By Phil Hecken
It’s often been said by many of the readers of Uni Watch that soccer football, particularly European football, doesn’t get much love on these boards, and that’s certainly true — but that’s due far more to the fact that both Paul and I aren’t especially familiar with the beautiful game (full confession: I only watch during the World Cup and the Olympics) than the fact that we don’t like the sport. And while it’s no baseball, for many readers nothing approaches soccer as their sport of choice.
As you probably know, last weekend I ran the first part of a two-part series, as envisioned by my buddy, Tim E. O’Brien, on some “what if uniforms” for the 16 teams of the Euro Championships — not the unis they currently wear, or have in the past, but something that we might expect to see in the future. In part one we looked at the first 8…and today we conclude with the final eight.
Euro Championships…into the future — Part II
By Tim E. O’Brien
Continuing and capping Uni Watch’s unprecedented coverage of soccer (futbol) kit history/news/concepts this June, I’m proud to bring you the second part of my Euro 2012 concepts just in time for Sunday’s finale (Avanti Azzurri!).
Again, I took some ideas from current Euro stuff and older Euro and World Cup unis but I tried to tweak these enough to make them my own and for the rest I tied newer concepts from the ground up. Enjoy.
THE FINAL EIGHT:
Very simplistic (perhaps too simplistic) but I think it works for this team (and Puma seems to think so this year too). Though I do go a bit more experimental on the Second Change and Keeper kits.
I like what Portugal’s doing this year but I’ve made some efforts to improve and edit the designs. This included a new font, an edited cross and a few other changes.
With the Spaniards, I decided to play around with some gradients. The Primary kit is inspired by part of the Spanish crest while the Change kit features the crowned lion from the crest on the shorts.
I really liked the white kit with the blue stripes France wore last year, so I combined that with certain aspects of their Euro 2012 blue kit and combined them to create a new Primary and Change (and, unusually for me, both Keeper kits).
The Special Change kit, a kit for only the most important of games, echos their 1998 World Cup winning kit.
I went with simple and classic but with a twist. I really liked the ’08 German unis, so I updated them for 2012. I use Futura as my font because it is a German made sans-serif that’s both amazingly beautiful and versatile.
Flag inspired. Need I say more?
The English need classic, traditional kits, but that doesn’t mean they have to be boring. The Change kit features red on red pinstripes while the Special Change kit, a kit for only the most important of games, returns the Three Lions to a predominantly white kit with red trim and an all red logo.
The Keeper Change Kit was inspired by the current keeper kit Hart wore in England’s match against France.
I actually kinda like the font Italy has been using this year, so I tried to recreate it with a few tweaks. These are all pretty traditional but I feel like the flag sleeves and fonts cross these into a very modern feel.
And there you have it! Thanks TimE. OK readers — how’d he do on Part number 2?
Or maybe they’ve discovered Mike’s from the planet Bleutahr…
Click to enlarge
Uni Tweaks Concepts
We have another new set of tweaks, er…concepts today. After discussion with a number of readers, it’s probably more apropos to call most of the reader submissions “concepts” rather than tweaks. So that’s that.
So if you’ve concept for any sport, or just a tweak or wholesale revision, send them my way.
Please do try to keep your descriptions to ~50 words (give or take) per image — if you have three uniform concepts in one image, then obviously, you can go a little over, but no novels, OK? OK!. You guys have usually been good with keeping the descriptions pretty short, and I thank you for that.
Like the colorizations, I’m going to run these as inline pics — click on each one to enlarge.
You folks heard the call for concepts, and you’ve responded with vigor — couple sets today.
And so, lets begin:
We have my buddy, and everyone’s favorite 5&1 friend, Jim Vilk…
Phil,
A quick Paint job, but you get the idea: Sansabelt pants and a little more yellow to brighten up that fantastic uniform.
–Jim Vilk
Next up is Rex Henry with a new look for the Charlotte Bobcats Hornets!
Phil,
Charlotte Hornets Buzz with- hear me out- mismatched purple unis.
–Rex
OK…what the hell is this?
