AFL Teams that changed nicknames and mascots (and why they changed) 

Makes sense to me!

Hey latterature I really enjoyed this video. Thanks heaps.👍 I was wondering if you could do a 'hypothetical' episode one day. The Mason Cox success story in recent years has resparked an old obsession of mine. Mainly of how to get our great game the traction it so deserves as a world class league that attracts the best athletes in the world and create a truly cosmopolitan competition. If we were to ever crack a major market of let's say the USA how would it be done?. How can the AFL even get a foothold in a nation that already has other huge sports? Our marketing campaigns and tv deals have yeilded very little traction over the decades. Iv developed a strategy and I'd like to hear your opinion. In one word 'KIDS'. What if each AFL club picks a town or region in the United States to set up base. That club introduces an Ozkick program to every school in the area from grade 1-4 or 5. And stick to that for 5 years. And then double down on that and bring it the junior high school aswell for another 5 years. As the decade draws to a close the AFL would have indoctrinated thousands of US kids to the fundamentals of our game. Those kids would teach other kids and so on and so on. And the love of the game will spread. But the real kicker is....that the AFL club that introduced Oz kick to that region would develop a kinship with that particular Club back home in Australia. Maybe even calling themselves idk the Austin Magpie's or the Salt lake City Tigers. You know what I mean. The point is we've created a talent pool. And it feeds directly to the AFL. And then flow in effect is in full motion. It takes time but I think the fruits it will bear would be promising 🙂 let me know what you think. Cheers once again for the vid👍

@@wayneburgess5336 not a bad idea at all Wayne. I think teaching kids would definitely be the way to do it, and I love the idea of having partnerships with established AFL teams. The biggest hurdle is that there's no widely-available AFL available to watch in the US, so the kids wouldn't necessarily have the games to watch to help them develop their interest in the sport. The League would have to invest heavily in broadcasting the home-and-away season in an accessible way. Also, if they were serious, they could have a few games in the states each year (like they sometimes do in China) to build the international market.

Cool topic. The AFL has had games being broadcast overseas for years. There has been a slight decrease in that in recent years tho. And they have been bringing exhibition matches overseas for a while as well( battle of Britain comes to mind) and a USAFL league does exist and are going along in small strides. But I totally agree with @WayneBurgess a slight focus on a younger generation is needed for the game to really take flight overseas. Because those kids GROW UP. And with some patients those kids will do alot of the development process for us themselves. Besides it shouldnt cost too much to bring a whole bunch of balls and Guernsey's over there am I right

Fun fact eagles were the first non Victorian team to win the premiership

I remember when they were taking suggestions from the public online I coincidentally suggested the colours of orange, grey and white and the name Wolves, but then they selected the dumb name Giants and I've been salty ever since

And sharks

If you're a yank then the Eagles are a good to team to follow, especially if from California. West Coast... American Eagle and all that.

All the States have very successful football leagues until the late 1980s. WA (WAFL) SA (SANFL) Tasmania and Victoria (VFL that morphed into AFL), Ultimately, too many clubs drove themselves towards bankruptcy in the 1980s due to overspending on players. Then VFL got representatives from the other state leagues to join and pay a big licence fee. Of course VFL (at the time) then benefited also from increased TV royalties with more people watching the game in other states. So first you got Eagles (WA) and Brisbane Bears (from Qld). In early 80s South Melb Swans had relocated to Sydney. In the 90s you then had extra clubs from WA and SA. Then about 10 years ago extra teams from Sydney NSW and Qld. Tasmania is set to be the 19th team. As for a 20th team who knows. WA will end up having a third team. But maybe not for another 15 years.

@@BDub2024Isn’t Tassie the TSL?

@@ajmullaaaaaaa Tasmanian new team. Not sure what TSL is.

@@BDub2024 The Tasmanian State League, their Footy league. Wasn’t part of the VFL.

Yes .....and everywhere else...In Tassie we see beautiful wedge tail eagles all over the place. .

Blood oath and what a magnificent bird of prey it is. Pre match an Eagle flies around the stadium in Perth with an Eagle handler. Unique.

