As many will know I am a traditionalist and when something is not red & white stripes I usually don’t approve, but on the face of it at first glance I liked the look of this retro kit, but at second glance I am not so sure.
I first saw the original version of this kit at Wembley in 1976, when Saints lost to Liverpool in the Charity Shield, the game ending 1-0 to the League title winners from Merseyside.
Hard to believe it is 49 years ago, if we go back from 1976 the same time period then it would be 1926, the First World War only ending 8 years earlier, no replica kit back then.
In truth in 1976 it was a kit that split opinions amongst Southampton supporters, even the younger generation like myself were not that enamoured with it, it was described back then as looking like a deckchair.
But we played in this kit for 4 seasons, back then no changing kit every season, it saw some great games, a run to the European Cup Winners Cup quarter finals & promotion in 1978 saw some thrilling moments in the shirt.
So I have to say it grew on me.
At first glance both leaked versions on the internet & finally on the club website I thought that it looked ok, yes it looks like the wearer has been run over by a car that has just driven through red paint, but it is stripes as such.
But my feelings changed when I saw that the rear was plain white, i wasn’t surprised, but I was disappointed, from the back we are Leeds United not Southampton, the effect is just too much white in the shirt., if it was plain red then it would have looked much better.
Why do kit designers have plain backs on a shirt ? there are teams with striped shirts that don’t have plain backs, perhaps they have marketing directors who like me think it makes it look like a players is wearing a short apron over a plain t shirt not a football shirt.
Anyway it just ruins the look for me.
So the verdict is a little split for me, I am not complaining about the design from a traditional red & white stripes perspective, I am complaining about the plain white back.
So front of shirt gets an 8/10, the right balance between a retro kit and stripes, but the back gets 0/10.
I hope that the away kit has taken into account that we aren’t going to be able to use this kit at any team that plays in red or in white, even clubs like Blackburn with blue and white or Sheffield Wednesday, will see a change needed.
Still I still have my original version of the shirt and 4 weeks left to stay off the beer, pound the streets and starve myself to death to be able to get into it and wear it to the match.