It’s not really a tweak per se. But it was sent to Paul, who suggested I display it in the Concepts section. You can read more about it, and the rationale, from Chris Ray (If the link says “connection reset” or something like that, just try it a second time and it should work):
Hey Paul,
Don’t know if you’ve seen this yet, but there’s a University of Iowa sports blog called Black Heart Gold Pants that has recently completed their Nike Pro Combat series uniform interpretations for all 12 B1G football teams:
Overall, this is outstanding work and accurately combines the stereotypes of the individual teams and regions with the oftentimes absurd uniform renditions we’ve seen from the Nike Pro Combat series. With myself being a lifetime UM fan, I especially enjoyed the OSU and MSU uniform entries. Please review and hopefully you’ll also appreciate the effort, attention to detail and creativity from the folks who put together the BHGP blog and share these gems with your readers.
Thanks,
Chris Ray
And that’s it for today kiddies. Back with more tomorrow (a big set coming from Terry D).
That will conclude today’s program — a very odd uniform juxtaposition will take place today, as the Tampa Rays will be “throwing back” to wear a uniform they never wore during a year (1979) they never existed (and it’s so garish it falls into the “so bad it’s good” category), with the Tigers donning their 1979 road unis as a counterpoint…and the Minnesota Twins & Kansas City Royals will be wearing two of the more gorgeous minor league throwbacks you could ever hope to see.
Expect coverage of both tomorrow. Catch the games today. Cheers.
“I suppose you’re entitled to believe the uni numbers make the jersey look cluttered (although I disagree) but I don’t see how you could find numbers — which can be designed to fit the style and look of the jersey (which you can’t with sponsor patch), which are generally smaller than the average jersey sponsor patch and which actually serve a function on the pitch — to be anywhere near as objectionable as jersey sponsor patches.”
— Pat “Padday” Flamingo
link
I heard the Rays’ radio announcers mention last night that they “may” be wearing yellow sannies tonight. I hope to be arriving at the game early so I’ll let you know…
Tigers’ hats should have a white outline around the orange “D”, which brought out the logo more back in 1979 for those road hats.
How many years did the road hat have the tiger crawling through it? I picked one up in ’93 or so but it didn’t last long
According to Dressed to the Nines, they last from 1994-97.
link
Can’t wait to check out the second set, Tim E. But much cleaning up to be done as WV is in a state of emergency and most of us are without power.
See you all soon!
The first rule of aesthetic rules is that it’s OK to break them if the result will be awesome. Alas, the Spain unis are not awesome enough to justify breaking the No Gradients rule.
Other than that one false step, these are some terrific concepts. France is so good that I would probably root for France just for the uni. Germany and Czech Republic are also outstanding. Great stuff all around.
i don’t know scotty…
i’m pretty sure jim vilk not only would wear this, he might be DIYing it right now
….wait, despite its awesomeness, jim doesn’t like anything that might be construed as “tie dye-esque,” lest someone mistake him for some modern-day hippie
I don’t mind gradients so much, which is why one day I’ll be DIYing this,
link
but full-on tie-dye makes me queasy.
I might not DIY that Spain kit, but I’d sure wear it.
Actually, I like Spain’s primary even better.
Timmo, top to bottom, this is probably your best stuff. My only quibble is something you didn’t create: the Puma font on the
FloppersAzzuri. I love the look of Puma shoes, but not their other forays into designing.I think my favorite touch was the German flag colors streaming from the team logo. That really pops, especially on the non-keeper kits.
Those deep breaths have been helping. Great job today!
And does anyone else think gray/grey would make for a nice change kit? Seeing these keeper change kits made me wonder what it would look like on the rest of the team.
Jim,
Grey is not the best color for a kit, from a player’s perspective, not as clear to the eye at speed as red, yellow, blue, white, stripes, etc. Grey was popular in the 90’s, when designers were picking colors and patterns as fashion, not for sporting reasons (I know, shocking), but not so popular anymore.
There’s a somewhat famous story about grey alternate kits involving Manchester United. I let others tell it
link
link
Well, that particular design was pretty camouflage-y, so I could see the problem.
