The Best Kits Spurs Have Ever Dropped

The lack of domestic football has had quite an affect on me. Occasionally I find myself emerging from a tube carriage, controlling an imaginary ball, performing a step-over and sweeping it past the good looking lady in the pencil skirt. At other times I find myself praying to the Gods, either old or new, for a doping ring to be discovered at Arsenal, however on occasion I do find time to do something constructive.

In this football famine I have devoted my time to reading books on Spurs, and last week I finished Roy Reyland’s excellent: Shirts, Shorts and Spurs.

Roy is a former kit man at Spurs who has been associated with the club since the 70’s. He started life as an odd job man/groundsman before eventually taking charge of the first team kit. It’s a great book and full of nice anecdotes from playing football with Steve Perryman, pool with a young Mickey Hazard, to watching Gazza run riot with an air-gun, dealing with an OCD Robbie Keane and being knee deep in the Lasagne gate aftermath.

This great book got me thinking, not only when are Spurs and Under Armour dropping the new kit, but also what has been my favourite shirt?

Of course trying to pick just one would be too difficult, it’s like deciding between Gareth Bale or Chris Waddle, so instead I have gone all chicken and picked a selection.

1991-1994 3^rd Kit Umbro

There was a time when Spurs or any English team for that matter didn’t appear in Europe. However after claiming the FA Cup in 1991, Tottenham found themselves in Cup Winners Cup and they launched a special Euro kit to mark the event.

It may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but for me I loved the light blue colour and the Spurs name across the chest.

Yes it was probably a waste of money as we hardly ever wore it, but I loved that shirt and the fact it signalled we were back in Europe.

1999-2001 Home Kit Adidas

After years of Hummel, Umbro and god forsaken Pony, Spurs finally had a world famous kit manufacturer. Adidas with their iconic three stripes down the arm and smart shorts, coupled with the return of Holsten, ticked all the right boxes.

Tottenham were Worthington Cup champions and even back in Europe. Our Euro adventure however didn’t last long, a Stephen Carr 92nd minute OG away at Kaiserslauten ended our dreams.

However despite an average domestic season there were some highlights, we beat Arsenal at home, and thanks to a Carr wonder goal at the right end, we beat Man United 3-1.

2010-2011 Home Kit Puma

This is the kit that has been immortalised by Bale’s destruction of Maicon, however a few months previous it could have been totally different.

Stood in a pub in Old Street with my fellow Spurs supporting friends, our dreams of Champions League football were in tatters after only 30 minutes. Switzerland, Young Boys, a plastic pitch and some amateur defending threatened to make us a laughing stock.

Thankfully though, we recovered and made it through to the quarter finals where Real Madrid, with the help of Aaron Lennon fainting, two Peter Crouch slide tackles and a flap by Heurelho Gomes ended our journey.

That Puma kit was beautifully tailored and suited our attacking, bordering on occasional suicidal European form.

1988-1991 Away Kit Hummel

We all remember Gazza’s freekick at Wembley in the Hummel kit, but for me it was his goal on the plastic pitch at Kenilworth Road in 1989 against Luton that burned this Hummel yellow kit into my mind. It was a classic breakaway goal, defenders back peddling, options either side but Gazza just slides between two men and rolls it home.

In our squad that season were also Chris Waddle, Gary Linker and Mabbutt and Erik Thorstvedt, enough for any young boy to fall helplessly in love with Spurs.

2012/2013 Under Armour ?????

What do we all want from this year’s kit? A return to navy shorts? A brown away number?

Personally as long as the third grey/black number is ditched and we have a number 9 shirt with a class strikers name on the back, I will be happy.