Favourite football shirt - West Germany 1990

 When favourite kits polls or lists are made it is generally in the top 5 and in most cases features at number 1, so I guess choosing this shirt may be seen as a bit of a cliche, an easy choice. However this shirt is no lazy pick, as a young lad growing up in Hartlepool in the late 80s/early 90s I was obsessed with football and football shirts in particular, so I had to plenty to choose from in my collection. This shirt though meant more than the rest.

It is odd to think now, but this particular shirt wasn’t even new for the tournament, it had already had its debut at the the European Championship in 1988 and was two years old when Italia 90 kicked off. As much as the shirt was and still is beautiful, a testament to clean lines and simplicity, whilst also being unique, experimental but uncluttered, it is a masterful piece of design work. It is as eye catching now to this middle aged man as it was to 12 year old me back in 1990. This shirt to me is not just a shirt, it is a symbol of that glorious summer and a period of my childhood.

On our family holiday to Devon at the end of May 1990 I had already earmarked my spending money from my Grandparents and parents and this shirt was my goal. During one of our many day trips I picked it up in a sport shop in Barnstaple. A quick change and washing aside, the shirt wasn’t off my back for the rest of the holiday or the summer.

Like most football fans from my era, Italia 90 was huge, pivotal and generation defining. Growing up in the pre Sky era, football was in short supply on the TV, barring major tournaments, the FA Cup final, semi’s and the odd televised game it was a barren landscape. That summer in Italy was like nothing I had ever experienced, from the stadiums that seemed to have landed from outer space to the crazy characters and moments, the beautiful kits and of course my first taste of glorious failure from England.

I guess the best way to describe my feeling around this shirt is similar to an album or song that reminds you of a perfect time in your life. For me and this shirt it was the summer of 1990, when my thoughts drift back, the glorious haze of nostalgia reminds me of those long summer nights when the sun always seemed to shine. Not quite in the minefield of adolescence, old enough to appreciate it and when I close my eyes I am wearing this shirt whilst kicking a Coca-Cola ball round the garden with my younger brother. I feel lucky to say my favourite shirt is a classic but is also rich in meaning.