Those familiar with When Saturday Comes will know that it differs from the common-or-garden football magazine in that it is not beholden to marketing or PR firms in order to secure big interviews.
It makes for engaging content and quirky topics, with kit-related items often given oxygen – your correspondent has on occasion penned pieces for them.
The newest edition features an article written by Mike Whalley on the topic of teams wearing away kits at home. On contacting Mike on Bluesky, he made the interesting observation that, in addition to Fulham being forced into switching to black at home to Newcastle United in the first half of 2003-04, when the visitors brought a silver kit that clashed with white; they then premiered their new 2004-05 away in their last home match, against Arsenal.
Three different colours worn at home in a single Premier League campaign is surely a record. Given the proclivity of Serie A teams to wear second or third strips at home, it’s almost certain that it has happened there but that feels rather synthetic whereas there was a logic to the Fulham phenomenon.
Can you think of any other instances where it happened in a non-contrived way?
I can almost hear the clatter of the keyboard from fans of German and Spanish clubs with their propensity for one off celebratory kits combined with showing off a ‘next season’ shirt at the last home game of the season. Hopefully we’ll be given some good examples.
Bayern Munich vs Leverkusen last season. 3 matches in the Allianz, 3 different competitions, 3 different kits.
Special oktoberfest jersey in the Bundesliga, standard home in the DFB Pokal, third/UCL home in the Champions League
Spurs in 07/08 in the league: the usual home kit x17, 125th Anniversary kit v Villa, next season’s home kit v Liverpool on the final day
In 2019-20, the COVID disrupted season, Chelsea wore standard home kit, one off FA Cup home kit and then their new home kit from 1 July as new shirt sponsorship kicked in. Do I win £5?
All of them were blue Nik, so sadly not!
Southampton 2003-04.
They had the standard home, a European kit for their very short Uefa Cup campaign, and then debuted the 2004-05 home kit at the final match of the season. All variations on red and white though, so not as varied as the Fulham example