TV Times: 1982 World Cup preview

What possesses a top magazine to feature a bunch of grotesques on its cover in the hope that it will sell by the million? Ask the editor of Hello magazine... or better still, stop for a moment and delight at the colourful composition that graced the front of the TV Times for the opening week of the 1982 World Cup.

Inside, there was a six-page special feature on the big event, part of which contained the writing of Martin Tyler. First up, Tyler explained (not entirely convincingly) that the hundred or more members of ITV Sport bringing the World Cup to our screens were of the highest order. I say ‘unconvincingly’ on account of the paragraph that begins: “Ron Atkinson, one of our panel of experts in Spain, is always a stickler for the correct pronunciation; he’s sure to be overheard practising the names of foreign players...” Pity he kept saying ‘tourneyment’ instead of ‘tournament’ as that was one of the many English words he was supposed to have mastered.

Tyler went on to describe the other key personnel in the ITV Sport team. There were the pundits - Brian Clough, Mick Channon, Denis Law, Jack Charlton - not to mention Ian St.John, Jimmy Greaves and Brian Moore. There were a raft of top reporters doing the rounds in Spain, namely Jim Rosenthal, Elton Welsby, Gary Newbon and Nick Owen, plus any number of familiar commentators such as Gerald Sinstadt, Hugh Johns, Gerry Harrison and John Helm. Tyler was even keen to point out the highly-talented squad of secretaries as well as all the production crew. Quite right too, I say.

Martin Tyler wasn't the only writer brought in to put TV Times readers in the mood for Spain ‘82. Tottenham’s Osvaldo Ardiles explained how Argentina could no longer rely on the ageing Leopoldo Luque and would now look to Diego Maradona - still only 21 at the time - for any success. Though the Argentinean was correct to point out that Brazil were “better than ever before”, he was a little way off the mark in predicting that they, along with Argentina or West Germany would win the World Cup.

Francois Van Der Elst, West Ham’s Belgian striker, focused on the European team’s chances of glory. West German coach Jupp Derwall, said Van Der Elst, “has a brilliant squad, so strong that he could pick two separate world-class teams,” picking out Paul Breitner and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge for special attention. “Italy I’m not so sure about” continued the Belgian. “Their side has stayed the same for perhaps too long and their tactics are too defensive. Away from home they are less potent.” So much for unerring insight there, then.

Maybe that was provided by Bobby Moore who was asked to discuss England’s chances. Though the former World Cup winner felt England could progress to the second round and beyond, he was at pains to point out the areas for concern. “My chief worry is that they will play well but, as we’ve seen often before, not score enough goals” said Moore. A look back at England’s results in Spain show the number of goals scored per match went as follows: 3, 2, 1, 0, 0.

With Denis Law wondering whether the pressure of being at a World Cup would be too much for Scotland’s younger players and Billy Bingham fancying his Northern Ireland team to “reach the quarter-finals” that year (there weren't any quarter-finals, Billy), it was certainly shaping up to be an exciting competition.

Just as well, then, that the TV Times was on hand to provide more cut-out-and-stick pieces for their World of Sport World Cup Wallchart that was given away with the magazine some weeks previously. I actually owned that wallchart back in the day, and my one abiding memory of it was the small, fiddly name tags that had to be glued on where the second round matches were displayed. Even now I've probably got traces of UHU under my fingernails somewhere.

Elsewhere in this issue, there were features on Elizabeth Taylor and Julie Goodyear (Bet Lynch in Coronation Street) plus adverts for Boots (‘Ferguson 3V29 VHS Video Recorder - £465’) and Ex-Lax Chocolate Laxative ("What a nice way to take a laxative"), but during a World Cup it was the non-football programmes on TV that would prove most important to some.

If the sporting action from Spain wasn't for you, there was always The Cannon and Ball Show, Sale of the Century, On The Buses and Give Us A Clue to entertain you, if indeed 'entertain' is the word we're looking for there. As we've said before, when there's a World Cup happening, TV companies are hardly going to put their best programmes out, and this just about proves it.

All in all, then, a curious 'special edition' of the TV Times. Though this issue commemorated a World Cup featuring not just one but three British sides, the magazine makers couldn't even find the budget to print their six-page guide to the tournament in full colour.

