The Football Shirt Collective

Norway were traditionally the weakest of the Scandinavian boys – that was until Egil ‘Drillo’ Olsen took over. He led them to what would historically be calculated as 2^nd in the Fifa world rankings with a style of football that some might call ‘to-the-point’.

As a sort of reverse Brendan Rogers, Olsen believed that breaking through ‘established defences’ was almost impossible, so you might as well stick a big lad on the wing and get it up to him (Jostein Flo). Flo, mocked the traditional size of winger, all whilst looking like a sort of Norwegian David Coulthard.

As a logical progression, Olsen believed that the best way to score was against non-established defences, with rapid, direct counter attacks. This all culimated in a not very exciting to watch 4-5-1 formation that saw Norway beat team after team, much to everyone’s annoyance. Not wanting to dwell on what the Norwegians did to England in the 80s or 90s, let’s concentrate on this shirt from 1998 when they beat the not-so-to-the-point lads from Brazil, 2-1.  Watch it here.  

The top is a classic 98 style with ‘Norge’ printed on the trim for unknown reasons. It’s quite similar to the other Umbro shirt of the time, as worn by England.

Football shirt:  Norway, Umbro, 1998

Olsen is now back in charge of Norway. Interestingly, he used to be (and possibly still is) a Communist, as well as being a formidable bandy player. What’s bandy, you ask? This is bandy!

Where can I get one?  You can order the 2012/13 Norway kit here.

Here are some other kits we thought you might like:

Norway vs Brazil - France 1998

Israel, Adidas football shirt

The Football Shirt Collective - Umbro

We got in touch with Torquay footballer, Craig Easton - who is doing a great feature on his blog about his favourite football kits - to talk Kenny Dalglish, HITACHI and poorly lit motorways.  You check out his blog here.  

What was your first ever football shirt?

The very first kit I ever owned was the Liverpool home shirt from 1979-82 as worn by my boyhood hero Kenny Dalglish and my Dad’s favourite player, Graeme Souness.  I was only 4 when my parents bought it for me on the way back from our holiday in Cornwall and my Mum even sewed King Kenny’s iconic number 7 on the back.

Liverpool, Umbro, 1979-82

It’s a simple design but it just looks so cool and was a kit synonymous with success. The Liverpool team of that era were untouchable, winning League Championships, League Cups and European Cups in one of the clubs most successful spells. Everything about it oozes class, firstly it’s made by Umbro with their logo and the simple liver bird club badge sewn in golden yellow.

Then you’ve got the sponsor, Hitachi (the Japanese electronics company) emblazoned across the chest in white block capitals. Liverpool were the first ever club in history to have a commercial sponsor on their jersey’s and they didn’t muck about. I love the way it looks and I used to liked the sound of the word when I was little.

When Souness smashed one of his 25 yard blockbusters into the top bin and then turned around to celebrate, it was like HITACHI! Take a bit of that! There is one negative though; the material. I don’t know what it was made from but I can only describe it as being a nipple burner. After three hours running about pretending to be Kenny Dalglish, I’ve got to say there was a fair bit of chaffing and even a spot of blood on more than one occasion, but it was well worth it.

What is your favourite ever football shirt?

Borussia Dortmund, Nike, 1997

Die Continental, who sponsored Borussia Dortmund for just over a decade from 1986 until their European Cup victory in ’97, are a German health Insurance giant. And whilst that might be quite a bland sponsor, the symbol was anything but – and neither were the players who wore it.  Matthias Sammer, Andreas Möller, Karl-Heinz Riedle were all some of my favourite German players from the early 90′s, but after Denmark’s shock win at the 1992 European Championships, I had a special admiration for a talented attacking Dane called Flemming Povlsen.  

Ally that to the fact that you wouldn’t miss the kit on a poorly lit motorway in the middle of the night, and I couldn’t wait to spend my pocket money.  I mean, it’s luminous yellow, how good is that!

Over the years Borussia Dortmund have never strayed from their famous bright yellow and black colours, and even though I don’t think the subsequent sponsors have had quite the same visual impact as the big, black C, the club’s colours make the famous ‘Yellow Wall’ inside Signal Iduna Park an amazing spectacle to behold.

If you have a favourite football shirt, let us know on twitter @thefootballsc

Order your vintage Liverpool shirt here

Order your Borussia Dortmund here

Read Craig Easton’s blog  here

The Football Shirt Collective - My favourite football shirt

Ahead of Bradford City’s historic Capital One Cup final at Wembley tomorrow we caught up with Dom from Bantams Banter to talk Bergkamp flicks, 80’s PR attempts and Euro 96.

