In my old neck of the woods NW London certain sports shops had I think certain deals so they could only sell one brand of kit. I remember a shop selling Admiral very popular was the Man United away kit. My mate's mum was walking past said shop and bought my two mates the Leeds away kit cause she liked the colour even though they were and still are Chelsea fans !.  Another shop in Kensal Rise was Adidas so QPR's kit was sold there I knew haven't seen him in donkeys a mate who's in the When Your Young video by The Jam it was filmed in Kilburn and Queens Park wearing a QPR top.

The only place you could buy the Chelsea kit was the supporters shop next to the station which I did in 1977 only time I did although my brother bought me the away top in 81 which looking back was a lovely top and he bought it locally no need to travel. Even the West End didn't sell the Chelsea kit Soccerscene I think it was called in Carnaby Street sold practically nearly every kit but not Chelsea's. Selfridges sold some football stuff cause some of my mates nicked Scotland tops and wore them for the WC in 78 ha ha.

 

My Mum worked in a sports shop in Beckenham from 1977 to mid 90s. He was independent old school shop which was great. 

He stocked Palace, scousers and others popular shirts at the time. Ordering from the manufacturer was the way back then.

My first kit came from the portacabin in the ground. I remember my shorts were just elasticated,  but down by the Broadway they had tie up shorts, that when your 10 looked the bollocks!!

77/78 seemed to be the start of the boom on replica kits. Seen old games on tv for example Boro  and QPR wearing adidas kit with no club  badge before 77/78.

There used to be a good sports shop over towards Kingston. They stocked everything.

My Brother in law grew up following the Mancs! The shop sold a third kit by Admiral,  Blue shirts White shirts and Blue socks. They wore it once a season against Southampton or twice if they drew some one in red and white!!

Agree with 77/78 start of replica kit fad. The first Chelsea kit I had ( use that term loosely) came in a box, and an iron on rampant lion badge came from a sports shop in The Arndale Centre Wandsworth. The colour of the blue badge faded after a couple of washes and looked pretty crap.

Started secondary school in 78 and my to be best mate looked brilliant in our yellow and green away top.

Another mate bought the Arsenal away colours yellow and blue number for the 79 Cup Final and he still has it in pretty much perfect condition.

Olympus Sports who had many chains were the first outlet I remember who knocked out lots of different kits.

Lillywhites might have done but I was a bit too young foray Up West.  

I’ve mentioned it before, the documentary Get Shirty was great on ITV but can’t find a link.

Not cheap being a casual back in the day.

Old Trafford 1975.

 

 

On 11/08/2022 at 10:04, bluehaze said:

Very true. Although for some reason this picture reminded me of some totally different. On a trip to Ewood park in the late 80's they had a sign up inside the ground by the vending booth saying "Know yer notes" with a picture of all the different notes from a fiver up. That was at a time when Harry Enfield was doing the whole "Loadsa Money" routine too. Naturally you can imagine the comments 🙂

14 hours ago, forbzy said:

Very true. Although for some reason this picture reminded me of some totally different. On a trip to Ewood park in the late 80's they had a sign up inside the ground by the vending booth saying "Know yer notes" with a picture of all the different notes from a fiver up. That was at a time when Harry Enfield was doing the whole "Loadsa Money" routine too. Naturally you can imagine the comments 🙂

The inspiration for the character was I think Paul Whitehouse even though he's a Spurs fan saw Chelsea fans waving £20's at Geordies. The hatred of the old bill is still strong from when Met coppers used to wave notes at striking miners.

Does anyone remember Tunis these were trendy for a brief period my older brother had a pair he can remember them just about but doesn't recall where he bought them. I'm guessing 1980 maybe trainers for slightly older teenagers he would have been 18. About 1980 I remember buying a pair of Mitre trainers not sure if they were popular elsewhere or just my local sports shop sold them which made them popular just in our school and area.

Edit : Just looked online seems Mitre trainers were very popular.

 

 

 

Edited August 19, 20223 yr by bluehaze

Think I had the black pair the black and white ones Adidas must have been looking at closely they look a blatant rip off the Samba.

 

bluehaze: I remember ‘Tunis’ Power Trainers. I simply can’t remember having a pair. Might well have though.

There was a decent sports shop in the town next to ours, that sold good quality sports clothing and trainers. 

I remember it sold Le Coq Sportif clothing and shoes, which was very handy. It also sold Puma clothing, which I liked.

Sorry, bit of a trip down men lane there.

Edited August 19, 20223 yr by erskblue

32 minutes ago, erskblue said:

bluehaze: I remember ‘Tunis’ Power Trainers. I simply can’t remember having a pair. Might well have though.

There was a decent sports shop in the town next to ours, that sold good quality sports clothing and trainers. 

I remember it sold Le Coq Sportif clothing and shoes, which was very handy. It also sold Puma clothing, which I liked.

Sorry, bit of a trip down men lane there.