Can’t say I feel sorry for the folks in that second article, complaining about *having* to buy yet another jersey.
I was just thinking of when Toronto FC had this jersey:
link
(I have a shirt just like that, only without the dark swirlies. I love it.)
They wore that for years, and as far as I know they didn’t have problems with it. Then again, I didn’t get to see a lot of their games. Any TFC fans want to chime in?
RE: Benchies
If two Mystery Men link are going to beat on me, I hope it’s The Shoveler and Invisible Boy.
;)
Not to worry, the true intent of the men in black will be revealed…tomorrow.
Now, as to the soccer concepts…
Today’s batch, taken as a group without any particular nits that some might feel need picking, really is something special.
Well, I guess today we’re founding members of a Mutual Admiration Society!
Cheers, haha.
And off to help my cousin move (I hate owning an SUV…).
Favorite bumper sticker seen lately.
On a new red Ford F-150.
YES, IT’S MY TRUCK.
NO, I WON’T HELP YOU MOVE.
…because of all the gas it uses up, right? because there is no way you could hate it because of the moving angle since it would take 3 days to move an apartment 5 blocks in a suv. same thing with the F-150. now if the F-150 bumpersticker said “yes this is my truck, and no i won’t take you to home depot”, thaaaat would be funny.
It’s not my move, rpm, that’s the problem. I got recruited just because of my car.
I love my car for when I move or go tailgating, it’s when other people need it that’s the problem.
Greece concept… yeah, hope that kit never goes up against teams with a blue home (or away) and white away (or home) kit…
Agreed. I love the look, but neither the primary or the change could be worn against the French or Italian primary kit.
Perhaps the change could be white with a blue center panal (similar to Ajax) which would feature a white cross.
Why? Lots of teams wear stripes – my own Wigan wear blue and white stripes and last season had a dark blue change strip with a white third kit. I haven’t checked it out, so am quite happy to be proved wrong.
No problem. I quite like it.
Only comment would be that I’m not sure dark blue shorts would now be allowed for England’s keeper. Usually the whole kit has to be distinctive.
That last sentence from the first para should be at the end of the third para. Not sure what happened there !
The issue with the Greek concept is they are the same, except the sleeve colours. So it’s always blue and white.
Oh! Fair enough – need to look closer. I have to agree that wouldn’t do :)
Does Wigan wear their stripes when visiting Chelsea or Everton? No, they wear one of their change strips. In the case of the Tim’s Greek concept the change jersey poses the exact same issue as the primary one without any other alternative.
“Lots of teams wear stripes — my own Wigan wear blue and white stripes and last season had a dark blue change strip with a white third kit.”
Yes, but they link last season.
I know what I meant. It just went wrong in the telling.
I’m having a bad day. :(
I’d actually love to see Portugal do a cross like the one from the club Portuguesa in Brazil link, derived from the Cross of Aviz link or even the Order of Christ cross which is part of the national team badge link
But honestly, the kits from this year are the best in years and don’t really need any tweaking in my mind
Another Portugal idea, which would be interesting, would be to make an alternate based on some early flags link
Tim, your Spain 2nd keeper shirt is pretty much just the new Barca away shirt:
link
No chance Iker Casillas (a Real Madrid player) would be caught dead in that.
Still problems with the legibility of numbers (the Greek and French concepts with gold numbers on blue and white stripes would never pass muster with FIFA or UEFA).
I don’t think it’s a good idea to take out elements of the Spanish coat of arms and use them as elements of the uniform. Spain is a nation of regions with strong pride, sometimes approaching nationalism (Catalonia, the Basque country). The coat of arms contains the symbols of six separate regions of Spain. Featuring one element to the exclusion of the others is a bad idea. Rather like a Canadian uniform having the fleur-de-lys instead of the maple leaf.
Putting white shorts on your French concept blows the whole point of keeping the current shirt. It’s supposed to evoke the all-blue French military uniforms (down to the use of light blue and metallic gold trim). In any event, I suspect the French will go back to a blue shirts/white shorts/red socks kit for the World Cup. Not your version, I hope — too much red and white on the blue shirt.
