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Wednesday 11 December 2024 16:59
Football kits are visceral items of clothing, instantly bringing back core memories of your favourite teams, players and moments from years gone by.
It’s no different for footballers themselves, as we discovered on a recent retro-kit shoot with defender Jonny Evans.
The premise was simple: we were going to show the United defender five beautiful shirts from years gone by and ask him to relive his recollections of each, before selecting and wearing his favourite. Here’s what happened…
The shirt, sported by United’s first two Premier League-winning teams, holds fond memories for the Northern Irishman.
“Steve Bruce, here at Old Trafford,” Jonny says, recalling our former captain’s iconic double against Sheffield Wednesday. “This kit makes me think of that, and them going up to lift the trophy.”
At 36, Evans admits he’s a little too young to remember those glorious campaigns in detail, but he reels off some great names – Robson, Parker, Kanchelskis, Cantona – from the footage that he has seen.
To most fans, this kit – our first-ever black number – conjures images of Cantona and his infamous spat with a Crystal Palace supporter, but Jonny associates it best with Lee Sharpe, who scored braces at Villa Park and Highbury while wearing it.
“It’s a lovely kit – it’s got a collar too, which is very ‘90s!” adds Evans.
One of our most cherished away shirts of all time is the white strip, with red and black trim, worn during the 1997-98 term and the following Treble season.
The list of outstanding occasions associated with this shirt is immeasurable – those thrilling draws with Barcelona, an 8-1 hammering of Nottingham Forest – but, for Jonny, one night permeates the consciousness 25 years on: “I think of Ryan Giggs, Beckham, Roy Keane… but most notably the game at Villa Park, the semi-final, with Giggs scoring, taking his shirt off and legging it!
“I was at my mate’s house and I remember going out into the streets afterwards. We knew it was such an iconic moment, especially with Schmeichel saving the penalty from [Dennis] Bergkamp too.”
On the subject of Schmeichel, another item available in the retro range is the green goalie top worn by the Great Dane for much of that historic 1998/99 campaign, including the Champions League final in Barcelona, in which Peter captained the Reds, played a part in Teddy Sheringham’s equaliser and greeted Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s winner by cartwheeling across the Nou Camp turf.
“Schmeichel, straightaway, so iconic,” Jonny says, as soon as we pull it off the rail.
“He had such a presence about him and when you see that kit, him flying out… yeah, that Champions League final springs to mind, his celebration in his last game.”
Of all the jerseys we showed our Belfast-born defender, this was the most unfamiliar, which is perhaps unsurprising, as it was only worn in two competitive fixtures.
“I don’t remember much about it, but it’s a nice kit too!” he says. “In fact, if you hadn’t shown me it, it wouldn’t have stuck in my memory…”
As Jonny recognises, it is a belter and, to be fair, he does link it to flashbacks of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole – they scored two of the three goals in our only win using it, at Southampton in October 1998.
RETRO SHIRTS RANGE
Which of the five kits did Jonny select as his favourite? Well, you’ll have to watch the full video to find out.
And, after you’ve done that, why not visit our Retro shirts page, where you’ll find all of the above on sale plus much, much more.
They’re the perfect gift for Christmas!
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Wednesday 11 December 2024 16:59
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