Carlton has put the future of the club’s on-field look in the hands of its supporter base, asking Blues fans to decide on whether to return the 87-year-old heritage design last seen in 1997.
A Carlton Select Our Guernsey homepage is running a poll to decide the club’s choice of 2015 jersey, pitting the current modern design against the more dated crest worn between 1927 and 1997, a period in which the club won 11 premierships.
New CEO Steven Trigg is determined to boost attendance figures next season after an average 2014 and is kicking off the initiative by engaging the fans in the future of the team.
“Upon starting in the role, I went to our members and asked them what was one thing they would like me to implement,” Trigg said. “The guernsey itself created a lot of discussion, so we are putting it back in their hands.
“While we are focused on the future of our football club, it is important we respect our past and ultimately we want our members to own this decision. So from today we are giving them that opportunity to shape the future.
“We have the most iconic guernsey in Australian sport – the old dark navy blue with the white insignia – this is a very important vote in the history of our football club.”
Carlton home games last season attracted an average of 39,461, the lowest since the 2006 wooden spoon winners managed just 33,681 per match.
The Blues have a chance to turn that around with home matches against Richmond, Essendon and Collingwood at the MCG in 2015’s opening five rounds.
“You can talk about the membership number, but the real emphasis for me is about driving attendances and this fixture gives us every opportunity to do that,’’ Trigg said.
“There are some Thursday and Friday night games, but we are returning to the timeslots which give us that opportunity to maximise attendances.’’
Despite a disappointing 7-14 season and a 13th placed finish on the AFL ladder, Carlton still managed healthy attendances in comparison to the lowly Western Bulldogs and Saints, both of which averaged sub-24,000 crowds last season.
Photo: Michael Dodge/Getty Images
