In 2009 a special jumper was released by the club to celebrate the 150th anniversary. The traditional club colours of white and blue hoops are used on the guernsey. However, instead of the blue being a solid hoop, player names have been used as a special feature.

Geelong won seven premierships in the 1870s and 1880s. Dozens of players from that era, including Charles Brownlow, do not have their names printed on the guernsey.

The Geelong Football Club was advised of errors on the jumper in the first week of August 2009, but as far as I'm aware has still done nothing to correct them, nor made any public statement about the matter. Inside the jumper at collar level is a block of text relating to the item itself and history of the club. That text features misleading statements as noted below.

"This limited edition commemorative guernsey carries the names of the men who have had the honour of representing the Geelong Football Club in its first 150 years.

[Nonsense - only showed names of players since 1897, ie 112 years of GFC up to 2009].

Each man served the club proudly, playing with a passion and respect for the game of the Australian people.

Established in July 1859, the Geelong Football Club celebrates its 150th birthday in 2009, making it the second oldest sporting club in the world."

[Nonsense - Geelong Football Club is not even the second oldest sporting club in Victoria. Melbourne Cricket Club, Melbourne Football Club and Castlemaine Football Club are all older. As for being "second oldest" in the world, there are dozens of other sporting clubs founded earlier than Geelong, some like Marylebone Cricket Club existing since the late 1700s].

Here are a few of the player names from that early premiership-winning era:

1877
G Down, W Austin, G Dwyer, H Upton, J Wilson

1878 - Geelong VFA premiers
A Austin, W Boyd, P Dwyer, W Noble, J Wilson, W Wilson

1879 - Geelong VFA premiers
P Douglass, S Fairbairn, W Manifold, J Watt, V Pearson, W Stiffe, J Wilson

1880 - Geelong VFA premiers
Broughton, Hall, Steedman, Watson, J Wilson

1881 - Geelong VFA runners-up
A Austin, T Manifold, A Robertson, W Wilson

1882 - Geelong VFA premiers
C Brownlow, De Little, Hickinbotham, Palmer, Shaw

1883 - Geelong VFA premiers
C Brownlow, Simpson, Shaw, Talbot, McLean

1884 - Geelong VFA premiers
Collins, Steedman, Kerley, McLean

1885 McLean, Boyd, W Reid, Hall

1886 - Geelong VFA premiers
Hickinbotham, Kearney, McLean, Robertson, P McShane

Historic newspapers available online have been an important source used for research like this and the following link has proved to be a most useful one:

National Library of Australia

Ross Smith, Launceston, TAS

[1 August 2010]