Miss Australia 2008, Laura Dundovic, wears the new jumper in Saigon on 21 June 2008.

The jumper was a long time coming – but it was well worth the wait when you see Miss Australia 2008, Laura Dundovic, in our jumper!

In the lead up to Vietnam’s inaugural appearance at the Asian Championships in Bangkok on 24 July, 2007, the Singapore Wombats contacted Vietnam regarding a clash of jumpers (we were wearing the Sydney Swans jumpers and the Wombats wear the South Melbourne jumpers).

The Tokyo Goannas also expressed concern as they wear the red and white as well.

Fair call – but we were just trying to get to Bangers!

As the then new kids on the block, it was certainly Vietnam’s responsibility to come up with a new jumper. In reality, this was a great thing to happen to us. A new jumper would consolidate the identity of a national team and it gave us the opportunity to create something special that reflected us playing Aussie Rules in Vietnam. Surely a marketer’s dream? Done properly, a new jumper could generate some excitement and funds for the Club.

Time and designs passed but we were still struggling to nail it. We needed the new jumpers for the match against Singapore on 31 May 2008 – 10 months after the Asian Champs!!

The new jumper’s colours of red, white and black reflect those of the Hanoi Swans (red and white) and the Saigon Saints (red, white and black). On the back of the jumper, we have “SSHSHHFC” to recognise the Saigon Saints, Hanoi Swans and Hanoi Hawks Football Clubs. [UPDATE 2010: this has now fallen off.]

The Southern Cross on the front of the jumper recogonises the birthplace of Aussie Rules. The Yellow Star symbolises the Yellow Star on Vietnam’s National Flag and Vietnam, of course, is the birthplace of the Vietnam Swans. [UPDATE 2012: The yellow star has now fallen off.]

Below are some sample jumper designs. They were a vital part of the evolution to the solution where we had a jumper good enough for Miss Australia to wear.

Let’s just hope the Vietnam Swans players are good enough to wear the new jumpers!