An end to summer is in sight with the nights and early mornings drawing in with less daylight and a drop in temperatures. With the changing season a football fans thoughts turn to their teams first game of the year .Last years jumper , jersey , guernsey is pulled out of the wardrobe and inspected . The questions has it got another season in it? , are the sponsors too dated ?but mainly will it still fit ?are asked .The sponsors may come and go, as will some of the mascots ( who would have thought the Lions would run out with a new Lion ).The team colours may appear a bit darker or lighter each passing year but one thing remains the same and will never go out of fashion ,at round one every ardent footy fan will be out in their teams colours wearing their jumper , jersey or guernsey.Sometimes these jumpers have often had a short respite over the warmer months but the humble jumper has definitely become more of a fashion trend and wearable iconic item of clothing over time .Of one thing you are assured , the jumper ,whether temporarily rested , newly purchased or freshly washed will be proudly on display at the first bounce of the Sherrin .

year of the Bomber

older style

All are used to play Australian Rules  Football in.

The early design was wool with a button up front , peak collar and often sleeveless  .

They were called jumpers because thats what they were a jumper in team colours to play sport in , in this case afl football.

Embellishments such as numbers , team logo , league playing in eg; VFL were sewn onto jumper .

Later the jumpers became a wool acrylic mix often now with long sleeves and all of the above embellishments .

Sponsors logo’s came along to boost clubs often ailing funds and wool had by now been totally replaced by acrylic.

Today it is hightech dri fit polyester that breathes . Manufactured fabric has replaced any natural fibres and the peak collar is gone along with any buttons . The long sleeve style is still available but with a few notable exceptions like Saints Stephen Milne and previous decade carlton player Steve Silvagni players wear the sleeveless style. These have ribbed armholes and v neckbands .

They are  brightly coloured with futuristic mascots , have sewn on makers logo tag to authenticate item and are plastered with sponsors logo’s front and back . A big difference is these are all printed on and not sewn on as in yesteryear .Even the back number is imprinted with  an afl logo across bottom of the numbers. A modern work of art to differentiate it from the opposition and to attract as much sponsorship as is allowable these items are signed by players and auctioned by the clubs for vast sums of money  . Bearing litte resemblance to the older style jumper the old timers are still popular with historians ,collectors , traditionalists ,die hard fans and people who just want to have their own slice of the good old days .

The high tech polyester treatment has also extended to football shorts and socks again printed with team ,afl and sponsors logos . Todays football kit bears little resemblance to the old monoliths of the past .

modern guernsey

Mums everywhere are grateful that no longer do they a mass of muddy wet wool to wash on a saturday afternooon after the saturday morning game .