Summary

First pair of football boots worn by Lin Jong when he played for his first football team the Glen Waverley Rovers in 2008. The boots are a size 12 and Lin was 15 years old. Lin was born in Melbourne in 1993, his parents migrants from East Timor and Taiwan. He commenced playing football at the age of 15 for suburban clubs and was drafted by the Western Bulldogs Football Club in 2012, debuting that same year. He is the first Australian Football League player of East Timorese and Taiwanese descent. Injury prevented him from playing in the 2016 Western Bulldogs premiership team but he was best on ground in the Victorian Football League Grand Final won by the Western Bulldogs.

Part of a collection of clothing, awards, documents and photographs dating between 2008 and 2016 relating to the Australian Rules football career of AFL/VFL Western Bulldogs player Lin Jong. They represent Lin's early suburban Melbourne career through to his senior AFL team selection and participation in the Western Bulldogs VFL winning team in 2016. Lin is of Taiwanese and East Timorese heritage and he represents an increasingly visible culturally diverse presence in the AFL.

Significance

Statement of Historical Significance:
This material forms part of a collection which provides a snapshot of the Western Bulldogs Football Club in 2017. The collection includes early and recent sporting items relates to the evolving football careers of Lin Jong and Jason Johannisen, two of the AFLs higher profile emerging players, and ambassadors for cultural diversity in football for the AFL. It also includes guernseys representing the Western Bulldogs' recognition of the diversification of AFL cultural and gender representation through guernseys from the 2017 Indigenous and Multicultural Rounds and a guernsey signed by the inaugural 2017 Western Bulldogs' AFL Women's team.

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