THEY instantly conjure memories of peerless players, glorious goals and magical moments in every fan’s life.
And now the most famous kits in football history are to be celebrated at a special exhibition right here in Glasgow – with Scottish shirts playing a starring role.
Global expert Neil Heard is bringing his Art of The Football Shirt to the city, and reckons Scots don’t know how lucky they are to have such creative kits and unusual designs for our favourite players to strut their stuff in.
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He said: “The kits in Scotland are so idiosyncratic and have unique colours that just aren’t seen anywhere else.
“Take Hearts, you don’t see maroon very often and Partick Thistle springs to mind too, also Motherwell with the claret and amber.
“Looking at the Scottish league kit wise, there’s a definite flavour colour wise that you don’t get elsewhere, even Celtic’s kit everyone is so used to it now, but you only think of Celtic when you see it.”
The exhibition has been all over the globe, but Neil had stopped taking offers from cities but actively pursued getting it up here.
He said: “I’ve said this to a few people and I don’t talk bulls***, I’ve got a lot of time for the Scottish nation who massively punch above their weight and that figures in with their passion and support for their clubs.
“When I did my The Football Shirts book, Scotland was my second biggest place of sending it.
“But I didn’t want to take the exhibition everywhere anymore, I’m a bit wary of milking it, but the one place I wanted to go was Glasgow, so I was over the moon when Tessuti said they’d help me bring it and be the sponsors.”
“Wherever I take it, I try to give it a little bit of resistance to where it’s going to be. When I went to Copenhagen, I made sure it had a Danish flavour and with Scotland obviously, you guys are a proper footballing nation so I wanted to make sure I did that justice.”
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While the exhibition only shows kits, Neal has sections that show how football has played a part in politics around the world – including showcasing Tibet’s forbidden nation kit, Italian team Fiorentina’s shirt that featured a Swastika, and also Brazilian club Corinthians when their star player Socrates founded a union for all the players to vote on meal times and working conditions.
Neil, 49, added: “I tell stories, there’s a music chapter with the Clydebank Wet Wet Wet shirt, there’s also stuff on politics, brands and fashion streetwear.
“In amongst that, I’ve made a room of iconic Scottish shirts. I’ve got the Hibs Bukta shirt from 1977, that was the first sponsored shirt in Britain before Liverpool did a deal with Hitachi.”
Also in the collection will be one of Neal’s all-time favourite shirts from anywhere, the Aberdeen kit from 1984 along with both Dundee teams.
He’ll also have some Scottish national kits – as he’s a big fan of the SFA’s approach.
Neil said: “If you look at it historically, the Scottish kits always leave a mark.
“Look at World Cup 1986, they had the stripe around the shorts. No-one has done that since. The top was hoops, two bands of blue — that was a really nice shirt.
“If you go on from then, like or loathe them, a hell of a lot of Scottish shirts have been different. Scotland always seem to be cutting edge.”
Now Neil can’t wait to get up here and showcase our history in kits – he’ll also be at the exhibition to talk and explain trends to punters.
and equates Scotland only to Spain in the the : “I think you’re a massive footballing nation and I’m chuffed to be taking it up there.
“People maybe take the styles up there for granted because you’re all so used to it, but looking at it in a global sense the only other country I would equate it to is Spain, they have their colour palette and way of combining colours that is really unique.
“Scotland is the only other country like that, it has it’s own flavour.”
Neil Heard’s Art of The Football Shirt is at The Arches on October 6-7. Entry is free.
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