As the disco era came to a close at the dawn of the 1980’s, we waved goodbye to football kits made of nipple-scratcher material with big, flappy collars. In their place came the more stylish, polyester designs; none more iconic than the England home shirt of the early 80’s.
The Admiral jersey sported the red and blue go faster stripes on the collarbones and was worn at two major championships; at both of which the Three Lions were a let down. Despite the domination of European club football by English clubs during this time, the national squad constantly failed to live up to expectations.
Euro ’80 – where a ban on advertising meant the Admiral logo was banished from the shirt – saw England fail to progress from the opening group stage.
The World Cup in Spain in 1982 was graced by some magical talent with Ron Greenwood’s squad including big names such as Peter Shilton, Kevin Keegan, Bryan Robson and Trevor Francis.
Future ‘Captain Marvel’ Robbo scored the fastest goal at a World Cup finals in the opening group game against France, and while England showed early promise, two goalless draws in the second group phase ended hopes of a semi-final appearance.
The most memorable image of the tournament was provided by the legendary Keegan in his one and only finals appearance. With England needing to score twice against hosts Spain to advance, ‘Mighty Mouse’ placed a late header wide leaving the former skipper frustrated on the turf.
Sadly,this famous jersey was retired after a 4-0 away win Luxembourg in England’s doomed bid to reach the 1984 European Championships.
Classic Retro shirts now available from Campo Retro www.camporetro.com
