Wednesday, January 23, 2008

The Good, The Bad, The WTF

As I dive deeper into the mess of football shirts from the '80s and '90s, I can't help but wonder just how bad it can get. Sure, we've had pink shirts, brown shirts, and a couple of Why? shirts, but we haven't really had a bad shirt yet. Well, friends, that all changes now.

Peterborough United generally has a pretty classy look about them. Blue shirts with white trim is the order of the day, somehow fitting for the club known as "The Posh". Their change strips are not much different in style, usually solid color shirts without much fussiness. But in 1994, possibly inspired by the World Cup creations of Jorge Campos, that all changed.
This, my friends, is what was dubbed "The Pizza Shirt". The most immediate thought I had when I learned that name is that I never want to eat an English pizza. Too much sauce, I suspect. But back to the shirt. The most aggravating thing about this shirt is the fact that the design swallows up everything that would identify it as a Peterborough United shirt. You can't see the crest, the hat, or even the the lettering at the neck, unless you are within five feet. Now sure, teammates could pick each other out in even the worst conditions, but who is going to buy this? Well, some people did, because there are pictures out there, but those people must feel really stupid when they think about it today.

Lest you think that PUFC may have sensibly paired this shirt (if that was even possible) with a short that might complement it while not being heinous, I give you this
I guess we should all be thankful that they did not extend the confetti theme down to the socks. I wonder how long it took that kid to throw away his copy of the programme that he was on. I'm guessing by the time he turned 19 he was far too embarrassed having been pictured in that kit to still have it in his possession. I don't blame him.

Shirt image from oldfootballshirts.com
Programme image from specialistauctions.com