AFL Heritage Round
Encyclopedia
Heritage Round was a round of matches in the Australian Football League
in which all the teams wore guernseys from their past. The first Heritage Round was in 2003 and had been continuing every year until 2008.
Designs of all the Heritage Guernseys including all guernseys worn by all VFL/AFL clubs over the years can be seen at www.footyjumpers.com
, in the centenary year of the VFL/AFL. As a tribute, the 8 original teams of the VFL played each other in Round 7, 100 years after Round 1 in the inaugural season
. defeated at the MCG
, while defeated Fitzroy
, lost to , and lost to .The remaining eight clubs played in their normal jumpers, as they came into the VFL/AFL at different times, not 1897.
Football Clubs (who played each other during the round) both had a short history had always used a variant of their original jumper throughout their existence. It was seen in a very positive and nostalgic light, especially as Brisbane
wore a Fitzroy Lions guernsey and Sydney wore their former South Melbourne
guernsey. St. Kilda's
guernsey got such a positive reaction that it became their Clash Guernsey from 2004 until 2006. Port Adelaide
wore its SANFL Magpies "Prison Bar" guernsey from 1914 when the club was made Champions of Australia. This angered the Collingwood Football Club
(who were playing Brisbane at the MCG
) which argued that they were the only team in the AFL that could wear Black and White.
Brisbane chose to wear the Brisbane Bears
guernsey worn from 1992 until 1996, West Coast wore an original 1987 guernsey and the Crows manufactured a guernsey based on a 1991 original with the SANFL logo on the back and Crest on the front (which was never used in the club prior to heritage round) to make exactly the same guernsey worn in present day look old. Port Adelaide wore a Red and Blue guernsey based on their original guernsey from 1877 to 1901, prior to its famous black and white "Prison Bar" .
The Saints wore a guernsey worn during the First World War in which its colours were changed so not to be seen as a supporter of Germany
. Hawthorn's
guernsey was not Brown and Gold, but Red, White, and Blue from its 1902 guernsey worn when they were a part of the VFA. The Adelaide Football club wore a 1930s South Australia state guernsey with an AFC insignia replacing SA, where Port Adelaide Football Club wore a white guernsey with light blue hoops based on their first guernsey in the SANFL.
With the focus of heritage round starting to turn into a gimmick the AFL knew they had so do something to re-invigorate the interest. The result came in the following year.
and Before the Game
taking on 80s themes and both dressing up in clothes from the 1980s. The AFL even release a compilation CD of songs recorded during the 1980s.
Brisbane wore a variant of its original Brisbane Bears guernsey (which was always criticized during its existence up until 1992, especially when its gold and maroon colours were changed to gold and cerise.) Adelaide once again manufactured a guernsey as they were not in existence in the 1980s. It included its home guernsey with the fake crest, SANFL logo on the rear and all the colours of all the teams in the SANFL from the 80s. Melbourne
wore a guernsey with red and royal blue instead of its red and navy blue it used prior to 1974 reverted back to in the 1987. Essendon
wore red shorts as they did in the 80s when they played Carlton
in the battle for the Wooden Spoon
. (The two clubs were clearly the worst performers in the league that year and the match ended in a draw. Carlton coach Denis Pagan
famously described it as feeling like "Dancing with your Sister".)
and Before the Game
holding 70s themed shows.
As West Coast were not established in the 70s they chose to wear the original WA State of Origin guernsey from the first State of Origin game played against Victoria. They lost to Brisbane which wore a Fitzroy Guernsey from the 70s. The Crows wore the same Guernsey as the one worn in the 2006 Heritage Round for its defeat against Hawthorn. Port Adelaide's application to the AFL for its 70s black and white "Prison Bar" was rejected at first but an agreement was later reached with Collingwood and the AFL for Port to wear the guernsey this year but with conditions for further heritage rounds. They lost to the Bulldogs which wore an original Footscray guernsey with red shorts. Essendon and Richmond both still wear guernseys from the 70s in current day however Essendon once again wore red shorts and Richmond wore yellow shorts in both of their games.
Two Teams that did not wear a heritage guernsey were St. Kilda, who instead wore their white clash guernsey, and Collingwood.
Other teams to not wear a heritage guernsey due to extreme similarities to current day versions included Geelong, Carlton (who's "CFC" insignia was the current version and not of the one worn from 1933 to 1997), and The Kangaroos.
Fremantle
had to wear an original East Fremantle jersey as one of the past guernseys clashed with the old South Melbourne
jumper, as they were playing the Sydney Swans that round; resulting in the teams taking the field in uniforms almost identical to those of the 1979 WAFL Grand Final- the Fremantle Derby Grand Final between East Fremantle and South Fremantle.
Hawthorn played Brisbane in Tasmania, Brisbane wore their Fitzroy inspired strip as an away guernsey in Victoria.
