5 football kits that got people talking

Wycombe have unveiled two eye-catching goalkeeper’s tops, designed to be so garish they will put opposition strikers off.

The Chairboys follow a well-trodden path of dubious strips and, here, Press Association Sport looks at some of the more controversial kits from the past.

Norwich (1992/93 and 1993/94)

Chris Sutton, Ruel Fox and Jeremy Goss all donned what was dubbed the ‘bird poo kit’ which included smatterings of green and white splashes over a yellow background. It did not hold the Canaries back, though, as they topped the Premier League for long spells of its first season, eventually finishing third to qualify for Europe. It was used for two seasons and the next year Norwich toppled Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup – in part thanks to Goss’ spectacular volley in Germany – before they lost to Inter Milan. The club released a third kit last season in tribute, white with yellow and green splashes.

Manchester United (1995/96)

United’s famed grey strip lasted just 45 minutes during a 3-1 defeat at Southampton in April 1996. Sir Alex Ferguson ordered his players to change at the break after they were 3-0 down at half-time to the Saints thanks to goals from Ken Monkou, Neil Shipperley and Matt Le Tissier. United changed into their blue and white away strip and improved but Ryan Giggs’ consolation came too late for any recovery at The Dell. Ferguson said at the time: “The players couldn’t pick each other out. They said it was difficult to see their team-mates at distance when they lifted their heads.”

England (1996)

As if losing to Germany on penalties in the Euro 96 semi-final was not bad enough, David Seaman looked like a packet of fruit pastilles. A multi-coloured goalkeeper kit sadly did not put off the German penalty-takers as they won the shoot-out 6-5, following a 1-1 draw, after current England boss Gareth Southgate missed from the spot. At the time it was likened to a packet of Refreshers, in a tribute to the sweets. Seaman did not wear it in the quarter-final shoot-out win over Spain in 1996 – when he saved from Miguel Nadal – and perhaps should have stayed in that yellow and blue kit.

Coventry (1978/79)

A chocolate brown kit was eye-catching for all the wrong reasons as the Sky Blues rather fudged their choice of away strip. It did little to help Coventry that season as they finished 10th in Division One that season, which included a 7-1 thumping at local rivals West Brom. Despite its garish look, the club produced 1,125 shirts in 2009 to mark their 125th anniversary in 2009. It did not get any better as the Sky Blues actually wore it in the final home game of the 2008/09 season and lost a 2-0 lead to go down 3-2 to Watford.

Mexico (1994)

Jorge Campos, the former Mexico goalkeeper, designed his own kits and was never short of imagination. He drew up a multi-coloured strip for the 1994 World Cup in the United States mixed with green, yellow, blue, pink and orange. Mexico topped Group E ahead of the Republic of Ireland but Campos’ kit could not save them in the second round as they lost on penalties to Bulgaria. His kits are still popular, though, and strips could set you back over 100 dollars on eBay.