Categories
British Club Tops

Motherwell – PONY – 1997/98 Away

On a previous post, we spoke about the home jersey of the 97/98 campaign and the disappointing season that came with it but we had to make a separate post on this gem of a top.

The 90’s were a time of experimentation with tops and Motherwell were no exception to that, starting the decade off with Admiral’s great home and away jerseys which will always be remembered for a certain cup final, then moving forward to Hummel and the jerseys get more unusual with the 92′ white and claret tram track kit. Pony’s first few jerseys were normal enough with the candy stripe (which was remade in 15/16), their black 95/96 and white 96/97 away jerseys were solid additions as well but what even was this top.

We’ll start off with the elephant in the room, the colour. Probably the most un-Motherwell jersey to ever exist (some would say this seasons black away top). When you think of Motherwell you think claret and amber, if you are a fan you could even go as far as white or petrol blue but never neon yellow.

This was also the first and last season Motherwell featured player numbers on the front of the jersey. This obviously wasn’t as popular as once thought but I actually quite like the number on the front as it is so rare.

The top uses almost the exact same template as the white away jersey from the season previous which is mental considering that jersey is a solid 8/10 and this one I would probably rank a 3/10 as a Motherwell top. I’m not surprised Motherwell decided to move forward with XARA instead of sticking with PONY.

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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
Club Tops European

Paul Lambert – Borussia Dortmund 96′

Scottish midfielder Paul Lambert grew up in Glasgow where he would sign his first professional contract with St Mirren. Lambert would go on to make over two hundred appearances for St Mirren, helping them lift the Scottish Cup in 1987 before making a switch to Motherwell for £250,000.

In his time at Fir Park, Lambert would make one hundred and three appearances over three seasons with four starts in the 94/95 UEFA Cup, after the Well finished third in the league under Alex McLeish, where they were drawn against Faroese side HB Torshavn and more notably German side Borussia Dortmund.

Lambert would leave Motherwell at the end of his contract in the 95/96 season and move to Borussia Dortmund which would be a massive coup for Die Borussen as they would win the UEFA Champions League, eliminating notable opponents such as Auxerre in the quarter finals, Manchester United in the semi-finals and finally Juventus in the final where Dortmund would lift the trophy after a convincing 3-1 victory.

Credit –
https://www.90min.com/posts/3929891-7-british-players-who-succeeded-when-playing-abroad

After just over a year in Germany, Lambert would return to Scotland with a two-million-pound bid coming from Celtic in November 1997. Leaving in November was no issue due to transfer windows not being made compulsory until the 2002-03 season. He would end up playing for the Glasgow side for a total of seven seasons, winning two Scottish Cups, two League Cups and four Scottish Premier League titles. Lambert would also captain his side to the 2003 UEFA Cup Final, losing to a very talented Jose Mourinho Porto team who would go on to lift the Champions League the following season.

This jersey is from Lambert’s second season at the Westfalenstadion where their only trophy would be the Inter-continental Cup, now known as the FIFA Club World Cup. A disappointing league campaignwould see Dortmund finish tenth in the Bundesliga as FC Kaiserslautern lifted their fourth top division title. They were without Lambert for most of this campaign after Lambert left for Scotland. Dortmund also lost the Super Cup to the Winner of the Cup Winners’ Cup, Barcelona, 3-1 on aggregate. They would also be beaten by the other Spanish League giants Real Madrid 2-0 in the semi-finals of the Champions League, Real Madrid would go on to lift the trophy.

While that season may not have been a success for Borussia Dortmund, this jersey is a masterstroke from Nike, mainly due to the yellow and black that makesthis Dortmund kit so instantly recognisable but also from just how simple the kit is. Mainly down to the thin white stripe under the collar neatly separating the black and bold yellow. The black, yellow and grey trim around the collar is also copied around both sleeves with the same grey at the front of the neck forming a ‘Y’ shape keeping everything coordinated and overall a beautiful kit with a beautiful history.


2 5 9 10 11 14 1970's 1990's 2000's Adidas Admiral Australia Black Blue Borussia Dortmund Celtic Chelsea Claret and Amber Diadora England English European Everton Germany Green International Italian Liverpool Macron Motherwell Netherlands Nike Orange Pony Puma Purple Rangers Red Scotland Scottish Umbro Wales White Xara Yellow