Putting that to one side, however, ITV were clearly looking forward to the start of the competition, and as history proved, their coverage was every bit as good as that of the BBC's, if not better at times.

I just wish I could find that old wallchart...

Rewriting Football History with Sensible Soccer™ - Episode 1 of 1 England's World Cup '94 Qualifying

A retweet dropped into my timeline yesterday evening, alerting the world to a website that boasted online emulations of every Sega Mega Drive game ever produced. My eyes were drawn instantly to the unmistakable title screen image of Sensible Soccer. A few button-presses later and I was about to embark on qualification for World Cup '94. For some reason, a few hours later, I'd written this.

1992. A time when we were all allowed to refer to the Netherlands national team as "Holland" without being corrected and English football was languishing in its post-Heysel doldrums, ready to be dragged back into the limelight by BSkyB. The national team had been unceremoniously dumped out of Euro '92, Keith Curle was our best attempt at a swashbuckling wing-back, and the best bits of Paul Gascoigne's knee were still embedded somewhere in the shinpads of Gary Charles.

But enough of the grim reality - let's get Sensible.

Hurrey is unveiled as England manager in August 1992

Graham Taylor was sacked upon the squad's return from Sweden, and relative unknown Adam Hurrey was swiftly installed in his place to lead the beleaguered England into a tricky-looking qualification campaign for the 1994 World Cup to be held in the USA.

England vs Norway - October 1992

In the opener against Norway at Wembley, a revolutionary 4-3-3 formation saw Paul Gascoigne pushed forward into a three-pronged strikeforce with Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand. The diminutive Andy Sinton provided width in midfield alongside Paul Ince and David Platt, while Arsenal's Ian Wright had to be content with a place on the bench.

A bright opening saw Shearer fire home after 27 mins, and England resisted a spirited Norwegian fightback to make the perfect start to their qualifying campaign.




England vs Turkey - November 1992

Turkey were next to visit Wembley. Sinton had failed to impress the new manager against Norway, and Wright was brought into the forward line as Gascoigne probed from a deeper midfield berth. England were left to rue missed chances by Shearer and, from point-blank range, Ferdinand as the Turks took a shock lead. England's frustration was summed up by a yellow card for Shearer for an apparent elbow on a Turkish defender on the stroke of half-time.

A stern talking to at half-time from manager Hurrey saw England emerge for the second half with real purpose. On 49 minutes, they were handed a lifeline. Shearer tumbled in the area and, to the Turks' dismay, the referee pointed to the spot. Les Ferdinand stepped up to slot home to the keeper's left, and England were back in business.

Ferdinand converts from the spot.

Driven forward by the tireless Ince, England laid siege to the Turkish goal, only for a poor final ball to let them down time after time. Then, in a rare foray forward, Hami Mandirali stunned Wembley with a speculative 30-yard strike that Chris Woods should have dealt with comfortably, only for it to nestle in the corner of his net. With nine minutes left on the clock, England were staring defeat in the face.

In the dying moments, a long ball into the Turkish area fell to Shearer, who crashed it into the top left-hand corner to spark relieved celebrations. A careless England had got out of jail here, but maintained their unbeaten start with another home game against whipping boys San Marino to come.

England vs San Marino - February 1993

Any early anxiety was eased and goals began to flow against a willing but poor San Marino side. Ferdinand bagged a brace, with Shearer and Sinton (who went some way to silencing his critics) also notching as England strolled to victory. Sterner tests lay ahead, including a daunting trip to Turkey next. Hurrey's switch to a 3-4-1-2 formation - ostensibly to bring Gascoigne inside from the periphery of left-wing - needed the more stringent examination that awaited in Izmir.

Turkey vs England - March 1993
A cauldron-like atmosphere was promised, but manager Hurrey refused to stray from his gung-ho attacking set-up, with striker Wright replacing Sinton in an unfamiliar left-wing role. The boldness would pay off handsomely. Alan Shearer, so frustrated at times in this qualifying campaign, span past his marker on 17 minutes and thumped a shot past Hayrettin Demirbas to give England the opening goal their confident start deserved.

Shearer opens the scoring in Izmir.

