Demand For Liverpool FC Retro Shirts Reflects Fans Nostalgia For Simpler Times | OneFootball

For the majority of people, football shirts are tied to success or otherwise. If the club had some big wins during the period that a shirt was worn by the players, there is a desire for supporters to go out and buy themselves a replica version. Should there be little success during the period of time that the shirt was in use, there will be much less of a need to wear the shirt moving forward.

For Liverpool Football Club, it is easier to name the seasons in which there wasn’t any success than the ones where there was, so is that behind the rise in retro shirts being sold by the Reds?

The Return of Adidas

There is no question that the return of Adidas as the official makers of the Liverpool kit has caused a boon in the number of retro kits being sold by the club. The German athletic apparel maker was also taking on that role during some of the club’s more successful periods. Adidas first made the kits of the Reds between 1985 and 1996, during which time Liverpool won three First Division titles, the same number of FA Cups, a League Cup and a Football League Super Cup. They were then replaced by Reebok for the following decade before taking over again in 2006 until 2012.

It was during that period of time that the Reds went through a period of decline, winning just a solitary League Cup as well as being losing finalists in the 2007 Champions League final. Even so, Adidas brought in some iconic kits during that period, which continue to be emulated years later. For supporters of the club at the time, the journey to the final as well as the fact that we pushed Manchester United so close for the title during the 2008-2009 campaign mean that the kits produced during the manufacturer’s second spell will always hold a close place in their hearts.

Nostalgia

Ben Sutherland, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The truth of the matter is that there are many people that will always hanker after a time long gone. For many Liverpool fans who grew up in the 1990s and 2000s, the Reds didn’t enjoy the same success as their parents and grandparents had enjoyed watching.

It is natural, therefore, for them to dream of years gone by, when they watched their heroes tearing around the pitch scoring goals and lashing themselves into tackles. Even those who did grow up during Liverpool’s more fallow years will remember them differently, with their memories telling them lies about what they saw.

For some, there is a sense of detachment from the modern sport. If you were coming of age in the 1970s and 1980s, the idea of seeing someone cost more than £1 million will have caused you to feel the game had gone, so the notion of spending £100 million-plus that the Reds did this summer on both Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak might well push you over the edge.

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The truth is that some supporters simply don’t like modern football and would much rather spend their money buying kits from another time, when the game was much more about what happened on the pitch than what took place off it.

Which Ones Are the Best?

It is fair to say that which kit you think is the ‘best’ from times gone by is an entirely subjective thing. That is why some people are able to make good money selling retro kits, because they know that there is a desire amongst some to get the kit that means the most to them. Even so, there are some kits that stand the test of time more than others. The jersey that the Reds wore when they defeated AC Milan in the Champions League final that was dubbed the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ will always be popular for those that were alive to see it, for example, as will be the shirt from the treble-winning 2000-2001 campaign.

Classic Football Shirts is a company that sold a Liverpool kit from 1989 to a customer in Norway, which kick-started the launch of a business that now has over 160 employees and has received more than £30 million in investment from a US-based investment group. Whether the current kit will go on to be a much-sought-after one will likely depend on how well the Reds do this season, but it broke records for Liverpool and Adidas when it was launched. Each generation of supporter will have their own favourite kits, of course, which is what makes it all subjective. The most important thing, though, is the Liverbird on the chest.