In 2022 the Bayswater Football Club commissioned a jumper to be designed by local Aboriginal artist Shannon Taylor. It was launched during the Perth Football League’s Indigenous Round on 2 July 2022 as part of the nation’s NAIDOC week celebrations.

The design tells the unique story of the Bayswater Football Club and celebrates the contribution and participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people in Australian Rules Football both in the past, present and in years to come.

The front of the design centres around a meeting area/campsite which circles the club’s BFC monogram. Bayswater is one of the oldest meeting points for Aboriginal people in the area. The Bayswater campsite has been dated to be between 40 000 - 57 000 years old. The significance of this campsite to the Noongar people is why it is the centre point of our jumper. This is a timely symbol considering the Bayswater Football Club is one of the oldest community groups in the area, established in 1946.

On either side of the meeting point is the symbol for men and women (Men being on the right side and women on the left). This connects to our club’s strong and loyal membership both in the playing group and volunteers. The women team joined the club as one of the founding women’s teams in the Perth Football League in 2018. They have a very deep loyalty to our club, and we are proud of both what our men and women have contributed and achieved at our club.

At the bottom of the jumper a waterhole is displayed. This waterhole represents the Swan River and the many lakes and rivers which flow through the Bayswater area. The connection between the water ways and the people is shown where these two symbols meet. This signifies that people and water are connected. For many thousands of years, the Noongar people have used these lakes and rivers for food, drinking water and other vital sources to survive.

On the back of the jumper is a small boomerang with the colours red, blue and green. These colours were chosen as they represent the colours the two junior football clubs (Bayswater JFC & Morley Bulldogs JFC) connected to BFC, enforcing the value BFC places on these junior sides.

At the bottom of the jumper are the words ‘ngop wooyan’ which when translated reads ‘bleed blue’ in Noongar language, the club’s motto in recent times.

Shannon Taylor, the designer of the jumper stated, ‘I am very honoured to be a part of a tradition that brings education and culture together, for not only football but in life itself’.

The Bayswater Football Club were delighted to have all three teams wearing the jumper during Indigenous Round and the team’s will continue to wear it as their away strip.

Hagstrom Drilling proudly sponsored the Indigenous jumper as they valued the contribution which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have made to our society. Owner and Managing Director, Paul Musca, said he was ‘delighted to be involved in such an amazing initiative at such a great club’. He said he ‘believes there needs to be a commitment to preserve Aboriginal history and culture by everyone’ and ‘understands the importance of working together to forge positive relationships between all people in our community, and how vital sport is at doing that’.