Wembley Stadium transformed itself into the 52nd American state last Sunday, as the NFL came to town, bringing with it all the glitz, glamour and new football kit you’d expect from our transatlantic cousins. The New Orleans Saints took on the San Diego Chargers in a game between the two sides that proved to be just as competitive in reality as it was on paper. The two teams were evenly matched, and the 90,000 fans that made the journey to North West London were treated to a classic display of gridiron at its finest.

There were plenty of touchdowns to wow the crowds, which made for a sharp contrast to events 12 months ago in the NFL’s first international game that featured the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins. Back then, the rain poured down, as both teams found it difficult to score. However, with the latest game played in better conditions, the scoreboard didn’t stop flashing all night long.

American Football still has an enormous following in this country two decades after the glory days of the 1980s. With at least another two annual games to be played at Wembley, NFL chiefs are seriously considering the possibility of London having its own team at some point in the future. A mere pipedream at the moment perhaps, but don’t be surprised if you see a range of classic football shirts on sale in preparation for a London Monarchs come-back in a few years’ time. Get your retro football shirt order in now. You heard it here first …

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Istockphoto © Peepo

Last weekend’s games saw a little bit of history repeating itself, as two Premier League sides played against each other with not a football shirt sponsor in sight. Harking back to the glory days of the 1970’s, when shirt sponsorship had yet to take off, West Ham and West Bromwich took to the field in their corporate-free “football kits” sporting only their team colours. The game ended 3-2 to the Baggies, marking their first win of the season, and left new West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola with plenty of thinking to do. Perhaps he will want to invest in some new training equipment for his team!

I would like to say the reason behind the unbranded football kits was a romantic notion by the owners, celebrating the days when the game wasn’t so driven by money, but no… no such luck. The real reason is down to West Bromwich’s contract with T-Mobile expiring and West Ham losing XL Holidays after the travel firm recently went bust.

With the credit crunch well and truly with us, more teams may be following suit as stock markets crash and companies fid themselves upon hard times. Already Manchester United sponsors AIG have had to be bailed out by the US government, and Arsenal and Manchester City may find themselves looking for replacements for Emirate Airlines and Thomas Cook respectfully if the cost of fuel for air carriers continues to bite deep.

Could unbranded football shirts be all the rage this season? Only time will tell…

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Some of us still have our old football strips; be it sentimentality or just a desire to relive our youth; we keep hold of them in the hope that someday we’ll get the chance to score goals in them just like our heroes.

The football kit has become something of a status symbol these days; like having a shiny suit of armour that allows us to take up the battle cry of our footballing idols.  Up and down the country on a Saturday afternoon seas of black and white, red and black, red and white, blue and white sweep through the gates of the stadiums as we head off to see our footballing heroes play the beautiful game like gladiators at the Coliseum.

flickr © terry6082books

Anyone can own a football strip nowadays; as children perhaps only the well off kids in the playground had one, but now football kits are as common as jeans, tee-shirts and repeats of old sitcoms. Even the toddler in the household can have one: adorned in his or hers summer set or bib,  shorts and top, they can charge around the garden in the summer or go shopping with mum and dad – proud to represent their home team’s colours.

Every football club has a replica kit nowadays; some have a home and away strip; but even if you can’t afford a kit or simply don’t have the inclination to wear one – buy yourself a scarf in your team’s colours and proudly wave it in the air at the next match, and marvel at the warm glow your feel when your team’s striker puts that ball into the back of the net all because he saw you and many others like you wear their colours with pride.

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