1.  What is your first ever football shirt? 

Bradford City’s 1987-88 made by Admiral. ‘Bradford Great City’ seems to be some sort of PR attempt rather than a sponsor. I’m not sure there’s a Bradford City fan on the planet that knows what or why it’s on the shirt.

Bradford City, Admiral, 1987/8

2. What is your favourite ever football shirt?  

My favourite ever football shirt is probably more for sentimental reasons than for it’s beautiful design. The Umbro, Euro ‘96 England shirt was not only my first England shirt but represents a time when I fell in love with game. Euro 96 had it all for England, joy, surprises, great goals, great individual performances (Shearer, Gazza) OTT outpouring of emotion (Pearce) and disappointment. This shirt holds all of this within it’s chunky threads.

England, Umbro, 1996

The pictured version is one I acquired a few years ago, I added the badges and had signed by Stuart Pearce. A prized possession.

3. What is your favourite ever goal?

Dennis Bergkamp’s wonderful flick of the ball and turn around Dabizas in 2002 was nothing short of witchcraft. Never have I seen a goal scored with such elegance and such unworldly skills. It’s topped off by his response to a reporter who asked ‘Did you mean to do it?’ to which Bergkamp responded ‘Of course I did.’ Class.  You can watch the goal here.

Got a shirt you would like to share.  Let us know @thefootballsc.

Watch Dom and Tom - Let’s Get Ready for Wembley video here.

Here are some more links we thought you’d like:

Order your Bradford City, Asics, 1999 kit here 
Order your England, Umbro, 1996 shirt here
The Football Shirt Collective - England

As England are prepare for Brazil at Wembley, I take a look back at the famous Brazil kit of 94 and reminisce about Romario toe pokes.   

The 1994 World Cup in America was a massive for me.  Although I loved Italia 90 - I had the honour of painting a cardboard cut out Paul Parker for assembly - I was still quite young and didn’t really understand what was happening.   

By the time USA 94 came around I was a little bit older (4 years to be exact) and obsessed with football.  

USA 94 has a place in my heart as I was introduced to Panini sticker albums - got, got, need - and became obsessed with impersonating Romario in the playground.  

Romario finished the tournament as top goal scorer and introduce the toe poke to millions of kids around the world.  At that point any technique I had went out of the window in favour of an old fashioned tommy toe poke.  

Brazil, Umbro, 1994

At that age, it didn’t bother me that much that England weren’t in the tournament as USA 94 had glamour and excitement.  

For me the kits were class.  I love the Brazil kit.  Classic yellow.  Huge collar and a massive badge.  Notable mentions to bright and bold kits of Columbia,  Mexico and Nigeria.  

What was your favourite kit of USA 94?  Let us know @thefootballsc

Here are some other articles you might like:

Order your Brazil, Umbro, 94 original shirt here

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The Football Shirt Collective - Brazil

My favourite football shirt - Fernando Duarte

We caught up with Michael Park to talk Thierry Henry wonder goals, Le Coq Sportif shirts and Ronaldo.   

What was your first ever football shirt?

I’m a Kilmarnock fan but until I was 8, I was the recipient of many a hand-me-down Rangers shirt but the goalkeeper’s shirt from 1996/97 was the first one that was bought for me. 

Kilmarnock, Le Coq Spotif, 1996 

It was one of those Le Coq Sportif checkerboard affairs that were so popular in the mid-nineties with some pretty heavy duty elbow pads. I remember that the material was so thick and synthetic that it was almost impossible to wear if the ambient temperature was more than about 10 degrees but I adored it.

After extensive searching, this is the best photo that I could get my hands on. In this squad picture from 1996, the shirt’s worn not by my hero- Dragoje Lekovic- but by Colin Meldrum who is now a coach for Celtic’s youth ‘keepers. That’s got to be a worry for them.

What is your favourite football shirt? 

It took me a while to choose but when I thought back to the massive debt of gratitude I owe to James Richardson and Football Italia, I realised that there was only one answer. 

Inter Milan, Umbro, 1997

This was the first Inter shirt that Ronaldo wore and it seemed a little darker than Inter shirts before or since. They were a more ominous proposition that season; with Ronaldo they were like a juggernaut (even though they lost out to Juventus). 

Also, it was the last one before they dropped Umbro for Nike which was pretty much the death of interesting football shirts with Euro 2004 being the pinnacle of their lazy homogenous designs.

