MITCH Brown is making a return to football in the most fitting way possible.

The ex-West Coast tall played 94 games for the Eagles, hanging up the boots in 2016, and made history as the first openly bisexual former AFL player when he publicly came out last year. 

Now 37, Brown will be pulling on the boots on Saturday for the Old Bar Unicorns on Saturday, who play in the Renegade Pub Football League, based in the inner north of Melbourne at Victoria Park.

There are 10 teams within the gender-inclusive, queer-friendly "pub footy" competition, scattered around the suburbs of Fitzroy, Brunswick and surrounds, with each side aligned to a pub in the area.

Even within a league where wins are nice but not essential, and no ladder is kept, the "Corns" play purely for the vibes and the joy of the game, with homemade uniforms of white tops decorated with rainbows.

The Unicorns have been drawn to face LoJo 67s on Saturday, who are based out of the Retreat Hotel in Abbotsford.

Brown's match will form the final part of a short documentary film called For the Boys (working title), one of the Footy Shorts films supported by VicScreen, the Melbourne International Film Festival and the AFL.

Five filmmaking teams will make short documentaries celebrating the stories and communities around Australian rules football.  

After finishing his time at West Coast, Brown played two seasons with VAFA club St Kevin's Old Boys in metropolitan Melbourne, but has not pulled on the boots since then.

"I was a little bit nervous (at training), because there was a film crew there too, and it was like I was making a big deal out of it, but I just wanted to get in with this group and have fun," Brown told AFL.com.au.

"My relationship with football is quite different to what it was back then. When I learned about pub footy, its values and the community and people it attracts, it was just beautiful, and training was everything that I had hoped it would be.

"Over the last six months (since he came out), I keep saying I'm trying to stay positive. There's a lot of things that I feel responsible to call out or really challenge, which is quite negative. 

"But the chance to do something really positive, and to have a little bit of hope that there is this beautiful element of this game we love, and it's happening right here in Melbourne with the pub footy league – and I'm sure there's more around Australia.

"This is an example of the values and community football can and should be at all levels, whether that's country footy, or the highest levels in the state or AFL. This is already happening, these people have been doing it for years. How can we translate this into the professional leagues, where it's harder, and harmful behaviours have been set in for years? How do we move the needle?"

Mitchell Withers, the director/producer of the documentary, was inspired by Brown's story and his straddling of two different worlds, which are united by the pub footy league.

"I hit Mitch (Brown) up out of the blue, because like many people, I have a complex relationship with football. It's how I connect with my family, it's been a huge part of my life, and I'd say it's the closest thing my family has to a religion," Withers said.

"I grew up playing footy in Perth in my teen years, up until I was 18 or 19, when the culture of football really started to take a toll on me.

"Mitch is someone who is obviously from within football, but he lives in both worlds, and there are very few people who do. Football can be quite polarising, you're either all in or all out. Mitch speaks to the grey."

The pub footy league holds a special connection for Withers, who went on a first date with his current partner of eight years.

"The theme that was emerging was this idea of Mitch reconciling his relationship with football, and I was thinking about how to bring that story to life and tell it on the screen," Withers said.

"The Pub Footy League popped into my mind. I didn't know it at the time, but a couple of clubs had actually approached Mitch, and there was talk of him playing, so it was this weird, serendipitous thing. His son has been asking if he was going to play again, so it all came together, and felt good for Mitch, and served the story in a beautiful way.

"Saturday is actually the final day of production. There's been a lot more levity so far than what I was expecting. Mitch has this very endearing spirit that exudes out of him, and combined with the tone of the pub footy league, there's something quite beautiful about it.

"It's a celebration of what football could be on a mainstream level."

While other clubs within the league have more "official" guernseys – the Tote wear black and white stripes, the Vic Hotel Galahs don a traditional Victorian "big V" with pink socks – the Unicorns bring a chaotic creativity and individuality to their uniforms.

"Friday night, we'll go to the pub and the team will get read out and displayed on a bit of cardboard, or whatever they've got in the back, we'll have a beer and I'll get assigned a number," Brown said.

"The uniform is all about expressing yourself. As long as it's a white t-shirt or singlet with a rainbow, a unicorn and your number, it's up to you.

"My two little boys, Bowie and Rudy, will come along on Saturday, along with my partner Lou, and ahead of it, we'll all sit down and make our own guernseys together."

2026 FOOTY SHORTS FILMS

Carn the Chinese! by producer/director Angela How 
A community’s efforts to belong sees a group of young Chinese-Australian men come together and play their national game of Aussie Rules with true-blue passion and gusto.

For the Boys by director/producer Mitchell Withers and producer Sofia Viegas 
For his sons, he came out. For himself, he plays again. Australia's first openly queer ex-AFL player Mitch Brown steps back onto the field, bringing his whole self for the first time.

Kura: An African AFL Story by writer/director/producer Akec Makur Chuot and director/producer Meg Duncan
Former AFLW player Akec Makur Chuot traces a path from her heroes to the new generation of African-Australian stars navigating two worlds to find belonging.

Invincible Spirit by co-producer/writer/director Mark Thomson and co-producer/director/director of photography/editor David Callow
In the heart of the Goulburn-Murray region, the Rumbalara Football and Netball Club stands as a modern-day fortress of Yorta Yorta pride, a sanctuary of cultural healing where a community fights not just for points, but for the safety and dignity of its children.

North Melbourne Cheer Squad by co-directors Jasper Caverly and Andrew Goode, and producer Sophie Booth 
Members of the North Melbourne Football Club Cheer Squad prepare to face long-standing rivals Essendon: a club they haven't beaten in a decade.

Footy Shorts offers emerging Victorian screen storytellers the chance to create short documentaries exploring Australian Rules Football on and off the field. Each team receives a $25,000 production budget, professional development with industry mentors, and access to the AFL’s footage archive and support from AFL clubs.

The Footy Shorts films will have a gala world premiere at the 74th Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) in August 2026. MIFF runs from August 6–23 2026.

Following MIFF, the films will be available to view digitally across all AFL platforms, including AFL.com.au and the AFL app.