Liverpool’s second spell with adidas lasted six seasons from 2006-12 (though Simon Treanor envisaged an unbroken run since 1985 in a pair of Fantasy Kit Fridays) and in five of those they had white change shirts.
If we exclude the 2006-07 third, the one with one green sleeve, and the cyan-trimmed 2011-12 third, the middle three were in the classic Liverpool change colour-scheme of white, black and red. The 2007-08 and 2010-11 away strips weren’t bad per se, but, to our mind, the most superior white kit was the least-heralded one.
We had wondered if the 2009-10 third kit was a candidate for the Twice as Nice series but, thanks to Paval Shalaev’s comprehensive Liverpool kits site, we know that it was in fact used in seven competitive games.
Four of those were in the Premier League, with its first appearance away to West Ham United in September 2009. The Hammers had claret home socks that season while Burnley eschewed their traditional white too, meaning that white-black-white was the format for each of the four domestic games – Aston Villa and Portsmouth were its other appearances, the latter as Liverpool opted against wearing white socks with their home shirts.
For European competitions, the kit was regarded as Liverpool’s second choice and the default white shorts were used in each of the three games. The game at Fiorentina at the end of September was its only run-out in its ‘proper’ format, though.
The probhibition on alcohol advertising in France meant that, against Lyon in the Champions League and then at Lille in the spring of 2010 after being ‘relegated’ to the Europa League, the Carlsberg logo was absent. This had also been the case in a pre-season friendly against Lyn of Norway, when white was a poor choice.
