A new series, looking at those instances where teams switch from their first kit to a change outfit which clashes more than the home strip would have done.
In a previous edition of Season’s Meetings, we looked at Arsenal and Swansea City in 2012-13 and how they had to deal with the stricter kit rules in the FA Cup compared to those in the Premier League and this is of a similar bent, from the following year.
The December 2013 meeting of Swansea and Everton in the Liberty Stadium was easy to deal with, with the Toffees wearing blue change shorts and socks (the latter quite possibly the home set from the previous campaign).
Then, in February 2014, in the league at Goodison, the Swans wore their black socks but retained the white shorts.
However, a month before that, the clubs had met in the FA Cup with Everton at home, meaning that the white shorts-clash wasn’t allowed. Swansea could theoretically have worn the black shorts used at Arsenal in 2013, but presumably this didn’t happen because of the mismatching gold trim.
Instead, somehow, it was decided that the best solution was for Swansea to wear their change kit – purple with a good chunk of yellow but still with the potential for a lot of confusion.
Everton got over the lack of distinction to triumph 3-1 and their switch to navy home socks for 2014-15 allowed Swansea to wear their white kit unaltered at Goodison that season.
I’d imagine Ajax being featured in this series in the future. I remember around 2013 they opted to wear their navy and lime away strip at Vitesse Arnhem in an Eredivisie fixture instead of their usual red and white kit. Vitesse wore a typical Nike teamwear effort of the time with a mostly black back. Not a good choice…
Sorry, realised I posted the wrong link from that Vitesse-Ajax game I was talking about. Here’s a better one: _
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlFjDajFdhE
Pretty poor in my opinion with the jerseys viewed from behind. Though come to think of it I’m pretty sure it may have been mentioned in passing in a previous Midweek Mashup when Ajax did pair their usual home shirts with red shorts and socks…..
This springs to my mind a match between Watford and Arsenal in 2016 or 17, where the gunners could’ve perfectly used their home kit but instead chose to wear…what looks black yellow from a distance against Watford’s yellow and black. Of course, it was actually extremely dark navy shade with fluo yellow socks, but you get the idea. Ridiculous.
https://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/09/596867022-watford-v-arsenal-premier-league.jpg
Hey Mo, are you Mahdi Askor on Disqus? If so, good to see you here!
Absolutely Mohammed, that’s likely to feature as well as Arsenal at Sheffield Wednesday in 2015!