Kit History – Page 10 – Football Kit Geek

Same kit, different manufacturer

Jan 9, 2019Nov 29, 2021Posted in General, Kit HistoryTagged Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, SoccerLeave a comment

One of the things in the kit world that catches my eye, is when we see a return or revisit to classic kit or design for a club (or country). This is something that actually kicked off my twitter account and I put some examples out there with the first tweets sent out into the twitter-sphere, here and here .

I wanted to take some time to look at some examples of these kits here. Now I what I look for here is something a little different that we do not see every year, that people link directly to a club, so there will be no Real Madrid white kits or Monaco’s home kit, in fact most of the examples we see here are change kits (away and 3rd kits), that have been produced by different manufacturers.

To start the ball rolling lets look at one classic example of what I am talking about.

Celtic F.C. – “The Bumblebee”

A kit first seen in 1996/97 season when Umbro turned the traditional colour palette of Celtic’s away kits on its head with its fluorescent yellow and black hooped kits, since then we have also seen Nike and New Balance have their own take on this kit.

Umbro – 1996/97 and 1997/98 (Away kit)
Nike – 2009/10 (Away kit) and 2010/11 (Euro / 3rd kit)
New Balance – 2015 / 2016 (3rd kit)

West Ham United – “The Hoops”

The famous West Ham United away kit is one that part of the club’s history, Bobby Moore and his teammates wearing a version in the 1960’s, for this article I am focusing on recent returns to this style under different manufactures, where we have seen four kit manufacturers produce their version of this Hammer’s Classic.

Pony – 1993/94 and 1994/95 (Away kit)
Fila – 2001/02 and 2002/03 (Away kit)
Macron – 2011/12 (Away kit) and 2012/13 (3rd kit)
Umbro – 2015/16 (Away kit)

Arsenal – “Its up for grabs now” kit

This kit will be forever linked to climax of 1988/89 season when needing to win by 2 goals at reigning Champions and the biggest club of the era, Liverpool… Michael Thomas went through in the last minute to secure that 2-0 victory and in turn win the “First Division” Title. Although Yellow is a go to colour for an Arsenal away kit, what I am looking at here are some of the details in the shirt, the blue sleeves and the red trim, since the original Adidas version, Nike and Puma have also produced this combination.

Adidas – 1988/89, 1989/90 and 1990/91 (Away kit)
Nike – 2008/09 (Away kit)
Puma – 2014/15 (Away kit)

Crystal Palace – “The Sash”

An Iconic Crystal Palace Shirt, this was first introduced in the 1976/77 season when switching their Red/Blue stripes, returned to using white has their home kit, however introducing red/blue sash for the first time. That initial kit was manufactured by Umbro but since has been seen in several other manufacturers (five of which pictured above).

Umbro – 1976/77 (Home kit)
Admiral – 1977/78, 1978/79 and 1979/80 (Home kit)
Adidas – 1980/81, 1981/82 and 1982/83 (Home kit)
Hummel – 1984/85, 1985/86 and 1986/87 (Home kit)
Errea – 2008/09 (Home kit)
Nike – 2010/11 (Away kit)
Puma – 2018/19 (Away kit)

S.S. Lazio – “The Eagle Kit”

Something is not just seen in British Teams, Lazio introduce their unique “Eagle” kit in 1982/83 season, a design that was also used in change strips and goalkeeper kits – there is a fantastic article over at Museum of Jerserys which goes into more detail for the kits that season – click here for that article

The kit has been revisited twice in recent years both versions produced by Macron.

Ennerre – 1982/83 (Home kit)
Macron – 2014/15 (Home kit)
Macron – 2018/19 (Home kit)

There is a couple more kits that I want to mention here, where we currently have only seen twice but one’s to keep an eye on the future.

Southampton F.C. – The “Keegan” kit

Patrick – 1980 through to 1985 (*in the style of the old vidiprinter…. *FIVE SEASONS*) – (Home kit)
Under Armour – 2017/18 (Home kit)

Newcastle United – “The Rugby Shirt”

Adidas – 1995/96 (Away kit)
Puma – 2018/19 (Away kit)

I am sure there so many more examples here but thought I would highlight some of the examples that spring to mind for me.

I would be interested to know if your team has one and are there any International Teams that have something similar (USA Sash immediately springs to mind), please let me know in the comments below or via Twitter here.

