General – Page 17 – Football Kit Geek

Cup Winners’ Cup Finals (1961 – 1999)

Nov 22, 2018Dec 10, 2024Posted in GeneralTagged Cup Winners Cup, CWC, Europe, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kit Log, Kits, UEFALeave a comment

This is probably a post for those people over the age of 30 or those football fans who like their history, as the wonder that is Cup Winners’ Cup was a European Cup competition that was held for the last time 20 years ago this season.

The competition was first contested in the 1960/61 season and was a club competition for the domestic cup winners across Europe to compete in a straight knock out competition, with ties played over two legs. In the early years of the competition this played over four round (1st Round, Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Final) and later years saw an introduction of 2nd Round as well, so has always been a smaller European Competition compared to the two we see today.

From 1972, The winners of the CWC would then play the winners of the European Cup in the European Super Cup, this would be the case until the end of the competition in 1999, where the Domestic Cup winners were entered into the UEFA Cup (Europa League).

Here we are looking at the finalists and what they wore in that final, all of the finals (apart from the first Final between Glasgow Rangers and Fiorentina) was played as a single game at a neutral venue.

Breaking down the winners, this was a competition that provided and variety of Winners from a number of countries with some Clubs we would come to expect to see wining European Competitions and some that you would not and also those that no longer exist in the form that they won the competition in.

8, England (Chelsea x2, Arsenal, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Manchester United, Everton)
7, Spain (Barcelona x4, Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Real Zaragoza)
7, Italy (AC Milan x2, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Parma, Juventus, Lazio)
4, West Germany / Germany (Hamburg, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen)
3, Belgium (Anderlecht x2, Mechelen)
3, Soviet Union (Dynamo Kyiv x2, Dinamo Tbilisi)
2, Scotland (Glasgow Rangers, Aberdeen)
1, East Germany (FC Magdeburg)
1, France (Paris Saint-Germain)
1, Netherlands (Ajax Amsterdam)
1, Portugal (Sporting Clube de Portugal)
1, Czechoslovakia (Slovan Bratislava)

Kit highlights:

As always, I want to take a little bit of time here to look at some kit highlights in these finals:

Anderlecht v West Ham United – 1976

The 1976 final between Anderlecht and West Ham United, Admiral had begun their kit revolution and this design worn by West Ham was one their classic kits and with the white / purple combination of Anderlecht made from a kit show in this final.

Hamburg SV – 1977:

Hamburg in Pink, but its not just about the pink shirt, navy Shorts and blue socks. A combination on paper that should not work but in reality for me, looks fantastic… flappy collar, Adidas stripes…. a beautiful kit, top to bottom.

Juventus – 1984

Juventus, always famous for their black and white stripes but also for me this striking away kit, yellow and blue, again the collar just works with this kit but a classic combo for Juventus away colours that is a regular in the away kit portfolio for Italian Giants.

Barcelona v Sampdoria – 1989:

Another final, where both kits just work together… here at a time where is common place for both clubs to wear their away kits, both of these are classic kits of time. A sky blue Barcelona kit, with single red/blue stripes off centre and the Sampdoria kit a similar off centre stripe with their famous red/white/blue colours shifting to this position. What is not love here with these two kits.

Barcelona v PSG – 1997

Another final where the kits complement each other, both teams in their away kit of the time, Barcelona wearing their Kappa kit, which has a lot going on, flashes for red and blue within the Jade / Aqua base colour and PSG in their classic white away kit, broad red centre stripe highlighted with Navy blue.

What are thoughts of The Cup Winners’ Cup and the kits worn at the final, let me know on Twitter (@Kit_Geek) or in the comments below.

Revamping the Champions League

Sep 12, 2018Dec 12, 2023Posted in GeneralTagged Champions League, Europe, Football, UCL, UEFALeave a comment

First things first, this post is not about Football Kits….

With news coming out this week about UEFA considering a third European Competition being introduced in 2021 to be played alongside the Champions League and Europa League…. the return of the Cup Winners Cup, who knows??

Read more about this announcement here – BBC Sport report

A friend then reminded me of a tweet a sent out in October 2017 about an idea that I had about revamping the Champions League.

