Should we create an alternate jumper?

[Stealth bomber]

This topic has come again on the main board a couple of times and it's something I feel pretty strongly about. I also feel strongly about Essendon's jumper design and how it has remained unchanged for 125 years.

I realize that for anything to happen, the EFC members need to vote on it, so it makes anything unlikely in the near future. Perhaps a compromise can be achieved.

I just think that it is too bloody difficult to tell who is who on the ground these days. The Melbourne-Fremantle match the other night was a nightmare. I had trouble when we played Carlton. I had trouble when Collingwood played Carlton. I had a LOT of trouble when Geelong played North in the rain. If you look close enough you can eventually figure it out, but there is too much squinting and calculation involved.

I think that our red slash on black design can be retained on a second jumper; we just need to have a second back, maybe with more red and white on it to distinguish us from the black and navy clubs better.

[Dave]

I've never had any trouble telling the difference at one of our games. The real push behind alternative strips is marketing and how much money clubs can make by having a different one each year, such as the soccer clubs do.

It's been ok for over 100 years so I see no reason to change it now :)

[Same Old's]

Dave,

The real reason soccer clubs made alternate jumpers was to eliminate a "clash of jumpers". Marketing and making money was an offshoot of this change.

[M29]

I agree with Dave, I've never had a problem with telling the teams apart.

[Dave]

Same Old's, with inter-league games there were bound to be clashs where clubs had the same jumper so having alternate strips makes sense. The more recent policy of creating a new strip every year makes me a tad cynical about it's introduction into the AFL. It has only gained currency in the past few years as Ch$ have bitched and moaned about it.

[NYMets]

Keep it like it is (it's a guernsey) and get glasses.