Having finished in third place in the inaugural Premier League in 1992-93 – topping the table at Christmas – Norwich City qualified for the followinng season’s Uefa Cup.
There was of course an unforgettable win over Bayern Munich at the Olympiastadion and then a pair of 1-0 defeats to Inter Milan, making their infamous kit live long in the memory.
However, before two two outings Norwich first had to get past Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem.
Arnhem usually wear yellow and black stripes with white shorts and socks – occasionally causing Ajax to wear mashups – and so for the first leg at Carrow Road, they were in white shirts with navy shorts and socks.
Norwich won that game 3-0 and so were comfortable ahead of the second leg in the Netherlands. With Vitesse’s home shirt identical to the 1992-93 Sheffield Wednesday away, it meant a rare change for the Canaries.
All through the 1980s, their second kits had been white and green but upon Ribero’s arrival in 1992, they gave the club a white and purple strip. That had been worn at Bradford City in the Coca-Cola Cup the week before the trip to Arnhem, but it wasn’t used in Europe.
Instead, they wore a third kit in the scoreless draw that secured qualification for the second round.
If you’re thinking it looks familiar, you’re right – it’s almost the same as the Wimbledon strip from that season.
Apart from the crest and sponsors, Norwich’s collars had green trim where the Dons had navy and there was yellow piping where the raglan sleeves met the body. The plackets also differed, along with the shorts styles.
That proved to be the only outing for Norwich’s navy kit, while the white kit’s action was limited too – and soon, the Ribero logo would be disappearing as well, to be replaced by Mitre.