My takes on Tim E. O’s work:
Overall, solid! I don’t understand “special change kits,” so I’m biased against them. I say, just have a primary and a change for the keepers and the players. If you need to quickie-order, let’s say, black shorts to avoid clashing, then so be it. Speaking of your third change kits, change you lock on the Czech Republic–Hungry Hungry Hipster broke in! (Actually, I kind of like it, but why not let the flag motif go all the way around the bottom of the shirt?)
The only technical error belongs to Greece. If the change and primary look way too similar, then you’re not really “changing,” and you risk a buttered cat scenario with a blue or white opponent.
Last weeks were more of tweaks and these are definitely more ambitious projects. Some great ones (Deutschland, Italia, Frogs and the Czech change) to be sure, but the England fans I know would be irate with their two principal kits and the two Greek kits are too similar to each other.
I’m not 100% certain, but I think Vilk’s original tweak of the ’79 Rays uniform from yesterday included a yellow squatchee.
Looks like it got cropped today.
hmmm…why yes, yes it did
was trying to help the vilkster out because the link he sent me had about 400 pixels of blank space around maddon in each direction left and right, so i cropped it so it would fit as an inline pic better…i guess i inadvertently chopped off the gold squatch in the process…good spot
Rarely do I want to spend $40+ on a hat, but why has New Era not put those out yet?
perhaps ironically…it looks like you could buy a replica(?) jersey, but i don’t see caps for sale on the teams’ site
Why couldn’t they make a replica shirsey? I’m not buying the jersey, but I’m gonna have to look into getting the next best thing:
link
Good catch, Chris.
They need to make a snapback version of that cap. Now.
Man, this uni is one of the best things to come along in a LONG time. No, I wouldn’t want to see the Yankees or Dodgers in something like that, but for a team that didn’t come along until the end of the 20th century, it’s just great.
If they made this their full-time uni, the Rays would fighting the Orioles and Nats for the coveted 2nd-place spot on my list of favorite teams.
A couple more tweaks:
1. As discussed last week, the stirrups should be cut (much) higher.
2. The end-of-sleeve/top-of-pants stripe could be powder blue.
3. If they really want to go with a belt, it should be yellow.
Earlier this week Paul encouraged readers to go out and donate blood. Greg Biffle is also driving that message:
link
With throwbacks having become an ingrained part of MLB over the past 20 years, I had a fun, if not improbable, thought:
A MLB-wide “Throwback day”–on this day, every team in MLB would wear throwback uniforms. Here’s the fun part, each year would be a throwback to a specific year, 1979, 1956, 1915 etc.. So on that day every team would be wearing that specific year’s uniform. Teams that didn’t exist at that time would have the option of throwing back to their city’s minor league team of that year, or, creating a fauxback design.
MLB could partner with a charity to auction off game-worn Throwback Day items.
I like that.
i like this idea.
As much as I like throwbacks, I hate the thought of the league stepping in and taking away even more of the individual teams’ autonomy.
Most of the teams recognize how much fun throwback days are already without Selig’s office sticking their snounts in where they don’t belong.
I know very little about soccer, but I have a uniform question hopefully someone can answer. Since the goalkeeper’s uniform differs from his team’s, what are the rules/criteria for the color uniform the goalkeeper wears? Is he free to wear what ever color he wants as long as it doesn’t match his team’s or opponent’s uniforms?
Has to be different from:
A)His team
B)The other team
C)The other goalie
D)The refs
I think that’s about it…
what else is there?
There’s always former Mexico goalie Jorge Campos who made sure he clashed with nothing ever found in nature
link
Correct
Keeper kit does not have to differentiate from the referee anymore, at least in HS. If I’m in yellow or black, the keeper can be as well.
It’s still the rule in FIFA.