Richmond celebrated their 100th year of league football by wearing a striped guernsey from their early years.
The Sydney Swans chose to wear their guernsey from their first premiership to celebrate 100 year since winning it in 1909 against Carlton in Round 16 at Etihad Stadium.
An agreement was finally reached between the two clubs which lets Port Adelaide wear the "Prison Bar" in 2007 as a one off, and for Port Adelaide to be able to wear the "Prison Bar" in future Heritage Rounds at AAMI Stadium so long as it is not against Collingwood.
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
in which all the teams wore guernseys from their past. The first Heritage Round was in 2003 and had been continuing every year until 2008.
Designs of all the Heritage Guernseys including all guernseys worn by all VFL/AFL clubs over the years can be seen at www.footyjumpers.com
Origin
The concept of the Heritage Round originated from the Centenary Celebration Round, which took place in 19961996 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1996.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Lighting Premiership:...
, in the centenary year of the VFL/AFL. As a tribute, the 8 original teams of the VFL played each other in Round 7, 100 years after Round 1 in the inaugural season
1897 VFL season
Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1897, the inaugural season of the VFL.-Premiership season:In 1897, the VFL competition consisted of eight teams of 20 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves" Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of...
. defeated at the MCG
McG
Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
, while defeated Fitzroy
Fitzroy Football Club
The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
, lost to , and lost to .The remaining eight clubs played in their normal jumpers, as they came into the VFL/AFL at different times, not 1897.
2003 – The First Heritage Round
The first Heritage Round saw Heritage guernseys worn by all teams except two. The Adelaide and West CoastWest Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...
Football Clubs (who played each other during the round) both had a short history had always used a variant of their original jumper throughout their existence. It was seen in a very positive and nostalgic light, especially as Brisbane
Brisbane Lions
The Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...
wore a Fitzroy Lions guernsey and Sydney wore their former South Melbourne
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
guernsey. St. Kilda's
St. Kilda Football Club
The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed The Saints, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club plays in the Australian Football League, the sport's premier league....
guernsey got such a positive reaction that it became their Clash Guernsey from 2004 until 2006. Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide Football Club
The Port Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, which plays in the Australian Football League and the South Australian National Football League...
wore its SANFL Magpies "Prison Bar" guernsey from 1914 when the club was made Champions of Australia. This angered the Collingwood Football Club
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
(who were playing Brisbane at the MCG
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
) which argued that they were the only team in the AFL that could wear Black and White.
2004 – The Umpires Join In
2004 saw the first year where all sixteen teams wore a heritage guernsey. It was also the first year which the Field and Goal Umpires wore uniforms from the past as well. All the umpires wore white uniforms (the traditional colour the umpires wore before changing to coloured uniforms) and the Goal Umpires wore their traditional long coats and white brimmed hats.Brisbane chose to wear the Brisbane Bears
Brisbane Bears
The Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995...
guernsey worn from 1992 until 1996, West Coast wore an original 1987 guernsey and the Crows manufactured a guernsey based on a 1991 original with the SANFL logo on the back and Crest on the front (which was never used in the club prior to heritage round) to make exactly the same guernsey worn in present day look old. Port Adelaide wore a Red and Blue guernsey based on their original guernsey from 1877 to 1901, prior to its famous black and white "Prison Bar" .
2005 – Complacent or Outlandish
In 2005 it was starting to become clear that the current concept of heritage round had either become stale or made clubs make outlandish choices. The Field Umpires wore replica uniforms from an old fashioned period (with colours brought back) that were unpractical in modern day.The Saints wore a guernsey worn during the First World War in which its colours were changed so not to be seen as a supporter of Germany
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
. Hawthorn's
Hawthorn Football Club
The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
guernsey was not Brown and Gold, but Red, White, and Blue from its 1902 guernsey worn when they were a part of the VFA. The Adelaide Football club wore a 1930s South Australia state guernsey with an AFC insignia replacing SA, where Port Adelaide Football Club wore a white guernsey with light blue hoops based on their first guernsey in the SANFL.
With the focus of heritage round starting to turn into a gimmick the AFL knew they had so do something to re-invigorate the interest. The result came in the following year.
2006 – The Eighties
The 2006 heritage round was themed around football in the 1980s. This achieved very heavy media coverage with both The Footy ShowThe AFL Footy Show
The Footy Show is a Logie Award winning Australian sports television program, shown on the Nine Network and its affiliates.This show, which is dedicated to the AFL and Australian rules football, made its debut on 24 March 1994 at the same time as the other version which relates to the NRL and rugby...
and Before the Game
Before the Game
Before The Game is an Australian rules football/comedy television show in Australia on Network Ten. The show is hosted by Andrew Maher, with regular panelists including Mick Molloy, Dave Hughes, Sam Lane, and Lehmo. The format of the show is a light-hearted discussion of issues relating to the...
taking on 80s themes and both dressing up in clothes from the 1980s. The AFL even release a compilation CD of songs recorded during the 1980s.