Real Madrid, 20 years of Adidas

Dec 20, 2018Nov 29, 2021Posted in General, Kit HistoryTagged Adidas, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kit Log, Kits, Real MadridLeave a comment

The 2018/19 season sees the 20 year partnership between one of the biggest clubs in the world with one of the biggest brands in the world, Real Madrid and Adidas.

I thought I would take a little time to look back over the kits worn through these two decades and some kit highlights.

Adidas became Real Madrid’s kit manufacturer in 1998 taking over from Spanish kit maker Kelme and last month signed the largest Kit Deal seen in the sport with a reported €1.1 Billion (£950 Million) 10 year deal extending their partnership to 30 years.

The Kit Overview

Looking at the home kits, considering Real Madrid never deviate from their traditional all white kits, it is surprising how many changes there have been to the home kit through each season, only in the 1998/99 and 1999/2000 seasons was a kit used for more than one season.

Over the years the famous all white has been trimmed with Black (the most frequently used), Shades of Grey, Yellow, Navy Blue, Royal Blue, Orange, Pink and Aqua / Turquoise, always given us that slight variation from the season before.

However, given the tradition used with the Home Kit, the away kit is different “ball game” altogether. Real Madrid are team that often turn to away kits when playing away from the Santiago Bernabeu, they will always wear away kits when there are clashes of white shorts / socks, think European games at Manchester United for examples.

In the first few years of the Adidas relationship there were very traditional Real Madrid away colours used, Navy Blue, Purple, Black all playing a prominent part of alternative colours in away and 3rd kits.

There was a change in 2007/08 season, the home was highlighted with purple for the first time in this Adidas Era (previous Adidas kits in 80s, Hummel and Kelme had all used purple elements in their home kits), looking at the alternative kits of that season the away was Navy trimmed with Gold and 3rd was a charcoal grey trimmed with neon green.

The next few seasons saw a return to navy, blue, black and purple rotation of away and 3rd kits. In the 2011/12 season saw a new colour introduced by Adidas in the Real Madrid colour palette, red….

In a kit that took inspiration from one worn in the early 1970’s and was a real change from the norm and the start of run of different colours used in Madrid’s alternative kits which with have also seen this season with another red 3rd kit being used.

2011/12 – Red 3rd kit
2012/13 – Green 3rd kit
2013/14 – Orange 3rd kit
2014/15 – Pink Away kit
2015/16 – Two-tone Grey (with Neon highlights) Away kit
2017/18 – Aqua/Turquoise 3rd kit
2018/19 – Two-tone red 3rd kit

In the 2017/18, there was a running theme of aqua used in all three kits, with both home and away kits having aqua highlights on shirt, shorts and socks, the 3rd kit being a Aqua / Turquoise kits (mentioned above).

It seems there has been a shift in the kits created by Adidas and looks like we now always see the traditional all white home kit and then one of the traditional away palette colours (Navy, Black, Blue, Purple) used for one of the alternative kits and the other will be something completely different…. yellow, neon green… who knows what the future holds here.

My 5 favourite Real Madrid Kits

Home kit, 2009/10

I do have this shirt in my collection, all the way from Bernabeu Stadium itself (my shirt below), I really like this shirt, nice collar, subtle yellow trim, it just all works for me.

Home Kit, 2012/13

A simple but classic kit for me, the navy and light blue trim complements the kit perfectly, there is also a shadow pinstripe on the shirt as well.

3rd Kit, 2003/04

The third kit used in the 2003/04 season (David Beckham’s first season with the club) is one of my favourite alternative kits used, the blue/grey shirt, black short and socks, all trimmed with sky blue and gold, just a pleasing kit all round.

Home Kit, 2014/15

This home kit was trimmed with pink and black across shirts, shorts and socks, there was also an additional pink stripe across the back of the shirt above the players name (we can just see it on the above image), another shirt with a shadow pattern, close examination and it is very similar to the pattern used on several Adidas shirts this season.

3rd Kit 2001/02

A kit that I am not sure was ever seen in action, as I can only find digital (Pro Evo) and pictures like the above but this kit from 2001/02 season was one that combined some of the “go to” colours for alternative shirts but the combination of kit, especially with the black socks really works for me.

