\u201cWhen did fans wearing replica kits become a thing?\u201d asks Alex Ecob. \u201cOlder footage shows people in regular clothes and a few scarves\/flags in the team colours. What kickstarted the trend? Did one club get there first?\u201d<\/p>\n
As the question suggests, this is a not a straightforward answer. Buckle up folks, as we veer wildly from copyright acts to academia, via multiple reports of unofficial kits, DIY jobs, cup-final special editions, youth strips, sew-on jobs and the like. But if we are to draw a line in the sand, and declare one date or one jersey as the first official, adult replica kit to be sold by a club to the general public (or at least those close enough to the club shop), then we probably have to give the gong to Leeds United in 1973, although only children\u2019s sizes were produced initially.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first replica kit was produced by Admiral for Leeds United in 1973-74,\u201d emails Chai from Atlanta. \u201cHistory has it that Leeds\u2019 manager, Don Revie, and Admiral owner, Bert Patrick, had a chance meeting at a cafe. There they agreed on Admiral paying Leeds \u00a37,000 to wear a redesigned kit with the brand\u2019s logo visible on their shirt and shorts. Patrick also secured the copyright to produce full replica kits for children, which sold for around \u00a35.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing Leeds\u2019 success, by the 1977-78 season, 84 out of the 92 clubs in the English Football League featured a prominent manufacturer\u2019s logo and replica kits for kids. In Scotland that year, Umbro was selling Rangers and Celtic and Adidas were selling Aberdeen and Dundee United replica shirts. In Germany, Adidas had a monopoly on the Bundesliga. However they did not sell replica shirts of each club. Instead they sold plain shirts in the various clubs\u2019 colours and kids were expected to sew on the club\u2019s badge themselves to make it look official. If adults wanted to show their support, they were expected to buy the club\u2019s tracksuit in which the players warmed up before the match. The first replica shirt for adults was Admiral\u2019s World Cup 1982 England shirt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everton\u2019s Bob Latchford poses with a young boy wearing replica kit during an Umbro advertising photo shoot before the 1978-79 season. Photograph: Harry Ormesher\/Popperfoto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Revie\/Patrick\/cafe story has been verified by Admiral themselves, here<\/a>. \u201cRevie, ever pragmatic and ahead of his time, agreed in principle \u2013 with one condition,\u201d reveals the company. \u201cThe home kit, with its pristine all-white ensemble inspired by Real Madrid, was sacrosanct and not up for discussion. But the away strip and training gear? Those were open to reinvention. A handshake sealed what would become one of the most influential deals in football history. Admiral immediately set to work, with the goal of launching the new away kit by Christmas. The result was a bold and modern design: a vivid yellow shirt with striking blue and white taping down the sleeves \u2013 a stylistic innovation never before seen on a football kit. The Admiral logo sat prominently on the chest, alongside Leeds United\u2019s iconic \u201csmiley\u201d crest \u2013 a badge introduced by Revie as part of his wider effort to foster a family-friendly, nationally adored image for the club.\u201d<\/p>\n One possible reason why clubs and brands hadn\u2019t explored selling replica kits earlier in the UK was the 1968 Design Copyright Act, which ensured that only a certain brand could produce a particular design once it had been officially registered. Before that point, it was the wild west.<\/p>\n \u201cThis article<\/a> suggests the first replicas were Umbro youthsets (for children) \u2013 or Umbrosets \u2013 in 1959, with Manchester United as the featured team, albeit unofficially,\u201d highlights Nick Williamson. Early Umbrosets were endorsed by United manager Matt Busby<\/a>, but by 1964 he had been replaced on the packaging by his young striker Denis Law, who seemed to endorse not only the replica kits of United and Scotland but \u201calso eight other leading English clubs, three Scottish clubs and the international kit of England\u201d.<\/p>\n The article continues: \u201cFootball clubs themselves were not a primary, nor even an especially proactive part of the marketing process of these kits, though some, such as Manchester City, did stock replicas in their club shops and promote sales through their match programme.\u201d But it seems that we cannot truly say that these were replica kits, akin to the shirts worn by the players, but rather unofficial garms that were occasionally and sporadically endorsed or stocked by players, managers and clubs.<\/p>\n Paul Haynes flags this academic research<\/a> by Christopher Stride, Nick Catley and Joe Headland, who scanned crowd photos from the 1960s but could not find evidence of replica shirts being worn as matchday apparel by either adult or child fans until the mid 1970s, and then only by male fans at cup finals.