Next Season's home kit

[readingbedding]

From what I see, there are 10 home kit changes in 110 years pre-kit sponsorship.
17 since 1981...

[SWLR]

I saw that Puma provide the Sporting Lisbon kit - could look good in blue and white and a throw-back to the early '70's kit.

If I had the faintest idea how to paste in a pic I would. TTWBIWIP (or summit like that)

[SpaceCruiser]

I saw that Puma provide the Sporting Lisbon kit - could look good in blue and white and a throw-back to the early '70's kit.

If I had the faintest idea how to paste in a pic I would. TTWBIWIP (or summit like that)

Do you mean this?

[SWLR]

The one they wore last night was slightly different (black flash on the front shoulder/ different sponsor) but that is the idea. Also was all green on the back.

[Whore Jackie]

Skin, it's not about buying a shirt that you like, it's about watching the players in a good kit. We want people to see this football team in hoops and then they to say "Ah, yes, it's those famous blue and white hoops, they'll win again today."

I personally couldn't care less if the team turned out in tutu's and Dr Martens.

I support the team not the kit and if anyone was to say anything about us I'd rather it was "Reading, good team, they'll win today".

A choice between a team playing stylish, successful football in a crap kit or a team playing crap football in a stylish one is a no-brainer.

That said, a team's kit, our team's kit, is a worthy discussion point IMHO. We must be the oldest club in the world to play in hoops and it's one tradition worth preserving. White shorts and socks are also part of that tradition. I understand the commercial reasons why we sometimes wear blue shorts and socks, just wish that they'd alternate it with white ones every two years as the kit changes. The 'panel on the back issue' doesn't bother me either, there's ways that it could be incorporated much more sensitively. I'd like to see us return to a classically simple kit, like the Celtic one, rather than the asymmetric dogs-dinner we currently have.

Other than the players and manager (and they're pretty transient these days) the kit is the probably the biggest visible denoter of a club. Think of the great European clubs. For instance with AC Milan, I think of their red and black striped kit, the San Siro, Kaka, Gullit, Weah etc, in that order. Surprisingly the club badge/logo falls fairly low in the pecking order. In fact given a random selection of football clubs, I'd best most of us would know what their kit is, where they play, who's their manager, name-drop a few players, but struggle to accurately describe their badge. It probably took Baddiel and Skinner to educate many people about the England badge.

There's also a fair bit of psychology in kits too. One of the first actions of Don Revie at Leeds, was changing their royal blue strip to white, emulating the European champions Real Madrid. Fergie never let Man United wear their grey kit after The Dell debacle and Alan Pardew wielded a major influence into our away kits during his time here.

[RoyalBlue]

Maybe one day we'll be lucky enough to have a shirt which draws it's inspiration from a steward's jacket...

The last thing we want is a team that sits down throughout the game!

[Kes]

Maybe one day we'll be lucky enough to have a shirt which draws it's inspiration from a steward's jacket...

Like Dortmunds?

[TheLawnMowerMan]

my personal favourite is 1998-1999

Wrong.

The Hat Painting TV interference shirt is the benchmark.

92-94 (3) for me!

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

From what I see, there are 10 home kit changes in 110 years pre-kit sponsorship.
17 since 1981...

could you even buy Reading shirts before 1981?

I don't think kit sponsorship made much difference. It's just that without that replica shirt trade, there wasn't much incentive to change shirts.

In the early years you just didn't have that many options anyway. Every team used to play in black, white or navy blue shorts, for example, as the manufacturers didn't make any other colours for several decades after the game was invented.

[crossie]

I'd like to see the style of the current away kit. It's simple and may look good in blue/white.

[readingbedding]

From what I see, there are 10 home kit changes in 110 years pre-kit sponsorship.
17 since 1981...

could you even buy Reading shirts before 1981?

I don't think kit sponsorship made much difference. It's just that without that replica shirt trade, there wasn't much incentive to change shirts.

In the early years you just didn't have that many options anyway. Every team used to play in black, white or navy blue shorts, for example, as the manufacturers didn't make any other colours for several decades after the game was invented.

I'm not talking about shorts.

http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/English ... 888-89.htm

http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/English ... 1-1922.htm

http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/English ... 5-1966.htm

http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/English ... 5-1976.htm

http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/English ... 5-1986.htm

Not to begin with, most clubs were too skint to produce replica copies.
Once sponsorship came in you cannot say that it didn't increase the regularity when kits were changed, the sponsorship gave the clubs money to improve revenue streams, ie replica kits...

Kit sponsorship had everything to do with new kits being developed, initally or changing kit manufacturer, or changing their crest, or sponsor.

How they persuaded the fan in the early 80's to shell out money to what became a new kit every 1.5 season is beyond me...but they did.

[SpaceCruiser]

readingbedding, that's a nice website, I think better than kitclassics.co.uk.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Actually there's a lot to be said for a simple kit without all the stupid overblown trim, neck designs and flashes of colour and designer marks etc.

[Barry the bird boggler]

For the record Reading had 10 home kit designs in the 112 years from 1871 to 1983 and have had 16 in the 25 years or so since!

[Kes]

Best Reading kit.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Quite possibly so seeing as it mimics a design worn by the biggest club in the league at around the same time

[readingbedding]

readingbedding, that's a nice website, I think better than kitclassics.co.uk.

Yeah, it's good isn't it...

Worst ever kits and yes, we're there...

http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Articles/Room_101.htm

[Kes]

readingbedding, that's a nice website, I think better than kitclassics.co.uk.

Yeah, it's good isn't it...

Worst ever kits and yes, we're there...

http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Articles/Room_101.htm

LOL @ Chelsea's orange and grey away kit not being in that list.

[cmonurz]

Fantastic kit this one.

[cmonurz]

And I'm sure HNA? will appreciate Oxford's brilliant sponsor....