A little-known fact about Mary, Queen of Scots was that she enjoyed sport. Mary would swing a golf club or tennis racket from time to time and she was a spectator at sporting competitions. But did she also play football – Scotland's national sport?
During an excavation project inside Stirling Castle in the mid-1970s, workers came upon a small round object tucked behind the thick oak-panelled walls of the bed chamber once used by Mary. What they found was a leather ball, slightly larger than a softball. But it was not just any ball.
George Best infamously admitted to spending his wages "on booze, birds and fast cars," but while this may be usual for a professional footballer, the typical fan squanders their money on, among other club merchandise, the prized football shirt.
Since the commercialisation of the teams treasured tops, the sales of shirts has rapidly and increasingly skyrocketed; long gone the days when the only products on sale were bobble hats, scarves and claxons but despite the now varied market, it is the shirt that sits at the top of the monstrous global football brand.It was in 1977 when Hibernian Football Club set the ball rolling to transform the usual muddy shirt into a global and heavily commercial business, when the Scottish club became the first British club to emblazon a sponsor upon their shirt. Across many fellow countries in Europe this pattern to advertise on football shirts was already common practice. By the 1980’s this tradition grew in Britain however the Football League did impose certain limits such as disapproving of sponsorship from cigarette companies in order to pacify some fans and the "non-advertising" BBC.
Some 30 years on, sponsors such as The Evening Gazette of Middlesbrough and similar small businesses have traded places with the global commercial giants. Today it is a mixture of mobile phone companies, gaming corporations and an invasion of foreign investment that projects the total value of Premiership shirt sponsorship to the incredible £70 million a year figure.
True colours doesn't need an introduction, everyone who knows his shirts, knows the excellent work of John Devlin in the form of 2 books called True Colours. He did have a website for years but now it's totally renewed and interactive. available here at: truecoloursfootballkits.com
As well as reproducing extracts from the TRUE COLOURS books, his new site will also feature exlusive articles about the fascinating world of football shirts history along with all the news of the all the latest kits as they are released. Plus you can find out more about the author and illustrator of the books, John Devlin and what’s next in the True Colours series.
By James Bailey
The start of the 2006/2007 season and as a diehard Spurs fan I queue up in the Spurs Megastore ahead of the preseason friendly versus Inter Milan. In my hand, among other THFC patented merchandise, is folded my chosen shirt for the upcoming season.
Not the white home kit, not even the blue away but my daring decision is to chose the "chocolate" coloured 3rd choice shirt- the limited edition top. It was the release day of this, apparently scarce, Puma/Mansion shirt. The gold outline upon the chocolate, symbolising and cherishing the past golden days and optimistic of Spurs’ hunt for success in the next season.
That feeling inside of buying a brand new shirt is one of magic but the sensation is even stronger when it is the first day on sale. After splashing out a mammoth £40, which as a football fan you often have to explain to others that it is worth the astronomical price, I placed the top over my head. Walking into the "home of football" I felt proud to be wearing my shirt.
That sentiment only lasted approximately 3 weeks. After a few washes my ultra-rare shirt died. Not only did the Puma logo rapidly wear off but similarly following was the treasured cockerel emblem. Today my shirt sits among my other aged football memorabilia, now just known as the "Mansion Shirt" as that logo is the only printing remaining upon the chocolate background.
By Chris Simpson
Seeing this fantastic Adidas shirt again in LeoJuniors classic list conjured up some great flashbacks. The first time I saw this (along with many others I guess) was when the transfer record was smashed and Alan Shearer was unveiled to the Geordie masses.
I remember the Grandad collar being a big leap away from the designs of the time and the material was something altogether different as well. For me, this is quite simply one of the best football tops ever made. Clean lines with straight forward, no-nonsense colours finished off nicely with the partnership of the 'Nookie Brown' sponsors of the time.
Nobody who follows the game can surely forget the side that Kevin Keegan took within touching distance of winning the league in this kit, Les Ferdinand, Phillipe Albert, Rob Lee, David Ginola et al.
Hammering Manchester United 5-0 in the pouring rain is one game which really stands out in the memory whenever I see this shirt. Even the lettering & numbers were really good on this shirt in the days before all Premier League sides had to conform to the standard issue. Quite simply - A classic. I have to agree.
Manchester United will mark the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that killed eight members of its famed team of "Busby Babes" by playing February's Premier League match against Manchester City in a 1950s style kit.
United has been given special permission by the Premier League and its sponsors to wear the plain red jerseys and baggy shorts for the Feb. 10 match at Old Trafford.
