OKAY, I'm going to say it... I'm ambivalent about the Sydney FC crest.

Don't get me wrong; it's perfectly fine so far as A-League crests go. It's just, well, soulless and formulaic; something that a graphic design intern of moderate aptitude might create as part of a job lot. Sufficient clichés and stick to the colours thanks.

Not all crests began their lives in such bland ignominy. Some were earned the hard way and stand as classics. The badge of the Bohemians club of Prague is one of those.   It's beautiful - an art-deco masterpiece. And it has a kangaroo. That kangaroo was well earned.

The Bohemians club began its life in 1905 named AFK Vršovice, after the Prague suburb in which the club was based.

In 1926, the Australian football association invited the Czechoslovakian national team to tour Australia.  The Czechoslovakians decided that such a trip was far too dangerous for their national team, or for its big clubs, Slavia Prague and Viktoria Zizkov. Instead, 14 lads from AFK Vršovice, along with 2 goalkeepers from other clubs, were sent. Thinking that Australians wouldn't know Vršovice from Miami Vice, the club toured under the name Bohemians.

On 7 April 1927, 16 footballers and 2 officials departed Prague on a train to Naples.  Three days later, they were on a steamboat bound for the land down under, stopping only to defeat some British soldiers in the port of Colombo, 4 goals to 2.

The Bohemians arrived in Perth in early May and commenced a tour that must rank with the greatest sporting tours ever undertaken. Forget touring the mother country to play a few games of cricket in between tea, scones and royal receptions; these guys went to the other end of the earth to play 19 games of football in two months. They played 16 matches against various regional and state teams as well as three games against the Australian national team.  They played in cities and towns from Perth to Brisbane and back again.

The records suggest that these games must have been absolute crackers - the three games against the Australian national team gave the Bohemians a 6:4 win, followed by two draws, 5:5 and 4:4.  The Bohemians' only defeats came in matches against the Queensland and NSW state teams and a Maitland/Cessnock select team.

Following the Bohemians' 5:5 draw against Australia at the Ekka ground in Brisbane, the Premier of Queensland presented the team with a pair of kangaroos - a gift to the Czechoslovakian President and people, in recognition of the extraordinary tour by the Bohemians team.

Upon the Bohemians' return to Czechoslovakia, the kangaroos became the star attraction at the Praue Zoo. The team retained the now famous Bohemians name and adopted the kangaroo as the symbol of the club. 

Their stats of the tour (including the Ceylon match) read as follows:

Played 20, Won 15, Drew 2, Lost 3, GF 94, GA 50.

Well earned indeed!