Heritage of the Game

** Editor's note: This is the first post I've written as a correspondent for World Footy News. I'm excited about where this can go and I look forward to contributing.

            I like that AFL sides do a good job of remembering their roots and telling their entire story, even if the memories aren’t as pleasant.

            St. Kilda matches don’t make it to the states, at least not through my cable TV package, so I’ve been watching a season 2016 tilt with Melbourne. On the back of the Saint unis is an “EST. 1873,” or established in 1873, which alludes to the first year of their existence. They’ve never relocated and granted, the majority of their footy hasn’t been of the winning type, but remembering your history and knowing where you’ve come from are both good things.

Front and back of the Sydney uniform top.
Note the SMFC above the number 8.

            The Sydney Swans do this on their guernseys by stitching in “SMFC” at the base of the neck. This of course stands for South Melbourne Football Club, which was this team’s identity from 1874 until 1982 when financial woes led to relocation that sent the team northeast. The initials were an addition in 2004.

            Moving a team like that is painful for supporters—it feels like something is being taken away, that their loyalty, their going to games and cheering with their families, ultimately meant nothing. So adding the old SMFC to the home and away kits is a very nice touch.

FFC is added in above the #22 on the
Western Bulldogs guernseys.

            Same thing in Footscray. The Footscray Football Club also had its share of money troubles and saw a path out by becoming the Western Bulldogs and potentially connecting with a larger fan base. You can see the “FFC” above the number on the back of the guernsey.

            I see teams here in the states move around and I don’t see the same thing. Can you imagine the Oklahoma City Thunder ever wearing anything that referred to the time the franchise spent as the Seattle SuperSonics? We don’t see the Baltimore Ravens talk about being the Cleveland Browns in a previous existence, nor do the Washington Nationals refer to ever being the Montreal Expos. But in Seattle, Cleveland, and Montreal, fans felt like they got stabbed in the back by owners who were seeking more money. Loyalty, history, and tradition meant nothing next to the almighty dollar.

            Nice that I don’t perceive these AFL sides disrespecting their fans like that. I get that a goal is to make money and not lose it, but very cool that a nod is given to a team’s heritage.

History Lesson

So Mason Cox was back in the lineup for Collingwood. He managed to kick a couple of goals but his shoulder was wrapped pretty well and it was plain to see it was bothering him. The up and down season of the Pies continues with a 15-point loss to the Richmond Tigers, who are struggling this season. Last year Richmond had a big streak to close out the season, winning like their last nine to qualify for the postseason. They're not having similar fortune this season.

My other match of the week was the Western Bulldogs qualifying for the eight with a win over North Melbourne. The Kangaroos can still make it, but Western sealed their trip to the postseason. It's pretty remarkable work by the Bulldogs since they've lost a lot of players to injury this season, including their captain Robert Murphy very early in the season.

Last week I wrote about Matthew Pavlich and Brent Harvey, and I saw some St Kilda highlights the other day and another player was wearing the old #7 jumper that Lenny Hayes wore before retiring in 2014. Those things made me think about how AFL teams honor their great players of the past, because Hayes was prominent on those two hard-luck Saints teams in 2009-10 and it didn't take long for someone else to put on his old guernsey.

I get it that there are only so many to go around and that you can't retire everyone's number, hang them from the rafters, put them on the ring of honor or whatever. There are 18 AFL teams and many teams share different venues such as Etihad or the MCG. That makes it tough honor past players in any of those ways.

Geography plays a role, since in the area of Melbourne, Victoria, you have the teams Carlton, Richmond, Collingwood, Essendon, Melbourne, Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs, and North Melbourne all within a very close proximity of one another. That's almost half of the 18 teams in the competition. A park for each of those sides isn't practical. In fact, I find it amazing that there's such strong fan support for teams that are so close geographically.

Stateside the situation is different. Teams don't share a venue unless it's a situation like the Seattle Seahawks/Sounders. In a league of X number of teams, there are X stadiums nationwide, so honoring past players by putting their names/numbers on display is easier. Each team gets to do their own thing.

I have noticed that individual AFL teams each do a great job of preserving histories on their own websites. There are a lot of 'teams of the century' from the older clubs, as well as naming of all players to wear a specific guernsey number, premiership seasons, and such. So it's nice to see these things told, retold, and preserved.

On tap for this week-- three weeks left in the 2016 home and away season. Geelong at Richmond, and North Melbourne at Hawthorn. The Hawks dropped one to Melbourne last week and are now just one game clear of four other sides at the top of the ladder. I saw one prediction list them as falling to fifth by the end of the season. Their percentage isn't as good as the teams below them, and they've got questions regarding injury and suspension. Should be fun.

Play on!