Turkey were being given no time on the ball by England's tigerish central midfield of Ince and Platt and, two minutes later, Shearer produced a carbon copy of his first goal. Turkey were shell-shocked, but more was to come. An in-swinging Gascoigne corner from the right found the head of Bulent Korkmaz who contrived to divert it past his own goalkeeper to compound his side's misery. With Turkish heads dropping, England amazingly made it four just before the break, as Gascoigne exploited the same space in which Shearer had previously made considerable hay, and thumped in gleefully off the crossbar as Demirbas advanced.

As is so often with first-half goal gluts, the second 45 minutes rarely threatened to hit the same heights. Chris Woods, a virtual bystander for the first hour, was finally called into action by a rasping drive from Hakan Sukur, but Shearer was to have the final say on this glorious night for English football. Prodding home from six yards after Gascoigne's initial effort had been saved, Shearer claimed the match ball and England had sent a message to the rest of Group 2.

England vs Holland - April 1993

Everything was set for a titanic Wembley clash against Holland, who were top of Group 2 by virtue of having played a game more. An England win would take them top, and in the driving seat for USA '94. Once again, Hurrey kept faith with his starting eleven, mainly because the only alternatives in his bare-bones squad were Gary Pallister and Carlton Palmer. England started confidently, building patiently from the back, partly through a reluctance to relinquish possession to the technically-gifted visitors. After 10 minutes, a flowing move ended with Ed de Goey having to hurl himself to his left to keep out a diving Shearer header. After 24 minutes, though, England found a breakthrough in spectacular fashion. Ferdinand, surging from deep, was allowed to let fly from all of 25 yards, and de Goey barely moved as the ball arrowed past him.

Ferdinand beats de Goey to put England ahead

Wembley was in raptures. England continued to pepper de Goey with shots, but the Dutch were beginning to benefit from a lethal combination of possession and space. The half-time whistle came at a good time for Hurrey's side.

On the hour mark, the dangerous Bergkamp finally produced his moment of match-defining genius. Gliding in from the right, with England's defence standing off, the Inter Milan star swerved a stunning shot with the outside of his right boot into the corner of a full-stretch Woods' net. Now England were under the cosh and, with Hurrey hesitating to use his bench (and unsure how to access the in-game menu), the Dutch now posed a real threat. The hosts resorted to the long-ball game that was currently infesting their domestic game, desperate to keep the Dutch at bay, and the game petered out to a 1-1 draw. Hurrey was left to rue the moment of defensive carelessness that the ice-cold Bergkamp duly punished, and England headed to Chorzow to face an awkward Poland side that still had strong hopes themselves of reaching the finals.

Poland vs England - May 1993

Despite Ian Wright's good form on the domestic front and a clamouring for his inclusion up front, Hurrey continued with his Shearer-Ferdinand partnership and Tony Adams retained his place in the heart of the defence ahead of the pacier Pallister.

A cagey first half on an uneven Chorzow playing surface did little to settle the nerves of Hurrey and his side. Once again, though, England found a way through. Les Ferdinand latched on to a lofted pass from Paul Ince (who once again had grabbed a qualifier by the scruff of the neck) and hammered a volley past Jaroslaw Bako. With a quarter of an hour to go, England refused to sit back and were rewarded with another Ferdinand stunner, as the QPR striker powered home from 18 yards to seal victory and increase the pressure on the Dutch.

Norway vs England - June 1993

England were in a strong position in Group 2, and Hurrey's press conferences began to show less strain. There was an upbeat mood in the camp ahead of the trip to Oslo to take on the Norwegians, whose stuttering campaign had left them off the qualification pace. A win here would surely secure England's passage to the finals ahead of Norway and Turkey. Pallister this time got the nod over Adams at centre-half, but Hurrey's attacking line-up remained justifiably intact. What followed was arguably England's most cohesive performance of the campaign so far. Pallister slotted in assuredly to the defence, and Norway's resistance lasted a mere thirteen minutes before Shearer slammed England into the lead. Within 90 seconds, he was given the freedom of the Norwegian penalty area to make it 2-0. England were cruising. Then, to complete a disastrous five-minute spell for Norway, Ferdinand broke free down the right and, spotting the onrushing Gascoigne, pulled it back for the Lazio man to hit a thunderbolt past Erik Thorstvedt.

Gascoigne races on to a Ferdinand pull-back for 3-0.

