5 – THE KIT RAIL

Not a common household name, Jan Everse was a left back for Holland who spent all his days in his home country playing for Feyenoord between 1972 – 1977 and Ajax between 1977 – 1980. Everse only played for eight years before being forced into retirement. However, during this short career Jan managed to be called up to both Holland under 23’s and then the Holland national team, winning two caps against Belgium and Yugoslavia.

This top comes from Scotland versus Holland during the European Under-23 Championships in March 1976 where the match was played out in front of an incredible crowd of 32,593 at Easter Road. This Scotland team consisted of players such as Joe Jordan of Leeds United, Derek Johnstone of Rangers and Willie Pettigrew of Motherwell, who would go on to swap jerseys with Jan after the game.

Having won the first leg 2-0, Holland would lose this game 2-0 with goals coming from Derek Johnstone and Colin Jackson. taking the game to extra time and eventually penalties where the dutch would succeed and take their place in the next round of the tournament. The Dutch would soon feel the same heartbreak as the Scots as they were beaten in the semi-final by the eventual winners, the Solviet Union.

This Adidas top is identical to the jersey wore by the Netherlands in the 1976 European Championships as it features the bold black collar with the iconic Adidas three stripes running down the sleeve towards a thick black cuff. A simple top, as all jerseys only featured the badge and the players number (No trefoil on this jersey), the flying dutchmen always make their kit stand out due to their use of the colour orange which signifies the Dutch Royal Family and William I of Orange who led the country to independence back in the day. A bright kit that is instantly recognisable to everyone, fans of the Oranje should remember this top for years to come.

Terry Butcher – England 82′

Terry Butcher began his career in 1976 as a promising centre half for Ipswich Town, with his first England call up coming on the 31^st of May 1980 in a win against Australia. He would play a total of seventy-seven games for the three lions over the course of his ten-year international career, with his final England game coming against West Germany where he was in the losing side of a penalty shootout in the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup. Butcher managed to gain seventy-seven caps for England with sixty-nine of those coming under legendary manager Sir Bobby Robson and would captain England on seven outings with three coming at the 1990 World Cup.

Infamous picture of Butcher covered in blood after a World Cup qualifier vs Sweeden https://www.planetfootball.com/nostalgia/terry-butcher-that-photo-a-six-month-supply-of-washing-powder/

While playing for England, Butcher played for Ipswich Town and Glasgow Rangers. During his time at Ipswich, he won the UEFA Cup in 1980/81 also under Sir Bobby Robson’s guidance. After moving to Rangers he then won three league titles in four seasons with two Scottish Cups. After the 1990 World Cup, Butcher would leave Rangers and land his first managerial role as a player manager at Coventry City where he would become the youngest manager in the football league at 32. Coventry would narrowly avoid relegation, finishing sixteenth and after playing six times that season Butcher would announce his retirement as a player. He would later be inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame, Ipswich Town Hall of Fame and and Scottish Football Hall of Fame.

Credit –
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/2457958/ray-wilkins-terry-butcher-rangers-captain-england/
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football/ipswich-town-fc/terry-butcher-10738/league-appearances_a13309/

The top we have here was worn against Wales on the 27^th of April in 1982, in Cardiff, where England won 1-0 after a goal from Trevor Francis in the 74^th minute. Butcher managed to keep a clean sheet against a Wales team with the likes of Liverpool’s Ian Rush and former Liverpool player Joey Jones while England had stars such as Glenn Hoddle and Ray Wilkins on the pitch that day. This is one of only three occasions where Butcher would wear the number 5 jersey for England, preferring to wear the number 6 jersey once he was firmly established in the England set-up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqaPcfNChZI

Admiral uses England’s iconic blue and red on a plain white jersey using varying sizes of the stripes on the shoulders. The collar and cuffs follow this same colour scheme but uses much thinner stripes. The large red number stitched on to the back takes up a lot of space. Names were not used regularly on the back of English jerseys until the 1992 European Championships. When you think of England and football this is one of the iconic kits that should come straight to mind.