VICTORIAN INTERSTATE UNIFORMS (1945-1975)
1945
Interstate football returned at the end of the Second World War and Victoria returned to their pre-war design, minus the serifs at the top of the V.
1946-1947
In 1945 wartime rationing on a number of materials continued, even after hostilities ceased, and these restrictions had prevented the SANFL from producing new jumpers for their matches against Victoria that year.
The South Australians were forced to search for a similar design to their traditional state strip, eventually borrowing North Adelaide's jumpers which were red with a white V extending from the top of the shoulders to the centre of the jumper.
That design seems to have been the inspiration for this 1946-47 Victorian jumper; the sole difference between the two designs being the move from red to navy blue.
1948-1949
A modified design featuring the pre-war V, reduced in size and with the inner edges of the V thinner than before.
1950-1960
As they had done many times before, Victoria chose to debut their latest design at the national championships. This V was a modified version of the pre-war style but smaller (the same size as the 1948-49 design), and with straight-edged serifs.
This is the classic Big V that continues to be worn today; it had taken over forty years and 18 different types of V but the Victorian jumper designers had finally gotten it right!
1961-1975
1961-1975 - standard uniform
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1962 & 1964 vs WA
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1967 & 1973 vs WA
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1961 National Carnival (left)
Ever since Australian football's earliest years players who preferred a sleeveless jumper had to create one themselves by cutting off the sleeves. Although South Australia and Western Australia had experimented with sleeveless jumpers in the 1920s-30s it was not until the late 1950s/early 1960s that the use of sleeveless jumpers became widespread at club level. This 1961 design was the first Victorian State jumper to join the trend. The new jumper also featured a chunkier version of the classic V that was introduced in 1950.
1962/1964 vs WA (centre)
Western Australia had switched from their traditional gold jumpers to a black jumper in 1958 and preferred to pair it with white shorts when playing away. As a result, Victoria wore black shorts for their home games against Western Australia in 1962 and 1964. This was the first time Victoria had worn coloured shorts since June 1932.
1967/1973 vs WA (right)
The dark shorts policy continued for Victoria's home games against Western Australia at the MCG in 1967 and Waverley Park in 1973. However, for these games the Vics changed to navy blue shorts that matched their jumper; a rarity in an era when football shorts were either black or white (South Australia's State team were the only other notable exception at this time, having worn navy blue shorts since 1925).
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Written and researched by David Eastman
Artwork by Rob Meredith |
First published 15/9/2015
Last updated 17/11/2018 |