That’s true because my brother use to play for Port Adelaide pirates soccer team

I don't think that's the reason considering they are an amateur club. PAFC have also used Pirates in their marketing towards kids, with Pirate mascots roaming around on game days.

@@pzaikis port are a federation club not amature, And they trademarked the name in 1996, I know because a friend of mine whos a life member of the soccer club got it trademarked

Pirates is the most lacklustre name of all time. Power was sort of smart. Its a neutral name and its needed because everyone in Adelaide knows that Port are the magpies. So why given them a name like penguins or pirates, it would confuse and not catch on anyway. I'm not from Adelaide.

teams were obsessed with flowers after WW1.

Very glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks Jesse

Thanks!

Thanks Michael!

Nice! Thanks for the info

@@latterature I read recently in a book on the history of the AFL that GWS were also named the Giants due to their image and idea being that of big and grand. They were going to be called something else (that I’ve since forgotten), but they wanted GWS To represent the grand heights they could reach.

Should be in a Sydney comp...no relation to Footy

To be honest orange and charcoal was a popular fashion combo then. Same as purple in the 90s and we saw the formation of Dockers, Glory soccer and Storm (thugby). In the 80s it was more about bright colours and yellows. Surprise surprise we saw Eagles and Brisbane start with a home jumper that was yellow.

South Melbourne were also once the Cecil Football club😂

Thanks mate!

Didn't know that, thank you!

Didn't know this. Thanks!

@@latterature It also highlights that Port did use a lot of different Guernsey colours prior to 1900 due to various issues with dye availability in SA.

Thanks Kain, let's hope it's a blockbuster next time the teams clash

Freo shooda been "The Doctors"..

Remember you have the painter and dockers union in Australia. Everyone calls them the Dorkers anyway. Interestingly when they started there was speculation they'd be called Fremantle Doctors (you know after the breeze). So I think it was then very easy to go for Dockers. It was maritime. Sounded familiar as it sounds like Doctor anyway. Not too bad. Of course you're right about wharfies. I'm just glad they didn't go for pirates dolphins or the mariners, that sporting teams now seem obsessed by. When will we get names like Renewables!

Dockers was not copied from America. It's the original name of the wind that enabled sailing ships to dock at Fremantle. (Later got bastardised into Doctor)

@@peterpiper831 Docker is pretty catchy, as everyone was used to Fremantle Doctor, so it easily rolled off the tongue. The alternatives were Pirates, dolphins, mariners etc which would have been appalling. There are painters and dockers unions. Sharks would have been a better. Purple was a poor choice, but at least it was unique. It was a trendy colour with Storm and Glory choosing purple at the same time. Sadly Fremantle has turned its back on tradition and the Port heritage. No anchor, no original colours green and red, no acknowledgement of port heritage at games (its all heavy rock and ACDC). Container at game gone, so has anchor, mascot different, purple now a very dark navy purple. My advice. Embrace the Port of Fremantle. I know most of the fans have no connection to Fremantle, but regardless a club needs a heart and to recognise it home base, even if they are based 10km from the Port.

@@peterpiper831 It was never called "the docker" that was a lie made up by the two cunts who gave us the shitty team name. They were Victorian mongs who thought that everyone called wharf workers "dockers", people in WA have always used the term wharfies. Hatt and Kelly made up the "Freo Doctor used to be Docker" to justify their shitty name choice over the much more logical Freo Sharks, which made sense due to the East Freo Sharks playing in the WAFL, plus purple being a combo of red and blue (South Freo and East Freo). Sadly ruined by two morons obsessed with Victorianism.

Haven't heard that! Interesting. Thank you.

Didn't know this! Would love to see those jumper concepts

Is Adelaide got a blue or black as the third colour? I heard they were going to be the Camry Ramrys at one time. AFL didn't want Rams. Dockers never should have dropped green from their colours which was unique. They dropped the anchor and go for the unimaginative purple and white. Not a lot of flexibility with merchandise there.

Interesting! Would be great if the teams researched these stories themselves so we could get an official history.

Also known as the mustard pots

Wrong They were called the mayblooms because of the predominant flower in the area that bloomed in May each year. FACT.

Makes sense basically the same suburb.

South Melbourne were called the Swans because many Western Australians played for them, when the name was proposed.