Egil Olsen's hosts could barely a muster a response in the second half, leaving David Platt - so far the unsung hero of England's campaign amid the goalscoring exploits of Shearer and Ferdinand - to embark on a mazy run before beating Thorstvedt all ends up from 30 yards and provide the icing for England's already very tasty cake. A week later, the Dutch edged past Norway in Rotterdam, to trail England only on goal difference at the top, but qualification for Hurrey's men was all but sealed. 

England vs Poland - September 1993

Poland were next to travel to London, with England keen to maintain momentum in the hunt to top the group. With Shearer's yellow card against Turkey hanging over him - and the trip to Rotterdam on the horizon - Wright finally got his chance to partner Ferdinand, while Stuart Pearce was moved into an advanced wing-back role.

With World Cup qualification almost assured, carelessness began to take hold at Wembley. Wright and Ferdinand struggled to gel, Ince was being outnumbered in midfield, and passes went astray. As the crowd's anxiety transmitted itself to the players, it was Wright - the man who had most to prove in the absence of Shearer - who came alive. Racing through the Polish rearguard, he rifled past Bako with only six minutes remaining. Dutch hearts must have sunk even further just three minutes later, when Ferdinand's run and finish sealed crucial points for Hurrey's men. With Shearer set to lead the line against Holland a month later, however, Wright's heroics would mean little on an individual level.

Before the showdown in Rotterdam, the Dutch faced the formality of a trip to San Marino. Manager Dick Advocaat was already fielding questions about England's goalscoring threat before the game, and Dutch complacency proved to be their undoing. An 88th-minute equaliser from Nicola Bacciocchi stunned Advocaat's men in Bologna. England now only needed a draw to stay ahead of the Dutch going into the final round of fixtures.

Holland vs England - October 1993

A freak goal from Pearce after ten minutes gave England the best possible start - deep in his own half, Pearce's hopeful ball forward asked too much of Ferdinand, but took a wicked bounce of the turf and over de Goey. Five minutes later, Ferdinand pounced on a casual Dutch backpass and fired a left-foot shot past de Goey to double England's lead in scarcely believable scenes. 

The Dutch needed a stroke of good fortune and it came in the form of a howler from Woods, who fumbled a speculative Bergkamp effort into the net. Would England's stunning start now unravel? Three minutes later, the Dutch found an unlikely equaliser. Marco van Basten outmuscled Ince and curled a beauty past Woods, who this time was blameless in the face of an exquisite piece of skill. Ferdinand saw yellow for a crude challenge from behind on Wim Jonk as England began to rock. Bergkamp found space between England's defence and midfield and, just before half-time, curled another trademark shot past the despairing hands of Woods. A fortunate 2-0 lead had turned into a shambolic 3-2 deficit before half-time, and top spot in Group 2 now hung by a thread. Van Basten put the Dutch out of sight in the second half with yet another pearler, and England slipped to second in the group.

San Marino vs England - November 1993

Against San Marino in Bologna, England negotiated the all-important opening nine seconds, before wasting a number of good chances by almost literally trying to walk the ball in. Stuart Pearce broke the deadlock but all eyes were on events in Poznan, where England were hoping the Poles could do them a favour against Holland to keep alive hopes of topping the group. As news filtered through of Marek Lesniak giving Poland the lead, England fans took more notice of their wireless radios than the procession in front of them. Amid the distraction, Pesolini wrote his name into Sammarinese football history with a screamer past Woods to halve the deficit. Despite the Dutch developments, Hurrey scowled on the touchline as the San Marino players celebrated as if they themselves had secured qualification.
For the record, England ran out 3-1 winners - Luca Gobbi putting through his own net to restore their lead before Shearer fired home the third - but Lesniak's goal in Poznan had given England their biggest cheer of the night, sending them to the World Cup as group winners and surely, on the evidence of this campaign, as one of the favourites to lift the Jules Rimet trophy.

Please hurry up, new football season - I've gone utterly Sensible.

Retro Round-Up: 9 August 2013

The new Premier League season is almost here... but you won't be interested in that because you're a retro football fan, aren't you? Turn your back on Arsenal, Manchester United and any other clubs that can't even complete a high-profile transfer and wallow in our selection of the past week's top football nostalgia links...

