Author: thekitrail

A Motherwell FC fan and a football shirt blogger showing off my collection.

Categories
British Club Tops

Fabrizio Ravanelli

From winning league titles with Juventus and Lazio to being relegated with Middlesbrough and Derby, the career of Fabrizio Ravanelli has had its highs and lows.

Starting his career in Italy, 1986, with Perugia before making moves to Avellino, Casertana and Reggiana. It would be in 1992 where Fabrizio would gain his big money move to Juventus and become a cult hero after scoring in Juventus’ 95/96 Champions League final win, in Rome.

After playing over 100 times for The Old Lady, Ravanelli got a move to England but not for one of the big 6, instead it was a £7million bid from Middlesbrough. Unfortunately Boro were relegated however Ravanelli was one of the leagues top scorers and also took Middlesbrough to both League Cup and FA Cup Finals where they were beaten by Leicester and Chelsea.

A brief stint in France saw the Italian finish second in Ligue 1 with Olympique De Marseille before moving back to Italy and winning another Scudetto with Lazio and adding a Coppa Italia winners medal to his collection. Then moving back to England for a brief time with Derby and another relegation followed.

The strangest move on this list however is when he made a move up north to Scotland to play for Dundee. Only playing a total of 5 games for the Dee, scoring a hat-trick against Clyde in the League Cup. Ravanelli was sacked alongside other top earners after the club were no longer able to pay their wages.

Luckily I’ve managed to get my hands one of those 5 jerseys and what a jersey this is to be honest. I’m all for XARA jerseys and this can get added to that pile. Unfortunately the Magners sponsor patch ruins it which is no fault to XARA as they make up for it by using a neat collar and a sash along the chest to match.

Categories
British Club Tops

My Well Collection

As the new Motherwell top has just recently been released I thought that there was no better reason for me to fork out mine and the old man’s collection of Well’ tops and talk about a few of my personal favourites.

First up we’ve got one of the oldest from the collection with the away top from the 87-89 seasons. Made by Matchwinner, this Well top looks way ahead of its time with the two thick claret and amber stripes along the shoulders. The collar also looks great as it features a mainly claret collar with a smaller amber trim wrapping round the neck. The one thing that does show this jerseys age is the badge on the centre of the chest that has been embroidered onto the top instead of nowadays where it is usually a patch stuck on. What better sponsor to have on the front than Ian Skelly.

Next up we’ve got another away top but this time it’s from the 99/00 season and is made by Xara who now unfortunately don’t produce football kits as they made a few memorable Motherwell kits such as this one. This was the second time ‘The Steelmen’ had ever had a black away kit and definitely one of the first in recent memory not to feature either claret or amber throughout. A black kit with tiny tramlines running up and down the top that included the Xara ‘X’ every so often. Similar thin black lines were used at the edge of the white collar to give the shirt that bit more detail. You also can’t beat an embroidered MFC badge on an away kit.

Taking the third spot on our list is the only home top to feature and it’s Admiral’s first Well top coming in the 91/92 season although the second season it was played in as it is the same top as the famous 90/91 Scottish Cup winners top with the difference being instead of Ian Skelly as the sponsor, it’s phone company Motorola. You can read more on this when I covered the 91′ semi final top not too long ago.

One of my favourite tops that is a bit love or hate for some Motherwell fans but I think it is stunning. The only Hummel top to feature on this list but its a cracker. Being used in the 92/93 and 93/94, Hummel only made the home and away for these seasons before moving on. Keeping the Motorola in black along the front, it’s behind the brand that is the unusual part with the white and claret diagonal broken stripes makes this jersey unmissable. The claret collar with amber trim really completes this top along with the proper Well badge.

Last but not least and my personal favourite Motherwell FC jersey has to be the black away kit from 05/06 that features a Zoom Airlines sponsor along the thick claret sash. Fitted with a thick claret collar with a black and claret trim to match the shirt and a pretty deep V-neck makes this recent design feel old school along with the claret and amber trim around the baggy sleeves.

This is my favourite top as I was the mascot at the time this jersey came out and it’s always nice to look back at pictures of my younger self kicking a ball about the famous carpet of Fir Park. Here is a pic of a young specky me modelling the jersey and a fan.

Categories
European International Tops

Alessandro Birindelli – Italy 03′

As Italy have just won the Euros, there is no better time to share this classic from a friendly game against Northern Ireland in the summer of 2003. Italy won the fixture 2-0 to no surprise as they had a squad filled with household names at the time such as Ballon D’or winner Fabio Cannavaro, Antonio Di Natalie and Alessandro Birindelli.

Birindelli origionally started his career as a right winger during his time at Empoli before dropping back into right back. It is with Empoli that Birirndelli would play almost 150 games, helping them get promoted back to back seasons from the Serie C1 to the Serie A.