When I was a child, I used to invent these kind of Super Leagues, creating squads from the best of the Football League, Scottish Premier and European Giants, well the one’s I knew about thanks to Match and Shoot Magazines in years of 1987 to 1990.

This memory got me thinking about how I could use that format and revamp the Champions League’s current format….. yep, I was that bored at some point that I spent time devising and working a competition, just to see if I could make it work.

So, for your pleasure, I give you my thoughts on a piece of paper in a little more detail.

PRE-QUALIFYING ROUNDS – JULY to AUGUST

This part of the competition would not change, there would continue to be four pre-qualifying rounds, with the same knock out format. With clubs joining the competition at each round depending on the Country’s Coefficient.

ROUND 1, ELIMINATION ROUND – SEPTEMBER

After Pre-qualifying we are now left with 32 teams (as we are now) but this is the first change in the Competition. Currently these teams are split into 4 pots and then drawn into 8 groups of 4 teams, in this vision Pots 1 and 2 are combined, so league winners of the major leagues, holders and the highest ranked teams will be make the 16 teams in “Pot 1”, the remaining 16 teams would then make up “Pot 2”.

For an example, lets take the 4 pots from this year’s Competition and show you what this would look like with Pot 1 and Pot 2 making the new “POT 1” and Pots 3 and 4 making the new “POT 2”:

These teams would then be drawn into 16 ties (POT 2 v POT 1), this would be a two legged tie and would also be drawn so that teams from the same country could not be drawn against each other.

Using this year’s competition again as an example, the draw would look like this (and yes I did recreate the draw myself with 16 bits of paper, I was going to Kinder Eggs in the place of balls but thought would be a step too far):

In the draw above, the teams from POT B were drawn first to complete that half of the draw and then the teams in POT A.

In the 2nd tie Monaco were drawn from POT B, then PSG drawn from POT A, as they are both from France they cannot play each other in this round, so PSG moved down to the next available tie (Tie 3), where they play Liverpool.

Games would be played in September, in the week after the International Break and the following week.

ROUND 2, THE LEAGUES – OCTOBER TO APRIL

This is where my competition has its biggest change, the 16 remaining teams will then be drawn into 2 leagues (LEAGUE A and LEAGUE B), there will be no more than 2 clubs from the same country in each league.

Again basing this on the above draw from the qualified teams from the 2018/19 competition and not being particularly scientific in terms of the results, apologies to any supporters of clubs that I have just eliminated from the competition, we have the following leagues drawn out of the hat.

The Leagues are drawn alternatively, so first club drawn goes into League 1, the second in League 2, the third into League 1 and so on…. if a club is drawn into a League where there are already two clubs from their country they move to the next league.

So there we have it, our 2 Leagues….. now, that gives us 14 fixtures to play between October and March (each team playing each other Home and Away).

Looking at the current European Calendar, there are five rounds of fixtures in Between October and early December. Last 16 games are played over four match days in February and March, then the first leg of Quarter Final is played in first week of April. So currently there is ten potential match days already in the calendar, therefore another four weeks are needed…. again looking at this seasons competition the following weeks could be used:

QUARTER FINAL – APRIL

We now are in early April and the leagues have finished and we see the return of the knock out rounds.

The Quarter Finals are sorted by the top four teams in each league moving forward, with 1st Place in “League 1” playing 4th Place in “League 2” and so on, initially in my little sketch I had this as a two legged tie but on reflection, a one off tie with the teams finishing in first and second place playing at home may work better and be a reward for those teams finishing in the top 2 of their respective leagues:

There is no restriction on clubs from the same country playing each other, as we have now at the Quarter Final stage of Champions League.

SEMI FINAL – MAY

Semi Final time and this time two legged games are back, the ties are sorted by the Quarter Final Fixtures, therefore potential keeping the teams finishing top of their groups apart at this stage.

Games will be played over two weeks in May and leave us with our two finalists.

FINAL – JUNE

The final, played as has been seen over the the recent years on the first Saturday of June at a Neutral Venue in a one off fixture.

