Comments on: Liverpool v Arsenal 1971 FA Cup Kits

By: John Devlin

John Devlin — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:52:32 +0000

Chelsea played in red at home? Very strange.

By: B90

B90 — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:54:46 +0000

I’m fairly sure the change was made 72/73.

In 72/73 Chelsea played Brighton away in the 3rd round in the famous red
white and green, Brighton played in their normal blue and white
stripes.
However in the 4th round against Ipswich at the Bridge, Chelsea played in
red blue and white and Ipswich changed to yellow white and blue.

The following season 73/74 in the 3rd round home to QPR Chelsea played in
blue, QPR changed to red.

By: John Devlin

John Devlin — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:43:13 +0000

I think it must just have applied to matches played at neutral grounds. You’re quite right Jon, there were several semi finals hwere both teams changed but I don’t remember ever noticing it in the earlier rounds.

I was reading an old programme the other day from 72-73 in which a fan had written in moaning about the Hungary Chelsea away kit and saying how he wished they always just played in blue. Must have been after that match!

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:13:00 +0000

I actually had that Liverpool kit of 91/92 but it was one of those kits which divided fans’ opinion – it was a radical design at the time but most certainly not a traditional one.

Anyway, that FA rule at the time – did it apply to all stages of the FA Cup, or just for the matches played at neutral venues (i.e. the semi-final and the final)? I’ve seen many instances of semi-finals where both teams changed kit, though I recall a very old piece of footage from around 1972/73 when Chelsea wore their Hungary-style change kit for a match at home.

By: John Devlin

John Devlin — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:51:45 +0000

I do vaguely remember that Spartak Moscow/Liverpool game – the downfalls of templates!

By: Jon

Jon — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:09:20 +0000

It is strange when you see two teams playing each other in away kits, but even more bizarre is if both sides are wearing colours more associated with their opponents.

For example, when England played Switzerland earlier this year, England wore red and Switzerland wore white, when you’d expect it to be the other way around. It’s not the first time it’s happened either – in 2000 England did the same against Belgium.

Oh and talking of a team whose opponents turned up wearing an identical kit to their usual, anyone remember that time when Liverpool travelled to Spartak Moscow in 1992? Spartak’s kit was a dead ringer for Liverpool’s home kit at the time!

By: Andrew Rockall

Andrew Rockall — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:33:29 +0000

I expect the original decision was made because of a problem that Euro 2008 foresaw. If both teams had worn away strips they would have both been wearing light coloured shirts.

If you consider the problems that sunshine and shadows caused television companies at Wembley (prior to it’s moderm tilting roof). Denis Fellows was years ahead of his time!!!

By: John Devlin

John Devlin — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:03:26 +0000

Graeme, that is one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen! Great tip. What a strange game.

Going back to that special Man Utd Cup Winners Cup 91 final shirt, ones cropped up on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150307321009

By: Graeme

Graeme — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:07:38 +0000

The most unusual occurrence I can think of is the European Supercup final in 1983 – Aberdeen vs. Hamburg SV. At that time, Aberdeen’s home strip was all red, while (from a quick check of Wikipedia) I believe Hamburg’s home strip was all white with a red trim. For some bizarre reason, Aberdeen chose to wear their change strip of white shirts with black socks, while Hamburg wore what I assume to be an all red away kit. The problem is that their away kit on the night was almost identical to Aberdeen’s normal home kit, so I’m sure that many who witnessed the Dons’ 2-0 win at Pittodrie that evening were convinced it was actually 2-0 to Hamburg!

Search for Aberdeen Hamburg on youtube to see what I mean!

By: Denis Hurley

Denis Hurley — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:06:29 +0000

Special one-off (two-off I suppose!) white socks too, for 1990-91 and 1991-92, United wore the previous white away socks for shorts clashes.
Interestingly, towards the end of 1991-92, United played away to West Ham and wore the 88-90 away kit rather than a sponsored version of that CWC kit.
European finals have also been inconsistent for clashes, often in the past both teams changed, eg United-Barca 91, Sampdoria-Barca 92, United Benfica 68, Arsenal-Galatasaray 00, Ajax-Milan 95, Real-Valencia 00.
Other times have only seen one change, eg Juventus-Ajax 96, Liverpool-Milan 03 05, Arsenal-Barca 06, Benfica-Milan 89, though of course Milan wear white in the event of a final clash, even if they win the toss!