The lifelong Juventus fan would eventually get his move to the star studded side that would bolster the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Edgar Davids, Allessandro Del Piero and Filipo Inzaghi. Birindelli would go on to win 3 Serie A titles and 3 Suppercoppa Italiana’s before Juventus’s relegation at the end of the 2005/06 season due to the Calciopoli match fixing scandal which saw Juventus, alongside Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina be deducted points and fined but it was only Juventus who were to be relegated to Serie B. Juventus were also stripped of their 04/05 Serie A title.

Juventus won the Serie B with a six point gap above Napoli even after being given a 9 point deduction at the start of the season. This is no surprise as a handful of their star players stayed to help lift the super club back from the ashes. Players such as Birindelli, Trezeguet, Buffon, Chiellini, Nedved and Del Peiro all stayed loyal with Del Piero winning the golden boot for the season.

Birindelli would leave Juventus in 2008 after spending 11 years in Turin and moving to Pisa for a season then eventually retiring after a season with Valle del Giovenco. His son Samuele Birindelli currently plays centre half for Pisa and has made over 130 appearances since is debut in 2016.

This jersey was Puma’s first take on the Italian National Team and have managed to keep supplying belters ever since. A plain kit that looks very elegant with the blue tone that Italy have used for years plus the badge on this jersey is probably personal favourite of mine and agree that it should be used more often. The three stars above the puma badge on the sleeve is also a nice added feature.

Categories
European International Tops

Forza Italia / Andrea Pirlo

Italy are going to be playing in the final of Euro 2020 at Wembley tonight and what better way to get you in the mood than having a read at this.

Winners of four World Cups and a European Championship, Italy have always been one of the best in the world but over the last few years it hasn’t been easy supporting the Italian National Team. In 2018, Italy dropped down to 14th in the FIFA world rankings after failing to qualify for the World Cup in Russia. After failure to qualify, Italy would start their rebuild by hiring manager Roberto Mancini and haven’t looked back since.

Starting off the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Turkey and then another 3-0 win over Switzerland saw Italy qualify with one group game to spare but a 1-0 win over Wales saw Italy become the only team this tournament to qualify through the group without conceding a goal.

They haven’t had an easy route to the final either after beating Austria 2-1 after extra time, Belgium 2-1 and Spain 4-2 on penalties, they thoroughly deserve their place in this final.

Looking back to Italy’s last major trophy takes us back to the 2006 World Cup that was played in Germany. When you think about this final, two things come to mind. The first being Zinedine Zidane’s famous headbutt and the second being Andrea Pirlo’s man of the match performance. Beating France in penalties after full time ended 1-1 with Pirlo taking one of Italy’s penalties. France scored in the 9th minute after Zidane converted a penalty into Gigi Buffon. Italy equalised not long after in the 19th minute with Marco Materazzi scoring from an excellent delivery from an Andrea Pirlo corner.

Andrea Pirlo is not only one of Italy’s greatest ever players but is regarded as one of the best deep lying playmakers ever. Capped 114 times for Italy, Pirlo has played for Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus, going on to manage The Old Lady for the 20/21 season.

This jersey comes from Italy’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Northern Ireland. The Italian’s left with a draw after an excellent effort from the Northern Irish forcing a 0-0 stalemate.

Categories
Club Tops Rest of the World

ML1 in the MLS

We are going to dive deep into four of ex-Motherwell players, two from recent memory and two from back in the 70’s, that have made the move to the over the Atlantic to America.

Starting off we’ve got current Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Andy Rose. Arriving from Coventry City before arriving at Fir Park, Rose would go on to play 40 league matches for Motherwell while helping them reach both League Cup final and Scottish Cup final, where they would put up a fight but would be beaten on both occasions by Celtic.

Rose would leave Motherwell in the winter of 2018 to join Whitecaps where he has played 38 games. When at Motherwell I felt that Rose was a consistent performer and really helped the club getting to both cup finals.

Another player that was part of those two finals is Motherwell academy graduate Chris Cadden. Playing over 110 games for the steelmen, Cadden has also been capped 12 times for the Scotland under 21’s and even gaining two first team caps in friendly games against Peru and Mexico.

After leaving Motherwell, Cadden was picked up by Columbus Crew and immediately loaned out for the 19/20 season to Oxford United before returning to be part of the squad that would win the 2020 MLS Cup. In January 2021, Cadden returned to Scotland to play for Edinburgh side Hibernian.

However before these two, Motherwell had another two players during the 1970’s that have took the trip across the ocean. First off was defender Willie Watson who started out at Manchester Utd before moving to Maimi Toros on loan just before his move to his hometown of Motherwell where he would play over 100 games before moving to Dundee and eventually back over to America to play for indoor side Phoenix Inferno.