The beginning of the ‘golden age’ of Inter coupled with the glorious Pirelli logo, how could I not pick it?

What is your favourite goal?

It has to be Thierry Henry’s strike for Arsenal against Sparta Prague in 2005/06. The goal that would see him surpass Ian Wright’s goal tally and it said everything that needed to be said about Henry.

The long ball from Kolo Toure is immaculate and Henry manages to take Sparta’s entire back line out of the game with one deft touch of his heel allowing him to pull back and take his time.

You can see the defenders begin to realise what’s happening as they try to take up a decent position. Unfortunately when Henry’s about to caress it with the outside of his right foot, there aren’t any decent positions.

Poor buggers. You can see that goal here. 

Here are some other links you might like:

Follow us on twitter @thefootballsc

The Football Shirt Collective - My favourite football shirt

The Football Shirt Collective - Arsenal

We caught up with the guardian’s James Dart to talk dull Everton kits, effortlessly cool Italian shirts and a couple of magnificent Sinclair goals.  

What was your first ever football shirt?

Everton, Umbro

This Everton monstrosity. While being born into the misery that is supporting Plymouth Argyle, a short-lived top-flight glory-supp … soft spot was reserved for Lineker and co. Possibly out of sympathy for this kit.

What is your favourite ever football shirt?

Sampdoria 1990-91, Asics

The blue, the badge, the collar, the maker and even the sponsor. Effortlessly cool.

What is your favourite ever goal?  

In the flesh, Scott Sinclair flying down Underhill for Plymouth vs. Barnet. On television, Trevor Sinclair. The outward curl of the stood-up cross is often overlooked as to just how hard it was to score from that position.

Got a shirt to share on the Football Shirt Collective?  Well it is easy; send us a link to them on twitter or use the #myfavouritefootballshirt # tag, upload them to our facebook page, or pin them on our Pinterest board - and we will publish the best in the collective.

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My favourite football shirt

Everton, Umbro, 1993/4 - Panic in the Boardroom

Trevor Sinclair goal 

Scott Sinclair goal 

After a brief experiment at the beginning of the 20^th century with red and blue in the ‘Southern League’, Stoke City have been straight up red & white stripe fanatics. That is, except for one year in 1983/84. That was the year when they opted for a difficult to describe main section of red pinstripes with full colour sleeves. The effect is pinkish, and frankly looks odd.

Stoke City, Umbro, 1983/4 (as modelled by Mark Chamberlain)

But that doesn’t mean the Umbro shirt can not be admired. What can also be admired was manager Ritchie Barker’s foresight in the summer of 1983 to turn what had been a reasonably successful passing side into a completely unsuccessful long ball team. Barker had been on some sort of summer camp at Lilleshall where they had persuaded him to change Stoke’s style, and despite protestations from the players, Barker pushed ahead with the change. The results were disastrous. 

It took Barker’s sacking to turn round Stoke’s fortunes. Club hero Alan Hudson returned from a stint abroad (including a spell at Cleveland Force) to help former assistant Bill Asprey save the Potters, and Stoke started to play some more conventional floor-based stuff.

But Stoke still needed a result going into the final day of the season to avoid the drop. In the end, they won comfortably, a brace of penalties from top scorer Paul Maguire helping them to a 4-0 win over already relegated Wolves.

Let us return, though, to that heady summer of 1983, when Ritchie Barker’s mind was full of thoughts like ‘big number 9’, ‘big number 10’, and ‘big number 11’. Ritchie’s vision of how the game should be played was ahead of its time, as although the 1980s was a great time for long ball enthusiasts, it is only now that it has truly found its heartland in the Midlands. And so to Barker we dedicate this clip of the Stoke lads showing the boys from West Ham that it doesn’t matter how it goes in, as long as it has spent a lot of time in the air beforehand.

You might note, by the way, that one of those goals is scored by Mark Chamberlain, father of Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-etc. The original Chambo had joined Stoke from hated rivals Port Vale. Asked if he had burned any bridges by leaving Vale, Chamberlain replied, “No not really. Mind you, I wouldn’t. I don’t really have any mates”.

Which is definitely strange. After all, in the photo above you can see Chambo modelling the kit itself above. He certainly seems friendly enough, and I for one wouldn’t have minded taking him out for a pint.

Rob Hogg

Is this Stoke’s greatest ever kit?  Let us know on twitter @thefootballsc

Got a shirt to share on the Football Shirt Collective?  Well it is easy; send us a link to them on twitter or use the #myfavouritefootballshirt # tag, upload them to our facebook page, or pin them on our Pinterest board - and we will publish the best in the collective.

