Port Adelaide will wear a replica of its 1977 guernsey when it takes on the Western Bulldogs on Saturday at Telstra Dome as part of the AFL’s 70s-themed Heritage Round.
The club unveiled the black-and-white prison bar guernsey earlier today in an elaborate event that included a coming together of two generations of Port Adelaide players at the Tower Bar at The South Australian Brewing Company.
“The Port Adelaide Football Club is honored to use this year’s AFL Heritage Round to pay tribute to the club’s players and administrators who came before us and in particular the premiership team of 1977,” Port Adelaide president Greg Boulton said.
“This year it is 30 years since that flag in 1977 and it was a defining year in many ways for our club. It followed a lean period as far as flags go but from that year, the club won 11 out of 20 SANFL premierships to propel us to the AFL, where we proudly sit today.
“It will be a proud moment for our club on Saturday when our players run onto the Telstra Dome in the 1977 guernsey.”
The guernsey the club wore in 1977 is distinguishable from every other year’s guernsey by a patch commemorating the 100 years of the SANFL from 1877 to 1977.
The club received permission from the SANFL to reproduce the patch on the guernsey it will wear on Saturday.
“It is fitting that the 1977 Grand Final also celebrated 100 years of SANFL football and we are pleased it will feature on our guernsey this week as a tribute to all those involved in SANFL football,” Boulton said.
When captain Russell Ebert held aloft the Thomas Seymour Hill trophy on 24 September 1977 after his side had beaten Glenelg by just eight points in front of more than 56,000 people at Football Park, it ended a 12-year premiership drought.
The period from the 1965 flag until the 1977 drought-breaker remains the longest wait between premierships in the club’s history.
Ebert was joined at today’s launch by coach John Cahill and eight of his ’77 premiership teammates – Brian Cunningham, Ivan Eckermann, Tony Giles, Max James, Kim Kinnear, Greg Phillips, Andy Porplycia, Len Warren and Peter Woite. The past players were called onto a dais one-by-one and presented with a photo from SA Brewing of the traditional unveiling of the club’s colours at the brewery chimney in 1977.
Ebert said the group was honoured the club had chosen to recognise their achievement as part of the AFL’s heritage round.
“It’s a special jumper with the hundred years of the SANFL on it. To see that jumper run out and remember all the heroics through the year and on the day (in 1977) will be very special,” Ebert said.
“I just believe that the 1977 premiership is one of the best achievements by the club, because it had been such a long time between premierships which was just not the accepted result down at Port Adelaide.
“We were just that desperate and that hungry and determined to win. I think that got us over the line.
“There were individual feats of courage and going through probably negative thoughts (from past lost grand finals). So there were all those emotions going through and all those heroics on the day. For that group it really was a statement that we would just do anything we possibly had to win that game.”
Current Port Adelaide captain Warren Tredrea and five of his teammates, including vice-captains Chad Cornes and Brendon Lade, joined the past greats on the dais wearing the replica guernseys they will wear on Saturday.
Tredrea and Ebert posed for photos together holding the actual Thomas Seymour Hill trophy – with Tredrea wearing the new replica ‘77 guernsey and Ebert wearing his own original ’77 guernsey. It was a photo for the ages.
Tredrea emphasised how special it was to be able to recognise the history of the club.
“At this club we’re all about winning the next game and the next premiership but heritage round does give us a chance to look back at where we’ve come from,” Tredrea said.
“To have won 34 premierships before entering the AFL, I guess it sets this club apart from other clubs. It has created a culture here of pride and of expectation.
“All my teammates will wear this guernsey with pride because we all know that if it wasn’t for the achievements of those who wore it in the past, the chances are we wouldn’t be playing for Port Adelaide in the AFL today.”
The only other time the club has worn black-and-white in the AFL was in Round 19 2003, when Port Adelaide defeated Carlton at AAMI Stadium. That guernsey was based on the 1914 version of the prison bars.
The Power has an agreement with the AFL that was struck earlier this year that it is able to wear black-and-white in this year’s heritage round and any future heritage rounds played at AAMI Stadium.
While the heritage guernsey, manufactured by Reebok, will not be produced for mass commercial sale, supporters will have the chance to get their hands on one.
The 22 guernseys worn in Saturday’s game will be auctioned off by the club, 18 of which will be via online auction through the club’s website at PortAdelaideFC.com.au. The online auctions will start this Thursday and finish a week later on Thursday 12 July.
Supporters who spend $150 in the Power Gear Shop or online through PortAdelaideFC.com.au before the end of July will be entered in the draw to win a heritage guernsey.
The club will release another limited offer for supporters later in the week for a framed version of the guernsey.
The Power will train in its 1977 replica black-and-white prison bar guernsey at Alberton Oval from 3pm on Wednesday. The club encourages all its supporters to come down and see the guernsey in person.
1977 SANFL Grand Final
24 September 1977, Football Park
Port Adelaide 17.11 (113) def Glenelg 16.9 (105)
Port Adelaide team: John Cahill (coach), Russell Ebert (captain), T. Evans, P. Belton, D. Cahill, T. Sorrell, D. Granger, A. Porplycia, B. Light, K. Kinnear, L. Warren, P. Woite, I. Eckermann, T. Hannan, R. Gerlach, G. Phillips, J. Spry, M. James, B. Cunningham, A. Giles, G. Blethyn
Best: Cunningham, Ebert, Light, James, Evans
Goals: Evans 7, Eckermann 3, Granger 2, Cunningham 2, Blethyn 1, Sorrell 1, James 1
Crowd: 56,717
