North Melbourne Football Club Jumpers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The North Melbourne Football Club has a long and proud history of wearing various designs that sport the famous Royal Blue and White.
Most of the club's earliest jumpers were long-sleeved and not the normal sleeveless guernseys of today. In their early years the club sported a hooped design when they took to the field. This changed at the behest of the VFA in 1884 who insisted that Hotham change their jumpers to vertical stripes to provide a visible contrast between Hotham and Geelong.
After 1884 the vertical top was worn more often, usually in the lace up design on the right.
After the merger with West Melbourne, North used a composite jumper that incorporated West Melbourne's red sash for the 1908 season. The merger was in reality, a takeover. The red sash was a token gesture and was removed the following season.
In the early 20s North experimented with an NMFC monogram design, following clubs like Carlton, Fitzroy and South Melbourne. It didn't last.
Upon promotion to the VFL in 1925, North Melbourne was forced to abandon it's famous Royal Blue and White striped jumper as it was deemed the jumper design clashed with other clubs. During this period a jumper with a V design was used for several years, before the club returned to using it's famous striped jumper combination of Royal Blue and White which has been used continuously since 1932.
