1883-85
While there’s a lot of debate surrounding the exact year of establishment of Footscray Football Club, the earliest recorded year of a best and fairest, a membership card and AGM is 1883.
In the years prior to 1883, a side called Footscray would compete in a blue and white thinned hooped jumper – not too dissimilar to a Geelong jumper.
But when the Footscray Rowing Club were banned from competing to the Clarke Challenge Cup after years of dominance, due to the fact the work done by the battlers from the west wasn’t performed at a desk, the Herald Sun describes below the reaction from the trade unionist heart land:
“The Footscray Rowing Club had dominated the Clarke Challenge Cup, an annual rowing event on the Maribyrnong River, in 1879, 1880 and 1881.
Perhaps to nobble Footscray’s dominance of the event, the Victorian Rowing Association changed the rules, barring men in non-sedentary work from participating.
For working-class, industrial Footscray., it was an enormous blow.
The fledging football club, which had played for a few seasons as the Prince Imperials in navy and white hoops, added a red cap to its uniform for its first season in the Victorian Junior Football Association in 1883, matching the rowing club’s colours, as a form of protest.”
Since then, every player who called Footscray home has worn our Red, White and Blue.
1886
By 1886, the fashion and requirements to play football change and caps are gone.
But the famous tri-colours were kept as the socialist red was incorporated the ‘Scray’s jumper.
This would be the first of an almost annual changing of Footscray’s jumper until perfection was hit in 1900.
1887-89
In 1887, Footscray would continue the search for ‘their’ jumper. In 1887, the club would flip their horizontal red, white and blue hoops in vertical stripes.
They would continue to wear this jumper until 1890.
1890-93
The club would make minor changes to the jumper, this time making our jumper blue with red and white stripes.
1894-95
The club would again make changes to the tri-colours jumper for the 1894 season by making the red and white stripes a sash.
1896-97
The club would listen to feedback from supporters, who said the small red and white striped sash looked pink from the other side of the white line. As a solution, the middle of the sash would be a blue line surrounded by a red and white stripe.
Footscray hadn’t been troubled to build a trophy cabinet at their home since 1876*, the Western Oval, but that was about to change.
1898-1900
Footscray would change the base of the jumper from Blue to Red. The sash would be a simple red, white and blue stripe arrangement.
The change would work and Footscray would win the VFA premiership in each of the three seasons it wore it.
1901-05
At the turn of the century and as the nation federated, the Footscray Football Club would make a pretty history defining decision by running a public design contest to design the club’s jumper going forward.
The results would become the basis of the club’s jumper until this day.
A blue jumper with one red and one white hoop just below the chest.
Simple. Perfect. Footscray.
This would be worn with long navy shorts and red socks.
1906-11
Change of short style saw a change of colour to white shorts.
1912-24
Look familiar? In 1912, they would add the hoops to the arms and make the collar and cuffs red.
In 1918, numbers would be added to the back of the jumper.