There are of course plenty of issues and questions that this would raise, its not the perfect idea, if it was then I’d have a job at UEFA somewhere and not rambling on like this, but this gives what many of the clubs and fans are looking for with more fixtures where the “Big” European clubs are playing against each other and I would imagine the Television rights that something like this would generate would be of the likes we have not seen yet in Football.

For balance, some of the issues needing addressing:

Additional Game Weeks needed
What would happen to clubs knocked at Round 1
Impact on Domestic Leagues
International Breaks are taken into account but would they be impacted
Player burn out
It would take a minimum of 20 games to reach the final, from 13 games now
And so many more

Well that’s my idea, yes expanded from initial thoughts on a piece of paper and if you have got this far I thank you for taking the time to read through this, I have spent far too much thinking about this competition but I’ll be honest, I have quite enjoyed it!!

Let me know your thoughts and if you have any ideas for your own competition.

England and some “Sky Blue” thinking….

Jun 11, 2018Sep 12, 2023Posted in GeneralTagged England, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Sky Blue, umbro7 Comments

When talking about kit perfection, for me there are a few things that spring to mind, Manchester United’s “Newton Heath” 3rd kit from Umbro, 1984 French Adidas kits and England wearing Sky Blue to name a few. So I thought I would take a little bit of time to look back at those wonderful kits worn by the Three Lions.

England have only ever had five Sky Blue kits, all produced by Umbro and only worn a full sky blue kit only 4 times, with two of these kits not making an appearance with the Senior team.

Kit 1, 1970

England wore three different kits in the 1970 World Cup and their group game against Czechoslovakia saw them in a Sky Blue kit for the first time.

Umbro reproduced this kit in the early 2000’s (yes, I brought and still have one) but the reproduced version included a number 6 on the back but in white, not the red numbering used with the actual kit.

Kit 2, 1986

The second Sky Blue kit was again produced as part of a kit package for a World Cup staged in Mexico, this time in 1986. However the full kit was never worn but we did get to see the shorts and socks in the Quarter-Final match up against Argentina where arguably the full kit could have been worn.

In fact the kit would not have been out of place if used in the last 16 game against the red and white stripes of Paraguay.

Kit 3, 1988

The third kit seen, was the 1988 3rd kit from Umbro. At this time all three England kits had the same template. This is my favourite of the all the Sky Blue kits that England have but unfortunately did not see action with the Senior Team, it did make an appearance for the U21’s though.

However the Senior Team did pose for this wonderful team photo…. which I also use as my cover picture on my twitter account (@kit_geek)

Kit 4, 1990

One of the most famous Sky Blue England kits and only the 2nd time that England wore a full Sky Blue kit in a Senior game, this kit made its one and only appearance in the 1991 in the Euro 92 qualifier against Turkey.

This kit was also part of the Italia 90 World Cup kit line up and was famously worn in the video of “World in Motion” by New Order front man Bernard Sumner.

The shirts design and pattern also formed part of the England training kits at the time and was often seen here with just a large central Umbro logo within the shirt.

Kit 5, 1992

Arguably the most famous of the Sky Blue England kits and I would say in many people’s eyes one of the most popular of all England kits not just the blue ones.

This kit also is the only Sky Blue kit to be worn more than once, making two appearances in 1992 against Czechoslovakia and Spain. The shirt, including it’s “Three Lions” is what makes this such an iconic kit.

Although Sky Blue has featured on several other home and away kits over the past years, I hope that the colour will be revisited as main kit colour in future, unlikely I know given that the “rules” state that second (or third) choice kits should be a contrast to the first choice kit and not sure that Sky Blue and White fit that model however as a simple kit geek I can hope…..!!

Sites I used to research this article:

Historical Football Kits

England Football Online

Arsenal – The Wenger Years

May 9, 2018Posted in GeneralTagged Arsenal, Nike, Puma, WengerLeave a comment

The curtain on Arsene Wenger’s time as Arsenal Manager is about to come down, I thought it would be a good opportunity to look back at the kits worn through out his reign in a little more detail in my own little way.

The Kit Stats

Manufacturers – 2 (Nike and Puma)

Home Kits – 15 (11 by Nike and 4 by Puma)

Away Kits – 18 (14 by Nike and 4 by Puma)

3rd Kits – 9 (5 by Nike and 4 by Puma) – this does not include 3rd shirts that were previously used as away kits.

