Well – the end of another season! Sorry to see the departure of Newcastle and Middlesbrough (plus West Brom of course) from the PL but looking forward to seeing Birmingham and Wolves back and of course Burnley for the first time in many many years. I love Burnley kits and when I helped judge the 2007 Football League Awards I nominated their superb all amber away kit which ended up the deserved winner.
Shame to see big clubs like Norwich, Charlton and Southampton drop down to League 1 though. Wasn’t long ago when all of them were in the PL. I hope Saints get themselves out of the financial pickle the’re in. Anyone who followed football in the 80s will remember what a cracking, entertaining side they had back then.
And now its that special time when the eagerly awaited new season kits to appear! I wonder if teams make a big event of launching kits to a big fanfare to keep interest in the club going in the close season? Bit of a disappointment not to see the new Everton Le Coq Sportif kit in action in the Cup Final – I wasn’t sure of it to be honest on first glance (I’m sure you all know that it is a replica of the club’s iconic early 80s Le Coq outfit) but the more I see of it the more it grows on me.
There’s also some more superb designs emerging from Nike (Aston Villa away, Arsenal away) and Umbro (Blackburn home). 09-10 looks like being a vintage season for kits with some of the staleness of recent years blown away with a new crop of fresh ideas and brave designs. I’ll be bringing them all to you in True Colours style very soon.
A quick visit to the 08-09 kits page will reveal that at long last I have finished the 08-09 kits for the domestic clubs I included in True Colours 1 and 2. Sorry its taken so long, I think adding the backs of the shirts along with names, squad numbers etc meant my workload was increased. Still, at least they are there now – almost before the end of the season as well.
As well as adding the final kits (all the clubs beginning with ‘W’ basically) I also completed a few third kits that were worn later in the season namely Aston Villa’s white away (brought back from 07-08), Birmingham’s title clinching all-red away, also revived from 07-08 and the return of the infamous chocolate brown kit back to Coventry (thanks for the photos Rich). The kit, a modern interpretation of arguably one of the most talked about strips in history, was launched to mark the 125th anniversary of the club. Only 1,125 replicas were made and were quickly snapped up. The strip was worn in the club’s final home game of the season against Watford which ended in 3-2 defeat for the Sky Blues (or should that be the Chocolate Browns?).
Although through its stylish blending with the club’s traditional colour its a great looking design, it did not find favour with Coventry boss Chris Coleman who stated “I am not one for all this nostalgia…we don’t wear a brown kit at home, we wear blue.” Makes you wonder who actually makes the decision about such matters doesn’t it? I know many of you feel strongly about the culture of premiering new kits in the last game of the season and although its something I love, I do agree with Chris Coleman to an extent that if you’re playing at home you should wear your home colours.
To read the full article including Coleman’s comments click here.
I soon hope to add the following features to the site:
Illustrations of 09-10 kits
Updates for all the home international kits
A new Melchester Rovers kit addition (thanks Nathan)
A feature on the team I consider to consistently have the best away kits (any guesses?)
Several mini-features on memorable kit periods in a team’s history
Plus some brand new kit histories featuring clubs not included in my books
I was also delighted to recently receive the first set of Danbury Mint Liverpool kit badges (I wrote about them earlier here) and will be photographing them for inclusion on the site soon.
Finally, a massive thank you to all of you visiting the site. Numbers are up each month and I am absolutely delighted so many of you find yourself here and hopefully come back again. Cheers!
Hi John, fantastic works as usual and seeing as it is my Birthday in a few weeks I should finally have your books! That Coventry kit is a bit of a let down in my opinion, it may be brown but it’s nothing like the classic kit from Admiral all those years back.
My beloved West Ham launched their new away kit the other day to a mixed reception. It’s a nice enough kit but doesn’t have any West Ham feel to it, I wondered what your thoughts were.
Looking forward to new stuff.
Is the club Man City? They seem to change away colours quite often, invariably reverting to some classic from the past every few seasons.
Thanks for all the hard work you put into this site John.
I liked the Cov brown kit (unsurprisingly I suppose) and prefer it to the original which, while infamous, was a tad bland in just brown n white. I like the blue flashes on the 09 version.
As for previewing new kits at the end of the season, I’m all for it, especially in a cup final. Provides a nice link between this season and the next and gives a spark of interest on a day when most clubs’ season is already over.
Looking forward to seeing the 09/10 kits on here too.
Just seen the new Everton kit…have to say I love it! Kits seem to be (like high street fashion) harking back to the 80s right now and that’s fine by me…ah nostalgia!
Speaking of brown on kits, what’s with the brown socks on Italy’s Confederations Cup kit? Seemingly it’s for aesthetic reasons alone…
Consistently best away kits? As a Leeds fan it galls me to say it but it must be Huddersfield Town.
I quite like the combination of brown and blue (reminds me of a pair of trainers I once had!) – I think thats why I like the Coventry kit.
I’ll be adding my favourite away kit club later today…
best away kits? mmmm at a guess i’d say aston villa.Tje everton kit is a poor version of the mid 80’s classic i have to say,the collar just isnt right.
Didn’t know you were a Leeds fan Mark!
There are some things it’s better not to talk about given the present situation!!! Admitting you’re a Leeds fan these days is right up there with David Beckham admitting to wearing Vickie’s smalls.