When the AFL gave the all-clear for the first South Australian team to join the AFL back on 19 September 1990, the Adelaide Football Club was soon born. Although the 'Sharks' was strongly pushed for the newly-formed club, Adelaide soon gained the nickname the 'Crows', which was a more obvious choice, considering South Australians are affectionately known as the 'Croweaters'.
BRISBANE LIONS
In October 1986, actor Paul Cronin became chairman of Brisbane. He was soon joined by media magnate Christopher Skase, as deputy chairman and they quickly settled on the 'Bears' nickname - although the club was based on the Gold Coast and adopted a koala as its logo. In 1996, the Brisbane Bears merged with Fitzroy and the club became the Brisbane Lions for the following season. The 'Lions' was the nickname of Fitzroy.
CARLTON
When Jack Donovan was captain in the South Yarra Challenge Cup in 1871, he wore a dark blue cap, giving the birth to the 'Blues'. At the time, the side was also known as the 'Butchers' because they wore tight-fitting dungaree jackets. In 1875, Carlton changed its uniform from blue jackets, grey socks and blue caps to a blue guernsey, blue caps, blue knickerbockers and blue and white hoped socks. They were then truly the 'Blues'.
COLLINGWOOD
Collingwood was formed in 1892, from the disbanded Brittania Football Club, which played at Victoria Park and had links with Fitzroy. In its early days, it was known as the 'Flatties' of the 'Flatites'. This was due to Collingwood's flat landscape. It was also known in some circles as the 'Purloiners'. But in 1894, the 'Magpies' were born, after it came from the suggestion of member Williams Crawley.
ESSENDON
The 'Same Olds' was the club's earliest nickname, which was inspired by Essendon's founding family, the McCrackens. During those years, a supporter penned a song known as 'Same Old Essendon', which supporters would sing at East Melbourne matches. Essendon changed its nickname to the 'Bombers' in 1922, when it moved to the Essendon Recreation Reserve, also known as Windy Hill, because it was close to Essendon airport.
FITZROY
Fitzroy gained its first nickname the 'Maroons' due to its striking canvas guernsey. Although it remained until 1939, the club was also known as the 'Unbeatables' in 1913 due to its premiership year. But after a suggestion from Dr Cec Raphael, the club agreed to replace the 'Maroons' tag with the 'Gorillas'. In 1957, the 'Lions' became the official nickname as the club wanted an aggressive image for its never-say-die spirit.
FREMANTLE
The 'Dockers' nickname originated from a marketing firm, although it was believed that no wharfie had been termed a Docker on the Fremantle waterfront. One of the nicknames that had been touted was the 'Cobras'. The 'Dockers' guernsey uses the port and starboard colours, with the purple signifying the workman's singlet. The red and white is from the Fremantle Football Club, born over 100 years earlier, before the East and South split.
GEELONG
From its earliest years, Geelong was known as the 'Pivitonians', although in 1872 it was also known as the 'All Whites'. On 30 June 1923, the club became known as the 'Cats', which originated when a black cat followed the Collingwood Juniors team onto the ground, which led to a cartoon from the Herald's Sam Wells. Captain Bert Rankin later said the black cat helped Geelong to victory, when it defeated Carlton.
HAWTHORN
When the Riversdale Football Club changed its name to Hawthorn in 1889, the club was known as the 'yellow and black'. Several colour changes saw the club briefly known as the 'Redlegs' in 1893, before it became known as the 'Mayblooms'. In 1933, Hawthorn also earned the nickname the 'Mustard Pots', but when Roy Cazaly took over as coach in 1942, he announced that the 'Mayblooms' would be no longer - and the 'Hawks' it was.
KANGAROOS
North Melbourne's early nickname was the 'Shinboners'. Briefly it was changed to the 'Blue Birds' in 1926, but it was quickly reverted to the 'Shinboners', a name that has several theories on its origins. But the most common one is that the players worked at the local abattoirs. In 1950, club president Phonse Tobin changed the nickname to the 'Kangaroos' as he disliked the 'Shinboners' and wanted a mascot the club could show.
MELBOURNE
In 1860, Melbourne was known as the 'Invincible Whites' due to its all-white outfit, but in 1872, the club became the 'Redlegs', after member Larry Ball returned from England with two pairs of red stockings. Melbourne also wore a red cap, which gave birth to the 'The Fuchsias'. When Frank 'Checker' Hughes became coach in 1933, he told the players to stop playing like flowers and play like 'Demons' and the nickname was born.
PORT ADELAIDE
When Port Adelaide was admitted into the AFL, the club was forced to change its SANFL nickname 'The Magpies' and its black and white colours, due to Collingwood's existence in the AFL. But among the nicknames that were in the mix at the time, included the 'Pirates', 'Black Diamonds', 'Mariners' and 'Sharks'. The club revealed 'The Power' nickname on 31 August 1995 in front of 8000 fans at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
RICHMOND
Richmond was known as the 'Richmonites' or 'The Wasps' in the early days. But in 1918, a supporter called Miles - who could not afford the price of a sixpence ticket to see Richmond play at Punt Rd - would climb a big gum tree outside of the ground and watch the game. He yelled in a booming voice 'Eat 'em alive Tigers', which gave prominence to the nickname, despite the fact that it had been around as far back as the 1890s.
ST KILDA
Formed in 1873, St Kilda was known from its existence as the 'Saints', which derives from its club name. And over 100 years later it remains today, although in 1945, there was a brief change of its nickname, guernsey and logo. St Kilda became known as the 'Panthers' yet because of the club's poor form, their nickname became the butt of jokes, which included 'Panther Pee'. It quickly returned to the 'Saints'.
SYDNEY/SOUTH MELBOURNE
From its earliest years, South Melbourne carried the nickname 'The Bloods', 'The Angels' and even 'The Bloodstained Angels', but in 1932 - the start of the club's golden era - the club gained the 'Swans' nickname. During that period, the club was also known as the 'Foreign Legion' due to the influx of interstate players. But it's generally believed the club got the 'Swans' due to the Lake Oval being located next to Albert Park Lake.
UNIVERSITY
University played for seven seasons from 1908-14 and was known as the 'Students' or the 'Professors'. Sporting the colours black and blue, its players had to have a matriculation certificate or a higher degree to be selected. At the end of 1914, the club 'retired' due to the demands on its players at examination time, but World War One, also disrupted the club. Tragically, University suffered the VFL's highest number of casualties in WWI.
WEST COAST
Although it was announced in August 1986 that a club from Western Australia would join the competition the following year - and subsequently have just 160 days to assemble a team and its infrastructure - it wasn't until October 30 1986 that the West Coast Eagles were born. The club adopted the nickname the 'Eagles' mainly because of the traveling involved for the club and due to the size and ferocity of the bird.
WESTERN BULLDOGS/FOOTSCRAY
Originally known as the 'Tricolours' and also as ' The Scray', it wasn't until 1938 when the club officially adopted the 'Bulldogs'. Although its origins date back to the 1880s because of a club song called 'The Boys of the Bulldog breed', it was revived by captain Johhny Craddock. President David Mitchell also had a Bulldog head printed on a membership in 1921 and the local paper declared the club to be known as the 'Bull dogs'.
