England 1966 World Cup kit voted the greatest of all time by fans
Fans vote on best and worst kits
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Your support makes all the difference.The red shirt worn by England’s legendary World Cup winning side has been voted the greatest football kit of all-time in a new poll.
The simple design, a plain red top featuring the Three Lions emblem on the top left, was produced by Umbro, which manufactured some of England's most memorable shirts up until 2012.
It was worn in 1966 Wembley final by the likes of Sir Bobby Charlton CBE, Bobby Moore OBE and Sir Geoff Hurst MBE, when they triumphed over West Germany.
According to a poll of 2,000 football fans, it is in stark contrast to Arsenal's 'bruised banana kit', worn between 1991 to 1993, which was voted worst shirt of all time.
The adidas kit, however, made it into the top 20 best shirts and its popularity inspired the Gunners’ yellow away shirt for next season.
Meanwhile, Manchester United's 1992/94 yellow and green kit split opinion among fans as it appeared in both best and worst shirt lists.
Other celebrated shirts include AC Milan’s home shirt worn during the 1988/89 season and Newcastle United's home kit from 1995/97.
“The research suggests sentiment plays a big part when it comes to deciding which shirts are the best," said a spokesman for football betting website, FootballJunkie, which commissioned the survey. “Shirts worn by unsuccessful sides are perhaps unfairly forgotten, despite being fantastic designs, which brings to mind the 2009/10 England kit.
“It’s also clear from the research that fans can be divided when it comes to choosing shirts that are worth celebrating. The yellow Arsenal kit is a great example.”
Barcelona’s home shirt from the 1980s also made it into the top 20. It was worn by the Catalans from 1980 to 1989, with notable players from the era including Diego Maradona, Gary Lineker and Bernd Schuster.
England's home and blue away kits, worn during the 1990 World Cup in Italy, were given top rankings too, as was the home shirt, worn by West Germany during that tournament's semi-final, when they knocked England out on penalties.
The 2002 Brazil home kit ranked alongside Nike's Arsenal shirts (1995/96 blue away and 2005/06 redcurrant home) and the 1985-87 kit worn by North London rivals, Tottenham.
Others were less well thought of, including Cameroon’s infamous 2004 kit is amongst them, as is Colorado Caribous' home shirt from 1978, which featured Wild West inspired tassels.
Chelsea’s grey and orange number from the 1994/95 season is also considered one of the worst kits, as is Manchester United’s notorious grey kit worn during 1995/96.
Coventry’s brown away shirt – now much sought after by collectors – also made the top 20, as did the tops of Mexican and England goalkeepers from the years 1994 and 1996, respectively.
Four in 10 respondents said they would purchase their side's shirt each time its launched for sale, while six in 10 admitted they would actively look forward to the release of their team's shiny new kit.
What's more, 37 per cent believed a football shirt is akin to making a fashion statement because it gives them enough distinction to stand out from the crowd, while 43 per cent were owners of either original vintage shirts or of iconic reproductions.
“There are many iconic shirts which are remembered decades later, and lots of great designs that narrowly missed out on the top 20," said the FootballJunkie spokesman. “As such, football fans will have their own opinions on which shirts should or shouldn’t appear in either list, but there’s no doubt they are part and parcel of the beautiful game.
To test your knowledge of classic football shirts take this quiz:
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