Port given permission to wear the stripes

[evertonfc]

Port Power given permission to wear B&W

Port Adelaide have won the right to wear the club's traditional jumper, with the AFL giving the club permission to don the famous black and white prison bars during this year's heritage round and future ones played at AAMI Stadium.

The AFL's decree overturns Collingwood's longstanding opposition to the Power ever donning a jumper that was similar to the Magpies' black and white stripes.

In future years, Port will be able to wear the black and white strip in any home matches during the annual heritage round, unless they're playing Collingwood.

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No problem with that. I guess it meant a lot to their supporters, even if the majority of the rest of couldn't care less.

Still, I guess their fans will want to know about it.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

Good. Port Adelaide FC wore black and white stripes before being given an AFL licence, and it's exactly what heritage round embraces.

 

[JeffDunne]

For the life of me I cannot understand why Collingwood has anything to do with what Port wear.

Good news Port get to wear it - absolute bullshit they have to put up with compromises because of Collingwood's insecurities.

 

[evertonfc]

Might save a whole lot of carry on, which will be good.

 

[Brasil2007]

Good deal. I noticed Eddie making noises about it on the footy show the other day. I suspect Eddiewood were basically told that this is the way it is gunna be and he was trying to put a positive spin on it like it was his idea.

 

[captain ebert]

For the life of me I cannot understand why Collingwood has anything to do with what Port wear.

apparently to do with the fact that unlike many other afl clubs, collingwood have only ever worn black & white (ie the one color scheme) since they were created......?

anyway, its just the thin end of the wedge - this will be exposed for the debacle it is & the stipulation that we wear it at home heritage games only will be removed in time.

 

[captain ebert]

Port Adelaide to wear black-and-white

for portadelaidefc.com.au

Port Adelaide will wear its black-and-white ‘prison bar’ guernsey in this year’s AFL Heritage Round and for any future Heritage Rounds being played at AAMI Stadium from 2008 onwards.
After years of discussion with the AFL the club is satisfied that it has an outcome that will ensure its supporters can celebrate the club’s unrivalled history in designated rounds.
The agreement with the AFL ensures that during Heritage Rounds where Port Adelaide is scheduled to play at AAMI Stadium, it will wear its black-and-white ‘prison bar’ guernsey.
The agreement also guarantees that the club will receive an equitable spread of games at AAMI Stadium in Heritage Rounds.
Port Adelaide chief executive John James said he was extremely pleased the club’s supporters would see Port Adelaide wear its black-and-white prison bars once again.
“As it stood, for whatever reason, the AFL made it very clear it was unwilling to allow our club to wear black-and-white for all Heritage Rounds, and that there would need to be some form of negotiation if it were to happen at all,” James said.
“It has been a period of long and very intense negotiations. We are fiercely passionate about our history and the people that made this club great and got us to where we are today, which is playing in the AFL.
“We have never been willing to compromise on our history or heritage by wearing a hybrid guernsey or to vary our history in any way. We illustrated that by not participating in Heritage Round last year.
“We’re very pleased that our supporters will be able to share in the celebration of our wonderful history this year and every time we play in Adelaide during Heritage Round.”
The club believed that unless it arrived at an agreement, the inevitable yearly debate would continue and that it was possible it would never be allowed to wear the famous black-and-white prison bars in which it won 31 SANFL premierships.
James said that the supporters’ desires were foremost in the club’s thinking in reaching a resolution on the issue.
“We’ve listened to our supporters. They’ve told us how important it is that we participate in Heritage Round by wearing our most famous SANFL colours, and we believe this is the best possible result we could achieve for them and our club, given the constraints in place,” James said.
“We’d like to thank all our supporters for their passionate words to the club on this long running issue and for getting behind us on our fight to honour our heritage in Heritage Rounds.
“We also want to reiterate that we love the new history we are creating in the AFL in our new guernsey and colours of black, white, silver and teal.
“Our aim is that relatively speaking we achieve similar success this century in our current guernesy, as we did in the past century wearing the black and white. We encourage our supporters to cherish the past as we do, but also to embrace the future and let’s grow and move forward together.”
This agreement puts to bed a negotiation which started back in 2003 when the AFL allowed the club to wear a 1914 black-and-white guernsey in Heritage Round. Since then the AFL has refused to allow Port Adelaide to wear a black-and-white guernsey, a decision which saw Port Adelaide boycott last year’s historical celebration.
The Power will work with manufacturer Reebok to produce a replica of its 1970s guernsey to wear in Heritage Round this year – which is Round 14 against the Western Bulldogs at Telstra Dome. The club is hopeful it will have a home game in Heritage Round next year.

 

[Papa G]

Does our heritage suddenly dissappear when we play away? Seems strange.

 

[ManWithNoName]

What're the odds that Port'll play away from AAMI the next few Heritage Rounds?