There are few things as timeless as a perfectly executed bicycle kick, and Who Ate All The Pies remembers one in particular. Step forward Trevor Sinclair...

Nothing says 'football nostalgia' like an article about a Brighton and Hove Albion lampshade... and that's precisely what we get over at The Goldstone Wrap...

Football Gaffes Galore has unearthed a special 'Texaco Cup' edition of The Big Match's opening titles from the 1974/75 season. Gotta love that theme tune...

If Shoot! magazine regularly found its way into your possession during your younger days, you won't need us to explain the legend that is 'You Are The Ref.' Now it's back in book form and updated for the modern era, as reviewed brilliantly by Lantern Rouge for The Two Unfortunates...

Our article this week on football kit manufacturers might have had you wondering whether Umbro's diamond motif will ever grace English football again. If that's the case, John Devlin has some good news for you over at True Colours...

KitNerdCollection has added another football shirt to his... er, collection - it's this rarely seen blue Dutch shirt from 1997/98...

Finally, it's time for our eBay Buy of the Week: Rarely will you see such a beautiful and desirable object of football nostalgia - it's this Russian tin-plate table-top football game... and it's starting price is LESS THAN TEN POUNDS...

Player Power: Knowing Your Slaps From Your Slams

(Click image to enlarge)

Football kit manufacturers: Trends, graphs and charts

As you probably know, we're rather fond of football kit design here at The Football Attic. We like nothing better than making broad sweeping statements about the brilliance of a particular kit, especially when we know we haven't got a clue what we're talking about.

What makes football kit design such a fascinating subject is the sheer number of great designs that have been produced over so many decades. In England, this began in earnest during the mid-1970's when production techniques improved and a burgeoning sense of commercialism finally dawned.

So many great manufacturers are associated with the football kits of English football - Adidas, Nike, Admiral, Umbro... the list goes on, but we wondered which ones have provided the most kits for top flight teams since the mid-1970's, and what the trends have been in the popularity of those manufacturers.

To find out the answers to these and many other questions, we plundered as much information as we could find from the website that's unparalleled in its knowledge of the subject, Historical Football Kits. Our research threw up a number of interesting findings.

The early days: 1974-1980

It's fair to say that before the 1970's, football kits were made to distinguish the colours of one team from another and very little else. Football kits were looked upon as 'equipment' rather than fashion items, but that was all to change.

That change has often been attributed to the Leicester-based firm of Admiral, and it's not hard to see why. In 1975, the classic 'tramlines' design arrived to bemuse and amaze the fans of Coventry City, Dundee and Wales, and by 1976 their logo seemed to be cropping up everywhere. They weren't, however, the domineering force in the English First Division.

Where our story begins in the 1974/75 season, it was Umbro that had the lion's share of all the top team's contracts, providing kit for eight of the 22 clubs. By the end of that campaign, the number had increased to nine because QPR had switched allegiance from Admiral in late January.

First Division 1974/75: Kit manufacturers
(Click for larger version)

Details of the kit manufacturers providing First Division kits are somewhat sketchy for 1974/75. More than half the club's suppliers are unknown, but we do know that Admiral only had three top clubs on their books at the end of that season - Stoke City, Luton Town and Leeds United. By the end of the decade, this figure had doubled, but Umbro were also adding more clubs to its portfolio. During the 1976/77 season, they provided the kit for 13 of the 22 teams including the top four - Liverpool, Manchester City, Ipswich Town and Aston Villa.

Queens Park Rangers 1976/77

It was in this season that Adidas made their First Division début well after their logo had appeared on shirts during the 1974 World Cup. Queens Park Rangers have the distinction of wearing the first Adidas kit in the top division and indeed they were the only club that did so at the time, but in 1977/78 another four teams wore the German marque - Middlesbrough, Birmingham City, Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest.

In the period between 1974 and 1980, the only other companies providing kit for First Division teams were Bukta and Le Coq Sportif, but they were struggling to make much of an impact during this time. Bukta, based in Manchester, were the suppliers of team kit for Newcastle United during much of the 1970s and also had their logo on West Ham's kit during the 1975 FA Cup Final. As for French firm Le Coq Sportif, their arrival in the First Division didn't come until the 1978/79 season when they provided the kit for Derby County. Tottenham and Aston Villa would soon follow suit when the 1980's finally arrived.

