When did wearing team colours/merch become the norm?

[PerthBoy86]

Prompted by the thread about wearing your team guernsey in public.

Watching older footage it seems most people just wore ordinary clothes to the footy, whereas now most will wear some club merch. Its increased even since I started going in the 90s and early 00s. It seems there were also more scarves and beanies then, now more people wear jumpers.

My best as an 86er was it started sometime in the 70s, and wasn't the norm until maybe the 80s? I suppose it was comparable in other sports/leagues?

 

[Spirit Level]

I'd say it aligns pretty closely with clubs realising they can make cash by churning out colourful merch for their fans to wear.

 

[Rusty Brookes]

Excellent question. I reckon it was the late 70s. But that co-incided with a big cultural shift in terms of clothing reflecting what you were in to. Sure there had been sub cultures before then but it was the 70s when it became almost the norm (especially among younger people) to use clothing to express your interest. Into Star Wars? Wear your t-shirt. Into KISS? Wear your t-shirt. Play Space Invaders? Wear your t-shirt. Follow a footy team? Wear your jumper.

I'm very much a child of the era and wore merch from those franchises. I still do today. So I reckon the rise in footy jumpers being worn by fans stems from us 70s/80s kids and the culture we grew up in. We're now in our 50s and never grew up. Which is awesome in my opinion.

 

[PerthBoy86]

Excellent question. I reckon it was the late 70s. But that co-incided with a big cultural shift in terms of clothing reflecting what you were in to. Sure there had been sub cultures before then but it was the 70s when it became almost the norm (especially among younger people) to use clothing to express your interest. Into Star Wars? Wear your t-shirt. Into KISS? Wear your t-shirt. Play Space Invaders? Wear your t-shirt. Follow a footy team? Wear your jumper.

I'm very much a child of the era and wore merch from those franchises. I still do today. So I reckon the rise in footy jumpers being worn by fans stems from us 70s/80s kids and the culture we grew up in. We're now in our 50s and never grew up. Which is awesome in my opinion.

Makes sense. As a kid I was pretty into basketball...followed the Wildcats but didnt have any Wildcats merch. I did have an Orlando Magic cap I basically never took off for about a year, and a Charlotte Hornets singlet.

Have an Eagles beanie from the late 90s and had a scarf I lost in Italy, of all places. Id like to think some old Italian nonna or nonno is wearing an Eagles scarf, none the wiser who the hell they are.

 

[Breretonisahood]

I started following footy in the mid 60s. Adults definitely did not wear club merch. Kids did, but the only merch was beanies, jumpers and scarves. Duffle coats with club badges sewn on were popular with teenagers. Watch footage of games back then and most adult supporters dressed in trousers, shirt and jacket or coat. No club merch. I reckon that really only changed in the 80s.

 

[Stan_Darsh72]

Prompted by the thread about wearing your team guernsey in public.

Watching older footage it seems most people just wore ordinary clothes to the footy, whereas now most will wear some club merch. Its increased even since I started going in the 90s and early 00s. It seems there were also more scarves and beanies then, now more people wear jumpers.

My best as an 86er was it started sometime in the 70s, and wasn't the norm until maybe the 80s? I suppose it was comparable in other sports/leagues?

Capitalism and fashion.

 

[SC_Power]

I started following footy in the mid 60s. Adults definitely did not wear club merch. Kids did, but the only merch was beanies, jumpers and scarves. Duffle coats with club badges sewn on were popular with teenagers. Watch footage of games back then and most adult supporters dressed in trousers, shirt and jacket or coat. No club merch. I reckon that really only changed in the 80s.

You weren’t a footy teenager if you didn’t have a duffle coat.

 

[Angus Young]

Duffle Coats was peak footy.

Glory days.

 

[Rusty Brookes]

Duffle Coats was peak footy.

Glory days.

I still wear one to the footy when it's cold complete with retro badges. Even got James
6
Sicily

on the back.

 

[Angus Young]

I still wear one to the footy when it's cold complete with retro badges. Even got James
6
Sicily

on the back.

No ****s given.

Good stuff.

 

[Eternal Schism]

Don't forget the change from suburban grounds to these large cauldrons.

Back in the day, at places like Windy Hill, wearing a proper jacket, something that'll keep you warm, was preferable over team sports wear.

T-Shirt & merchandise printing quality & supply has changed a lot too. As nowadays they are sponsored and supplied by companies that partner with the teams from overseas, they can do many designs digitally and print onto the fabric. So the number of items definitely increased with technology. & Buying them online too, vs needing to mail order or go in person. Don't underestimate the number of people who wear the merch too for their photos to post on social media as silly as that sounds.

 

[WesternSydneyHawk]

It's something that happened over time, rather than all at once.

The first footy "merch" that was commonplace was your beanies and scarves. Back in the '60s and '70s, it wasn't uncommon for these to be hand-knitted by someone's grandma.

You also probably wouldn't wear an officially licensed guernsey, but you might wear regular clothes in your team's colours. So if you barracked for Carlton, say, you might wear a navy blue shirt or jacket or jumper to the footy.

Through the '80s, clubs began selling more merchandise, including official scarves and replica jumpers. KMart used to sell a t-shirt commemorating the grand final winner after grand final day.

You'd find people dressing up in club colours more for a finals match or grand final than a regular season game. And kids were more likely to wear a replica guernsey than adults.

That expanded in the '90s. I remember by the early '90s Hawthorn had an official merchandise shop at Glenferrie Oval. It was in the Michael Tuck stand, and they moved it to the front room of the social club across the street.

The Hawks also sold commemorative t-shirts for things like Chris Langford's last game and the last game at Waverley Park.

At least for Hawthorn, and I suspect other clubs, the need to find new sources or revenue after various merger plans fell through probably played a role.

Where it really took off was around 2000, after Wayne Jackson took over from Ross Oakley. That's when you really started to see a big push to sell officially licensed AFL merchandise.

And then wearing team merchandise was a big part of hip hop culture. So as that started taking off in Australia in the late '90s, you saw more teenagers and young adults wearing team merchandise.