Here are some other articles we thought you may like:

Premiership classics - http://thefootballshirtcollective.tumblr.com/search/premiership
My favourite football shirt - http://thefootballshirtcollective.tumblr.com/search/favourite
Tottenham Hotspur, hummel, 1986/7 - http://thefootballshirtcollective.tumblr.com/post/36140678350/tottenham-hotspur-hummel-1986-87-ossies

Some teams change kits midseason. In the early 90s Newcastle changed
sponsors midseason, switching from Newcastle Brown Ale to McEwan’s Lager.

Newcastle, Umbro, 1991

Change was not confined to the boardroom either.  In the tumultuous season of 1991-92 the Magpies went through three different chairmen, finally settling on Sir John Hall.

Hall sacked Ossie Ardiles and brought Kevin Keegan back into football to take the managerial hotseat. But more interestingly, he also restructured the debts of the club.

The King Kev revolution went down in folklore, as the next season Newcastle won what was then branded as the First Division, and were promoted to what is still currently branded as the Premiership.  Even so, the revolution was actually very close to relegation in those early days.

With only two games left in the season, Newcastle needed two wins. The first they got when David Kelly banged one in with only five minutes to go against Portsmouth  – watch (9:05) until after the game if you want to see David Kelly interviewed whilst dressed as a young Steve Claridge).

It went even more down to the wire against Leicester. This was despite the best efforts of Franz Carr, who according to the commentator in this still had something of a point to prove in the Midlands – although not according to Brian Clough who seemed to have the measure of him, saying that Carr was ‘the best corner flag hitter in the country’.

After a Steve Thompson (Leicester) through ball to Gavin Peacock (Newcastle) for the first, Leicester managed to drag it back on their own terms to 1-1. The Magpies were only saved in the 90th minute, when in a seemingly innocuous position 30 yards from his own goal, Steve Walsh (Leicester) was able to power forward into a one-on-one and smartly finish it under his own onrushing goalkeeper. 2-1 Newcastle, cue enormous pitch invasion at cauldron-like Filbert Street.

More misery would come Leicester’s way the next season, as all-conquering United steamrollered them 7-1 during their cruise to the title.

Please note the extra wide band of white on the shirt. The lines seem
to be arranged in a kind of traffic measurement type device for
measuring speed. Talk of speed brings us back to Franz Carr and
perhaps not coincidentally, the end of this article.

Rob Hogg

Newcastle fans - was this your best ever kit?  Let us know @thefootballsc     

This shirt comes from an era of nostalgia, when people liked City, they were sponsored by Brother, and they had a lovely light background pattern of chevrons. Things went a bit mad with the chevrons in 1991-93, so this kit comes from the first incarnation, with a more  modest City. Which is everyone’s favourite type of City. And following on from that, everyone’s favourite type of manager is the player-manager.

Manchester City, Umbro, 1991

But what exactly goes into making a player-manager? Respect of the dressing room of course. Backing from the board. A few grey hairs don’t go amiss. But what is most important is an ability to play as a very slow defensive midfielder (Ray Wilkins was a wonderful example of this).

Howard Kendall wasn’t a player-manager. But he was in charge of Manchester City for a while, before heading back along the M62 for a second spell at Everton - on leaving, he explained that City was an affair, whilst Everton was his marriage.

Which of course was wonderful news because it meant that Peter Reid could take over as player-manager. Nowadays this would never have happened. Player-managers are a thing of the past. They have been replaced in the public psyche by horrible corporate ghouls, like
Directors of Football. Surely it was better when clubs made large losses whilst having the team being run by a man who was so involved in playing that they were completely unable to make any tactical decisions at all, rather than someone who wears slick business suits and gives those fancy arm wrestling style clasped high fives instead of handshakes.

Having said all that, Reid got two fifth place finishes, before the image of the M62 took control of his mind and City went decidedly  route one, and he got himself sacked.

If you really don’t believe the era of player-managers was a time when magical things could happen, then watch this third City goal against United, as Colin Hendry picks the ball up on the halfway line, rinses Neil Webb, one-twos with Niall Quinn and dinks it over Les Sealey (although it ended as a draw and Kendall was actually still in charge at this point – probably would have won if Reid was managing).

To finish on the players’ front, at the start of the season Paul Lake picked up a seemingly innocuous knee injury. It ended up putting him  out of the game for two years, and effectively ended his career. Lake would go on to be seen as almost mythical figure at Maine Rd, the symbol of an era of what might have been. He didn’t even get a chance to be a player-manager.

