adidas Football Jerseys - A Journey Through The Decades

adidas, the brand with the iconic 3 stripes, was founded in 1948 by Adolf Dassler, a German who had been producing shoes since 1920.  It was not until the 1960’s that adidas began to produce sports apparel, with the Franz Beckenbauer tracksuit in 1967 being the first commercial piece of apparel available.

 

1970's

The 3 stripes first appeared on kits at the 1974 World Cup, with the brand producing 11 of the 16 kits worn at the tournament in West Germany, which was won by the hosts.  adidas finally reached British shores in 1977 supplying kits to Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough, while a year later produced a kit that would bring nightmares to every Scotland fan around at the time - the Peru white jersey with distinctive red sash on the front that was worn in their 3-1 win over the Scots at the World Cup.

  [caption id="attachment_581" align="alignleft" width="150"] Peru 1978 - Classic white with red sash jersey as worn by Teufilo Cubillas who masterminded victory over Scotland.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_583" align="alignleft" width="300"] Dundee United - The Terrors reached the UEFA Cup Final knocking out Barcelona en-route.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_723" align="alignleft" width="150"] Tabela 14 LS Jersey - great looking football jersey available in 8 colours. V-neck design with shadow diagonal stripe pattern on front.[/caption]

                     

 

1980's

The 1980’s saw football become more commercial, with teams now allowed to put sponsor logos onto their jerseys.  A lot more thought would go into designs to incorporate the sponsor motif, as well as the appearance of the shirt, with pin-stripes featuring on the 1982 World Cup shirts, and Aberdeen’s 1983 Cup Winner’s Cup design.  adidas also signed a couple of major players with the acquisitions of Manchester United in 1980 and Liverpool in 1985.

The jerseys went through a period of understatement in the mid-80s, with the shadow diagonal stripe pattern seen on Dundee United’s 1986/87 strip serving as inspiration for the current Tabela 14 teamwear jersey.

Unique designs returned though in 1988 with the Netherlands home jersey, which looked like it had been designed by a child daubing white paint on a sponge onto the orange shirt, and carried on over into the 1990’s with the West Germany home strip that featured an abstract 3 stripe/West German national flag across the chest and sleeves.  These abstract designs were perhaps the influence behind the best-selling Toque 13 teamwear football jersey.  These were nothing compared to what was to come in the 90's...

[caption id="attachment_880" align="alignleft" width="150"] Netherlands Euro ’88 – Marco van Basten rose to fame with an unbelievable volley in the final against the USSR.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_569" align="alignleft" width="300"] Lothar Matthaus - West Germany's winning captain at Italia '90[/caption] [caption id="attachment_573" align="alignleft" width="150"] Toque 13 Jersey - This popular adidas teamwear jersey made your team stand out with the unusual abstract design on the chest and sleeves.[/caption]

   

                   

1990's

[caption id="attachment_579" align="alignleft" width="150"] Man Utd - In 1991 a 17 year old named Ryan Giggs made his debut for the Reds, mesmerising defences with his pace and skill. 23 years later, he retired as United's record holder for appearances and scorer of many memorable goals. A true legend of the game![/caption] [caption id="attachment_879" align="alignleft" width="300"] Glasgow Rangers were cruelly denied a place in the European Cup final in 1992/93, with striker Ally McCoist leading the line for the Gers.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_577" align="alignleft" width="150"] Arsenal 1993/94 - Paul Merson was one of England's most talented footballers from a young age, his maverick skills on the pitch entertaining the Highbury crowd. Merson has transferred his talents to the Soccer Saturday panel on Sky Sports.[/caption]

                             

adidas produced an eye catching strip in 1990 for Manchester United’s away kit.  This white/sky/royal combination fit in perfectly with the "Madchester" music culture of the day, and was a hit with supporters across the country.

In 1992 adidas changed from the trefoil badge to their new Equipment logo, and added larger stripes to their shirts, as seen here in the Glasgow Rangers home strip.  Not happy with just putting the large stripes on the shoulders, the brand put them across the body of the shirt in a 3-stripe sash style as seen on the Arsenal kit of 1993-94.

The 1994 World Cup in USA was the tipping point for wacky designs, with examples being Spain’s Home Shirt which featured 3 stripes of what looked like diamond symbols down the right hand side of the body, and the host nation’s American flag designs of red/white stripes for the home shirt, and white stars on a denim blue body for the away shirt, which was a pioneering design into showing how football jerseys could be worn as everyday items alongside jeans.  Strangely, for the designs being more outrageous, adidas made their logo more simple than before, with a worded adidas motif donning the jerseys instead of their brand logo.