The last player to have moved was centre half Willie McVie who played for Motherwell between 1975-1979, racking up an impressive 87 appearances before moving to Canada to play for Toronto Blizzard in the NASL.

Categories
European International Tops

Sweden – 98/99

Currently ranked 18th in the world, the Swedish Men’s National Team have been making a name for themselves recently as they have managed to qualify for both knockout rounds of the current Euro 2020 and the 2018 World Cup under head coach Janne Andersson who took over the blue and yellow in 2016 after they finished bottom of their group in Euro 2016.

Unfortunately Sweden never qualified for the 1998 World Cup and this kit was never displayed on the world stage, however they did wear it during their qualification for Euro 2000 which they did end up qualifying for. Two loses to Italy and Belgium and a draw against Turkey meant Sweden finished bottom of their group with the one point.

During this time, Sweden did have two soon to be world class talents in their squad with Henrik Larsson and Freddie Ljungberg being their two powerhouses. Larsson was just at the youth of his Celtic career while Ljungberg had just been signed by Arsenal. Over the years, both players were first team regulars with Larsson gaining 106 caps and Ljungberg gaining a respectable 75 caps.

Ljungberg would go on to lift two Premier League titles, one being Arsenal’s invincible season, and three FA Cups while totalling 241 Premier League appearances for Arsenal and West Ham. On the other hand, Henrik Larsson would lift four Scottish Premierships, with Celtic, and two La liga titles and a Champions League with FC Barcelona while claiming four Swedish Player of the Year awards from 2001-2004.

As for this top, the thing that stood out to me straight away was the collar. A nice open 90’s style collar that opens at the front showing a smaller badge on the blue underneath. Also you don’t find many tops nowadays that have laces on the chest which I think makes this look stunning.

Other details you will find on this jersey is faint lines traveling down the strip with the Sweden badge facing upwards and downwards. Also the Adidas three stripes travelling down the sleeves, around the collar and on the laces on the front.

In all I think the colour combination for Sweden kits are a delight and I am glad I managed to pick this one up from Classic football Shirts during my time in London. It really is the worlds biggest football shirt collection.

Categories
Club Tops European

Igor Budisa – FC Schweinfurt 05 02′

FC Schweinfurt 05 are a fourth division German side that currently play in the Regionalliga Bayern and just missed out on promotion into the third flight of German football by means of playoff after finishing second but being crowned champions after Türkgücü München were top of the league for the 19/20 season before it was cancelled, due to the pandemic, was removed from the league and placed into the division above and the rest of the league continued without them.

FC 05 were a regular in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga divisions in Germany from the 1930’s to the 1970’s but now mainly yo-yo between the 3. Liga, Regionalliga Bayern and the Bayernliga Nord which is the third, fourth and fifth divisions.

This jersey comes from a one time match between FC Schweinfurt 05 and Motherwell FC at the end of the 01/02 season with the well’ travelling over to the town of Schweinfurt in a friendly as North Lanarkshire in Scotland is said to be its twin town and both teams wanted to celebrate this fact. Twin town meaning that both towns share planned activities and visits.

Unfortunately for Motherwell, the Germans beat the Scots 3-2 with most of the steelmen’s players being brought straight out the youth academy. As this was a council trip, Motherwell also had a trip to a local vineyard planned but with most of the team being made up of young boys, most weren’t old enough to take part in the tasting.

The player in question today is journeyman midfielder Igor Budiša who has racked up appearances at 16 different clubs, starting and finishing his career with Croatian side NK Osijek also playing for teams in Germany, Hungary, Greece, Russia and China.

This top is different to most as it does not contain a badge anywhere with the only branding being the name of the team along the back above the number. Hummel have obviously tried something very different in using a zip on the collar instead of using buttons or just a flat collar.

Also the Hummel branding being used on a diagonal replicates the blue hazard stripe design on the sleeves. All the lettering and numbers are made from felt which looks fantastic with the 3D style numbers.

Categories
Club Tops European

Patrice Grillon – Chievo Verona 02′

Current Serie B side Chievo Verona have usually been punching above their weight in the Serie A for a few years before eventually being relegated in 2019 and being unable to bounce back up.

Only playing their first season in the Serie A in 01/02, they were favourites to go back down after finishing 3rd to gain promotion. However, Chievo would shock everyone by finishing 5th and qualify for the UEFA Cup but would be eliminated in the first round to Red Star Belgrade.

After finishing 5th, the club would finish a respectable 7th and 9th then in 2006, the flying donkeys would be awarded a champions league spot due to the teams above them being involved in a scandal which would see them banned from European competition.

