AFL clubs have gone to extra lengths to pay tribute to the Anzac legend with 2025 guernseys

In 1917 a former Collingwood player, Malcolm ‘Doc’ Seddon, was as far from the MCG as any footballer could be.

He was in France, fighting in the First World War, but the Magpies were never far from his mind.

Seddon wrote letters to the football club, and even sent a ‘good luck horseshoe’ which is the centrepiece of Collingwood’s 2025 Anzac Day jersey, which will be worn at the MCG on Friday in the 30th instalment of their traditional Anzac Day clash with Essendon.

Every jersey worn this weekend by clubs marking the Anzac Day round has a story.

Collingwood’s revolves around the letters sent by Seddon, which are featured within the stripes of the jumper, while the horseshoe, made from a German howitzer shell and parts of a downed German plane, is front and centre.

It became the “good luck horseshoe” after arriving at Collingwood’s former home ground, Victoria Park in September 1917 and was nailed to the changeroom ahead of the 1917 Grand Final against Fitzroy.

The Magpies won that premiership, ensuring the horseshoe’s legend.

Essendon’s jersey is no less poignant, with the club’s iconic red sash transformed into a field of vibrant red poppies, a visual tribute to the Anzac spirit, with each poppy symbolising remembrance and commemoration of the sacrifices made by servicemen and women.

The Anzac Day round begins with what has become one of the most moving games of the weekend, the Anzac Eve clash between Melbourne and Richmond, at the MCG which goes dark for a stirring tribute to Australia’s fallen soldiers.

Melbourne’s jumper was designed by Flight Lieutenant Aimee McCartney, depicting the Missing Man Formation — a powerful aerial tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

This formation, a moving symbol of remembrance, is a ceremonial flight performed by aircraft in honour of fallen soldiers, sailors, and aviators. In the manoeuvre, one aircraft pulls away from the formation, soaring upward to represent a missing comrade, leaving a striking void in the sky

The remaining aircraft continue in tight formation, embodying the unbroken bond, unity, and strength of those who live on, carrying forward the enduring spirit of the fallen.

Where Essendon replaced its sash with poppies, Richmond used wattle.

Embodying courage, mateship, and resilience, this guernsey features elements that honour our fallen Tigers-men who once wore the yellow and black before answering the call to serve.

Port Adelaide has listed the full names of the club’s past players and veterans proudly listed on the front of its commemorative guernsey to be worn in Saturday’s clash with North Melbourne.

Listed in alphabetically by groups of service from the Boer War to the Vietnam War, four veterans’ names feature twice to appropriately reflect their service in multiple conflicts

Fremantle’s jumper is inspired by one of the most remarkable love stories in West Australian history, the story of Len and Eunice Hall.

For the 28th year of the Len Hall Tribute Game, emu feathers make up the chevrons featured on the front of the jumper as a direct tribute to the gesture 16-year-old Len Hall made when he first met his wife, Eunice, in 1915 as he prepared to head to the fighting in Egypt.

The young soldier plucked an Emu plume from his hat and offered it to her and years later, after surviving the horrors of Gallipoli and the Middle East, Len returned home.

During the welcome home march, Eunice found him and returned the plume, asking, “Excuse me, sir, would you like your plume back?”

Two years later, they were married, beginning a partnership that would last 74 years.

Geelong’s guernsey commemorates 110 years since the landing at Anzac Cove, featuring an illustrative representation of the Gallipoli landscape and its four natural elements — the sky, the hills, the beach and the water

This design honours the legacy of those who served.

The Gold Coast Suns will play the Sydney Swans at home and sport a guernsey with the club’s new logo surrounded by an assortment of red poppies.

A sprig of rosemary is also prominently featured closest to the heart, representing the wild rosemary that grows in riches along the Gallipoli peninsula whilst also signifying remembrance for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in conflict.

For the first time St Kilda Football Club will debut a special-edition Anzac Appeal Round Guernsey on Australian soil.

While the club has previously worn honorary guernseys during Anzac Day matches in New Zealand between 2013 and 2015, this year’s tribute marks the first time a purpose-designed guernsey will be worn in Australia when they take on the Brisbane Lions.

The bespoke design features the names of the 25 St Kilda players who tragically lost their lives in World War I and World War II with the iconic red poppy, the poignant words ‘Lest We Forget’, and the official Anzac Appeal logo also proudly displayed.