Alternative guernsey

[mightytiges]

The idea of making clubs have alternative guernseys has raised it's head again. I don't see the need for one (apart from making extra $$$) as I never found it hard to pick our guernsey out from the rest.

Here are some designs away:
Current: http://www.spin.net.au/~tammy/matt/guernseys/richmond.gif
Reverse colours: http://www.spin.net.au/~tammy/matt/guernseys/richmond-alt.gif
1908-1914 one: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/fbtmisc/merojumpers.html

If it guaranteed the club extra $$$ and so large profits were made as opposed to modest ones would anyone who is against an alternative strip be persuaded to change their mind?

 

[froars]

Leave it as it is. It's the best jumper going around. A fashion "expert" once rated the jumpers and we were equal first with Carlton's. It's simple design is very classy (except on yobbo Richmond supporters with bellies hanging out the bottom). If we ended up with poofy jumpers like Fremantle I might go and support Carlton. Well, maybe not - but why change a winning formula. As for the reverse jumper - we would start to look like Hawthorn - yuck.

 

[PMac]

Curiously I dont get too excited either way about the notion of an away strip.

Like most people (I suspect) I love the tradition of the current jumper but:

1. You cant ignore the potential revenue stream of a second jumper, and

2. Having spent much of my adult life out of Victoria I've slowly come to the realisation that the RFC design does not translate well to a basic casual "sweater" like a rubgy jersey.

So, rather than an "away" strip I'd recommend an "out of vic" jumper which has the following benefits:

a. It gives us our tradition look at all home games and all games against the traditional enemies (Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon).

b. It gives us the ability to design a jumper that translates well into a rubgy jersey look which is good both as an additional revenue stream and a way of appealing to possibly neutral fans in rugby heartlands of ACT, Sydney and Brisbane.

As to games in WA and SA, well we'ew from Victoria so they hate us already so why worry what they think.

 

[admin]

If it came to a members vote, I'd vote to keep the jumper as it is now.

 

[gustiger12]

Somethings are sacred in life and the Yellow and Black Jumper is one of them in my opinion.

 

[MC24]

Leave it as it is.  It's the best jumper going around.

Couldn't agree more Froars. Also agree with GT.

Rosy, I would never agree to a change in our jumper, for whatever reason. There are other ways to make money. Selling our history, traditions, culture, etc. is not one of them, IMO.

There's nothing much that hasn't changed over time and I believe that the reluctance of 'traditional' clubs to change is proof of their real strength. They have maintained their identities because of their resilience and ability to endure the toughest of times ... and that is something to be proud of.

It's easy to believe in something that withstands the test of time. To see it change, especially for the sake of change, takes away some of that belief.

 

[Koalalill]

I love and respect our jumper. It is Richmond.

However, I am open minded on this topic. I wrote a letter to the club a number of years ago on this very issue. ANd I actually got a reply from our then CEO Jim Malone.

At the time I was of the belief that if the club was able to make an extra $250,000 by wearing an alternative jumper for away games then it surely needed to consider it. I am only in favour alternative strips if there is a financial gain. Being forced to do it because the media complains is not a reason in my view. Also, it was the first year that the CLub wore the Alternate strip in the Pre-Season Cup. That jumper proves that we can as a club keep our colours and traditions without loosing who we are in the process (unlike that yellow thing the Saints wore a couple of years ago).

Also, the funds it could generate could be the difference between making a profit and making a loss. In these trying financial times Clubs need to be proactive. People argue that the Club can raise money in other ways - I don't think that is as easy as it sounds.

Back to the reply I got from the Club. The position of the Board back then was that they had no intention of changing to an alternative away jumper. And even if they did it would have to go to the members to vote on and the Board doubted it would get passed.

I am currently of the opinion that there is NO WAY that members would agree to any jumper change now or in the future

 

[TigerFury]

Going to New Jersey

We ran an article at TigerFury.net on this nearly 2 years back.

(Sadly enough, even though Rivals don't support the AFL anymore, that old site is still intact as it was left 12 months ago!)

 

[MC24]

Going to New Jersey

You can't possibly be serious Tiger Tank.

 

[TigerFury]

My view...

Colour clashes are a problem within Football.

I say this not only as a keen tactical observer of the game but as someone who has also umpired it as well. I have controlled games between Seaford (Richmond colours) and Frankston YCW (Black strip with yellow trim), Hampton Park (Essendon) and Devon Meadows (St. Kilda) and Chelsea (Geelong) / Langwarrin (Kangaroos). It is a very difficult thing to do and very easily contributes to errors made by umpires.

I also observe players make mistakes when we play the likes of Essendon, Carlton, Melbourne and Adelaide. It appears to me that a player gets the ball and needs to spot up a target as quickly as possible. He looks up, sees a dark jumper and moves it on before his brain has completed it's pattern matching algorithm. Too late! Bowden has just turned it over to an unmarked Stephen Silvagni, 50m out from goal. (That did happen!)

These are the practical reasons for change (which to my mind must be the logical, overiding factor). It is change for an improvement rather than change for changes sake.

As for tradition, does it not bother any of you that what we wear now is essentially the 3rd style of jumper we've had? Take a look at the third link provided by Mighty Tigers above. That isn't a Hawthorn jumper depicted there next to ours - that is the jumper we used to wear. Also, prior to that, we used to wear a plain Navy Blue jumper (ironic?) with a black and yellow cap.

Another consideration is that we actually do have to change our uniform when we play away anyway. Sure it's only a simple change, getting into some white shorts but have you really stopped and considered how really naff this is! Our colours are Yellow and Black, not White, Yellow and Black!

I would much rather have an alternative strip that had ONLY Yellow and Black and was designed to look good.

