With all the fuss surrounding Ireland’s controversial failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup it may have escaped people’s notice that a small country at the bottom of the world have qualified for their first World Cup since Spain 1982. Yes, thanks to a 1–0 win over Bahrain, New Zealand’s ‘All Whites’ (would it have been better to have them play in black like their famous rugby counterparts, or is that too sacred?) will be in South Africa next year.
Their kit for the qualifying campaign was the standard Nike template worn in yellow as Fulham’s third kit last season. The sharp eyed amongst you will also recognise it as the design I chose for the official Nike ‘True Colours’ shirt, so obviously its a favourite design of mine.
With most of my family now living in New Zealand I will certainly be cheering the All Whites next year.
Worn in: The Asia/Oceania World Cup play-off 1–0 win over Bahrain. The winning goal scored by Plymouth Argyle’s Rory Fallon.
Worn by: Ivan Vicelich, Ben Sigmund, Tim Brown.
nice simple kit that,the 82 kit was adidas wasnt it? didnt scotland play new zealand in the 1986 play-off too didnt they?
No, it was the perennial playoff contenders Australia. Bar 1990 qualification when Israel finished ahead, Australia have always been at least 1 playoff match up from the finals; usually against Europe or South America.
Yes, Scotland scraped through against Australia in 85. I seem to remember Frank McAvennie scoring. You’re right John, that 82 kit was a classic, white with black V neck and adidas three stripes. Scotland won 5-2 but even letting in two goals was viewed as a disaster by the media.
Thanks John for noticing what was the biggest sporting news in NZ for the last few years. It was a fantastic event with most sporting commentators saying that it was the best crowd EVER in NZ. It’s a little bit of a shame about the kit. A bit boring for my tastes. I really liked their 1999 and 2002 adidas kits better. But hey, that’s progress for you. Would love to see the All Whites drawn with England. Now that would be an interesting prospect.
How about this group: England (top seed), USA, Australia, New Zealand.
The basic rule of differing confederations (outside of UEFA) can be applied, however the rule that ‘the remaining 24 teams will be divided into 3 pots [Pot A has the top seeds] based on geographical and sporting factors’ will probably make it unlikely. A better guess can be made on Dec 2 when the organising committee meets and make its final decision.
Those two goals were just magical moments for us Kiwis. The fact that they cost Scotland a place in the next round made them even more significant. NZ used a different strip in the following game against the USSR. It had black pinstripes. They then resorted to the original kit for the Brazil game.
I didn’t realise that about the change in kit Barri. Interesting – kits were pretty inconsistent even as recent as the early 80s then. I remember the goals well. I watched the match with my brother in law who’s from Wellington and was proudly sporting an NZ top.
Did you see my little feature on the Youngheart Manawatu kit?
http://www.truecoloursfootballkits.com/truecolours/replica-jerseys-vs-supporters-jerseys
From that article, you are absolutely right about replica kits not being huge in NZ. However, in Wellington (home of the Phoenix A-League team) the amount of replica kits you see in the street are increasing. I’m a primary school teacher and there a loads of kids wearing replica EPL kits. Must cost them a fortune!
nice and stylish that might be my world cup team. SORTED
on the subject of kit colours im facinated by nations choices(far more then clubs choices) for home,away,3rd kits plus goalie 1st and change kits. most nations pick there colours from the national flag and make sense e.g france,hungary,all the scandinavia teams(bar the lack of red socks for iceland!) and brazil. in the case of new zealand away kits they played new caledonia (grey tops with red red shorts and socks)last year or two sporting an all black away kit and i seem to remember also an all blue away kit a year or two before that against wales who werent in all red for some reason!?! New zealands football team seems to be unigue as i think the o.d.i cricket,rugby league and hockey team play in all black all though the change kit for the rugby union team is white shirts at least. sad i know all of this but like i say it intrests me!
When I was last in New Zealand I remember their away kit was all blue – but it was the most vivid shade of blue I’d ever seen! I’d like to see the side in black to be honest – NZ and black are just so associated now it seems daft not to use it.
I remember being at that Wales v NZ match, we wore our brand new third kit (white with green and red) and they wore blue with gold trim. It was a really poor game and we were absolutely rubbish (let in 2 very bad goals).
Prior to that, NZ had a blue away kit with red trim and shorts – apparently something to do with trying to get the colours to resemble the national flag. It looked rather odd to be honest.
I have seen pictures of NZ wearing all red when England went down there in the early 90s.
Are you sue it wasn’t the other way round Amir? I’ve found pics of England wearing red whilst playing NZ in that period.
England came down in 1991. They played two games. The first game was played in their away kit of red shirts and dark blue shorts. The second game was played in their usual home kit. New Zealand did wear red for that game. I quite liked their black adidas kits worn between 1999-2003. Very smart and classy. Just a straight reverse of the home kit.
Thanks for clearing that up Barri. I like the sound of the black addias kits. Any idea if the team will have a new kit for the World Cup?
I guess with NZ being such a small nation, we don’t get priority in Nike’s kit designs. Most are based on the current Nike template. It would be nice to think that they would come up with something new.
