Obscure Kits From British Football History #8

Tottenham Hotspur (away)
1977 - 1980

As the title suggests, this occasional series plucks the most obscure football kit designs from the history of the sport and puts them under the microscope for all to see (and indeed laugh at).

One trend we've noticed since we started this series is that many of these long-forgotten obscurities were originally made by Admiral. This seemingly harmless company based in Leicester were responsible for some of the most peculiar and outlandish designs seen throughout the 1970's and 80's, and today's offering is no different.

For part 8 of our 'Obscure British Kits' series, we give you the Tottenham away strip from 1977 to 1980.

What's the first thing you notice about it? Come to think about it, what's the only thing you'll notice about it? That's right - it's that strange over-the-shoulder thing going on either side of the big flappy collar.

Be honest, have you ever seen a feature like that on a football kit before or since? We'll take it as read that your answer was 'No'.

What would be an otherwise perfectly harmless pale yellow and navy blue strip is somewhat overshadowed by that odd band hanging over the shoulders.

It's neither a stripe or a panel - it's just a thing. Did Admiral apply it to anyone else's kit, we wonder? If you know, please get in touch with us in the usual fashion.

Meantime, all we can do is stand back and admire it (if indeed 'admire' is the word we're looking for) and to rack our brains as to where we've seen something similar in the past.

Wait a minute - perhaps this is the answer...



(Our thanks go to John Devlin at True Colours Football Kits for giving us kind permission to use the above kit design image.)