The navy blue with red trim blazer will be akin to the blazers worn by the Australian cricket team. In Melbourne’s case, once a listed player receives a blazer, they will keep it with them for the rest of their career. In the future, new players will receive a blazer, while the incumbent Demons will retain the one they were given previously.
Chief executive Cameron Schwab said the blazer would become an important item for a Melbourne player.
“What we want to do is have players be given the blazer at the start of their careers, which if they get to play one game, that’s great and if they get to play 300 games, that’s great,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“But they’ll have that forever and it becomes part of who they are, and it becomes something that they can pass on to their children and grandchildren.
“It looks fantastic - the colours are navy blue with red edging - and it’s very traditional, similar to what the Australian cricket team has done with their original blazers.”
“At the commencement dinner we’ll be presenting our current list of players with their blazers, and we’ll tell the story as to why, and the story will be largely based on the Harold Ball story, which celebrates a very short but amazing career, as well as the tragedy of his loss.”
Schwab said the inspiration behind the return of the blazer was to “recognise some of the great traditions of our club and our game”. He said Ball’s story was integral to the blazer.
“Some of those traditions led to the development of the emblem, and to recognise part of the storytelling - we think sport and folklore is a big part of it,” he said.
“In my office, when I came back as CEO, there was a blazer, which was worn by Harold Ball. The folklore is that Harold Ball played 33 games and kicked 33 goals and was killed in Singapore. He played in two premierships in 1939 and 1940, and he was one of four players in the 1940 team who got killed, which is recognised in the flaming ‘M’ in the new emblem.
“Apparently his parents presented the blazer back to the club at that time and for a long time new players received a blazer when they arrived at the club.
“He comes from Merbein, which is the same town as Hassa Mann and Colin Sylvia, so the tradition of Merbein and the Melbourne Football Club continues.”
The blazer was worn by Melbourne players more than 100 years ago - as photographic evidence of star goalkicker Hedley Tomkins wearing a blazer in 1910 and 1912 has shown.
The blazer, then worn by coaches, players and trainers, continued to gain more formality and celebration over the decades.
The club’s story was also told via its blazers, as embroidered monograms and premiership years were displayed.
But as club historian Lynda Carroll explains, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when it was first introduced.
“The blazers started coming in the early years of last century, but then faded out in the early 1980s. In both cases, it’s believed it was due to the increasing formalisation of the game,” she said.
“They would have started wearing them to show identity and belonging, and then, as they faded out, the increasing professionalism of the game would have transcended this immediate need for identity.
“The blazer would steadily have been replaced, for example, by the more streamlined club suit, which has in turn made its way back to the recent global trend of nostalgic seeking for identity - hence the return to retrospective elements such as the blazer.”
Schwab said the blazer would be worn on special occasions.
“I think the players will be very proud. They might only get to wear it two or three times a year, but when they do, it will be very symbolic of what it means to be a Melbourne player,” he said.
“We want it to be a tradition that continues from this point onwards. The new emblem looks really great on the pocket, but the intention is to have the premiership years underneath the club emblem.
“We have to consider those sorts of things - if players get to play in a premiership, win a best and fairest or a Brownlow.
“So, come the end of a player’s career, it would also recognise his achievements, as well as the fact that they made the list of the club.”
