80s Retro Influence
Posted by John Devlin
Despite many people’s negative responses to the forthcoming 08-09 kits, I think some great designs have emerged. Two of my favourites; Arsenal and Liverpool’s new away kits, are both heavily influenced by strips worn by the teams in the late 80s. The end of that decade was not necessarily a golden era for football. Interest in the game had waned somewhat throughout the period and the tragedys of Hillsborough and Heysel had cast a shadow over the sport in general. Fans did not return to the terraces in their droves until after Italia 90 where a Gazza-inspired England side rejuvenated the game. There was still high drama in the sport during this era however, none more so than Arsenal’s incredible win over Liverpool to win the 88–89 title.
The Arsenal 08-09 away kit is a real gem and is based on the classic strip worn that fateful evening at Anfield when the Gunners clinched a last gasp Division 1 title thanks to Mickey Thomas’ late goal. Nike have done a great job in reviving the design, changing it just enough to make it contemporary and unmistakably theirs. Its accompanied by a brilliant ad poster as well. I love seeing teams in traditional away colours and although for many the definitive Arsenal away colour scheme is yellow and royal blue, for me this yellow/navy/ red palette is 100% Arsenal thanks to George Graham’s late 80s side.
Anyone who has read TRUE COLOURS will probably pick up on the fact that I am no fan of grey away kits. Having said that I do really like the new adidas Liverpool away which revives the club’s ‘grey’ period of 87-91 which, coincidentally occured during adidas’ first tenure at Anfield. It is the first time since then that the club have worn a grey kit and it really seems to work with the red livening up the strip well. The shirt, which follows a basic template introduced in Euro 2008 features a subtle chequerboard pattern – a theme introduced across all Liverpool kits this season.
8 Responses to “80s Retro Influence”
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August 3rd, 2008 at 11:51 am
The new Liverpool grey kit reminds me more of the second version, which had the diamond effect on it. Although I quite like it, I’m surprised they’ve used white for the squad numbers and sponsor’s name. As you note in your excellent book, white on grey isn’t very visible and they changed to red on grey fairly sharpish last time round.
It ties in with another blog post, but Liverpool are getting through away kits too quickly. It’s got to the point where last season I wasn’t even sure what the official away kit was. The rather smart white & green one from Adidas’ first season back seemed like it was hardly worn.
August 6th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Hi John,
I have to say I’m not fond of this new grey kit of Liverpool’s at all. I think it’s the checkerboard shadow-pattern that spoils it for me. If that was replaced with a less intrusive shadow-pattern, it might have stood half a chance of succeding, but sadly it doesn’t, for me.
August 15th, 2008 at 3:52 am
Hello Ned - I do have an issue with the speed of kit changes as well - see my other blog post on 2 year kit lifespan.
Incidentally, speaking of grey kits, what do you chaps think of Newcastle’s new third kit? I believe its actually silver - why is this ’silver’ and Liverpool’s ‘grey’ I wonder?
August 20th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Unfortunately, now that I’ve seen the grey kit in action, I’m giving it the thumbs down too. It’s a shame as I was fond of the 80s grey kit in its day. Some of the red trim looks unpleasantly shiny and the checkerboard pattern doesn’t work for me. It looks more like Charlton’s grey kit of the same era. I think the dark green European away kit (and how many times will that be worn?) works rather better, although the visibility issue raises its head again. The retro green goalkeeper’s outfit is a nice touch though.
Reviewing some old tapes the other day, I was surprised at how crisp the 1991-2 Equipment strip now looked. Clean, sharp lines and much more ‘red’ than I’d appreciated at the time. The 1993-5 ‘ribcage’ effort remains a low point in my eyes.
I’ll reserve judgement on Newcastle’s silver effort until I’ve seen it properly, but it looks like a more successful effort than Liverpool’s in the pictures I’ve seen.
September 1st, 2008 at 9:18 am
I love the grey kit. I’ve been very disappointed with liverpool kits in general ever sinve they introduced that maroon one with the ludicrously thick V neck (as sported by Stan Collymore). Speaking of retro, I’d like to see a return of the old V neck with crossover lines…as seen by the likes of Everton circa 1987.
September 8th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
John - what about the 70’s influence on this season’s Palace kit?!
September 11th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Good point - although I like the idea of bringing back the sash (thats how I remember Palace when I was growing up) I do think mirroring the adidas kits might have been better. The Errea logos look a bit clunky to me. As you are the Palace kit expert what do you think?
September 24th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Ned - I agree with you about the ‘ribcage’ kit, it was a step too far in my book. Still undecided about the first set of adidas equipment kits as well. I think Newcastle’s silver kit is a bit of a disappointment - seems a little inspid to me. I’m actually not a fan of the purple effort either but normally I really admire the clubs change strips.