Having a blue away kit is something I saw a few people pass comment on, asking why Blue, when it’s more normally yellow or white. Well we have a few blue kits in the past and they by and large are in periods of success. Ok, there’s an exception to that, but more on that in a moment.....
We first had blue in the late 60's which wasn't a bad era for Forest. Ok it was after we had finished third in the mid 60's but we were still a top tier side.
We of course had the blue away kit when Stan Collymore was in his pomp for Forest. Bluey Purple with a turquoise trim, with umbro logos jauntily adorning it in a random pattern, this was one of the first kits I got myself (and not relying on parental presents) I also got this shirt with 4 and “COOPER” on the back in celebration of our first time using squad numbers, remember this was when kits lasted 2 years. I think most fondly remember this kit as I say we were good when we had this. We won at Old Trafford wearing it; it was our away kit when getting promoted. Many of the top players of the semi recent past wore it, Collymore, Roy, Stone, Bohinen, Pearce and Cooper.
We also had a dalliance with blue when we had been relegated to the Championship again a few years later. It’s first outing... the 8-0 thumping of Doncaster at Belle Vue. A lighter blue with red and white trims on it, at first I greatly disliked it. It was a rehash of the England shirt with colours being rotated round to suit Forest. It was also technically a third shirt as the away was the white with black and red lines down the right side. The likes of Van Hooijdonk and Campbell decorated this shirt as again it lasted 2 years and was largely successful for us.
A much darker blue, almost verging on the inky was the one we wore when losing to Sheffield United in the playoffs. Ok, not a glorious day but this was also one of my favourite ever kits. The dark blue combined with a very leafy green was an odd combo but one worked, with white piping along the front and white emblems and sponsors, the green side panels tucked round the arse at the bottom. For me it was a very smart shirt. And yeah we didn’t ultimately succeed but we came close so it can be synonymous with happy years.
However, another blue away kit, that again had a purple tinge to it, was in the Platt era. At the time of buying I liked it, but with time I went off it. For one it had a ridiculous collar that was like a tight round neck. So ridiculous that half the players used to have cut a V into it to make it less restrictive. I also arrived at university in Liverpool and half the time people thought it was a Chelsea shirt, as it was quite similar to one they had at the time. It was also worn by a mediocre Forest team. It mercifully barely lasted the season, and was replaced by the interchangeable kits, the red and white shirts that were designed to fit with each other’s shorts so we could wear combinations.
We did have the half black and blue away shirt a couple of years back. Whether I count this in our blue away section I don’t know. It was a mixture (with red trimmings too) There was the the “Inter Milan” away kit too, where it was a lighter blue (and looked cheaply made) These though were not predominately blue, so cannot be fully counted. For the sake of making a point.
Comments
Post a Comment