One thing to note hear is the kit policy that Arsenal, unlike many other clubs in 1990’s and through the majority of the 2000’s had a longer life cycle for their kits, with Home kits often being used for two seasons and away kits being used as 3rd kits in following seasons, giving them also a two year life cycle.

This policy meant that during Mr Wenger’s 22 season reign, there was a total of 42 kits, where there could have been 66 used if Home, Away and 3rd kits were changed every season.

The Sponsors

1996 to 1999 – JVC

1999 to 2002 – SEGA (as Dreamcast for Home Kits, 3rd Kits and SEGA Away Kits)

2002 to 2006 – 02

2006 to 2018 – Emirates Airlines (as Fly Emirates)

Some of my Highlights

There are several kits that spring to mind over these 22 years but the special kit used for the final season played at Highbury (2005 – 06) was a real stand out, possibly as it was so different. Based on the kit worn at the club’s first season at the ground in 1913, however the was some question over whether this was the actual colour worn at that time but the 2005 version proved to be a big hit with fans and kit lovers across the Globe. The “Redcurrent” colour also proved a popular addition to the Arsenal kit palette, featuring in one form or another in home, away and 3rd kits over the next couple of seasons.

Other kits that for me are worth “honorable” mentions.

Away and 3rd Kits from 2007/08, these were two kits that had the “Redcurrent” influence and again was something different from the kits and the colours used in previous years for the club.

2012/13 Away kit, which was also registered as 3rd kit in 13/14 but I cannot find any evidence of it being used, this kit introduced purple into the Arsenal colour palette and was reminiscent in design to 2007/08 with the use of hoops (or horizontal stripes depending on your preference). Again something different and something that really stands out from the normal in terms of design.

Any kit highlights from you over the Arsene Wenger years, is there one that holds special memories, the Invincibles Season, the Champions League Final of 2006, let me know?

Remembering Ray Wilkins

Apr 4, 2018Nov 29, 2021Posted in General, Kit HistoryTagged England, Football, Football Kits, RIP, WilkinsLeave a comment

I was saddened to hear about the passing of Ray Wilkins, he was one of my first footballing heroes, as a child in the 80s he was one of the first players I knew that played abroad, the memories of Mexico 86 World Cup, seeing repeats of that Cup Final goal and career that went on and on both off and on the pitch.

I always enjoyed listening to him talk about the game and finding him insightful and felt like I learnt something from him.

So I want to pay my respects in the only way I know how to, in a selection of the kits he wore through-out his career, Rest in Peace “Butch”

England, Kit Review

Mar 26, 2018Mar 26, 2018Posted in GeneralTagged England, Football, NikeLeave a comment

I always like to see a new kit in action before making any decisions about my thoughts on it, the promotional pictures and marketing details are for me only a taster of a team or this case Country’s new wears, its when we see it action that we can see the design in all its glory.

So on Friday 23rd March, England’s Senior Men’s team kicked off in the next range of “Home” / “First” kits ready for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

My first impression from its initial launch was that this a return to a more conservative approach to kit design, the previous kits which for full disclosure I was a fan of and thought was a great effort at something different for England. However this is more of a classic “England” design, seeing a return to the blue shorts, the first time since 2013/4 kit (the first Nike design had England had). These short are one of the aspects of this kit which I really like, the detail in the shorts with the “Tonal” England crest and Nike tick, give a nice balance to shorts and tied in with the red numbering really works for me.

The return of red numbering is one of the key elements here that I really like within this kit, probably one the designers wont thank me for but red numbering is one of the elements of an England Kit that I do not think should change. This is the first time this has been seen since the 2012 Umbro kit (the all white version with only Red design elements included) and the first time with the traditional blue shorts since Umbro’s 1999/2001 kit – I had to check and double check that, as it did not seem to be that long ago!

Other aspects of the shirt which work for are the subtle flashes of colour within the shirt, the red collar line around the neck and the Blue within the Crest also seems to the badge “pop” more than other shirt of recent years. The only thing that does not work for me is the placement of the number on the front of the shirt, I feel a more central position would balance the shirt, the number seems too low in its current spot.

