, which Koch has called a “disrespectful” and “ridiculous” delay.

Asked on radio on Thursday morning if the club had thought about taking to the field in the black-and-white jumper without permission, Koch replied: “it’ll cost me points”.

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David Koch labelled the delay from the AFL as ‘ridiculous.’ Picture: Jonathan Ng

David Koch labelled the delay from the AFL as ‘ridiculous.’ Picture: Jonathan Ng

“I did ask that, I said ‘I’m happy to pay a fine and just bloody wear the thing’ and they said that ‘we’ll fine you and take points off you’,” Koch told FIVEaa.

“It would be four points for the game – we can’t afford that.”

Koch also took a swipe at Eddie McGuire and the AFL after the ex-Collingwood president told Footy Classified on Wednesday night he knew heritage rounds were soon to be axed when the Magpies agreed in 2007 for Port Adelaide to wear the guernsey in those fixtures.

The Sunrise host said McGuire’s comments infuriated him and he likened Collingwood’s knowledge when it signed the agreement to insider trading.

Port are fuming.

“This was signed by a president of a club who had inside knowledge that the other parties were not aware of – it begs the question if the AFL was aware of it,” he said.

“That’s a reflection of this VFL, Melbourne mafia that pat the interstate clubs on the head, pay them a bit of attention but say ‘get away, this is our game’.

“They’ve got to understand there’s no ‘V’ in AFL anymore.

“Every club has got to be respected and treated the same.

“In my finance world, that would be called insider trading.

“It was completely against the spirit of the undertaking.

“I’m absolutely ropeable that we could be hoodwinked like this.”

When asked why his team wouldn’t just wear the prison bar guernsey, even without the AFL’s permission, and cop the consequences, Koch revealed it would hit Port Adelaide where it really hurts.

“It’ll cost me points. I did ask that,” Koch told FIVEaa.

“I said I’m happy to pay a fine just to bloody wear the thing and they said, ‘We’ll fine you and take points off you’.

“It would be four points for the game.”

However, Koch received the bad news on Thursday afternoon when the AFL confirmed the Power would not be allowed to wear the prison bar jumper.

“In 2019, the AFL, Port Adelaide and Collingwood came to an agreement that allowed one-off approval for the ‘prison bar’ guernsey to be worn in Port Adelaide’s home match against the Adelaide Crows to celebrate the Club’s 150th anniversary,” the AFL statement read.

“That agreement, signed by all parties, stipulated the guernsey was specifically approved for Port Adelaide’s use only for that single match in 2020 and Collingwood’s approval did not bind it with respect to any other future proposals by the Port Adelaide Football Club in respect of the guernsey.

“Collingwood Football Club has made it clear that, at this time, it does not agree to further use of the guernsey by PAFC including in ‘Showdown’ matches against Adelaide Crows.

“On that basis, and consistent with the arrangements that have applied to all previous instances of use of the ‘prison bar’ guernsey by Port Adelaide since the Club joined the AFL (ie with the approval of the AFL and Collingwood) the AFL does not grant permission for the guernsey to be worn in Round 8.”

Koch isn’t going down without a fight.

‘How old are you?’: Childish dispute slapped down

McGuire engaged in a heated debate on live TV on Wednesday when he locked horns with Port champion Kane Cornes. McGuire said he was “sick” of justifying his objection to the prison bar guernsey, while Cornes questioned why he wasn’t willing to allow Port to celebrate its heritage.

Speaking on the AFL Daily podcast, footy reporter and presenter Nat Edwards said the whole dispute was childish

“How old are you? Are you three and you haven’t learnt how to share yet?” Edwards said of McGuire and Collingwood. “It’s once a year. Honestly, it’s just so trivial to me that you wouldn’t let them wear it once a year in their Showdown.

“It’s not like we’re going to have Port Adelaide playing Collingwood in their prison bar guernsey and a massive jumper clash.”

AFL Daily co-host Damian Barrett added: “Who has given Collingwood the right to tell another club what it can and cannot wear?”

McGuire is no longer at the helm of Collingwood, standing down earlier this year after he was widely criticised for his response to the Do Better report, which accused the club of fostering “systemic racism”.

Mark Korda was recently installed as Collingwood’s new president and is standing in McGuire’s corner. He said the club’s decision to support Port Adelaide in wearing the prison bar guernsey in celebration of its 150th year in 2020 was strictly a one-off.

“There is a place for only one black-and-white striped jumper in the AFL, the iconic Collingwood jumper,” Korda said in a statement.

“We are surprised and disappointed that there is a renewed attempt to introduce the jumper to the competition on a permanent basis.”

“Particularly given what we believe to be an agreement that was reached between the two clubs a number of years ago.”

McGuire bleeds black and white.