Finally, we would only have to wear the alternative strip when we were the designated away team and we were playing against a team who's colours clashed with our own. At the current time, this would only be Essendon, Carton, Adelaide, Melbourne, Adelaide and West Coast. That is a maximum of 6 times per year - usually less than that. As a trade off, we get to wear our black uniform up to 20 times a year (allowing for 3 Finals!).

That sounds a lot better than wearing *smile*' white shorts and watching Bowden kick the ball to the opposition.

...

While we are at it, we should also get the umpires to have alternate strips as well. This happens in Rugby (League and Union) as well as EPL.

Not a problem in the AFL? Consider how closesly the Kangaroos All-White uniform matches that worn by the umpires. I once saw a bounday umpire earn a handball receive when we played them once. Same situation as Bowden. Whoever it was caught a glimpse of the uniform and had moved the ball before he'd gotten a proper look.

 

[MC24]

Based on your theory TF, we won't be seeing any players or umpires making any mistakes once the alternative strips are being used.

Somehow, I don't think so.

 

[admin]

That sounds a lot better than wearing *smile*' white shorts and watching Bowden kick the ball to the opposition.

C'mon. If jumper colour is what makes Bowdo kick it to the opposition he must suffer from colour blindness, cos he manages to do that no matter who the opposition is.

 

[TigerFury]

C'mon. If  jumper colour is what makes Bowdo kick it to the opposition he must suffer from colour blindness, cos he manages to do that no matter who the opposition is.

;D I was being a little facetious in mentioning Bowden! (Though the incident I was referring to, Silvagni was at least 50 metres in the clear.)

 

[TigerFury]

Based on your theory TF, we won't be seeing any players or umpires making any mistakes once the alternative strips are being used.

Somehow, I don't think so.

I am not suggesting that this is the SOLE reason why players and umpires make mistakes.

 

[Rampaging_Richo]

I would bet my bottom dollar the club has got a dozen or so versions of an away strip in the case that AFL deems that all clubs must have away strips.

These things happen, and instead of carrying on like a pork chop about it, we would be better to be prepared with some good away versions.

My own POV, the club needs to expand its revenue streams to be a viable club into the future and an away strip would be a good way to do it.

Nobody complained that much when we dropped the yellow sash off the back of the jumper to allow for more sponsor signage.

Be realistic people, The AFL we all love is a business and so are its clubs. Tradition doesn't always pay the bills..

 

[MC24]

Nobody complained that much when we dropped the yellow sash off the back of the jumper to allow for more sponsor signage.

You bet I complained. But, for some reason, we members didn't get a say in the matter.

The AFL we all love is a business and so are its clubs.  Tradition doesn't always pay the bills..

Tradition doesn't pay the bills RR, but it's the reason why we've still got a Club. If it weren't for tradition, we'd be barracking for no one or some other Club and not Richmond.

I like our traditions and I think they're worth keeping, otherwise I wouldn't bother being a member of any Club. If the traditions of Clubs do not separate them, then what does?

 

[MC24]

I am not suggesting that this is the SOLE reason why players and umpires make mistakes.

Unless having an alternative strip brings about some extraordinary benefits, then I fail to see the need to change.

If two teams clash (i.e. Richmond / Essendon) then it's a level playing field ... the same for both teams.

The ability to make good decisions, under any circumstances, is a skill. No amount of help is going to save some from making ordinary decisions.

 

[mightytiges]

Like Koalalill I'm pretty open-minded about the issue but would need a decent excuse ($s to guarantee profits and sustainability for the club and a good design) to accept an alternative guernsey

The problem with coming up with a alternative strip is not only deciding what guernsey design but also the shorts and socks to go with it. I can't understand why the league allows Hawthorn to wear brown and gold hoop socks when they play us. Can't they wear those all gold socks they wore in the late 80's-mid 90's.

I agree with Chris that wearing white shorts with our guernsey looks awful. Hawthorn is the same (although their colours are shockers to begin with ;D). White shorts don't go with a yellow sash or thickish vertical stripes in a sleveless jumper. On the other hand for some bizarre reason, a yellow and something hoop design (like the crows, wests tigers) doesn't look too bad IMO with white shorts. If we don't want white shorts then that leaves yellow o..never again) or black (as we have now - maybe with wider yellow sides like in the NRL when we play away). Since we don't have white in our colours I don't see why it isn't reasonable to make sides like Essendon, Mebourne, Carlton, etc who have white (even if it's just the numbers) wear white shorts even when it's their home game. White shorts seem to fit in with their jumpers and socks.

 

[Rampaging_Richo]

MC24 - I wrote that tradition doesn't always pay the bill, meaning that whilst tradition is a major part of RFC, and a very important part at that, we all need to be prepared that these things may well happen.

I personally wouldn't mind an away strip AS LONG as it is a good version, and not some crap that other clubs wear. Black and yellow must be 2 of the easiest colours to work with, so I am sure Nike could develop something.

 

[MC24]

MC24 - I wrote that tradition doesn't always pay the bill, meaning that whilst tradition is a major part of RFC, and a very important part at that, we all need to be prepared that these things may well happen.

Prepared for what RR? You sound like you don't mind that we get told what to do. Since when has the Richmond Football Club been told what it should look like? As far as I am concerned, the traditions of a Club should be up to the people that support it and have some affinity with it, not up to those who couldn't care less what we look like or anything else about us.

To me, it's the ultimate sign of weakness that we are now told what to wear. This is our Club, but who's running it? The people who actually care about it or those who couldn't give a continental whether we're even here or not?

You'll have to excuse me RR, but this is something I'm pretty bull headed about. I hate that someone else gets to dictate to us and that the attitude seems to be 'to hell with us and our traditions'.