@@Seahorse20 The source of this is the internet and its source is Wikipedia. It is likely that the South Melbourne team that wore the Albert Park colours of Red and White would have used the white local swans as their mascot. Many logos featured white swans for Sth Melb and Syd Swans. White Swans not Black Swans, until the indigenous Sydney jumper had a West Aus Black Swan on it. In 1870 Albert Park played in the South Yarra Presentation Cup, the foremost competition of the era, and wore red and white striped guernseys. So striking was the uniform that the players were known as ‘those red and white beauties’. In 1878, the most powerful clubs in the colony formed the Victorian Football Association. Albert Park was among them, and in the first season they played 11 matches for one win, three losses and seven matches that were described as ‘unfinished’. One match against Melbourne attracted 3000 fans, but the rival South Melbourne club was on the rise. South Melbourne stepped up to the senior competition in 1879 and finished third behind Geelong and Carlton. With Albert Park on the wane, the two parties amalgamated in 1880, compromising on name and colours. South Melbourne kept its name but abandoned their blue and white strip in favour of the red and white of Albert Park. I understand that the internet says that in 1933 the South Melbourne Football Club officially adopted the Swans as their name. But the association between the mascot and the team is obvious if you have been there. I am sure that they told W.A. players that they were naming the team after their state bird. Why not tell them that? It was 1933, newspapers were the "internet" of the day. Think about it. Unless you are old enough to remember 1933. I was born in 1975. I don't think the man who made the video researched by finding people who remember the old names or what really happened. He would have looked online. Here is what "online" says- The team became known as the Swans in 1933 when the nickname was suggested by a Herald and Weekly Times artist. The nickname was inspired by the number of Western Australians in the team (the black swan being the state emblem of Western Australia), and was formally adopted by the club before the following season 1934. So according to this no one saw any swans in Albert Park before 1933, but people wanted to cheer for a bird that was from the other side of the continent. Or the newspaper wanted to make a story about Western Australian players. According to Wikipedia- Originally known as the "Bloods" in reference to the red colour used on players' guernseys, the Swan emblem was adopted in 1933 after a journalist at the time referred to them using the moniker following a large influx of Western Australian players. Wouldn't a newspaper say that they are the South Melbourne "Sandgropers" then? I doubt this wikipedia version unless I can see some proof. Wikipedia is not a source, it is a rough guide at best. I tried to find a Herald and Weekly Times article but the Herald Sun wanted me to subscribe and I will not give them even one dollar. If you are a subscriber to them please try and find the original article. If it even exists. Even if the newspaper called the team swans after the W.A. players the club officially called the team swans most likely because of the swans that swim in the lake there. Of course, the newspaper has the final say. Have a look at a Swans logo from the 1980s. White swan. W.A. players and the black swan may have been the initial inspiration but the team went with the local white swan as its mascot. th.bing.com/th?id=OSK.90a81c16b2846bf9e6cb62d74b14a2b4&w=124&h=168&c=7&o=6&pid=SANGAM th.bing.com/th?id=OIP.a8mrTYvZ0KAU1qj2rjrNTgAAAA&w=178&h=178&c=8&rs=1&qlt=90&o=6&pid=3.1&rm=2 th.bing.com/th?id=OIP.a8mrTYvZ0KAU1qj2rjrNTgAAAA&w=178&h=178&c=8&rs=1&qlt=90&o=6&pid=3.1&rm=2

Great idea! Beats a bloke in a jumpsuit

Here in the US we have a hockey team called the blues and the mascot is just a blue bear

Or a blue-ringed octopus?

@Ben72 Not anymore mate. We will be right amongst it this year.

@@Hornheart22 well there is no version here so we can't name it that

They're mistaken! Only North have been the Shinboners (as far as I know, link me if you find any further info).

The purple comes from South and East Freo (red and blue) but the green white and red is the Italian flag as Fremantle has a lot of Italian history

@@jordanklingsporn763 The shade they use now is weird. Why is the purple so dark now???

The red and green also represented the lights leading out/into the port to guide the ships

And because Port Adelaide thought of it

I heard Rams was the preference but disallowed by AFL. Second preference was Crows.

