90 / 154
THE MARKET
Winter inAustralia is all about Football. The great
game of Aussie Rules was formed in 1858 and to
this day is the largest football code in Australia.
Player participation in 2007 exceeds 700,000 people
across a number of cultural, gender and social
communities. Since 1990, player participation has
increased by 32 per cent and the game has never
been in a stronger position.AtAFLlevel attendance
rates are up 17 per cent since 2000. The competition
is now truly national.
The game is played in all States around the
country and is developing in other markets such as
NewZealand, Canada, USA, UKand SouthAfrica.
As the game has developed and grown to the
size it is today there has been one brand that is the
stable influence in the game: “The Sherrin” football.
Sherrin is the official brand of theAFL, and sells
over 500,000 balls into theAustralian market each
year. The remarkable penetration of the Sherrin
brand inAustralia has beenmade possible by years
of dedication to craftsmanship and providing the
game with the best possible product.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The Sherrin brand has received numerous awards
for its excellence of workmanship. As far back as
1881and1888,TomSherrinwas awardedaDiploma
of Merit for his fine craftsmanship.
Sherrin currently holds a dominant share of
football sales and is the official ball of the AFL
competition. It is the No.1 preferred football brand
by most leagues.
Sherrin is the official ball sponsor for the AFL
Auskick program and is committed to the growth
of participation at grass roots level.
HISTORY
Thomas William Sherrin grew up as one of nine
children in a close family. TomSherrin didn’t follow
his father into carpentry but decided to become a
saddler, repairing andmanufacturing horse saddles,
bridles and other leather equipment.
The saddlery where Tom worked was in
Wellington Street, Collingwood. In the 1870s this
area was dominated by tanneries and clothing and
shoe manufacturers.
Tom was involved with a small club close to
work called the Britannia Football Club.Australian
Rules Football was a game derived frommany fine
sports including Irish
Gaelic football, rugby
and soccer. In its
infancy, the game
used rugby balls
imported from
England. The
physical torture
these
balls
endured in this
tough, vibrant and
robust new game
created considerable wear.
They were regularly
sent toTom’s saddlery
to be repaired. Tom
had to pull the ball
apart in some cases to
complete the repair work, and one day had a
brainstorm which was to revolutionise the ball.
The rugby ball was elongated, and used to wear
heavily on the ends. Tom created a new shape and
developed a pattern that made the ball rounder on
the points. The ball was still oval in shape, but it
bounced more evenly and was easier to kick. His
design was quickly accepted.
Tom scraped his pennies together and in 1879
built a small factory at 32 Wellington Street in
Collingwood. T.W. Sherrin Pty Ltd was now
established, andTomemployed a small band
of tradesmen to produce enough
footballs to keep up with the
strong demand. The
design of the newball
was so widely
accepted that
the National
F o o t b a l l
League of
A u s t r a l i a
e v e n t u a l l y
used the size
and shape of
the
Sherrin
football as the
standard.
When Tom passed away in 1912, the business
was left to Tom’s nephew John Sydney Sherrin,
who had served his apprenticeship with the
company as a teenager.After his death in 1941, the
War Department instructed youngTom (Syd’s son)
to carry on the family business, and discharged
him fromduties with theAir Force.
Tomwas a very likeableman. He had a great
association with the Collingwood
Football Club and eventually
became president between
1963 and 1974. The
Collingwood
FC
recognized
the
magnificent services
of the Sherrin family
in 1976, when they
named their new
stand at Victoria
Park, “The Sherrin
Stand”.
During
the
1960s,Tombattledwith
his football business.
He felt he had to double
the production in order to absorb running costs
and still remain profitable. Without growth, T.W.
Sherrin Pty.Ltd. would stagnate, and he could not
see a bright future for the next generation of the
family. He finally sold the business to Spalding in
1972.
Tom stayed on as manager of the Sherrin
division of Spalding until his death in 1978. The
Sherrin takeover by Spalding appeared on the
front page of every major newspaper inAustralia
and made news bulletins in Europe
andAmerica.
98
098-099_sherrin.p65
10/21/2007, 6:13 AM
98