Tag: 10

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British Club Tops

Motherwell – Pony 96/98 – Home Jersey

The 96/98 home strip is the last home top in Motherwell’s time with Pony and they certainly left with a bang. Still seen as quite controversial as it isn’t your average home kit but I love this top as the design is just so different from any other home top produced by Motherwell down to the “jester” style of the kit with the half and half colour scheme.

Obviously there is a reason this hasn’t been repeated as fans don’t have the best of memories as the 96/97 season almost ended in relegation after finishing 8th in the league but a strong end to the season, beating Rangers and Raith Rovers, who would end up relegated. A poor cup run also saw the well fired out the league cup early by Alloa Athletic and thrashed 4-1 in the Scottish Cup Quarter Final by Dundee United.

The next season Motherwell were even worse, finishing 9th and again reaching as far as the Quarter finals again in the Scottish Cup. This would be the season Alex McLeish would depart on the 10th of February with Finnish manager Harri Kampman taking over for the rest of the season.

Tommy Coyne was Motherwell’s league top scorer for both seasons, bagging 11 goals in 96/97 and 14 goals in 97/98. The Cobra really was Motherwell’s standout player during his 132 games for the club as shown by his 57 goals for The Steelmen.

A fun top that is good to look back on as it does a lot different such as adding a number onto the front of the top and on the sleeve, which also hasn’t been seen since. My respect goes to PONY for trying to do something different and change the look of football tops but unfortunately this was their last attempt with Motherwell.

With PONY gone, Motherwell looked to XARA who also made some fantastic strips, with some already featured on here and there’s more to come.

Categories
British Club Tops

Motherwell 94/95 PONY

The 94/95 season was definitely one to remember as it was the first season to introduce the new league structure of a ten team league in Scotland’s top flight and was also the first season where three points were awarded for a win. Rangers won their seventh league title in a row and First Division side Raith Rovers won the league cup while Celtic finished fourth but still managed to win the Scottish Cup but as usual we’re looking into Motherwell’s performance that season and showing off a famous Pony made away top.

Motherwell finished second in the league, 15 points behind champions Rangers, after an impressive first campaign from Alex Mcleish after legendary manager Tommy McLean left in the summer of 94′. Mixed league form saw Motherwell beat Rangers twice, once at home and the other at Ibrox, but also lose games against Partick Thistle and lose 6-1 to an eventually relegated Dundee United.

League top goalscorer was given to Motherwell’s Tommy Coyne after his 16 league goals during the campaign, beating the likes of Billy Dodds (15) of Aberdeen, Mark Hately (13) of Rangers and Motherwell teammate Dougie Arnott (10).

This away top is first of many from the range of jerseys Pony produced between 1994 to 1998. Taking over from Hummel who made the infamous white and claret tram track away top the season before which is probably my favourite Motherwell top of all time and deserves more credit than it’s due as it is not like any other design that I’ve seen on a football top never mind Motherwell.

As for Pony tops this is far superior than any the other one they produced as the bright amber candy stripes jump right out at you while the pattern of chevrons is subtle yet noticeable the closer you look.

Absolute belter of top and not a bad signature on the back either.

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Club Tops European

Radovan Krivokapić – Red Star Belgrade 05′

Ex-Yugoslavian international Radovan Krivokapić would start his career with Serbian side Vojvadina before making his move to the most successful club in Yugoslavia, Red Star Belgrade (Crvena zvedzda). During his time at Red Star Radovan would win the First League of Serbia and Montenegro in 03-04 and in 05-06 which is the season which featured this kit.

Red Star are the current champions of the Serbian Superliga having beaten rivals Partizan to the league title, winning their 7th league title since the league was founded in 2006. Since the leagues inception, Partizan and Red Star are the only teams to have secured the title with Partizan on 8 league titles, one ahead of their fierce rivals.

Red Star Belgrade vs Partizan Belgrade in the 05-06 season. Credit – https://alchetron.com/Radovan-Krivokapić

During the currents season, Red Star broke the league records of most points won in a single season (108), most team goals in a single season (114) and the highest goal difference in a single season (+94). This had helped them gain the ranking of 50th in UEFA’s current team rankings as of April 2021.

Red Star Belgrade lifting the European Cup in 1991 Credit- (7) Pinterest

It is also to be remembered that Crvena Zvedzda also won the 1991 European Cup in Bari after beating Olympique de Marseille 5-3 on penalties after 120 minutes without a goal.

The kit features the famous red and white stripes of the Belgrade side along with Adidas branding on the front of the shirt and also a small Adidas logo on the sleeves instead of the famous three stripes. The right sleeve also features the old Serbian and Montenegrin league badge before the current league began.

The back of the top features the name, number and a sponsor on a bit of fabric that has been sewn on to the top separately instead of the more modern approach of names and numbers being pressed onto tops.