PErth redlegs became the demons.

From the website blueseum.org (which has a few more nicknames I missed, so check them out if you're a Blues fan): "C'MON BLUEBAGGERS!....is an interesting one. Our best theory at this stage relates to an old laundry product used in all Australian households during and after WW2 (and internationally), called "Reckitts Blue" which came in a small white muslin bag. Reckitts Blue was put in the Copper or Washing Machine to whiten whites and brighten colours, and came in little blue bags."

@@latterature thanks for the info. very helpful.

Interesting! Didn't know that.

Yea he said it twice.

Typical numbnut pies supporter. Hope his teeth fall out prematurely 🐯🐅

brett mcmahon bruh calm down with the messages.....I’m legit laughing too much 😂

@@brettmcmahon7263 i don’t think he meant it intentionally 😭😭 calm down

go Doggies

my docker mug was in the washing machine

Thats total bullshit. They did get the name from swans at the lakeside oval. Footy was a total amateur sport until the 1970's. Men are not leaving WA to move across the country to play for free in the VFL, during the 1930's.

@@tubester4567 Amateur? Yes but that is not to say that cushy jobs were made available by wealthy Club Presidents.

@@tubester4567 From Sydney FC's official website: "In 1933 the eminent journalist Hec de Lacy referred to the Club in The Sporting Globe somewhat facetiously as the Swans due to the number of West Australian players the Club had recruited - the Black Swan being the emblem of Western Australia. Cartoonist Alex Gurney drew a cartoon that drew further attention to de Lacy's words and thus the 'Swans' emblem and name were born." www.sydneyswans.com.au/club/history/heritage-list

@@latterature Sydney FC is a soccer team, mate. The four time A-League champions and the current reigning A-League champions to boot.

@@peterkehoe1984 Peter, I provided a link to the website I got the information from. It says 'Syndey Swans' in the URL. Please check before commenting in future.

And he said Red and Black TWICE! lol

I mentioned both of these things.

Wasn't that "play like Demons" quote from Checker Hughes?

It was Checker Hughes from 30s or 40s

True, considering they changed names in the 90s when there was already a national competition.

Lmao mate your friends are worried about you

Amazing work.

maybe, but it was taken from South Australia…. the SA state team first played in black and white colours: “According to club records, a supporter had suggested the black and white colours after being impressed with the magpie on the South Australian coat of arms. Large numbers of magpies also frequented the banks of the Yarra near Victoria Park, and so this nickname was picked up with gusto.” the SA state team first wore black and white vertical stripes in 1891, Collingwood was founded 1 year later and their colour choice and logo was inspired by the SA state team

Wow epic comment bro

Yes, a deviation from 'Blue Baggers' that seems to have made a comeback in the last decade. According to fansite blueseum, it may refer to a post-WWII laundry product that came in a blue bag, but that's not confirmed.

Marketing, mostly. They wanted to appeal more broadly to all of the western suburbs, not just Footscray.

Down through the years the Bulldogs supporters have also referred to the club as the 'scrays (short for Footscray) and the Scraggers as in scragging the opposition.

@@latterature Geez, lucky there wasn't a team named "West Coast" from WA already in the comp! That would've been embarrassing!

Good info, thank you.

Interesting! Thank you for the correction.

the South Australian state team wore black and white in 1891 … they were the original magpies!. The Collingwood magpie emblem was inspired by the magpie on the SA coat of arms

Ha !! Colliwobble SA emblem biters..

I didn't mention any of the proposed relocations of established teams. North Melbourne alone had had about half a dozen. Possiby a good video idea though.

they should have been the gold coast kangaroos. one of my mates dropped the kangaroos when that happened. admittedly they alternated between Eagles (being perth) and Roos. But enough was enough. Tassie roos is another option that hasn't happened.

Thanks for the context! Very interesting.

@latterature cats v pies is always my favourite Match. It has basically always been a tight and evenly split rivalry. It's not like say roos, dees, tigers (until very recently) and dogs where we only lost once or twice in a decade or GWS where we rarely win. I think your boys will go all the way this year. I wished our QF last year was the GF or that you had beaten Sydney. I was stoked to win but it was boring AF if I'm honest.