A sign of things to come: 1980-1989

In the latter half of the 1970's, only five companies had made football kits for England's First Divison teams. In the decade that followed, that number had increased to 14 but be in no doubt - Adidas and Umbro were far and away the main players. Admiral's star was on the wane and as new names like Hummel and Patrick began to get some traction, a few 'club brands' started to appear on the radar too.

Between the two of them, Umbro and Adidas provided the kit for 18 of the 22 First Division teams in the 1980/81 season. Only Coventry City and Leeds United (Admiral), Southampton (Patrick) and Tottenham Hotspur (Le Coq Sportif) bucked the trend, but as the 1980's progressed, more and more clubs were tempted to try alternative suppliers.

First Division: 1980-89 - Umbro & Adidas v The Rest
(Click for larger version)

Coventry City, in particular, adopted a different approach when they ditched the Admiral tramlines in 1981. Their famous 'Talbot' kit was the product of a company called Talbot Sports, and in the 1986/87 season they fashioned their own supply deal again by plumping for kits made by Triple S Sports. As luck would have it, the striped Coventry home kit ended up being worn during a successful 1987 FA Cup Final against Tottenham, but it was a one-season wonder and was replaced for 1987/88 by new strips made by Hummel.

Danish company Hummel had started making First Division in-roads after some useful exposure during Euro '84. Their clean, distinctive, Arsenal-style shirt had been worn by the Danes right through to their exit in the semi-finals of the competition, and it was in the following season of 1984/85 that Norwich City became the first club wear the famous double chevrons. By the end of the decade, they'd be joined by Southampton, Aston Villa, Tottenham and, of course, Coventry.

First Division 1980/81 - 1988-89: Kit manufacturers per season
(Click for larger version)

The arrival of lesser-known names like Henson, Scoreline, Strike and Spall in the late-80's was a portent of things to come. Adidas and Umbro's combined share of all the First Division kit deals was down to just 50% in 1988/89, and in the 1990's things got even worse for them as the race to supply outfits for the top clubs got even hotter.

Diversity: 1990-1999

Taken as a whole, the final decade of the 20th Century saw Adidas almost disappear from the English First Division football kit landscape. Having supplied outfits for as many as seven or eight of the 22 top-flight clubs during some seasons of the 1980's, they were down to just one team - Liverpool - in 1994/95. On two occasions later in the decade, only Newcastle United were on the German company's books.

This surprising fall from grace can perhaps be attributed to the growing prominence of the Champions League as Adidas' main priority and the need to have its kits on show there. The increase in football kit manufacturers in the UK was also growing - 27 used during the 1990's - but initially at least, Umbro didn't seem affected by either issue. Between 1990 and 1993, they were making the kits for almost half of the First Division's teams, including Everton, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and both of the Sheffield clubs.

First Division/Premier League 1974-2014: Kit contracts for Adidas and Umbro
(Click for larger version)

By 1995, however, even Umbro were seeing their dominant grip on the market weakened. New companies were providing smart, stylish alternatives for England's top clubs; Asics, Puma, Reebok and even Nike wanted a piece of the action as the traditional giants of the kit world were forced to take a lower billing.

Apart from Umbro, there was one other company that made more First Division kits than Adidas - Pony. The American footwear firm arrived on the scene in 1993 with kits for Southampton and West Ham that both featured prominent 'reverse tick' elements on the upper part of the shirt. The tick came from Pony's logo, and while it looked fine on the West Ham kit, Southampton's red and white stripes struggled to form a harmonious complement with it.

Yet again smaller companies were snapping up the few crumbs that were left after the giants had fed. Clubhouse and View From were two names used by QPR in the early 1990's; Swindon's only season in the top flight saw them wear a kit by Loki; Avec came in to lend Sunderland a hand near the end of the decade, while Crystal Palace went for Nutmeg in 1994/95.

First Division/Premier League 1974-2014 - Kit manufacturers per season
(Click for larger version)

More so than ever, the fragmentation of the kit supply market was providing more choice for clubs and ever-more imaginative kit designs for fans to savour, but the 21st Century would see the trend slow down as the big companies returned to reclaim their territory.