Only that it is different from everyone else on the field, including the officials and the other keeper. Most wear a contrast color with either no design elements, or ones similar to rest of the team. However completely different and wild is also an option. Check out former Mexico keeper Jorge Campos:
link
link
link
I’m pretty sure there’s a specific hierarchy to determine which order the kits are selected in. Something like this:
1. Home team
2. Away team
3. Home keeper
4. Away keeper
5. Officials
Additionally, I believe it’s usually the team picking which kit its goalkeeper will wear. In most cases, it’s not his decision.
Major pro leagues, as well as big tournaments such as the World Cup and the Euros, have all the teams register their uniforms for the competition (primary kit, change kit, primary goalie kit, change goalie kit). MLS, for example, sends out an e-mail to both teams and the referees about 96 hours prior to the match indicating what uniforms each team will wear, and what the referees will wear. The league office does this with consultation from the teams (for example, if a team wanted to wear a third kit for a particular game).
Other rules may come into play. In the English Premier League, for example, each team is required to wear their change kit at least eight times during the season.
Tomorrow, Spain is designated as the home team for the Euro Final. So, I’d guess the look will shape out like this:
Spain — red, with dark blue shorts
Italy — blue, with white shorts
Iker Casillas — all yellow
Gianluigi Buffon — gray
Referees — black
Interesting.
Regarding tomorrow’s final: Spain was also the designated home team when they met in the group stage. For that game, link (I don’t think he’s worn gray at all in this tournament).
I could’ve sworn Buffon has worn gray at least once, with a blue
stripe similar to the away jersey. My memory isn’t what it used to be. Casillas has certainly worn yellow.
Now, if they decide that the refs are wearing yellow, you could see a replay of the group match, as you’ve described it.
My mistake. Looks like Buffon did wear gray against Croatia. I could only remember seeing him in red or green.
Equally as important to donating blood is to donate plasma. Plus they pay you for it!
Those Pro Combat Big 10 unis were amazingly hilarious.
Even Wolverine! It’s like my childhood imagination ran wild!
link
Gotta love the Indiana University helmet logo – a sillouette of Bobby Knight throwing a chair !!!!!
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the outlining used on the Purdue helmet used somewhere in the next few years. That’s an original and not entirely ugly design that I haven’t seen proposed before.
Disaster on the softball field today:
USA in pink shirts, pink shorts, dark blue socks, pink batting helmets.
Netherlands in pink shirts, dark blue shorts, pink socks, white batting helmets.
Umpires in pink shirts, dark blue or black pants, dark blue or black caps.
Here’s a link to the live feed but the game is just about over: link
Still looking for still photos…
Am at work and don’t have most of my normal tools available…
The US team regularly wears pink for one of its games in the annual World Cup of Softball. The jerseys are auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Susan G. Koman Foundation. As far as I am aware, this is the first time their opponents also wore pink.
Here are some photos – link
Just so I’m not taking credit from anyone else, that’s not my work. But I am spreading the Buzz for Charlotte and the designer’s purposely mismatched purple.
Here’s the original facebook posting:
link
SOCCER
SOCCER
SOCCER!!!
1.) Love the posted Euro uniform concepts – love the stripes. More teams should use them. These look for the most part GREAT.
Related Question – I understand that Italy traditionally wears Blue on national athletic teams, “The Azzure” honors the Mediteranian, etc. But why do they NEVER wear Red, or Green, or both as change uniforms? Great colors – ignored by the teams for decades. Anyne know why?
2. Speaking of corporate Douchebaggery – I’m watching a 2011 rerun of a Premier League match right now and Fulham FC is wearing peretty decent White Shirt/White pants uniforms, but with insanely large manufacturer’s logo by the “Kappa” company. First, the logo must be 5×3 inches, on BOTH shoulders. Second, the logo is a sillouette of what appears to be two naked humans sitting down back-to-back – the logo essentially looks like something you would see as a porn title or dildo manufacturer logo from the Spice Channel. Insane. simply gotta go. This logo – by size and audacity – easily takes ANY recent corporate Douchebaggery award ….