Brisbane wore a variant of its original Brisbane Bears guernsey (which was always criticized during its existence up until 1992, especially when its gold and maroon colours were changed to gold and cerise.) Adelaide once again manufactured a guernsey as they were not in existence in the 1980s. It included its home guernsey with the fake crest, SANFL logo on the rear and all the colours of all the teams in the SANFL from the 80s. Melbourne
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
wore a guernsey with red and royal blue instead of its red and navy blue it used prior to 1974 reverted back to in the 1987. Essendon
Essendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
wore red shorts as they did in the 80s when they played Carlton
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
in the battle for the Wooden Spoon
Wooden spoon (award)
A wooden spoon is a mock or real award, usually given to an individual or team which has come last in a competition, but sometimes also to runners-up. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous events...
. (The two clubs were clearly the worst performers in the league that year and the match ended in a draw. Carlton coach Denis Pagan
Denis Pagan
Denis Pagan is a former Australian rules football coach and player in the VFL/AFL. He is current coach of Northern Knights in TAC Cup.-Playing career:...
famously described it as feeling like "Dancing with your Sister".)
2007 – Living In The Seventies
The 2007 Heritage Round was based on Football in the 1970s. It took place in July from the 7th to the 9th. Once again it generated media coverage both in News broadcasts and both The Footy ShowThe AFL Footy Show
The Footy Show is a Logie Award winning Australian sports television program, shown on the Nine Network and its affiliates.This show, which is dedicated to the AFL and Australian rules football, made its debut on 24 March 1994 at the same time as the other version which relates to the NRL and rugby...
and Before the Game
Before the Game
Before The Game is an Australian rules football/comedy television show in Australia on Network Ten. The show is hosted by Andrew Maher, with regular panelists including Mick Molloy, Dave Hughes, Sam Lane, and Lehmo. The format of the show is a light-hearted discussion of issues relating to the...
holding 70s themed shows.
As West Coast were not established in the 70s they chose to wear the original WA State of Origin guernsey from the first State of Origin game played against Victoria. They lost to Brisbane which wore a Fitzroy Guernsey from the 70s. The Crows wore the same Guernsey as the one worn in the 2006 Heritage Round for its defeat against Hawthorn. Port Adelaide's application to the AFL for its 70s black and white "Prison Bar" was rejected at first but an agreement was later reached with Collingwood and the AFL for Port to wear the guernsey this year but with conditions for further heritage rounds. They lost to the Bulldogs which wore an original Footscray guernsey with red shorts. Essendon and Richmond both still wear guernseys from the 70s in current day however Essendon once again wore red shorts and Richmond wore yellow shorts in both of their games.
Two Teams that did not wear a heritage guernsey were St. Kilda, who instead wore their white clash guernsey, and Collingwood.
Other teams to not wear a heritage guernsey due to extreme similarities to current day versions included Geelong, Carlton (who's "CFC" insignia was the current version and not of the one worn from 1933 to 1997), and The Kangaroos.
Fremantle
Fremantle Football Club
The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed The Dockers, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia...
had to wear an original East Fremantle jersey as one of the past guernseys clashed with the old South Melbourne
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
jumper, as they were playing the Sydney Swans that round; resulting in the teams taking the field in uniforms almost identical to those of the 1979 WAFL Grand Final- the Fremantle Derby Grand Final between East Fremantle and South Fremantle.
2008 – 150 years
The only heritage round was Tom Wills round but only Melbourne and Geelong wore a heritage guernsey.Hawthorn played Brisbane in Tasmania, Brisbane wore their Fitzroy inspired strip as an away guernsey in Victoria.
Richmond celebrated their 100th year of league football by wearing a striped guernsey from their early years.
2009 – No heritage Round
No heritage round took place in 2009 but The Brisbane Lions continued to wear their Fitzroy away guernsey.The Sydney Swans chose to wear their guernsey from their first premiership to celebrate 100 year since winning it in 1909 against Carlton in Round 16 at Etihad Stadium.
Port Adelaide VS Collingwood
An ongoing battle between both the Port Adelaide and Collingwood football clubs is over Port Adelaide wearing the colours black and white. Port Adelaide was established in the SANFL and, like Collingwood, were known as the Magpies and wore black and white. As Port Adelaide won a licence to enter the AFL in 1996 they had to agree not to overshadow the branding of the Collingwood football club by using the name "Magpies" and using only the colours black and white.An agreement was finally reached between the two clubs which lets Port Adelaide wear the "Prison Bar" in 2007 as a one off, and for Port Adelaide to be able to wear the "Prison Bar" in future Heritage Rounds at AAMI Stadium so long as it is not against Collingwood.