<\/p>\n There were flat caps, shirts, ties and jumpers aplenty on the terraces in the 1960s, but no replica shirts. Photograph: PA Photos<\/p>\n \u201cA photo of Newcastle supporters at the 1974 FA Cup final depicts small numbers dressed in (unbranded) replica shirts,\u201d the research reads. \u201cAdmiral-manufactured teamwear can also be spotted on adult Manchester United fans at the 1979 final, though in both cases the tightness of the sleeves hints at large youth sizes. Likewise a handful of Liverpool fans at their European Cup finals of 1977 and 1978 wore replica shirts, and the Scotland fans invading Trafalgar Square prior to the 1977 England v Scotland international also featured replica-clad revellers.\u201d<\/p>\n A smattering of replica shirts were spotted amongst the Liverpool fans on the terraces of Rome at the 1977 European Cup final. Photograph: Colorsport\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n We\u2019ll end with a lovely personal tale from Jon Keen, which highlights how slowly some clubs were to catch on to the trend. \u201cIn Autumn 1979 I had the bright idea of getting myself a shirt as worn by the Reading FC team that year,\u201d he emails. \u201cThe logistics were horrendous, as it seems no one had ever thought of doing that before. I had to order it individually through the local shop that supplied the football club themselves, the wonderful old-school Blake\u2019s Sports Outfitters. They then had to order this, as a one-off, from the manufacturers, Bukta, and I didn\u2019t actually receive the shirt until the following June, when the season was well and truly over! I loved that shirt, I wish I still had it, although no way it\u2019d fit me now!\u201d<\/p>\n Can you find any earlier official replica kits, or from further afield than the UK? Mail us<\/a> with your answers.<\/p>\n Costly red cards, part II<\/p>\n Last week, we featured some of football\u2019s most damaging red cards<\/a>, dismissals that acted as the catalyst for a side\u2019s demise, and Chris Lewis has a new suggestion. \u201cSurely Fabio Cannavaro\u2019s sending off in the 2010 Europa League tie versus Fulham<\/a> merits inclusion?\u201d he emails. \u201cI appreciate the question may have been intended for over 90 minutes, but this turned a two-legged tie on its head for one of the best nights I\u2019ve ever experienced as a Fulham supporter.<\/p>\n \u201cJuventus were 3-1 up from the home leg<\/a> in Turin, and scored early at Craven Cottage to go 4-1 up on aggregate with an away goal. Although we equalised, the game was finely balanced until World Cup winners Cannavaro made a rash challenge on goal-bound Zoltan Gera, resulting in a red card. After that, we ran riot in a famous night on the River Thames, scoring three more goals \u2013 including a sublime chip from Clint Dempsey (during a brief conversation at a \u2018meet the players\u2019 event, the American told me he\u2019d intended a cross to the back post) \u2013 to settle the tie 5-4 in our favour.\u201d<\/p>\n Matthew Hague offers an unusual example where a red card actually helped. \u201cBarnsley were 1-0 down to Doncaster in 2008,\u201d he writes. \u201cDarren Moore was sent off in the second half and Barnsley scored four to win 4-1. Even the Doncaster manager commented that it was a catalyst for the game to change.\u201d<\/p>\n Zoltan Gera of Fulham celebrates with some acrobatics. Photograph: Andrew Winning\/ReutersKnowledge archive<\/p>\n \u201cBarcelona\u2019s MSN have 56, 46 and 48 international goals \u2013 has any lineup in history had three players with 50 international goals to their name?\u201d wondered Ben Janeson back in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe short answer is no,\u201d emails Chris Goodall. \u201cThis is easy to check as there have only been 49 members of the international 50 Goal Club, the majority of whom played for the likes of Thailand and Iraq. If we allow future members of the 50 Goal Club to count, then we have a winner: Ferenc Puskas, Sandor Kocsis and Lajos Tichy all played together for Budapest Honved in the mid-50s, though Puskas had long since defected to Real Madrid and Spain by the time Tichy made it to his half century.<\/p>\n \u201cThen there\u2019s the strange Inter squad of 2000-01, where three players who subsequently scored 50 international goals were kept out of the first team by two players who didn\u2019t. Early in the season Marco Tardelli replaced Marcelo Lippi as manager and installed \u00c1lvaro Recoba as Christian Vieri\u2019s strike partner. Hakan Sukur (51 goals for Turkey) was dropped to the bench, Robbie Keane (68 goals for the Republic of Ireland) was loaned out to Leeds, and Ronaldo (62 goals for Brazil) never made it out of the treatment room.\u201d<\/p>\n Update: It should also be noted that the Barcelona trident of Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto\u2019o and Thierry Henry all surpassed 50 international goals but not during the years they played together in Catalonia (2007-09). Messi didn\u2019t reach his half century until 2016, Eto\u2019o in 2011 and Henry in September 2009 (two months after Eto\u2019o left for Inter).<\/p>\n