Getting eliminated from both Champions League and UEFA Cup in the qualifying rounds in the 06/07 season, Chievo would sack their manager in October and would be relegated on the last day of the season. In the 07/08 season they would win the Serie B, by a single point, and bounce back up into the Serie A.

Being established in the Serie A until the 18/19 season they would be put back down into the Serie B and are currently there after finishing a disappointing 8th finish in the season. Whereas rivals Hellas Verona currently sit 10th in the Serie A.

French midfielder Patrice Grillon would only play in Verona from December 2001 to July 2002 with this jersey coming in the pre season of the 02/03 season before Grillon left the club.

This away top comes from their second season in the Serie A when they finished 7th and were put out the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Cup.

This would also see the final season of Oliver Beirhoff’s career as he played one season scoring seven goals.

This shirt is simple as it is the one light blue throughout while using a darker blue for the sponsor, name, number and team name at the bottom. Also using this darker blue as a trim for the collar and the sleeves which helps to finish off the top.

Categories
Club Tops European

Martyn Corrigan – FC Jokerit 00′

Probably one of the most obscure kits in the world, FC Jokerit have a very small history of just five years but in those five years they managed to bring in a Finnish Cup and a Second division title. Based in Helsinki and starting the 99/00 season in the Second Division, the club managed to win the Finnish Cup in their first season, with help from a young Corrigan who played 13 times for the club after signing from Falkirk in the middle of the season.

After winning the Finnish Cup, Corrigan would sign for Lanarkshire side Motherwell FC, in the 00/01 season, where he would spend seven years of his career and rack up 243 appearances while also representing Scotland B on two occasions.

As for FC Jokerit, their last season would be in 2003 where they finished 10th and after that they were bought over in March 2004 by rivals HJK Helsinki and were renamed to Klubi-04 which is used as a reserve team for HJK.

Former Dutch fullback Jan Everse also managed the team for a few months.

Corrigan, centre, speaking to Hammell, right. Motherwell can stun Rangers at Hampden and banish League Cup ghost of 2005 insists Martyn Corrigan – Daily Record

Naturally a right back, and what a right back he was, Corrigan would play there, centre back and right midfield when called upon. An extremely hard working full back that used his stamina and aggression to get him through games, which is shown by the 02/03 season Martyn would play all but the final 16 minutes. Due to his favouritism with the fans, Martyn would gain the nickname “Kaiser”.

This top really has a lot happening with all the sponsorships, the Karelia coat of arms, Adidas badge and stripes of the cleverly created badge. The collar reminds me of the old Welsh 76′ jersey that uses the Admiral logos on the collar.

A tidy finish too with the front of the collar blending back into the top. The shimmer throughout the small stripes really bring this to life.

The badge features a jester on top of a football with the primary colours, red, yellow and blue, along with the team name, location and year founded.

Categories
British Club Tops

Luka Modric – Tottenham 10′

Luka Modric has won all there is to win at club level with Real Madrid but before his big money move to Los Blancos, Modric was showing off his talent in North London with Tottenham Hotspur.

Arriving from Dinamo Zagreb in 2008, for a then club record fee of £16.5 million after turning down both Manchester City and Newcastle Utd, Luka would play 160 games for the North London outfit, He would be directly involved in 44 goals with 17 goals and 27 assists.

Not often a goal scoring threat, Modric is able to create a chance out of nothing in the middle of the pitch with most of his game time at Spurs coming from the central midfield area or out on the left midfield.

Tottenham almost doubled their money on the Croatian, when Real Madrid paid £30 million for his talents. Luka’s role in the midfield became more industrious and hard working for Madrids Galacticos compared to him being the main creator of the team, as his role was in London. In Madrid he was part of a deadly midfield trio with German Toni Kroos and Brazilian Casemiro as the three won four Champions League titles and two league titles, becoming one of the best midfields of the modern era.

It wouldn’t be until 2018 that Luka Modric would earn the recognition he truly deserved. After winning the Champions League and captaining his country to their first World Cup final, Modric was awarded with FIFA’s and UEFA’s best men’s player of the year award along with a Ballon D’or.

This top was the first of seven home jerseys designed by Puma, taking over from Kappa in 06/07 to their deal finishing in the 12/13 campaign, with Under Armour stepping in. Over Puma’s tenure, they kept the home shirts mainly the traditional, always using white as the primary and navy as a secondary colour. Puma would change their style a few times, using a crew neck, a V-neck and also a collar to keep in line with the trends of the time.

A closer look at the white body of the jersey reveals small air holes in the jersey, helping to keep the players body cool, along with a different material running up the side of the top, for the same reason. This top comes with two felt Premier League badges on each sleeve and felt name and numbers with the sponsor being a bit more sympathetic to the club colours than some of the modern jerseys. The jersey is finished off with a large embroidered cockerel.