Manchester United ‘Munich’ Kit
Posted by John Devlin
For anyone in doubt about the powerful symbolism and importance of football shirts the news from Old Trafford that Manchester Utd will wear a special one-off memorial shirt for the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster against Manchester City in February’s derby may just change their minds. The shirts, which have been specially authorised by the Premier League, will feature no sponsorship or manufacturers logos or player names/numbers - just like the shirts worn by the Busby Babes all those years ago. City’s shirts will do likewise. Its a great gesture by Nike, AIG, Le Coq Sportif and Thomas Cook to agree to the one-off change. Let’s hope the day goes well.
Crystal Palace White Away Shirt(s)
Posted by John Devlin
As all Eagles fans will testify, the club have in the past never been shy of donning a plethora of superfluous kits throughout a single season (see True Colours Vol 2 for proof of this). This year is no exception, as the club’s recent match against Southampton left the fans scratching their heads when the side ran out sporting a white away shirt that was notably different from their regular white shirt launched at the beginning of the season. It turns out that the Eagles’ white shirt (which also features a large asymmetrical red strip down one side) was deemed by officials to be just too close for comfort to Southampton’s traditional red and white striped jersey. Palace’s solution was to turn to their plain white training shirts and adapt them with names, numbers and Football League badges thereby creating an anomaly and a target for all Palace shirt collectors.
Competition Winner
Posted by John Devlin
Thanks again to everyone who entered the competition to win a signed double pack edition of both True Colours books. There were loads of entries but the winner (as selected at random by my 15 month old daughter) was…Andrew Rockall. Congratulations Andrew, the books will be on their way to you shortly.
There will be a new competition very shortly so visit the site again soon.
Wales updates
Posted by John Devlin
Updates to the Wales section of True Colours Volume 2 have just been posted on the Updates page. It expands on the country’s Hummel era of the late 80s and also includes the most recent Kappa strips.
Thank you…
Posted by John Devlin
Wow! I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has visited the site since its relaunch (enough to crash it temporarily!) and to those who have sent messages of support. Its really appreciated and I’m flattered so many of you have enjoyed my books and want to let me know. For those of you who haven’t seen the two volumes of TRUE COLOURS that are currently available, why not enter the competition to win a signed slipcased double pack. I’ll be drawing a winner at random on Christmas Eve. Good luck and thanks again.
The impact of England’s failure
Posted by John Devlin
It seems like England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008 is upsetting more than just the country’s dedicated supporters. Long term kit suppliers Umbro have issued a warning saying it expects ’substantial reduction’ of sales of England replica shirts following the defeat to Croatia that spelt the end of the country’s Euro 2008 dreams. Sales of the famous white shirts have struggled in the past year and that was BEFORE the side’s disappointing climax to the qualifying campaign. Its a far cry from last year’s World Cup extravaganza when Umbro reported record sales of England replicas.
Although rumours have it that England will still wear Umbro even if Nike are successful in their planned takeover of the company, its possible that this news could pave the way for the famous swoosh logo to appear on the chests of the England side sooner rather than later.
Click here to view some of Umbro’s classic England kits from the past or see the full England kit history since 1980 in True Colours Volume 2.
Black away kits
Posted by John Devlin
I’ve just had a quick check through and I may be wrong but in the last two seasons every club that has played in the Premier League has had a black or very dark blue/navy away/third kit except for Arsenal and Middlesbrough (who have had their fair share of black kits in the past). I’m sure that in the lower leagues the penchant for black/dark away kits is widespread too. Its almost getting to the point where every match will have the home team in their standard colours and the away team in black! Personally I’m getting a little tired of seeing a team coming out in a dark and mysterious black outfit. It seems a lazy choice for change colours. I’d like to see a more varied palette across away/third kits in the coming seasons - there’s plenty of colour scope relating to clubs’ histories and it would really freshen up the teams.
A sad day for Scotland fans
Posted by John Devlin
So close but yet so far…its a familiar story for Scotland fans isn’t it? From Argentina 78 to last night’s match against Italy it seems every Scotland campaign is a mixture of glory and disaster and this one was no different. Personally though I am fed up with ‘glorious failure’, I want ‘glorious success’ where superb wins over top quality sides are supported by pedestrian wins over lower sides. And the gold trim on the kit didn’t even bring us that extra bit of luck! Still, this Scotland side is something else and the future certainly looks rosy. Well played lads…maybe next time.
Coming soon…
Posted by John Devlin
If by some chance you have stumbled across this site then please forgive its somewhat incomplete appearance. The site’s full content be along just as quickly as possible and will hopefully be of some value to anyone interested in football kit design and history.
