The lack of domestic football has had quite an affect on me. Occasionally I find myself emerging from a tube carriage, controlling an imaginary ball, performing a step-over and sweeping it past the good looking lady in the pencil skirt. At other times I find myself praying to the Gods, either old or new, for […]
The Best Kits Spurs Have Ever Dropped
The lack of domestic football has had quite an affect on me. Occasionally I find myself emerging from a tube carriage, controlling an imaginary ball, performing a step-over and sweeping it past the good looking lady in the pencil skirt. At other times I find myself praying to the Gods, either old or new, for a doping ring to be discovered at Arsenal, however on occasion I do find time to do something constructive.
In this football famine I have devoted my time to reading books on Spurs, and last week I finished Roy Reyland’s excellent: Shirts, Shorts and Spurs.
Roy is a former kit man at Spurs who has been associated with the club since the 70’s. He started life as an odd job man/groundsman before eventually taking charge of the first team kit. It’s a great book and full of nice anecdotes from playing football with Steve Perryman, pool with a young Mickey Hazard, to watching Gazza run riot with an air-gun, dealing with an OCD Robbie Keane and being knee deep in the Lasagne gate aftermath.
This great book got me thinking, not only when are Spurs and Under Armour dropping the new kit, but also what has been my favourite shirt?
Of course trying to pick just one would be too difficult, it’s like deciding between Gareth Bale or Chris Waddle, so instead I have gone all chicken and picked a selection.
1991-1994 3rd Kit Umbro
There was a time when Spurs or any English team for that matter didn’t appear in Europe. However after claiming the FA Cup in 1991, Tottenham found themselves in Cup Winners Cup and they launched a special Euro kit to mark the event.
It may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but for me I loved the light blue colour and the Spurs name across the chest.
Yes it was probably a waste of money as we hardly ever wore it, but I loved that shirt and the fact it signalled we were back in Europe.
1999-2001 Home Kit Adidas
After years of Hummel, Umbro and god forsaken Pony, Spurs finally had a world famous kit manufacturer. Adidas with their iconic three stripes down the arm and smart shorts, coupled with the return of Holsten, ticked all the right boxes.
Tottenham were Worthington Cup champions and even back in Europe. Our Euro adventure however didn’t last long, a Stephen Carr 92nd minute OG away at Kaiserslauten ended our dreams.
However despite an average domestic season there were some highlights, we beat Arsenal at home, and thanks to a Carr wonder goal at the right end, we beat Man United 3-1.
2010-2011 Home Kit Puma
This is the kit that has been immortalised by Bale’s destruction of Maicon, however a few months previous it could have been totally different.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ued4-xzgoho
Stood in a pub in Old Street with my fellow Spurs supporting friends, our dreams of Champions League football were in tatters after only 30 minutes. Switzerland, Young Boys, a plastic pitch and some amateur defending threatened to make us a laughing stock.
Thankfully though, we recovered and made it through to the quarter finals where Real Madrid, with the help of Aaron Lennon fainting, two Peter Crouch slide tackles and a flap by Heurelho Gomes ended our journey.
That Puma kit was beautifully tailored and suited our attacking, bordering on occasional suicidal European form.
1988-1991 Away Kit Hummel
We all remember Gazza’s freekick at Wembley in the Hummel kit, but for me it was his goal on the plastic pitch at Kenilworth Road in 1989 against Luton that burned this Hummel yellow kit into my mind. It was a classic breakaway goal, defenders back peddling, options either side but Gazza just slides between two men and rolls it home.
In our squad that season were also Chris Waddle, Gary Linker and Mabbutt and Erik Thorstvedt, enough for any young boy to fall helplessly in love with Spurs.
2012/2013 Under Armour ?????
What do we all want from this year’s kit? A return to navy shorts? A brown away number?
Personally as long as the third grey/black number is ditched and we have a number 9 shirt with a class strikers name on the back, I will be happy.
All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.
12 Comments
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26/06/2013 @ 2:34 pm
I want a return to Navy shorts and socks like we wore in the Double era. Reverse the colours for the away kit and all yellow third strip.
26/06/2013 @ 3:10 pm
Well, that’s a nice idea, but I’m not so much of a fan to see our players looking like big bird. Reminiscent of the hideous Norwich kit in some ways. The color looks like puke… no offense to Norwich, I don’t mind them but I don’t like their ugly kit and colors. However, I would go with it just to see if it inspires the lads to hunt down teh glory days of yester year. Well said.
