The Shirt Tournament of Champions is our quest to figure out what the best football shirt of all time is. It may not be perfect, but we’re doing it our way, with some fun and knowledge. More information on the tournament can be found here.
The first matchup of the tournament is quite interesting. It pits a classic simple 1960′s shirt against a late 90′s shirt that is rather loud, and a by product of that era’s new fabric sublimation techniques. We’re essentially asking if you like classic designs or if you’re more into the loud and garish
1998 Mexico
Mexico’s traditional kit of green shirts, white shorts, and red socks is rather iconic. It’s an easy to remember combo like a lot of the big footballing nations, and it’s not something you really want to deviate from too much. The solution was simple in 1998 though, make the shirt into a big Aztec face. It worked, it’s one of the highest selling Mexico shirts of all time.
Sure it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s just one of those shirts you need in your closet if you’re a Mexico fan. I can barely tell you what Mexico’s shirts looked like this World Cup, and maybe you don’t remember exactly what year these were worn, but you remember that Mexico wore THIS thing once. Is it actually the best shirt of all time aesthetically? Probably not, but it’s got at least one thing going for it, it’s one of those shirts you’ll remember forever, good or bad.
1960-1963 Newcastle United
Unlike some of the shirts from this era in the competition, this specific shirt has no real significance, Newcastle fell to the second division in this shirt and didn’t gain promotion back to the first division till 1964. This has to be one of the more beautiful Newcastle shirts of the era though. The v-neck is very clean, the striping on the collar and sleeves is a nice accent, the shirt stripes are nice and thick, but not so thick that they’re too heavy. The club crest is over the left chest in a perfect spot, it’s not sort of awkwardly in the middle (admittedly this is a bit of a personal bias), and it doesn’t have a strange white patch behind it. Overall there is very little to be said about how one could improve upon such a classic design.
So who’s your favorite? Make sure you get in the comments to campaign for your favorite of the lot.
I like the Newcastle shirt, but really, I voted against the Mexico shirt. That is a hideously ugly shirt, from a country which usually produces some nice kits.
This.
Yep.
my thoughts exactly.
I just hate Mexico.
I like that this classic Newcastle shirt is different than a lot of other classic shirts (including the Ireland one I nominated). Nice to see one that’s not just a single color with white collar/cuffs.
I was never a big fan of the black and white stripes. Newcastle, Juventus, Udinese, Notts County.. none of them ever did it for me. The mexico kit on the other hand i love. Probably my favorite kit from the 1998 World Cup, a cup that has sentimental significance for me because it was the first world cup i actively watched and followed (’90 was too early and ’94 was right in the middle of a big move for my family). I love the 90′s subliminal imaging and i’m starting my own collection of them. Mexico ’98 will def. be on the list.
One aspect of the NUFC shirt that I love is that it’s slightly off-white. The kits Everton just wore for the FA Cup tie (Is that their specific cup shirt? I hadn’t seen it before) were also off-white and I loved that one, too. Here, the off-white softens the contrast between the stripes, something I wish current kit-makers would revert to. As iconic as the black&white stripes are, it can be a bit stark or garish depending on the rest of the layout. This is so simple and unmistakable.
Didn’t Mexico put out a version of this shirt with a more subtle Aztec design? One of those versions that reflected light differently depending on the angle (is this what’s meant by “sublimated design”?), thus revealing the pattern?
Those Everton kits are fantastic. They should’ve been nominated.
I really liked them as well.
No question for me – I was never going to vote for that Mexico top.
I’m not big on the black and white stripes normally myself, but there is something about this one, maybe the larger then normal black stripes, that I just love.
Legends of the Hidden Temple sucked.
This. That Mexico shirt must be meant to scare or puzzle opponents to death.
Why could no one ever put together the Shrine of the Sliver Monkey?!?! It’s a monkey statue with only 3 pieces!!! Aargh, sometimes I think they pulled their contestants from remedial classes. Oh, and this Mexico shirt is one of the WORST ever, not one of the best ever.
im not a mexico fan in the least, but that is an unbelievable jersey. how can i not vote for it!