For me, this is one of the classic kits of all time. Adidas were certainly enjoying a golden age in the early 80s – especially on the continent – with designs that just don’t seem to have aged. This French home kit had so many really nice features; the non-contrasting collar (adorned with pinstripes), the plunging 70s white inset neck, the dainty adidas logo (minus text) and the low-slung FFF badge. Add to that the standard French tricolore three-stripe trim and you’ve got a real gem of a shirt. The design was worn up until the 1982 World Cup finals when the inset neck was then removed (presumably to keep the players cooler in the Spanish heat), but sadly the overall panache of the design lost something with this change. The only mystery for me looking back is why the socks only had two stripes instead of three?
Worn in: The successful 1982 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Worn by: Michel Platini, Dominique Rocheteau, Jean-Francois Larios.
Nice kit. Love the cool blue of it all. Maybe the white stripe in the middle was considered the third stripe?
France’s last home kit (08-09) had a very retro feel to it and looked great in my opinion…it also had no red on it which was odd for a modern day france kit (though similar to this early 80s one), though I thought it made it look cool.
Edit…
Now I’m on a PC and not my crackberry, I can see the red pinstripes…
Kits like this (and the Euro 84 one) are why I’m sad that France are moving to Nike, the tricolour adidas stripes are so iconic
I’m quite glad of the change as I feel adidas have stagnated in their designs for the France kit recently…ever since they hit on the idea of replicating the 1984 kit for the 98 world cup, nearly every shirt since has had some variation on it. The lastest yet again follows that idea and it’s starting to look tired.
Hello Denis and Rich – I kind of agree with you both. For me adidas and France go together and the tricolore three strips is definitely part of that appeal. But I was disappointed with the 98 kit as well Rich that copied the 84 but added a whole of additional and un-needed fiddly trim. I’m also amazed at how many France kits have come out since the Nike deal was announced!
Same here John…The 2nd to last kit that came out (the all blue with retro collar) I thought was deemed a stop gap till the Nike deal kicked in (similar to Adidas’ short lived Argentina shirt before the 02 WC when the Reebock deal ended) as it seemed to gain no publicity, didn’t seem to be available as a replica anywhere while all sports shops continued to sell the Euro 08 one and also had a kind of rushed feel to it…it didn’t seem to fit in with the post 98 design idea so felt like it was one they’d knocked up to finish off the contract with…next thing you know, the WC10 one comes out…
Very interesting comments on French national shirts of the past 30 years.
I was led to believe the reason the red (and occasionally white) horizontal stripes were repeated was due to Euro ’84s iconic shirt being the first in which Les Bleus won an international tournament. In a respect is has become a self fulfilling prophecy – The ’98 World Cup shirts replicated and updated the ’84 design, whilst the adidas offering for Euro 2000, produced a single red horizontal band. On both occasions the France national side were champions. Superstition plays a significant role in football shirt design, this being but one example.
PS. Who can forget the ’82 World Cup version of John’s illustration being paired with pinstriped shorts! From memory alternate blue and red……….
I have to agree with you John about how its ‘one of the classic kits of all time’ but when it comes down to it i think that this was the best france kit:
http://www.classicfootballshirts.co.uk/International-Teams-European-France/c23_78_89/p135092/1998-France-Home-Shirt-L/product_info.html
having also seen the new France kit it shows great resemblse to the kit of 1998, (proving that it must of been a hit with the French)
Good point Steve, there’s got to be a good reason for the resurrection of that kit in 98. The French national side went into decline after Euro 84 though didn’t they? Funnily enough, the same things kind of happened again in recent years! Yes, the 82 WC version ditched the large white inset and added pinstripe shorts – pinstripe shorts, one fashion trend I hope DOESN’T come back!
Hello Alex, its funny, when I saw the 98 kit in action it just looked too fiddly with too many elements to it. Sometimes a kit looks better without sleeve patches, additional squad numbers etc and sometimes it doesn’t.
beautiful kit,second only to the euro 84 kit.I was also a fan of the french rugby kit around this time(also produced by adidas),not keen on the all blue the french seem to favour these days,but think its more to do with UEFA.
Whats wrong with pin stripe shorts? the Man.Utd ones from 84/86 were great!!
I remember the Utd ones well John!! I don’t know, they just never really gelled with me.
I have the reissue remake of this from Adidas originals along with a Germany 70 one. Brilliant retro shirts