I can remember most of the trainers I had as a schoolboy and I bought a pair of Diadora Borg in 83 after that I can't remember a single pair bar a pair of Converse in 1990.  I started getting into trainers again in the mid 2000's when Adidas started reissuing classics. I do remember late 90's I had a pair of Lacoste trainers that were really nice but they squeaked like mad. I was coming home from my brothers one night I was wearing them the road he lived in was about a mile long well in front of me was a woman.

I'm a quick walker so as I was getting nearer the squeak was getting louder she kept turning round as I passed her I said sorry about the noise it's my trainers she must have thought she was getting stalked by Zebedee 🤣

 

 

Sorry about the ‘T word’ in the above advert!  Thought the adidas zx500s were very good shoes.

I actually wore then for athletics and running back then too,as I ran quite a bit.

 

Pretty sure that advert is from 1984/85.

Edited August 19, 20223 yr by erskblue

Saw this picture and remember being pleased and lucky to have my first pair in 1983 aged 15. Made with Kangaroo leather, they were so soft and great boots

They were a great boot. I had a pair of Puma Kings with the small circular indentations by the heel but not SPA Kings, which were similar to Royals I believe.

You had to be a pretty decent player to carry them off, otherwise you were labelled ' all the gear and no idea'

21 hours ago, Fruit Bat said:

They were a great boot. I had a pair of Puma Kings with the small circular indentations by the heel but not SPA Kings, which were similar to Royals I believe.

You had to be a pretty decent player to carry them off, otherwise you were labelled ' all the gear and no idea'

That’s what I had after two pairs of SPA king.

They stopped making these and the short lived Step Star and the Royale.  Concentrated on just making King for firm and soft ground.

Fruit Bat and Richard P: In awe of you two, wearing Puma Kings and Puma Royals back in the early to mid 1980s😀

Think you’re both similar in age to myself.

I had, I’m sure Puma Cubs. These  were moulded boots and were a great fit for me. My old dear liked them too as they were the cheapest of the Puma range!
 

 

8 hours ago, erskblue said:

Fruit Bat and Richard P: In awe of you two, wearing Puma Kings and Puma Royals back in the early to mid 1980s😀

Think you’re both similar in age to myself.

I had, I’m sure Puma Cubs. These  were moulded boots and were a great fit for me. My old dear liked them too as they were the cheapest of the Puma range!
 

 

I was lucky as my Mum worked in a sports shop with a good discount. My first boots for secondary school were Puma Phantom. Don’t even know if they were made in adult size.

My Kevin Kegan boots were Kangaroo leather and then there was George...worse pair of boots I ever bought

Edited August 23, 20223 yr by CFCCAN

19 hours ago, CFCCAN said:

My Kevin Kegan boots were Kangaroo leather and then there was George...worse pair of boots I ever bought

A mate of mine was on schoolboy forms with Wimbledon and if they were playing Chelsea in the South East Counties League I'd go along and watch.

Before one game him, his old man and me went into a sports shop in Raynes Park and he picked out these boots. I think they came with a certificate confirming it was genuine kangaroo leather.

Strange how we remember little things from 40 plus years ago yet can't remember where we left the house keys

30 minutes ago, Fruit Bat said:

A mate of mine was on schoolboy forms with Wimbledon and if they were playing Chelsea in the South East Counties League I'd go along and watch.

Before one game him, his old man and me went into a sports shop in Raynes Park and he picked out these boots. I think they came with a certificate confirming it was genuine kangaroo leather.

Strange how we remember little things from 40 plus years ago yet can't remember where we left the house keys

So true - and yes if I recall there was something that indicated that it was genuine Kangaroo leather...they were certainly soft leather but were rubbish in the wet though despite the amount of dubbin you slopped on. 

4 hours ago, Fruit Bat said:

A mate of mine was on schoolboy forms with Wimbledon and if they were playing Chelsea in the South East Counties League I'd go along and watch.

Before one game him, his old man and me went into a sports shop in Raynes Park and he picked out these boots. I think they came with a certificate confirming it was genuine kangaroo leather.

Strange how we remember little things from 40 plus years ago yet can't remember where we left the house keys

Think after my Puma Phantom boots I had Patrick Lima’s I think this was a basic kids boots. Went through boots due to growing, remember getting my SPA’s aged 15 when I got to size 10 and feet stopped growing.

Arsenal - Man United 1973 seems the Clockwork Orange look lasted for a while film came out in 71. I know Kubrick banned it not the censors but eventually when I saw the film after his death just thought it was pretentious bollocks.

 

 

Edited September 6, 20223 yr by bluehaze

Agree it was a major let down considering the hype. When I first started work an older Spurs fan recalled that shortly after this film came out we played at WHL and many of ours donned white overalls, bowler hats and walking sticks. Cant see any of them getting in the ground with sticks; like flag poles and rattles they went the way of the dodo.