France wore a tribute to their 1984 European Championship winning kit when they hosted the World Cup in 1998, and beat Brazil 3-0 in the final.  This was also when the media started to take more of an interest in the brands themselves and their bumper budget marketing campaigns.   Suddenly it wasn't just about the teams playing, it was now adidas versus Nike.

[caption id="attachment_582" align="alignleft" width="150"] Spain Home 1994 - Current Barcelona manager Luis Enrique was part of the Spanish squad that wore this distinctive red home shirt with a diamond 3-stripe pattern going down the right side of the jersey. Sadly, Spain's play wasn't as impressive as their kit and they went out in the quarter finals.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_584" align="alignleft" width="271"] USA 1994 Away - Alexi Lalas's red hair and beard made the defender a cult favourite![/caption] [caption id="attachment_883" align="alignleft" width="150"] Zidane - France '98' saw Zinedine Zidane inspire the host nation to their first World Cup triumph. His two goals in the final in front of a packed Stade de France in Paris saw France defeat favourites Brazil 3-0. Zidane went on to become the world's most expensive player when he joined Real Madrid in 2001.[/caption]

       

     

           

   

 

21st Century Football Kits

[caption id="attachment_570" align="alignleft" width="150"] Real Madrid - The most successful club in European football have won the European Cup 10 times, and have worn a white kit since their founding in 1902. Since 1998 the club have had their kits provided by adidas and many great players have worn Real's adidas jerseys, like Raul, Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_576" align="alignleft" width="300"] adidas Konn 16 Jersey - New to the 2016 range, the Konn 16 comes in five colours and features a contrast band across the chest and sleeves.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_881" align="alignleft" width="150"] Chelsea 3rd Kit – The Blues lifted the European Cup for the first time in 2012, with a semi-final victory over Barcelona which included a Fernando Torres goal that led to a famous piece of commentary from Gary Neville. The London club then defeated Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout to lift the trophy and banish the heartache of losing on penalties in 2008[/caption]

                           

       

After the year 2000, clubs and national sides began to revert back to more classic designs, with a lot of originality taken out of the kit designing, possibly as a result of teams changing their kits more often – replica kits are now changed every season – which meant there would only be subtle changes done to the kit.  An example of this would be Real Madrid bringing out a home kit one season with purple trim, and the next changing the trim to a different colour, but with the basic design always being the same.

Thankfully there has still been examples of distinctive designs, like Chelsea’s 3^rd kit in 2011-12 worn by Fernando Torres when he scored his famous goal in the Nou Camp. For a similar appearance look to the Konn 16 football jersey out now.

The brand famous for the 3 stripes do supply teams that wear a striped jersey as well, and over the years they have produced kits for AC Milan, Newcastle United, Bayern Munich and now Juventus.  Amateur and youth teams in the UK can replicate this look with the Striped 15 jersey, which carries on a striped teamwear tradition going back to the likes of Stricon.

[caption id="attachment_578" align="alignleft" width="150"] Bayern Munich - The Red and Blue striped design was first worn by the club in 1968/69, and again in 1995/96 when the club won the UEFA Cup, beating Scottish side Raith Rovers along the way. Pep Guardiola's team strolled to league title glory in 2014/15 and are a big favourite for this year's Champions League.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_572" align="alignleft" width="300"] Striped 15 Jersey - a great looking adidas jersey in a simple striped design. This jersey comes in 8 different colourways and has a v-neck style with 3 stripes on each sleeve.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_575" align="alignleft" width="150"] adidas Condivo 16 Jersey - New for 2016, the Condivo 16 is adidas' flagship teamwear jersey, and comes in 5 colours. This style is similar to the one used by adidas' contracted nations at this year's European Championships and combines adiZero with Climacool technology for the ultimate performance football jersey.[/caption]    

                         

adidas' extensive teamwear range gives clubs plenty of choice, which includes the top of the range Condivo 16, a design seen this summer at the European Championships on the likes of Germany, Spain and Belgium, to the more pocket friendly Entrada 14 and Estro 15 styles.

Are any of the above jerseys a favourite of yours, or is there another adidas kit from down the years that you loved?

If you haven’t yet decided to wear adidas, perhaps some of these iconic designs seen over the years will serve as inspiration for your next team kit which you can buy here at Direct Soccer or Express Football Kits.  Maybe your team already wears adidas football kit, so why not share with us a picture of your team proudly wearing your adidas kit on our Facebook page?