One of the most significant jumpers in Australian football history is currently on display at the Westpac Centre as part of a special exhibition honouring those Collingwood players who served in the First World War.

The jumper was worn by Magpie skipper Dan Minogue during the historic AIF services match played in London in 1916 – the game believed to be the first ever international exhibition of Australian football.

Played at the Queen's Club in Kensington in October 1916 between two teams of Australian servicemen, the match drew a large crowd and even royalty as spectators, including the King of Portugal and the Prince of Wales.

It featured many VFL and VFA stars of the day, with Minogue – then captain of Collingwood and one of the best followers in the League – probably the highest profile of all.

The jumper has been handed down through his family, and is on loan to Collingwood for a short time.

Another feature of the exhibition is the reproduction of a number of letters sent home by Collingwood footballers during their time at the Front, and one sent by a soldier who was with Collingwood's Paddy Rowan when he was shot and killed in France.

Rowan, whose real name was Percy Rowe, left behind a wife he had married just before leaving, and a young son he would never get to see.

The letters are a powerful and poignant reminder of just what our footballing soldiers had to endure, and how they coped with it.

The exhibition also includes rare photos of Collingwood players at the Front, a horseshoe – fashioned from parts of a German plane that had been shot down – that 'Doc' Seddon sent home to his mother, a hard tack biscuit that Seddon sent to the club and club memorabilia relating to the war years and the 57 players who served.

The special ANZAC exhibition can be seen in the foyer at the Westpac Centre.