Football – Page 30 – Football Kit Geek

Kit Log – World Cup, Mexico 1986

Mar 13, 2018Mar 15, 2018Posted in World Cup Kit LogTagged England, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Mexico, Soccer, world cup3 Comments

The Greatest ever kit (?) and hooped shorts….

In 1986 24 teams headed to Mexico, who stepped in to host the tournament when Colombia where no longer able to host the 13th World Cup and the first nation to host the tournament for a second time. As in 1970 the heat was a factor into the style of shirts worn by the nations taking part with lighter fabrics and even the return of some Airtex Shirts, yes Argentina I am talking about you…

A format change from the previous tournament and one that is the basis of the tournament that we see today, six groups of four teams with top two from each group qualifying and the four best third placed teams also qualifying for second round, for those that can not remember that far back (lucky you), think Euro 2016 and you will have an idea of the format.

One thing to call out straight away is Scotland’s shorts, as far as I can remember the only hooped shorts to grace the international arena and for me probably my favourite shorts ever, in fact this whole Scotland kit from Umbro is a thing of beauty.

The second highlight…. Denmark, a pair of kits that always gets a mention in the “Greatest Kit” debates, but more on that to come….

Other kits that deserve honourable mentions, France followed up their classic 1984 kit which we seen rebooted several times over the years with an under-rated pair of kits, another unique pair of Algeria kits, however this time with a Red Away kit. Iraq with a Sky Blue / Yellow kit collections, I believe these kits where chosen as lucky colours rather than being linked to history.

The eventual winners Argentina also had two classic kits, each taking their place in history with two of the greatest goals seen in World Cup History in Quarter Final against England (Away Kit) and the Semi Final against Belgium (Home Kit).

Denmark – Who wore four different variations of their classic kit, maybe one of the reasons it became so famous was its inter-changeability (if that is a word????)

England – The Quarter Final against Argentina is my first memory of watching a World Cup game, the 9 year old me was in awe of the whole spectacle, the memory of the giant spider shadow on the centre circle, Gary Lineker’s goal and that cross by John Barnes that seemed destined to be put away for Lineker’s 7th goal of the tournament but no… 6 goals for my hero and an exit from the tournament but this kit left a mark on me, for those who follow me on Twitter will know my love of England in Sky Blue and this my friends is the reason why….

Oh and I did not mention the Hand of God once….. oops!

Premier League Kit Log – 30 Game Update

Mar 13, 2018Mar 13, 2018Posted in Premier League Kit LogTagged EPL, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Premier League, SoccerLeave a comment

Monday 12th March, has now seen each club in the Premier League hit the 30 game barrier for the 2017/18 season and here is the an update on the kits worn so far this season….

In terms of the stats around kits used….

Home Kit – 72% (65% full home kit, 7% Home kit variation)

Away Kit – 18% (14% full away kit, 4% Away kit variation)

3rd Kit – 10% (9% full 3rd kit, 1% 3rd kit variation)

Kit Log – World Cup, Spain 1982

Mar 12, 2018Mar 23, 2018Posted in World Cup Kit LogTagged 1982, Admiral, England, Football, Football Kits, Kit Geek, Kits, Soccer, Spain, world cup1 Comment

With the next World Cup just around the corner and over the next few weeks we will see the full complement of kits that will grace this tournament, I thought I would take some time and revisit some previous tournaments, starting with Spain 1982.

The tournament took place between 13th June 1982 and 11th July 1982, now from here I will not waste any of your time with the references to the games and the eventual winners Italy (or the controversy that surrounded the team before the tournament), those details can be found elsewhere and in much detail and accuracy than I could provide, all we are looking at here are the kits…. who wore what and against whom!

So my friends, I give you The World Cup, Spain 1982…

One thing to note about the tournament was the format, this was very different to what we see now, in this version of the World Cup the initial group stage (six groups of four teams) was then followed by second group phase that saw four groups of three teams with the winners of each group progressing to the Semi-Finals.

In terms of kits, you will notice a lot of pin-striped kits, most of these where Adidas kits and something of a popular template of the era and took us from the very plain kits of the 70s into a more vibrant age of football kit design. A couple of things that immediately spring to my mind when creating this log was the use of different kits in the same colour for a couple of countries. Both New Zealand and Czechoslovakia had both plain and pinstripe white kits over the course of their participation of the tournament.

England, not only did they remain unbeaten in the tournament but also had one of their iconic kit designs, which is instantly recognisable to football fans and was arguably a high point in the kit designs of Admiral.

There was also some interesting kit designs from Algeria and Belgium, who sported the classic tramline kit from Admiral, however this was transitional period for kit design with many countries including winners Italy remaining faithful to their historical kits and keeping it simple, however that was all about to change…..

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……!