Sporting Nation | The Footy Jumper Book - Vintage Australian Guernseys

Everyone has a jumper they remember. The one a grandfather wore, the one from the year it finally happened, the one that still turns up in a shed somewhere.

This is the first book to properly chronicle them. Over 320 vintage guernseys from the 1890s through to the 2000s, photographed in high resolution so you can see the wool, the stitching and the wear, laid out across 190 gloss pages. It's a genuine piece of Australian social history that nobody had thought to put together until now.

What lifts it above a catalogue of jumpers is the voices. Players who wore them tell their own stories alongside the photographs, so a guernsey stops being a design and becomes somebody's season, somebody's debut, somebody's last game. There's a foreword by Martin Flanagan, which tells you the sort of company it's keeping.

At 22cm square it's a proper coffee table book, the kind that gets picked up by every visitor and opened at random. Fair warning: nobody puts it down after one page, and you will end up in a long conversation about jumpers.

We're always looking for genuinely unique gifts for the blokes, and this one ticks every box. It's for the footy fan who already owns all the usual stuff, and it's the rare present that gets read rather than shelved.

This is the softcover edition of the bestselling book.

Sporting Nation has a wonderful range of gifts.

🏉 Why You'll Love It

• Over 320 vintage guernseys from the 1890s to the 2000s
• High resolution photographs showing real detail
• Personal stories from the players who wore them
• Foreword by Martin Flanagan
• 190 gloss pages at a generous 22cm square
• The first book to chronicle this part of the game
• A coffee table book that actually gets opened
• Softcover edition of the bestseller

🎁 Perfect For

• Footy fans of any vintage
• Blokes who are impossible to buy for
• Father's Day, birthdays and Christmas
• Grandfathers, and grandkids buying for them
• Coffee tables, man caves and sheds
• Anyone interested in Australian social history
• Club memorabilia collectors

📦 What's Included

• 1 x The Footy Jumper Book, softcover edition

📋 Product Details

• Product Type: Book
• Format: Softcover
• Pages: 190, gloss
• Size: 22cm x 22cm x 1.5cm
• Guernseys featured: Over 320, from the 1890s to the 2000s
• Foreword: Martin Flanagan

⚠️ Please note: This is the softcover edition.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

What era does it cover?
The 1890s right through to the 2000s, so more than a century of guernsey design. That span is what makes it interesting, because you can watch the jumpers change alongside the game itself.

Is it just photographs?
No, and that's the best part. Players who wore the jumpers share their own stories alongside the images, so it reads as history rather than a catalogue.

How big is it?
22cm square and 1.5cm thick, so a proper coffee table size without being unwieldy. Big enough that the photographs are worth looking at.

What's the difference between this and the hardcover?
Same content, different binding. The softcover is the newer edition and the more affordable of the two, while the hardcover is the one to go for if it's a keepsake gift.

Is it a good gift for someone who isn't a huge footy fan?
Surprisingly, yes. The photography and the social history carry it, so anyone with an interest in Australian design or history gets plenty out of it. That said, it lands hardest with someone who grew up with the game.

Does it cover country and local clubs?
It does, and that’s one of the nicest things about it. Alongside the big clubs there are guernseys from local and country sides across Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, so there’s a decent chance of spotting something familiar.

🌟 Adventure Awaits Tip

If you're giving this to someone's dad or grandad, open it with them. The jumpers do the work and you'll hear stories you've never heard before, which is worth considerably more than the book. Have a browse through our Books collection for more.

Rated five stars by thousands of happy customers. Shipping daily from our shop in Numurkah, and if you'd like a hand choosing, give us a call. A real person answers.

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