Eddie vs Kochie: Bad blood between TV heavyweights threatens to boil over as bitter dispute over AFL footy team jumpers is taken to lawyers
- Port Adelaide Football Club has pushed to wear their Prison Bar guernsey
- The guernsey would only be worn when playing against rivals Adelaide Crows
- Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has pushed ahead with legal action
- He claims the uniform infringes upon their trademark black and white jumper
An increasingly bitter dispute between TV heavyweights and rival AFL club presidents Eddie McGuire and David Koch escalated further on Thursday when the matter was taken to lawyers.
McGuire, the president of Collingwood, was furious that Koch's Port Adelaide had launched a petition demanding it be allowed to wear its traditional 'prison bar' guernsey when playing all 'Showdown' games against city rival Adelaide.
The petition had already attracted almost 20,000 signatures.
McGuire was insistent that wearing the jumper was in breach of a legal agreement that dated back to Port's entry to the AFL in 1997 which he claimed restricted use of black-and-white colours to Collingwood only.
While the Collingwood president had previously undertaken 'handshake agreements' with Koch that waived that rule and allowed them to wear the jumper, now he had referred the matter to the AFL's legal deparment and insisted they enforce the agreement.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire (right) has threatened legal action over Port Adelaide Football Club's push to change their uniform. Pictured left is Port Adelaide president David Koch
Port Adelaide wore the 'prison bar' guernsey against the Adelaide Crows last Saturday after getting temporary permission from the AFL.
Port's state league team had worn the 'prison bar' jumper - thin black and white stripes with a white bar across the chest - for almost all its long history, but was forced to abandon the stripes, the Magpie emblem, and add teal to its colours when entering the AFL.
Port Adelaide wore the controversial guernsey in a match against the Adelaide Crows on Saturday after they were granted temporary permission from the AFL
The club ramped up its lobbying efforts on Wednesday when it started a petition which has attracted almost 20,000 signatures
'You'll have to roll the contract up and whack them over the head with it,' McGuire told Footy Classified.
'The magpie is the Collingwood magpie and that's that.'
McGuire claimed that if Port Adelaide used the uniform again it would infringe upon Collingwood's trademark.
Port Adelaide President David Koch put out a statement on Wednesday which he said was to clarify some 'facts' about the club's push to wear the traditional guernsey.
'I always like to deal in facts. There's an old saying that just because an argument is put forcefully doesn't always mean it's right,' he said on Twitter.
Port Adelaide President David Koch put out a statement on Wednesday which he said was to clarify some 'facts' about the club's push to wear the traditional guernsey
In his statement Koch clarified that they were in no way pushing to become the 'Magpies' in the AFL and said the guernsey was part of Port's history.
'It is overwhelmingly clear that not only our members and supporters want to see this guernsey featured in Showdowns on the national stage, but it is also evident that we have widespread support from supporters of other clubs,' he said.
'All we are asking is that we are able to wear our historic black-and-white Prison Bar guernsey in all Showdowns moving forward.
'The black-and-white Prison Bar guernsey, and the spirit that lives within that guernsey, not only represents toil and unparalleled success for Port Adelaide, but also provided the lightning rod for the formation of the Crows in 1990 and in doing so lit the fuse on one of the fiercest rivalries in Australian sport.'
Koch refuted claims Port wore the guernsey last weekend on an understanding it would be the last time it did so.
