Once the game had been established as a staple of competition between public schools in England, teams began to wear different colours to demonstrate identity – perhaps their school crest or even to differentiate between social class.

When an organised and structured football league appeared in the 1860s, players were kitted out in whatever clothing they owned; using caps or sashes to distinguish what team they were on. This lasted a full ten years before uniforms became the norm with the colour representing the heritage of the teams’ players and their community.

A series of measures taken by the Football Association when the Football League was in it’s first few years, saw the kit begin to resemble what we know today. Players had previously worn knickerbockers – but these turned into shorts. Players once nailed spikes to their boots – but these evolved into studs. And the first shin guards – which started life as adapted cricket pads worn outside the sock – began to catch on.

As the game spread across Europe, teams began to model their kit colour from the English Football League. Fact: Juventus modelled their colours (black and white stripes) on Notts County.

In the 1950s, German sports company Adidas manufactured the first boot which was cut below the ankle and started experimenting with diverse types of stud for different conditions. Jerseys were becoming more lightweight and team colours were kept simple. The designs of the 1970s are amongst the most popular purchases for football fans today. Shirts were still generally clear of sponsorship and, for the first time, footballers began to play the celebrity game.

Georgie Best and King Kevin Keegan did look quite good in those retro V-necks didn’t they?

Enter the modern era and shirts were increasingly becoming bombastic fashion statements with the consumer in mind as much as the team. Pink for Juventus, purple for Real Madrid, gold for Borussia Dortmund – as globalisation kicked in, manufacturers started to design kits as fashion for markets in at home and further afield to the Far East.

Today the kit is designed with as much as a marketing tool under the global football brand, with teams opting for as many as three kits per season. Depending on their participation in football’s top competitions teams will even produce commemorative jerseys, so it’s not unknown to have as many as five or six different jerseys during any one season.

Today, as with most sports, football kit makers work with players and scientists to develop the best in performance attire. Currently, tight-fitting, second skin-style strips are favoured by many of the top league and international teams for their aero-dynamism and; well, because they look quite good.

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