Symbols recognising the Australian football’s champions and cup-winning clubs will be introduced on playing strips, Football Federation Australia (FFA) announced today.
The innovation will cover the Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League champions, the Westfield FFA Cup winner and the AFC Champions League winner.
The clubs who win the championship will be entitled to display a gold logo of the competition they won, featuring the word ‘Champions’ (for Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League) or ‘Winners’ (for Westfield FFA Cup). This will be worn in the season immediately following the title win.
Reigning AFC Champions League winners the Western Sydney Wanderers FC will be recognised with a gold star above the club logo in perpetuity.
This will be the entitlement for any Australian club that wins Asia’s most prestigious club competition, with any subsequent AFC Champions League titles won by a club to include a number contained in the middle of the star representing the number of Asian titles.
As the policy is retrospective, any club that has won the Hyundai A-league or Westfield W-League championship can display a silver star above their club logo in perpetuity. For the second and subsequent titles, the star shall include a number contained in the middle of the star, which represents the number of titles won. By example, Brisbane Roar FC will have a silver star with the number three (3) in the middle in recognition of their record three Hyundai A-League championships.
FFA CEO David Gallop said today that after 10 years of Hyundai A-League competition and seven years of the Westfield W-League it was the right time to recognise champion clubs.
“A Grand Final victory is the dream of every player, coach, member and fan,” said Gallop. “This recognition of a championship means that special achievement will forever be a part of the club’s playing strip.
“This very public recognition means that players will literally carry some history into every game. And I’d imagine it will add another competitive element to the championship as clubs take pride in the number of championships they have won.”
Clubs are able to have symbols applied to their jerseys with immediate effect.
An outline of the policy is as follows:
Reigning champions:
Hyundai A-League / Westfield W-League
The reigning champions will play with a gold Hyundai A-League / Westfield W-League logo on the right breast in the season following their title with the word ‘Champions’ followed by the year under the logo.
Westfield FFA Cup
The winners will play with a gold Westfield FFA Cup logo on the right breast in the year following their title, with the word ‘Winners’ followed by the year under the logo.
History of titles won:
Hyundai A-League / Westfield W-League
Clubs can wear a silver star above their club logo in perpetuity once they have won a championship. For the second and subsequent titles, the star shall include a number contained in the middle of the star, which represents the number of titles won (for instance, Brisbane Roar FC would have a silver star with the number three (3) in the middle for their three championships).
Westfield FFA Cup
Currently no sustained success element in place.
AFC Champions League
Clubs can wear a gold star above their club logo in perpetuity once they have won an AFC Champions League title. For the second title and subsequent titles, the star shall include a number contained in the middle of the star, which represents the number of titles won.