Overall, for me this is a good look for England, a return to a more traditional look but with some nice nods to the past, as an England fan let’s hope that this kit is linked to more happier time on the pitch.

What are you thoughts on this kit?

All “white” on the night…

Mar 20, 2018Mar 21, 2018Posted in GeneralTagged Football, NFL, Puma, world cupLeave a comment

There has been some controversy over the past week with Puma’s release of the their International teams away kit portfolio ready for this summer’s World Cup in Russia. Those more eagle eyed of you out there will spot a trend in these kits…..

…..they all have white shirts.

There have been some reports and comments of this being “lazy” designing but is there more too it than that. Over the recent years we have seen more and more tendencies for kits to be released as a group. Cast your mind back to the 2010 World Cup when the Nike kits (including England’s Umbro kit – then owned by Nike) were showcased as a whole, then of course the Nike Vapour wear template launch again giving kits in the Nike stable an overall identity and moving into club kits we have seen similar ideas in particular with Nike’s recent 3rd kits across some of the major European teams, so it should not be a surprise other manufacturers want to tap into this idea.

However, can we trace this back further by moving to another sport, In American Football (NFL), where historically most teams wore their club colours at home and the away team wore a white version of their “uniform”, it seems this was due to games being televised and creating a dark v light contrast for black and white television in the 1960’s. Although we have now moved on to Ultra 4K HD where to core reason behind this is no longer an issue, there is still some remnants of this in the current NFL ruling when it comes to team uniforms…

….a team’s home jerseys must be “either white or official team color” throughout the season, “and visiting clubs must wear the opposite”. If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the NFL Commissioner must judge on whether their uniforms are “of sufficient contrast” with those of their opponents. The road team might instead wear a third jersey….

Whether this choice is good or bad, they certainly have achieved something that will stand out as a whole in the tournament, push the brand before the country in some cases and has got people talking about this choice, which from that point of view is a win for Puma and their team of designers.

Kit Log – FA Cup, Quarter Final Update

Mar 19, 2018Posted in GeneralTagged England, FA Cup, Football, Football Kits, SoccerLeave a comment

FA Cup Quarter-Final weekend has now been and gone, so time to update the Kit Log for 2017/18 Cup….

I started logging kits from the 3rd Round, so below you will see the 74 games we have seen so far since 5th January.

Special call out to Reading, as I am sure you will remember had to change their shirts to their orange away shirts at half time in the 3rd round replay against Stevenage in January due the kit clash.

The only question risen from the quarter-finals was Chelsea’s choice to wear their black 3rd kit against Leicester, rather than their white away shirt which would have created a greater contrast to the home kit of their opponents.

The West Germany 1990 shirt theory

Mar 16, 2018Mar 16, 2018Posted in GeneralTagged 1990, Adidas, Football, Football Kits, Kits, West GermanyLeave a comment

Well I guess timing is everything, whilst writing my Italia 90 post today (see the post here) I was listening to the latest episode of Totally Football Show where resident host James “AC Jimbo” Richardson was discussing the Fabric of Football event that took place over last weekend (9th / 10th March) and mentioned an interesting theory about the West Germany Shirt used at Italia 90….

West Germany’s World Cup performances in the previous tournaments before 1990:

1974 – Winners

1978 – Group Stage

1982 – Runners Up

1986 – Runners Up

1990 – Winners….. (from the expectation by kit designers)

and here is that theory in graphical format…!!

German efficiency and expectation or just coincidence……

Trying something new

Mar 12, 2018Mar 13, 2018Posted in GeneralTagged Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Soccer1 Comment

My interest in football kits that is something that has grown from one of those things that for years I used to just chat to friends and family about Then after a conversation with a friend suggested that used my strange obsession and knowledge to start some social media accounts to share these thoughts and then which then grew into a keeping a log of all kits used in my own little excel format…..

Well I think now is the time to expand to the next step and write more than 140 characters (well 280 does not have the same ring to it).

So, what’s to come…. well I am not too sure but I am sure there will kit talk, kit logs and whatever else comes up in our little world of Kit Geeks……!