St Kilda will bring back its iconic Crusader guernsey in 2022, with the fan-favourite design to serve as the club’s clash strip for the upcoming season.
The guernsey first debuted in the 1996 pre-season, quickly earning widespread popularity to become the Saints’ official home jumper from 1997-2001. It later served as the club’s away guernsey in 2002, before returning to commemorate Nick Riewoldt’s 300th game in 2016.
Players such as Nathan Burke, Stewart Loewe and Nicky Winmar became synonymous with the Crusader kit – colloquially dubbed as the 'hot-cross bun' guernsey – which will now be introduced to a new generation of Saints heroes.
The 2022 iteration of the design will feature an all-red back and be paired with white shorts to function as a clash strip.
“Any chance we have to honour our past while looking forward to the future we will embrace, and bringing back our Crusader guernsey is a perfect example of that,” St Kilda CEO Matt Finnis said.
“The late 1990s and early 2000s hold fond memories for a sizeable portion of our supporter base. To not only reignite those memories, but create new ones with our current team is something we’re all looking forward to next year.”
