Monday 23 December 2013

The Greatest France Home Kit 1964-2014

In May 2013, The Football Attic spoke to you, the football nostalgia experts of the world, to ask what you thought was the greatest England home kit that's been worn since 1965. Your response was fantastic and left us in no doubt that your favourite was the Admiral kit worn during the 1982 World Cup.

Now it's time to praise and assess the first-choice outfits of France, the country that gave us Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini and Thierry Henry. Over the last 50 years, the French national team have worn 30 different home kits all varying in complexity and style, so we'd like you to tell us which ones you like best, which ones are an affront to human decency, and above all, which is your favourite by voting via the form at the foot of this page.

Click for larger version

The graphic above shows all of the 30 kits mentioned (clicking on it brings up a larger version - right-click and 'Save As' while it's on the screen to keep a full-size version). We've tried to get as much detail correct as possible using the information sources available, but if you do spot any inaccuracies, please let us know.

As you peruse the different designs shown, you'll probably spot an anomaly (by British standards, at least). Where the French national team is concerned, it was common for two or more home kits to be worn at any given time during any 12-month period up to Euro 84.

Whereas in Britain we're used to a system of 'Kit A' being replaced by 'Kit B' and then 'Kit C', in France 'Kit A' might be worn for a few games only to be replaced by 'Kit B', but after a few more games 'Kit A' would be worn again before 'Kit C' appeared a few months later, then back to 'Kit B' and so on. Why this is the case, we're not sure, but if anyone out there has any details, please let us know.

In addition to this seemingly random flip-flopping between kits, it's also worth mentioning the diverse number of times each kit was worn. Some, like Kit 8, were worn at various times over a 7-year period while Kit 10, for instance, was only worn twice - and that was with a one-year gap between the two outings.

As far as manufacturers are concerned, there are three that we're aware of: Le Coq Sportif (1970-72), Adidas (1972-2010) and Nike (2011 onwards). Adidas enjoyed the benefits of a 33-year association with the French team that undoubtedly covered it's greatest era, but Le Coq Sportif are responsible for dragging the French kit out of the old-fashioned 1960's just as Nike are designing some new styles at the present time.

But enough of all this technical information. We want you to pin your bleu-blanc-rouge to the mast and tell us which is your favourite France home kit...

SORRY - THIS VOTE HAS NOW CLOSED!
The winner of our Greatest France Home Kit vote has now been announced. Did your favourite kit win?

Further information:
To see all the above France home kits, plus many change kits and variations, head on over to Chris O's Kitbliss website.

9 comments:

  1. Quatorze!

    Andre Rochelle

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  2. Got to be 15 for me - a very understated kit that brings back memories of an excellent French side at Mexico '86, which knocked out holders Italy and the much-fancied Brazilians before losing a second consecutive semi-final to eventual runners-up West Germany. I personally thought the then European champions were the best European side at that World Cup along with the team they beat to third place, Belgium.

    Hard to believe they would not be at the subsequent two World Cups or the 1988 European Championships, where they would have been defending their title.

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  3. For me: 13 > 14 > 8 > 1. But the white kit from 2006 would easily enter this frame for me to make a top 5 all time favourite French kits.

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  4. Le 13 est classieux quand même.. mon choix donc.
    Mais j'ai longuement hésité avec le suivant, le 14, pour son côté symbolique.

    Very good idea (and design) by the way ! :)

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  5. http://selectiona.free.fr/maillot.php : Bilan selon la tenue des bleus

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  6. Adidas' designers are really bad. Only exceptions are No 13 and 14. Otherwise, the new 30 is really cool.

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  7. 13 évidemment ! Meilleurs voeux a tous

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  8. Last seasons France blue away kit http://www.wysjg.com/france-c-11_24/ was a true, if they dont have a blue away shirt ....

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  9. Number 16!



    Robin Z.

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