State Jumpers - Western Australia (1977-91)

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN STATE UNIFORMS
(1977-1991)

1977 (October)

For years star-studded Victorian sides had dominated interstate football, inflicting increasingly-heavy defeats on their traditional rivals. Aiding this domination was the fact these Victorian teams contained many of the best footballers from Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, all of whom had been lured to the VFL by the chance to earn big dollars on the biggest footballing-stage in the country.

For the Western Australians, salt was rubbed into their wounds by watching local champions such as Polly Farmer, Barry Cable and Wayne Richardson return to Subiaco Oval and star... for the Big V.

In October 1977 the inaugural State of Origin match was held at Subiaco Oval and immediately reversed the balance of power. The Western Australians, having lost their three previous matches against Victoria by margins of 81, 57 and 64 points, now took to the field with their best home-grown players and utterly destroyed the Vics; winning by an unprecedented margin of 94 points.

This new era in interstate football also saw the introduction of an all-new uniform, an iconic design that for most modern football fans is synonymous with the most sustained period of success in Western Australia's interstate football history.

The various vees worn since 1958 were replaced by a sash, the first to be worn on a WA State jumper, and a new logo featuring an outline of the State of Western Australia was added to the front of the jumper. Patches were also worn on the shorts for the first time.

1978

1978 - official uniform

1978 - alternate uniform vs Victoria

White had been the official shorts colour for Western Australian State teams since 1908, with black shorts only worn as an alternate uniform against Victoria. However, the historic 1977 State of Origin victory sparked the transition to black shorts being adopted for all interstate games.

In 1978 the plain, white shorts continued to be part of the official WA uniform, but the black shorts worn against Victoria featured the extra trimmings of gold numbers and the gold map of WA logo.

1979

1979 - official uniform

1979 - alternate uniform vs Victoria

1979 marked 150 years since the Colony of Western Australia was formed, so the Map of WA logo worn since October 1977 was replaced for this season by the official logo of Western Australia's 150th anniversary.

1980-1981

1980-1981 - official uniform

1980-1981 - alternate uniform vs Victoria

The 150th Anniversary patch was replaced by the WAFL logo, the same one that had previously worn on the May-July 1977 uniform.

Thick gold stripes were added to the front and rear edge of the black shorts (replacing the numbers and State logo) along with a smaller version of the WAFL logo. The white shorts also had a logo patch for the first time.

1982-1984

1982

1983-1984

1982

- black shorts were officially adopted for all State games, regardless of opponent
(this was made possible by South Australia having previously moved from navy blue to royal blue shorts)
- the WAFL jumper/shorts logo was replaced by a shield
- the two thick gold stripes on the 1981 shorts were replaced by the three thin stripes of WA's apparel sponsor, Adidas. The Adidas logo was also added to the shorts.

1983-1984

- the rear number font was changed to the American football-style font that had first been adopted by the WAFL clubs in 1982.
- the front number font was slightly altered to match the rear number font (see the little vertical bar added to the bottom right of the "2")

1985

- the rear numbers reverted to standard footy font
- the front numbers reverted to the 1977-82 font (the little vertical section at the end of the '2' was removed)
- a WAFL Centenary logo was added to the jumper front
- an Australian flag was added above the WAFL shield on the shorts (the shield was reduced in size as a result)
- the Adidas stripes and logo no longer appeared on the shorts (they were replaced by a VFL and SANFL-style design of a thin stripe either side of the league logos running vertically down the side of the shorts)
- this jumper had no collar

1986-1988 (March)

- return to a black v-neck with collar
- front number font now bold
- WAFL Centenary logo no longer appeared on the jumper front

The above design was worn at the 1988 Bi-Centennial Carnival, played pre-season in Adelaide. This was the first of three official uniforms worn in 1988.

1988 (May-July)

1988 May vs South Australia

1988 July vs VFA and Victoria

1988 (May) WA vs South Australia

- SGIO sponsor patch added to the jumper front. This was the first WA State jumper to feature a sponsor patch.
(Victoria were the first of the big three to break with tradition by adding a sponsor patch in 1986. Western Australia were next with this uniform in 1988, followed by South Australia in 1990).
- the sash on this jumper was slightly arched, compared to earlier designs that featured a straight sash.

1988 (July) WA vs Victoria
1988 (July) WAFL vs VFA

- a return to the classic gold jumper with a black swan positioned front and centre; the first time this design had been worn since 1957.
- the swan on this jumper was based on the 1952-63 design but was not identical. It lasted just a season with a new design being introduced in 1989.

1988 (October)

This uniform was supplied at short notice by Sekem for an end-of-season exhibition match against South Australia played in Vancouver, Canada.
The croweaters looked much sharper than the Western Australians, taking to the AstroTurf field in their official interstate uniforms.