 

[oak79]

Does our heritage suddenly dissappear when we play away? Seems strange.

Seems a bit dodgy - I understand it in Victoria, as Black & White stripes is Collingwood there - however, Port should be able to wear it if they play 'away' in the Heritage round in Perth, Brisbane or Sydney.

 

[ClintEastwood]

What're the odds that Port'll play away from AAMI the next few Heritage Rounds?

"The agreement also guarantees that the club will receive an equitable spread of games at AAMI Stadium in Heritage Rounds."

Better not be more than 2 away in a row, or there will be some more sparks.

 

[PowerKat]

"The agreement also guarantees that the club will receive an equitable spread of games at AAMI Stadium in Heritage Rounds."


Better not be more than 2 away in a row, or there will be some more sparks.

Yeah - who knows what the AFL's definition of equitable is

 

[ClintEastwood]

Yeah - who knows what the AFL's definition of equitable is

There are common-law definitions, if it comes to that

 

[CursoryMercenary]

I wonder what are the odds of Collingwood playing Port Adelaide at the G' next year in Heritage Round

 

[bzparkes]

Umm, wasn't this annouced a couple of weeks ago???

 

[Southerntakeover]

There are common-law definitions, if it comes to that

Good luck trying to take the AFL to court.

Common sense prevailling here though. Still not sure why the 'home' allowance was made though, what difference does playing away make in heritage round? Heritage is heritage.

 

[richmond fanatic]

lol it's funny how they need permission

 

[Zeke]

For the life of me I cannot understand why Collingwood has anything to do with what Port wear.

Good news Port get to wear it - absolute bullshit they have to put up with compromises because of Collingwood's insecurities.

Makes mental note never to enter into any sort of contractual agreement with Port Power or Jeff Dunne. Obviously neither value standing by their word.

 

[Red Crow]

What're the odds that Port'll play away from AAMI the next few Heritage Rounds?

Or play at home but against Colligwood, meaning they can't wear it.

F'ing disgrace. let them wear it in ANY heritage round. Only if they play AWAY to collingwood should they find something else.

 

[Lightning_Rod]

can see us being slated to play away matches for a fair while and some home matches against the pies, in heritage rounds, wouldnt surprise me at all.

 

[JeffDunne]

Makes mental note never to enter into any sort of contractual agreement with Port Power or Jeff Dunne. Obviously neither value standing by their word.

Have either of us breached the terms of any contractual agreements?

 

[raffrox]

Makes mental note never to enter into any sort of contractual agreement with Port Power or Jeff Dunne. Obviously neither value standing by their word.

Makes mental note that Collingwood supporters think they run the world.

 

[Wildmanwok]

Makes mental note never to enter into any sort of contractual agreement with Port Power or Jeff Dunne. Obviously neither value standing by their word.

What like Gubby Allen and his "if you end higher than us 3 times you can wear black and white agreement."
Cant remember that I guess.
But what Mexican/Victorian can you trust.

 

[Brilliant]

Whats the bet they will get rid of heritage round in the next few years anyway.

 

[enosis7]

FFS.

The AFL own all intellectual property related to the league, including that relating to the clubs, which is licensed to the club. The combination of the black and white is not only symbolic of Collingwood's heritage, but is central to the Collingwood brand. The Collingwood brand is the most valuable sporting brand in Australia. Adidas has the licence to manufacture tops for the AFL on behalf of Collingwood.

Port Power football club was formed when the AFL constituted it. Part of that arrangement involved a restriction on the use of the magpies name and the black and white to protect collingwood. Any link with the heritage of the Port Adelaide Magpies is spiritual only (or if you're cynical, commercially appealing). I am sympathetic to supporters who grew up following the Port Magpies - a lot of Collingwood supporters would have followed them in the SANFL by default back in the days of the VFL. But there is no legal and factual link between the two clubs.

For heritage round, Reebok, a competitor of Adidas, sought to manufacture black and white tops for Port Power football. They have no licence to do this with the AFL logo on it. They need the AFL's permission.

Collingwood understandably wanted to protect not only its heritage but its brand. Without a massive concession offered by the club's president, the AFL would not have made this decision because it would have arguably been under an obligation to protect Collingwood's interest in not allowing other clubs to have a confusingly similar guernsey. This is about Port Power football club trying to cash in the Port Magpies heritage for licensing and membership revenue - it just so happens that is pretty much the same as Collingwood's jumper.

Eddie did what any club administrator would have done in the same circumstances in resisting the AFL giving an open licence to use the Port Magpies design.

The AFL has given a massive concession here and Port fans should be grateful to the AFL and to Collingwood for not making a bigger fuss, which it would have been quite entitled to do considering the substantial value it has in the black and white and its clothing sponsor Adidas likewise.

I didn't have any problem with Port wearing the guernsey as a purely token tribute to the past, and that's exactly what has been allowed. It should go no further.

Let's go back to the footy.