Rich Nelson recalls a kit associated with success that was worn by his favourite club, Arsenal...
"When looking back at the golden moments of a club’s history, it’s not often that the players lifting a trophy or celebrating a promotion are in their away colours. Yet perhaps only two really stick out - AC Milan’s fondness for wearing white kits in European finals, and Arsenal in yellow. The kit I’m getting dewey-eyed over is the Adidas away kit that Arsenal used for three seasons, spanning two championship winning sides.
A replica of the home kit, the yellow kit was immortalised not only in the closest title race in English history, but also worn in a popular movie (Mark Strong wore it in the Colin Firth-starring Fever Pitch) and the recent documentary 89. The sight of Michael Thomas bursting through the Liverpool midfield in May 1989 would have definitely been marred had he worn the subsequent away shirt, the infamous 'bruised banana'. The bruised banana itself was forever tainted in the FA Cup defeat at Wrexham in 1992... This away shirt was also worn during 1990’s 'Battle Of Old Trafford,' which led to a points deduction and the title was still won at a canter, ha.
The away kit itself was controversial amongst fans, for the amount of navy in the kit, namely the full sleeves. Previous yellow away shirts had been almost entirely yellow, save for collars, trims and logos – while the sleeve design was said to have been a sneaky attempt to feature more prominent Adidas branding, the club apparently only allowing stripes on the sleeves. A small amount of red around helped make it more 'Arsenal.' This kit was a staple throughout a hugely successful era for the club which often remains hushed due to the manager’s financial issues and no doubt something to do with Perry Groves as well.
Michael Thomas didn’t remain at the club much longer, but the shirt lives on - Nike leant heavily on the design in 2008/09 for that season’s kit, even using members of the 1989 team (including Thomas) in the marketing photos with then-stars Walcott, Adebayor and Fabregas. The club continue to sell healthy amounts of their own retro version, albeit missing an Adidas logo and featuring either no stripes or a Cruyff-esque two. They look budget but hey, the originals sell for £200+ online. With Adidas heavily rumoured to be returning to the London Colney kit room next season, more official reproductions are likely - and would be a welcome change from Puma’s away / change colours of black, pink, mint, blue, purple, white… Arsenal belong in a yellow away kit - Wembley 1971 and 1979, Anfield 1989, Cardiff 2005 and even Old Trafford 2002 at a push (gold is similar to yellow, right??).
Arsenal in yellow Adidas. Adams, Rocastle, Merson and Smith. And don’t even get me started on peak Steve McMahon...
Many thanks to Rich for suggesting this iconic kit as part of our series. Rich is the presenter of the splendid movie review podcast, Betamax Video Club where you can hear invited guests talking about a wide range of films from the 1980's. For more information, check out the Betamax Video Club Facebook page and don't forget to like and subscribe while you're there.
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