Please let me know you thoughts of Real Madrid’s Adidas kits over this 20 year period, use the comments below or contact me on Twitter, @Kit_Geek

Black Friday, Black Kits….

Nov 23, 2018Nov 29, 2021Posted in Kit History, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Today, Friday 23rd November 2018 is Black Friday. Once just a tradition in US for sales this is now becoming more and more global.

This is something that we also see in Football Kit design, for a time Black was the rarest of kit colours due to Referees wearing black, floodlights not being powerful enough so black deemed too dark for teams to wear and probably many other reasons….

However that was all about to change, when in the opening game of the 1993/94 season Queens Park Rangers wore their black 3rd kit away at Aston Villa (thank you to Dennis over at Musuem of Jerserys for the information here), this was then followed by Manchester United (see Title Image of this post) introduced their new away kit from Umbro in the 1993/94 season.

So after posting the below this morning on Twitter:

I though I would myself a little challenge, could I find Black away kits worn by the current Premier League teams…. so here we go, 20 Black Kits to look back on (please forgive me as I am not going into too much detail with each kit).

Arsenal:

Arsenal had this Black/Grey kit last season (2017/8) from Puma, the kit was highlighted with Neon Pink.

AFC Bournemouth:

Neon highlights seem all the rage in 2017/8, this kit with Neon Green for Bournemouth by Umbro.

Brighton and Hove Albion:

Another 2017/18 Black and Neon kit, the 3rd kit from Nike for Brighton this one with yellow.

Burnley:

Stepping back a bit further here with Burnley, to 2014/15 kit from Puma.

Cardiff City:

Cardiff City had this black away kit in 2010/11 season from Puma, one of the clubs where a black kit was harder to find over the years.

Chelsea:

Chelsea a team that see black used quite often in their away kit colour palette rotation, I went with this one from 2011/12 season by Adidas.

Crystal Palace:

Black a popular choice last season, so back to 2017/18 season for this Macron kit for Crystal Palace.

Everton:

This one is one of my favourites, proving that neon in kits is not a recent trend, Everton away from 2009/10 season by Le Coq Sportif.

Fulham:

A simple but effective black kit for Fulham from Kappa in the 2011/12 season.

Huddersfield Town:

Huddersfield Town, another team where a black kit was harder to find, they did have this away kit in the 2013/14 season from Puma.

Leicester City:

Back again to 2017/18 season, this time Leicester’s away from Puma was Black and gold.

Liverpool:

One of my favourtie Adidas Liverpool kits here, the 2009/10 away kit. Although Liverpool are another club who we often see in black, this kit with its gold stripes and red trim works the best for me.

Manchester City:

As the money rolled into Manchester City, a black kit from Umbro worn by the likes of Robinho and Carlos Tevez (Above) was used in 2009/10 season.

Manchester United:

The original Black Kit team… Manchester United, again another club where we often see black as chosen kit colour, this one is the away kit from Nike in 2003/04 season.

Newcastle United:

Newcastle United, the historic Black and White stripes, did also turn out last season (popular season for Black kits) in this all black kit, there are shadow stripes also in this 3rd kit giving it that distinctive feel for Newcastle, great kit here from Puma.

Southampton:

Probably the least Black on show here but this is one I really liked from 2017/18 season, Under Armour produced this design for Southampton’s away kit.

Tottenham Hotspur:

There are not many Black kits in the locker for Tottenham Hotspur, this 3rd kit from Puma was the first black kit in the club’s history from 2008/09 season.

Watford:

Watford for me surprisingly have not had a many black away kits over the years, black also playing a prominent part in many of the home kits, but there was this away kit from Puma in the 2015/16 season.

West Ham United:

Another Black and neon combo on show for West Ham from last season (2017/18), just to make sure we got the whole highlighter package, this time blue is the neon colour included by Umbro.

Wolverhampton Wanderers:

Finally to Wolves and again to last season (2017/18) where their Championship winning campaign was supported by this away kit from Puma.

So there we have it, my challenge to find a black kit for each of the current Premier League teams is complete.

As it turns out, from being on of the rarest colours to find for a football kit, black is now probably one of the most common go to colours for kit manufactures when looking at club’s away kits.

Has your team or nation had a Black kit, let me know and let me know any other Black kits that work for you.

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”