If you have some time later today, why not pop into the barber’s and ask for a Swales. 

Is this City’s greatest ever football shirt?  Let us know @thefootballsc 

Have a look at this kit. After more than a century of away shirts based on white and yellow, Everton decided to take on a colour that had one half disturbingly close to the lads from across the Mersey. In retrospect it is easy to see this change as indicative of panic in the boardroom, with the glories of the 80s firmly consigned to the past.

Everton, Umbro, 1993/4

The shirt also captures the twilight years of the long partnership with electronics giant NEC.  It might be worth noting that in 1993 NEC’s asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switching system, the NEAX61 (Nippon Electronic Automatic Exchange) ATM Service Node, went into service in the United States, and perhaps it is no surprise that not everyone’s mind was focussed on the football.

In December, Howard Kendall brought his second spell at the club to an end and was replaced by young hotshot Mike Walker. With the statistically worst ever performing manager in Everton’s history now in charge, the club faltered throughout the campaign and on the last day of the season it looked like their status in the fledgling Premiership was over - a fact apparently confirmed at halftime when they were losing 2-0 to Wimbledon.

It was only due to Graham Stuart and Barry Horne that Everton were able to affect an incredible escape.  But as they did it all whilst wearing the traditional blue kit, it is irrelevant for this blog.

What we have instead is a clip from the previous season with the boys wearing the same away kit at Blackburn. There is high drama in the game, including a goal line controversy following on from some  ‘frantic work by Bobby Mimms’. The Rovers commentator is clearly distraught by the result, although quite where his accent places him in the Ribble Valley is not exactly clear.

Rob Hogg @RobHoggAMLC

Is the black and red Umbro master piece of 1994 Everton’s greatest ever football shirt?  Let us know through twitter @thefootballsc or on facebook. 

You can order the Everton, Umbro, 1992 kit here

In our countdown to the start of the new season Rob Hogg takes a look at another Premiership classic.  This time around it is Chelsea’s timeless grey and orange away, Umbro shirt.  

Chelsea home kits have rarely ventured far beyond ‘blue’. The Stamford Bridge faithful are clearly a humble lot. But take them away from West London and they start to show their true colours.

From the early 80s until well into the 90s, a bout of insanity took over the Umbro factory, and they churned out psychedelic kits for an era synonymous with the names Nevin, Hazard, Durie. The crowning achievement came with the 1994-96 away kit, a eye blenderingly bad combination of orange and slate grey.

Chelsea, Umbro, 1994-6

For some time, the lads in the kitroom were offering the only fireworks at Chelsea, a series of mid table finishes dampening the effects of the Commodore / Umbro combination. The tide looked like it might turn though when Ian Porterfield had the distinction of being the first manager to be sacked in the Premier League and was replaced by Glenn Hoddle.  Hoddle led the team to the FA Cup Final and it looked like they might push on to greater things.

This shirt captures a time of frustrated potential. In 1994-95, Chelsea failed to capitalise on their previous season, and went out to Real Zaragoza in the Cup Winners’ Cup.  Changes were made, Hoddle’s ambition being to match performance to shirt. Mishit Robert Fleck was released, replaced by Mark Hughes. And at the other end, in came Ruud Gullit, saying he wanted to play sweeper.

Things didn’t work out in that position, Gullit discovering that his new teammates were not quite up to the levels of AC Milan:

“I would take a difficult ball, control it, make space and play a good ball in front of the right back, except that he didn’t want that pass. Eventually Glenn said to me, ‘Ruud, it would be better if you do these things in midfield’”

Was Gullit talking about Erland Johnsen? Or Frank Sinclair? Or Terry Phelan?  Or Michael Duberry? Or Jakob Kjeldbjerg?  It is hard to say.  As it was, the season finished less than spectacularly in 11th, and Chelsea went out of the FA Cup at the semi finals stage. Nevertheless, the signings of such big name players at Chelsea was a watershed moment in English football.

The orange/grey kit was discontinued after this season, and enough was enough for Glenn Hoddle, whose consistent ability to draw mid table positions from the team saw him given the England manager’s job, a tradition admirably continued by the FA with the likes of Steve McClaren and Roy Hodgson. 

In this clip, enjoy the kit and watch Ruud successfully completing a pass to an eager right back. 

Was this Chelsea’s greatest ever football shirt?  Let us know through twitter @thefootballsc or on facebook.