Contraction: 2000 onwards

In 2004/05 and 2006/07, the 20 clubs of the Premier League in England used 14 different football kit providers - the greatest number in any one season. Adidas and Umbro were still there, but now Nike were pushing hard to join them at the top table. Not far behind were Reebok, a perpetual partner and shirt sponsor for Bolton Wanderers but now also a supplier of kit for Liverpool and Manchester City. Kappa and Puma were also a familiar sight in the Premier League around this time, while Le Coq Sportif were making something of a comeback too.

So many kit makers for so many clubs, and yet that all changed at a stroke at the start of the 2007/08 season. During the previous campaign, Umbro made kit for only one Premier League team - Everton. When the next season began, they had six clubs to their name - Birmingham, Blackburn, Everton, Sunderland, West Ham and Wigan.

Several kit companies disappeared from view that Premier League season - Airness, Diadora, Hummel, Joma, JJB and Lonsdale all found themselves without a contract for one of England's top teams, while Reebok's portfolio was reduced from three teams to just one - Bolton. Quite how or why Umbro had managed to snap up so many contracts is unclear, but their diamond-strewn designs of 2007/08 were certainly a common sight - even on the England kit of the time.

Click to see larger version

Umbro's dominance contracted again a few seasons later as Adidas and Nike consolidated their own exposure in the Premier League as once again a wider variety of manufacturers returned. Xara, Carbrini and Macron all wrote their names into the football kit history books, but a notable divide was slowly forming between the big companies and the smaller ones.

These days, we've come to accept this as the ongoing norm. On the one hand, Adidas, Umbro, Nike, Puma and Reebok struggling for overall superiority, well established and proven to create football kits of a high quailty. On the other hand, smaller and newer companies trying to make a positive impression but having to accept a limited impact among England's footballing elite.

Yet with this coming season, all that is about to change again. What Umbro did in 2007/08, Adidas have done on an even bigger scale for 2013/14, for they will start the next campaign providing kit for nine of the top 20 clubs in England. It is by far the strongest attempt by the German company to dominate the Premier League, and in the weeks to come you'll be seeing Chelsea, Fulham, Hull City, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea, West Brom and West Ham wearing those three famous stripes.

How have Adidas forced their way to the top of the tree with such ruthlessness? In part, the answer lies with the disappearance of two of their main rivals. Reebok's final season in the Premier League came in 2011/12 when Bolton Wanderers were relegated, but this came seven years after Reebok became a subsidiary of Adidas themselves. As for Umbro, they were bought out by Nike in 2008 and have since been sold on to Iconix Brand Group during the last year. Whether we'll see the Umbro diamonds again in future remains to be seen, but there are some encouraging signs beginning to appear.

With two such big names no longer competing for a share of the market, Adidas has seen an opening and taken advantage. Quite what you may think of this year's Adidas kits would be interesting to know, but it seems the football kit landscape - in the Premier League at least - will be a less varied (perhaps less interesting) place this season. With only three companies - Adidas, Nike and Puma - owning 75% of all the top clubs' kit deals, the likelihood for diverse design sadly seems all but doomed. We can only hope for better in the not too distant future.

Total number of 'kit seasons' for all manufacturers - 1974-2014
(Click for larger view)

Kit manufacturers used by First Division/Premier League teams (1974-2014)
(Click for larger view)

With special thanks to Dave Moor at Historical Football Kits for his help in providing the data for this article.

Soccer 88 - Daily Mirror Sticker Album

Continuing my theme of writing about non-Panini sticker albums, I'm doing it again and this time it's a sequel. Having covered the Daily Mirror's first foray into football stickers with 1987's Stick With Soccer, what we have here is their follow up from 1988.

There are some noticeable changes from the 86/87 album and, perhaps sadly given how different that album had been from the usual Panini fayre, most of them seem to have been done to fall more in line with the accepted version of the sticker book format. What I'm saying is, they Paninified its ass!

The 2 most obvious changes come with the name. While "Stick With Soccer" had followed the numbering format to match the league season it related to (86/87), Soccer 88 adopted the traditional (i.e. Panini) approach of the year the book was released in.


Secondly, "Soccer 88" is now the actual title (as opposed to the last one being officially titled "Stick With Soccer - 1986/87 Season"). This one does however, have a nice subtitle - "Britain's Top Sticker Album". Note, there's no asterisk there linked to a footnote with something like "in the Gateshead area for 3 weeks in March", nope this was apparently Britain's top sticker album. One can only assume that to be true as it's highly unlikely a tabloid newspaper would print any outlandish claims without facts to back it up. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is satire.

