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numbers on supporters shirts


thesaint

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Does anybody remember when supporters started getting numbers on the back of shirts.I don't seem to remember it happening in the early days of supporters wearing shirts.Reason i am asking,is i collect Scotland shirts,and it's usefull to know,for example,if i knew when fans started wearing numbers,then i could presume that any shirt with a number on the back from pre that date,should be authentic player issue.Anybody remember?

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Seems there was a recent study done at The University of Sheffield. I don't think you'll be able to pin it down to an exact date but probably anything before the mid 70s unless it's a child size shirt. This probably explains why Ramy has been able to wear them for so long. 🙂

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/history/adults-began-wear-replica-football-15888886

The fashion for adult fans wearing replica shirts – now an integral part of football’s visual and economic landscape – was initially created by supporters rather than by manufacturers or marketing, according to new University of Sheffield research, just published in the journal Sport in History. 

Though replica shirts have been produced since the late 1950s, they were initially produced and promoted for children. In the early 1970s, kit manufacturers forged contracts with clubs and introduced copyrighted designs, allowing them to market their shirts with the added appeal of being exclusive and authentic. This led to a boom in the child replica kit industry.

However, adult sizes were not widely produced, and even more rarely worn as leisure wear. Wearing sports clothing in public still seemed odd to some adults and childish to others. The exception was at cup finals, where replica shirts became part of the big game fancy dress tradition.

The study found that, by the early 1980s, a small number of fans began to wear replica shirts to matches more regularly – mostly young adults who had grown up with replica kits, and who were wearing large youth sizes.

Edited by Tiny Tim
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On 8/7/2020 at 9:44 PM, thesaint said:

Does anybody remember when supporters started getting numbers on the back of shirts.I don't seem to remember it happening in the early days of supporters wearing shirts.Reason i am asking,is i collect Scotland shirts,and it's usefull to know,for example,if i knew when fans started wearing numbers,then i could presume that any shirt with a number on the back from pre that date,should be authentic player issue.Anybody remember?

Probably late 80’s/early 90’s.... first shirt I recall as a kid getting a number on the back of was the Aberdeen 93 Afab kit when I got Shearer on the back of it.

Before that it was usually if you had a contact at the club who could do it for you on the sly, or you had to do it yourself by getting your gran to stitch a fabric number on the back for you.

I terms of scotland shirts, I know there has been a rise in replica kits from 1988 through to 1998 appearing as “legit”.... but there is subtle things you can notice that can vouch for its authenticity.

Also, if you do get a legit one, remember that the SFA produce kits to cover players from u16 through to first team.... so someone might claim to have a 92 McCoist shirt, but truth be told it’s most likely a stock item shirt or a youth players shirt that someone has got ahold of.

Edited by wanderer
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