Why South are unlikely to have a Clash Guernsey.

From Ronnys Blog,

Just as a side note, we had one team in our traditional navy and white play against a team that was predominantly white.
There has been a lot of talk about alternative Guernsey’s and on the surface it is probably a good idea.
One of the problems that arise from this is that for us or any other club to have mainly white as an alternative, we strongly clash with the umpires, who have publically stated they will not change from their traditional white.
We are asked to be aware of umpires of course but to have a white alternative strip it would make it very difficult if the umpires persisted in staying in their current uniform.
The other thing we have to have happen at South is a change in the constitution for any change to occur in our current Guernsey too.
All of it is thought provoking but it makes for interesting discussion doesn’t it?
Ron Fuller.

Nothing looks more vile IMO than the Carlton away guernsey that was predominantly White, I think its unlikely that the club would be pushing to go that way even if they did consider having an away Guernsey which can only be a good thing IMO!

Good to see that the Umpires refuse to change their colours also, its always been the tradition that they wear white and its really only because Channel 7 say so that the Umpires then change their colours and their celebrity status on the ground and I think thats something that we can all do without in the SANFL!

The constitution is an interesting one, glad that its there because it provides a good safety valve to stop individuals at the club making decisions and altering the colours and design of the Guernsey against the wishes of the membership as was the case at Sturt when the management thought it would be a good idea to add white to there colours without going through the membership of the club first. The fact that South are prevented via the constitution of the club from getting Light Blue added to their Guernsey at the wish of an administrator can only be a good thing and there is no way its appropriate anyway for the club to make those changes without getting the all clear from the membership anyway.

My mail is that the club are having a strong look at the pre 1900 Guernsey which is similar to the current Geelong Guernsey albeit with thinner blue lines. I dont have a problem with the Heritage Guernsey's of the club but I do with having an alternate Guernsey for no good reason!

South used a guernsey recently and the piping/ strip around the sleeves was white and a bit wider and from memory had the SA logo up on the top left/right of the guernsey ? Can you remember it Ben ? That was a very good looking design. Still all navy but some subtle variations and looked magnificent. I have seen 3 designs ala the Geelong guernsey and 1 was realy good as well. Some people hammered them but I thought they weren't too bad.

What perhaps is the issue, is if the lack of a Clash Guernsey is causing errors and turnover in the field of play that are detrimental to the outcome of the match, if so then even as a traditionalist it has to be looked at and dealt with. Hence why I feel that if the solution can be found in the collection of Heritage Guernsey's at the club then its something we need to have a look at!

Not sure there are clashes in our comp. I always say the socks are the issue anyway. If you are in a pack sometimes thats all you have to look at , so change the socks. Anyway can you remember the guernsey I referred to Ben ?

Yes, it wasnt an actual straight copy of a heritage Guernsey though more of a mock up, yet good anyway and auctioned off as a fundraiser on eBay afterwards!

How about doing what used to be done, 1 team wear white shorts and the other team wear black shorts--it was never a problem.

The one in 2007 v Glenelg was a replica of the 1877 jumper South won the inaugural SA premiership in.
It was worn as part of the South Australia History Trusts History Week.
Mind you from photos of the teams back in the 1870's there were many variations to the jumper accross the team at the time.

The hoops "Geelong" style is probably best called South's "premiership jumper" as the club won the majority of its flags in it.

If there ever was to be a clash jumper (maybe when visiting Norwood, Richmond and Glenelg) this would be the one I would recommend, something that maintains the tradition and recognises the success the club has had in patches over its 130+ years as oppossed to something totally new.