There's also been a price reduction...from 25p to FREE!

some words

One thing that hasn't changed is the foreword, blandly presented again by Bryan Robson...pretty sure he didn't write it though the sheer moribundness of it all maybe suggests he did. I have a lovely image of him, chewed pencil in hand, tongue sticking out as he concentrates oh so hard to fulfill the 200 word brief.

The intro does reveal that in the 87/88 season the top flight was in one of those transition phases between 22 and 20 clubs...in other words, 21.
There's also 360 stickers in total, up from 286 the previous year (thanks Bryan).

Wot no Villa?

An extra little nugget from the inside cover shows that Daily Mirror stickers came not in packets, but in "envelopes" - 6 stickers (surprised they didn't call them sticky-pics or something) costing 12p...

As with 86/87, we dive straight into the teams (all 26 of them...I'll come to the other 5 later) and of course it's perennial sticker book openers, boring boring Arsenal. These are of course followed by...Charlton. Eh? Where are Aston Villa? This is 1988, they're in the 2nd Division...which is funny...much much funnier than being in the 3rd tier with no home and -10 points oh yes! (SISU OUT!).

Sansom and...is it midnight?

One other new feature where the Mirror have, er, been inspired by Panini, is the introduction of foil stickers. That doesn't mean we get club badges (copyright issues anyone?), but instead the foils are reserved for the Team Manager and the Captain. The foils are...how shall I put this...crap?

Where the Italian foils are lovely and magpie-temptingly shiny, the Mirror's are just...dark. Sure if you shine a bright light on them they just about display their wares, but they're hardly what you'd call a mirror finish (and there we have ourselves a whole plate of pun...a punnet even...I'm on FIRE!)

CCFC...because I can...

Also making its debut is the player profile shot. 86/87 was all action, but this time round there's a strange mix of almost all action and then the odd player's mug appears. It all adds to the rather cheap feel that dominated the previous album and somewhat lets down the clear attempt to be taken more seriously. They should have stuck with one or the other and given the quality of the photos in this album are much better than before, the unique angle provided by the action shots should have been used as a USP. Speaking of the stickers, the quality level may have increased, but the stickers themselves have shrunk...down to normal Panini size, therefore allowing for more per page (hence the increase in number).

Super indeed!

The middle pages detail a rather bloody good competition to win a 10 day holiday to watch Euro 88 in West Germany. No doubt funded by the Mirror newspaper group, this was nevertheless something you wouldn't have found in any Panini album. Naturally, this is advertised heavily on the front cov...no wait...there's no mention of it anywhere prominent. Another opportunity missed! Contrary to competitions these days, to win this you had to choose your England XI to win Euro 88. Wonder how many entries would have done better than the real 11.

Rangers? Rings a bell...

After the 21 English Division 1 clubs are covered, there's time for some north of the border action. And by some, I mean 3 teams. Aberdeen, Celtic and some team called Rangers? Nope, me neither...

The final pages are taken up with a quite-common-at-the-time World Stars selection, featuring the best of the football world at the time, from Josimar and Maradona to Sanchez and...er...Glenn Hysen and the ultimate England squad as chosen Sir Alf Ramsey. One can't really argue with his choices, although the choices do seem to be either 1966 or 1988...the 2 decades in between seem to have been skipped over. Keegan, Brooking? Nope, but we do have Alvin Martin...nah, I'm kidding...he's not there.

Class from home and abroad

And that's your lot. As with the previous album, Soccer 88 was to the point with little in the way of superfluousness, but in my opinion, it was better for it. Despite the obvious lean towards sticker album conformity, it's a clear level above its predecessor and one can't help but feel that if they'd made another, which I'm pretty sure they didn't, it would perhaps have been a decent rival to the great Panini. As it is, they ducked out of sticker albums and so these two serve as the Mirror's sole efforts from the 80s. Around this time, Merlin were just getting started and would go on to provide a serious rival to Panini with the introduction of the Premiership. Perhaps this newcomer finally convinced those at the Mirror that there just wasn't room for a third top flight sticker collection. I guess we'll never know...