CAN’T BUY ME, LOVE
Some shirts are so rare that even money can’t buy them. Fourfourtwo finds out more about these one-off wonders
Arsenal Third, 1998 Arsenal’s home and away shirts both clashed with Lens’ red-and-yellowstriped home threads in the 1998-99 Champions League group stage, so Nike made this one-off special – unavailable to the public – for their game in London. But it wasn’t the only unfamiliar element to this match: Arsenal were hosting their European games at Wembley for financial reasons, but wound up losing two of their three fixtures at the home of English football. Lens beat them 1-0 to kill the Gunners’ hopes for good, and this navy blue number – match-worn by Marc Overmars in the CFS collection. Mexico Goalkeeper, 1995 Need we even have to tell you who wore this tripping kit? Mexico goalkeeper Jorge Campos was famed for designing his own, and wore this psychedelic monstrosity at the 1995 King Fahd Cup (the precursor to FIFA’S Confederations Cup). It didn’t stop Denmark netting all four of their penalties in a group stage penalty shootout (yes, really), but we’d like to assume that Nigeria’s Emmanuel Amunike was blinded by the lights in missing the ‘crucial’ third-place playoff spot-kick. Naturally, this Campos special was only made for the player himself and not the public. Shoreditch collectively sheds a tear. Rangers
Home, 1996 (Europe) French regulations wouldn’t allow alcohol sponsors, so Rangers were forced to swap their Mcewan’s lager branding with that of, er, Center Parcs. The popular holiday chain was owned by the same parent company, so gladly seized the opportunity for some impromptu advertising in the Champions League against Auxerre. It made another appearance the following season against Strasbourg in the UEFA Cup, meaning ultra-rare kits produced by both Adidas and Nike exist with such branding. Rangers also wore another one-off kit in 1996-97 – a lurid red effort against Grasshopper Zurich – and again for a home game against Gothenburg in 1997-98. Odd.
Netherlands Away, 2005 Football fans of a certain age will have vivid recollections of Nike’s Stand Up, Speak Up campaign in the mid-noughties – defined by the rubber wristbands you could easily get mugged for at school. Glory days indeed. But there was also this iconic shirt, worn once by the Netherlands against England in a snoozefest at Wembley which was used to raise awareness of Nike’s anti-racism campaign. The iconic number wasn’t released commercially, but CFS got their hands on one courtesy of former striker Roy Makaay. Now, where’s our number for Rafa van der Vaart gone... Nigeria Away, 1994 If only social media existed in 1994. Nigeria’s 2018 World Cup shirt practically broke the internet with its beauty, helping Nike record over three million orders a week before it had even gone on sale. But no such luck before that, as one of the most eye-catching designs at USA 94 was never released in shops. Cruel world! The natty design was worn in two group games – both victories as Nigeria topped the standings ahead of Argentina – before the Super Eagles bowed out to eventual finalists Italy after late heartbreak in the last 16. Germany
Away, 1991 What is it with Wembley and classic one-off shirts? Germany’s 1988-91 white number was already a stonecold classic with its splendid stackedup chevrons, and this was essentially the same design with a green base. It was worn just once, in England’s first match against a united Germany since 1938, although only striker Thomas Doll – then, a Lazio team-mate of Three Lions midfielder Paul Gascoigne – ‘represented’ the East. There was no fresh dawn for England: Berti Vogts’ side won 1-0 courtesy of a goal from future Liverpool striker Karl-heinz Riedle, inflicting the first defeat of Graham Taylor’s inglorious reign.