26/06/2013 @ 2:40 pm
ROFLOL! The fact that you dug up all this information about favourite SPURS kits shows me you’re a true fan. For me, the Addidas/HOLSTEN kit was my personal favourite. You could see a lot of effort and style being placed in the creation of this beautiful kit. The stripes, the polo collar and the navy shorts was awesome. The blue away jersey was pretty nice too. I miss the HOLSTEN-Addidas team up. I am happy to hear us being mentioned as a big team again and hope we can make key signings long before deadline day so teh lads can settle in and become a cohesive unit. The penny-pinching stuff is what gets me, and if we know anything about footballers, CL is important, but getting paid and transfer fees talk. If we can spend £45 – £60m pounds and purchase two super-stars worth anything between £17 and £22m and offload some dead-wood, we won’t only be battling for 4th spot, we’d be battling for 1st. We have teh mindset and the coach, now we need some key additions and that would entice Bale to stay, as he would see we’re heading in the right direction. Then, our 3rd kit can be a classic kit, the return of the white and navy HOLSTEN-Addidas kit. Superb. COYS!
26/06/2013 @ 2:50 pm
Lilly white shirts, navy shorts, navy socks, navy away and purple for the third kit.
26/06/2013 @ 3:11 pm
Not a shabby idea. Purple? I think we would look special being different.
26/06/2013 @ 4:18 pm
The Adidas kit after the one above was my favorite – plain navy shorts (no stripes), V neck and no
collar also the light blue away kit from the same season (immortalised when Rebrov cane on in the 1st half at Bolton and was then subbed by Hoddle in the 2nd half, after missing a sitter).
Le Coq Sportif 1981 cup final kit next, V neck and the badge in the centre of the chest, below the ‘V’ A couple of the Kappa kits were nice too. The second Kappa kit, all white, no blue trim and navy shorts. Also the first Kappa away kit Navy blue with the black sleeves. Nice kits but not for fat boys
26/06/2013 @ 4:29 pm
This may sound crazy but I wouldn’t mind a red third kit….. All red shirt with navy shorts and socks, same design that we wore in the 1920’s so it doesn’t look too much like the scum kit. Don’t kill me!
My personal favourite is the white Adidas-Holsten kit followed closely by the blue Umbro-Holsten with spurs written in lines as above followed closely again by the yellow Umbro-Holsten shirt that has what has been described as a patch of bird s***e on the right (as you would wear the shirt, left if looking face on) shoulder. Something about all our shirts that have Holsten written on them that I love, no matter if Le Coq Sportif, Hummel Adidas or Umbro. They were all lovely shirts.
Another colour scheme I really liked was the 97-98 Pony-HP away kit but obviously without the word Pony written any where on the shirt!
Your comment “Gareth Bale or Chris Waddle”…. Waddle all day long and twice on Sundays. Bale may have had a few good seasons but until he commits to spurs I won’t be convinced that he won’t leave the club at the first sniff of a “bigger club” making advances.
Plus Waddle is English and even though the England team are disappointing (and the country isn’t much better at the moment) I still love England and most things England.
Talking of England…. What do people make of the England shirt now being made by an American company? I have nothing against America by the way but I am a firm believer that any national team should have their kits made by a clothes manufacturer from their country. The English rugby team have commited this sin too!
Naughty in my own humble opinion.
26/06/2013 @ 6:45 pm
Martyn; nice comments. However for your last statement; do you not believe the best or most suitable manufacturer should provide the kits whether local or foreign? I believe there are kits on display from different manufacturers and the best looking most well designed one based on criteria including durability and fit is selected. There are especially some countries who would not do well at all in attempting to manufacture and design their own kits. Just my opinion though, but I do see where you’re coming from.
27/06/2013 @ 12:21 pm
Well umbro was owned by nike for years until recently anyway…that’s the only way they could afford to keep the england contract, so….
On a separate note, i think the 85-87 shirt is amazeballs, would love to have been young enough to see hoddle in his pomp.
http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Tottenham_Hotspur/Tottenham_Hotspur.htm
Yellow away 91-94 also a great number, if not classic in style
http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Tottenham_Hotspur/Tottenham_Hotspur-change-kits.html
27/06/2013 @ 7:59 am
I personally loved the Puma home kit (CL season) as mentioned above. Aside from the CL memories, I just think it’s the best kit we’ve had in my 25 years supporting the club.
Having said that, despite it looking a bit like a USA/Germany kit, I really like the simplicity of the new England kit. Something simple along those lines for the home strip, reverse it for the away strip (similar to last seasons away) and then and then all black for the third kit (or anything except the monstrosity that was this years 3rd kit).
27/06/2013 @ 11:48 am
How come no-one has mentioned the stretchy ’05 Kappa kit… Was the perfect kit for Andy Reid !!! :)
27/06/2013 @ 4:11 pm
Gyms made a fortune when Spurs launched this kit. I bought a top and it served as motivation to shed a few kgs.
If the government wants kids to eat better and parents to stop shopping at Iceland, they should get Kappa to make school uniforms for the whole country.