3. Did I miss any mention on Uniwatch of the return of he New York Cosmos? The team has re-formed, though still not part of any league. They have involved Erc Cantona, Kobi Jones, Pele, and others in different capacities, and are heavily involved in developing young talent for whenever they do join the MLS or wherever they end up. They have issued new uniforms and fan gear, and have even played an exhibition match against Manchester United (!) last year.
Nice NY Cosmos uniforms and gear – I hope the team does prosper. why no mention here?
1. The reason Italy wears blue is not because of the Mediterranean, it’s because blue is the color of the House of Savoy, the former royal family of Italy. The Italian flag is used as trim elements.
2. Here’s the reason behind the Kappa logo:
link
3. The Cosmos has been discussed a bit here. They’d be discussed more if they were, you know, actually a real team. As for their “uniforms,” they’re made by Umbro. If
MLS does grant the 20th franchise to New York, they’d wear Adidas uniforms just like the test of the league.
The situation clarified:
link
:)
An automatic translation – you get the gist
link
“But why do they NEVER wear Red, or Green, or both as change uniforms?”
Not sure, but they have been using link and link goalkeeper kits this year.
Just trawled a few Italian sites.
Not a clear answer but the team wore white shirts in their first two games in honour of the strongest team, at the time – Pro Vercelli. They then altered this to the blue of the royal family with the red shield with white cross of their arms. The white then became the second kit, and it seems that they have a strong sense of tradition and have never changed it, like many other countries do on a whim. Exactly the sort of thing often espoused on here.
The only exception to the azzurro was in 1938 when in a friendly against Yugoslavia and the opening games of the World Cup against Norway and France they wore black shirts for Fascism.
BFFS
Hey Vilkers, How about adding a bit MORE yellow? Maybe make the words TAMPA BAY and the hat bill yellow too?
The squatchee was yellow, but that got cut off.
One of those suggestions would be good…don’t know about going with both of them, but it would still look better than their regular uni.
The y in those Rays no-backs look like an upside-down h. Also, I wonder if the TV announcers for either team will be going back to 1979 as well. Would love to see afros, wide lapels and bell bottoms if only for one day.
Yellow sanitaries!!! Also, I like the rounded number font.
70’s era Tiger logo on the scoreboard.
Would’ve been nice if they could’ve thrown up some 1979 ads as well – a non-slanted Budweiser logo, the old-school Pepsi logo instead of that ridiculous twisted-up globe thing they have now…
Nice thing about the Tigers throwbacks is that with their current road caps, they can be 1984 throwbacks!
Would’ve been nice to see some ribbon ‘rups, or at least guys like Porcello and Fielder not going pajama-pants for once.
I wonder if the TV announcers for either team will be going back to 1979 as well.
Dick Stockton and Tim McCarver are doing the game, and they sound the same as they did in ’79.
The game is Just. So. Beautiful. It’s so very disco, and yes, I mean that as a good thing. V-neck pullovers, domed stadium, fake grass…THIS is the baseball of my childhood!
Love the rounded number font. It looks like Little Tikes font:
link
I enjoyed seeing these Euro 2012 concepts. My favourites were Czech second change, Croatia change and Sweden change.
Tigers at Rays:
Detroit wearing the white outlined D on the cap. Never liked it myself, looks too blobby. The collar looks wrong, I think they are missing the blue trim on there. Otherwsie, I like this! The Tigers should go back to this road uni, I’ve hated that script Detroit since 1994.
Tampa Bay wearing yellow sannies. Helmets match caps, powder blue panel with tb logo. I seriously want one of those caps! Maybe selling them at the park because I think I saw a fan wearing one.
Check that, the blue trim on the Tigers collar IS there, just blends in with the blue undershirt. Also found this pic of Sparky Anderson from that era. He appears to be wearing his home cap with his road uni: link
Most of the Tigers are going with the pajama look today, what a bunch of party poopers!
Greece would look good in a green that is close to the coloring of a cypress tree.
Cyprus would probably look better in it…
Originally, I said the Rays fauxback needed more yellow … and there the name & number on back are in that color. Excellent!
Nice job on the Catch of the Day today.
That link’s been up for several days, actually. But yeah, it is pretty nice.