Their best Nike kit would have to be their 2004 kit similar to those worn by Holland and Portugal at Euro 2004. They were the T90 design I think.
I have been trying to collate an All Whites kit history but photos are very hard to come by due to the fact that football (has been in the past) a fairly minor sport. Seeing that you have a connection with NZ now, it may be a little side project to have a go at.
Hello Barri, have you seen this link (in fact was it you that started the thread on COF!?):
http://www.colours-of-football.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7532&hl=
Pretty good collection of kits – I like the Le Coq Sportif one.
I have just finished a full set of NZFL kits and will post them soon. Real mixture of styles, some old, some new.
Yep…I tried to find as many as I could to post on CoF. Funnily enough if you check back on that link, I found the Ribero kit they wore around 1993-1994. Very interesting kit and quite unusual. But not as bad as the Australian “vomit” shirt that was worn in a World Cup qualifier where the Ribero shirt was worn. Check out the following You Tube clip to see the shirt in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtRBakqQVBI
Another curiosity is in an 1985 World Cup qualifier against Australia, the All Whites wore light blue socks.
Look forward to the NZFC kits. Once you see the Ribero one you might be tempted to add that to your Kit Cupboard.
Thanks Barri – that Ribero one is smart! Very similar as you say to the Norwich/Coventry kits that were around at the time.
There are some leaked designs of the All Whites kit for the World Cup. Pretty plain…but I guess they are the All Whites.
http://www.football-shirts.co.uk/fans/new-zealand-201012-shirts-designs_6078
Thanks for that Barri – I’ve been looking out for pics all week. I’m off to NZ in May and was hoping to pick one up. I have to say I’m a little disappointed. Doesn’t seem much flair there – and it follows a pretty rigid template for Nike’s other WC kits doesn’t it? Maybe it will look better in the flesh. Not sure where these leaked pics come from originally – they certainly don’t do the kits justice IMO.
Hi, great site.
John Devlin you wrote ‘I’d like to see the side in black to be honest – NZ and black are just so associated now it seems daft not to use it.’ But not for football, the very first New Zealand side in 1904 wore white shirts and black shorts, as did the 1905 side. NZ’s first choice colours during the 1981-82 World Cup qualifiers were white shirts and black shorts to start with, later changing to white shorts. I say stick to white, leave black for rugby.
You also wrote ‘Football is very much a minority sport with a small but devoted following’ on the Youngheart Manawatu page. Sorry I would have to disagree with you there. For many years now the number of footballers in this country has outnumbered rugby (198,757 footballers to 139,968 rugby players). Even when I was at school, 26 years ago, the number of footballers at my school outnumbered rugby players by about 4 to 1, and I went to a so-call rugby mad school! The biggest single sports crowd last year was the 35,194 that watched the All Whites beat Bahrain (see also Barri’s comments above). The biggest crowd so far this year is the 32,941 that watched Wellington Phoenix beat Newcastle Jets 3-1, compare this to the biggest crowd this year for the Wellington Hurricanes rugby team (20,248) and you will see that football is not the minority sport that people believe it is. The big difference between the two sports are the amount of media coverage each one gets. The media in this country are obsessed with rugby. Also your average football fan in this country will most likely support a British club rather than a local one, although Wellington Phoenix is the exception.
Hello John – thanks for you’re fascinating comments. Funnily enough I’ve just come back from a holiday in NZ and can see that a lot of what you say is true. Although I would still like to see the football team in black from a consistency point of view so that all NZ sport is associated with black I do take your point on the NZ ‘uniqueness’ of white. During my recent visit I was also aware of media obsession with rugby. My family recently attended a Hurricanes match in Wellington and I was surprised at how low the attendance was for a Super 14 game. And especially at grass roots level I saw plenty of evidence that football was the game to play and it did make me wonder just how popular rugby still was there. But looking at the NZFC games attendances are still very low – perhaps it could be that the organisations/clubs aren’t doing enough to promote the game? I see updates on the YHM site are very erratic and out of date. Perhaps it would make a difference if replica shirts weren’t so expensive? Replicas are a great way of promoting and marketing a club within the community – although the YHM shirts are pretty reasonable they didn’t seem to be stocked in local shops. It would be a great way to get fans behind their local football team. The All Whites shirts (like rugby shirts) are massively expensive though.
Hi John, I hope you enjoyed your stay here and it wasn’t too wet for you!
NZ one-day cricket team now wears black, but in the past they have worn brown, blue, teal (sort of bluey green), silver/grey etc. So I am not sure if the cricket team have a traditional colour. And for me white is the traditional colour for our Football team.
Yes football jerseys are massively expensive over here. I have seen the All Whites World Cup shirt for $150 (approx £72). Although walking around the town where I live, there are loads on people walking around in English football shirts.
Yes you are right, NZFC games are not well attended, but loads of people watch English football on Sky TV. Also if you think that the Super 14 is not well attended, wait until you see a NPC (our domestic rugby tournament) game. It’s not so much of spot the ball, but spot the crowd!
Thanks for clearing that up Barri. I like the sound of the black addias kits. Any idea if the team will have a new kit for the World Cup?