The AFL banner has a long and at times controversial history and is undergoing something of a resurgence as fans take the very Australian tradition in a new direction.

When comedian and mad Western Bulldogs fan Danny McGinlay thought his team's banner was a bit on the boring side before a 2014 match, he did what we all do: complained about it on social media.

Little did he know he'd soon be the man charged with writing them and thus usher in a new era for the uniquely Australian tradition that traces its origins to almost a century ago.

The humble banner (or "run-through" to some purists) has a complex and sometimes controversial history.

Danny is now at the forefront of this ritual, and his unique brand of slogans are taking the AFL by storm — and creating a few new controversies along the way.

Why do we even have banners?

If running through a crepe paper wall before starting a footy match seems a bit strange, that's because it is.

Research suggests no other sport in the world practices this ritual, at least to the extent of the AFL, and yet its evolution is fairly straightforward.

"[It] may well owe its origins to matches in the 1930s, where flimsy streamers were sometimes tied to the wire mesh of the race [that players walked up to get to the ground]," write Robb Hess and Matthew Nicholson in the book Fanfare: Spectator Culture and Australian Rules Football.

"It would seem that the 1939 grand final is the first recorded instance of a substantial crepe paper run-through being used to mark the entrance of football players onto the field."

Fast forward a few years, and slogans started to be woven into these lattice designs at the end of the race, like "Farewell and good luck to our coach Checker", which appeared on the Melbourne Football Club's streamer lattice ahead of the 1948 grand final.

A couple of decades later and the run-throughs on the race had been replaced by banners held on the edge of the oval, but still mostly reserved for milestone moments or farewells.

But the football juggernaut wasn't to be slowed, and the rise of the cheer squad meant the banners became bigger and more formal.

"In the late 1980s and early 1990s, when cheer squads began to formalise their relationship with clubs, run-throughs began to feature the insignia or corporate logo of the major sponsor of the club," Hess and Nicholson write.

Who makes the banners?

The commercialisation of the AFL may have crept into almost every aspect of the game, but the ritual of the banner remains very much in the hands of the fans.

In school halls and community centres around the country, volunteers assemble every week to cut out each letter and then painstakingly stick them to the banners.

"I've been a Bulldogs supporter since I was born, so my mother tells me. I can't remember, it's been that long," Bulldogs member and banner maker Sharon Cutajar told ABC News Breakfast.

"For us to watch the players [run through the banner]. I love it."

Sharon joins about 15 other hardcore fans at the Footscray North Primary School each Thursday night to put that week's banner together.

For Sharon, being able to bring her granddaughter Ruby — a fourth-generation Dogs fan — along to help out is part of what makes the weekly tradition so special.

"I see her helping, and then on game day we look up and I think, 'Oh my God, Ruby was there helping with that'. I just love it, I love being part of it."

AFL Fans Association vice-president Cheryl Critchley says it's this dedication that keeps the ritual alive.

"The banner is an iconic part of footy and helps grassroots fans feel connected to their team," she said.

"Cheer squad members feel a great sense of pride when they walk onto the ground to hold up their creations — only to see them ripped to shreds in a few seconds.

"There lots of classic stories, like Kevin Bartlett tripping over his 400-game banner [and] Essendon's 'Bombres' booboo."

Yet the relationship between fans and their clubs and the league hasn't always been a smooth one — and when fan tempers flare, the banner has been the means by which the punters make their feeling known.

Controversies and the angry 80s

If football fans are wary of one thing, it's the administration tinkering with the league — be that rule changes, playing around with the fixture, or merging clubs.

The winds of change that blew through the league in the 1980s sparked perhaps the greatest run of controversies that literally made headlines on team banners as cheer squads railed against moves they felt hurt their club.

As Hess and Nicholson note, in 1981 the South Melbourne football club was playing its final season before being moved to Sydney to become the Swans.

"During the last game of the 1981 season ... the cheer squad signified their opposition to the move by creating an all-black crepe paper run-through," they write.

"The players, many of whom were in favour of the move to Sydney, refused to break through the banner."

Another banner from the era was equally blunt, simply reading: "South Melbourne you sold your soul."

In 1986 the St Kilda cheer squad reacted to rumours it might be moved to Brisbane with a banner that read: "St Kilda is here to stay and that's the final say." A year later, they ran the banner "VFL not NFL" as the game moved towards a national competition.

According to Hess and Nicholson, Footscray fans hit back at football legend Ron Barassi in 1989 after he suggested the club was suffering because its home suburb had changed due to drugs and a growing Asian population. The cheer squad banner retorted: "Barassi we love our Western Oval + our ethnic + Asian community. Leave us alone."

But it was a 1996 banner by the Fitzroy cheer squad that arguably brought this run of outspoken banners to a head.

As Fitzroy was on the cusp of being merged with the Brisbane Bears (after talk that a deal with North Melbourne fell through) the cheer squad raised a banner that read: "Seduced by North; Raped by Brisbane; F*****d by the AFL."

Those behind the banner would later claim the edited word was "fooled".

A new age arrives

Television rights, advertising around the fences and increasing club input into the banners have all changed the ritual somewhat, but there are those like Danny McGinlay who are keen to keep the art alive.

In 2014 he felt so let down by an "insipid" Bulldogs banner that he took to social media.

"The cheer squad came back and said, 'Don't just bag it out, get involved'," he told ABC News Breakfast.

"A few days later I got a call from a lady at the cheer squad and she just said, 'So I hear you think you're funny and want to write the banner? Alright, what have you got?'"

What came out of his mouth must have struck a chord, because a few days later it was up for all to see at the Bulldogs first game at Adelaide Oval, reading: "Western Bulldogs undefeated at Adelaide Oval."

The humour of Danny's banners is what first attracted attention, but it was his willingness to trash talk the opposition that really made them go viral.

It might be riffing on the stereotype of Melbourne supporters being well-off, or Carlton having an off season, or Collingwood not making the finals.

"I reckon a good banner is topical and really seizes the ethos of the moment," he said.

"My favourite is the one about the Demons: 'At the end of the match we'll still be cheering, you'll still be worried about your negative gearing'.

"I like to get political."

But not everyone is a fan, and some argue that making fun of the opposition goes against the spirit of the banner.

"I have heard, I won't name names, but I know other comedians have contacted their clubs to say [they] could write some and I know one particular comedian was told by his club that, 'Funny banners go against our core values'. Which is such a shame.

"I had a few run-ins with the Demons fans actually.

"They were just like, 'Mate the banner is about inspiring the players before the game, yours aren't even funny'."

Funny or not, they have inspired a new trend in banner designs that some teams and happy to run with.

When the Dogs came up against GWS, the Giants pre-empted a bit of banter with their own banner that read: "Bulldogs can be funny, but that doesn't matter. You don't get four points for what's written on your banner."

Port Adelaide waited a whole year to seek revenge for a 2015 Danny Bulldogs banner that said 'Port gives you gout', by running the 2016 message: "Port may give you gout, but it's great with cheese. Bulldogs give you nothing but fleas."

And in July St Kilda pre-empted a bit of light ribbing from the Dogs' banner and ran their own message: "No Pokemon here, 22 dogs to be found. We'll catch 'em all and send them to the pound."

"It's just part of the fun and, for lack of a better term, the pomp and ceremony of it," Danny said.

"I have it on good authority the players don't even read them usually — they are there for the fans."