Colours by
Country:
England vs. West
Germany
England had played Germany three times
before the Second World War.
The partitioning of Germany at the end of the war had restricted the
Deutscher Fußball-Bund to select players from only the western side of the
country, but they continued to play in the same colours (white shirts, with
black shorts and stockings) as Germany had, thus resulting in a colour
clash, whenever they met England. We believe that England had called on a
blue change uniform against Germany before the war, whilst the Germans had a
red change kit.
By the time of their first meeting
with West Germany, in 1954, England were using a red change uniform
and after unveiling a new lightweight white v-neck shirt against Wales in
their previous fixture, they used this first post-war encounter with their
former enemies to wear a new red equivalent of the v-neck. Although the game
was played at Wembley, it was England, as the home team, in an air of
cordiality, who were happy to change colours. They also wore the name of
their opponents in a crescent beneath the emblem. Note this appeared as
GERMANY, without the 'western' prefix - they were not popularly referred to
as 'West Germany' until the 1960s to distinguish the country from the German
Democratic Republic, as East Germany's football team began to flourish. In
essence, England were still playing a team representing the
Deutscher Fußball-Bund, just as
they had been before the war and this was considered to be their fourth
meeting with Germany.
England's first trip to post-war
Germany, to Berlin in 1956, surprisingly saw the teams wearing exactly the same
colours as at Wembley, almost eighteen months earlier, with one small
exception. England had temporarily discarded the crescents with the
opposition team name underneath the emblem.
Nine more years passed before England
were back in Germany, and yet again, it was they who wore the change
colours, as Nürnberg witnessed
England's only appearance in a red round-neck shirt made by Bukta. This was
also the last occasion that West Germany wore black stockings against
England, as by the following year, they had followed the trend of
switching to lighter-coloured socks.
1966 was, of course, a momentous year
for both countries, if a little more memorable for England. West Germany
made two trips to Wembley, the first of which saw them wearing a change
green shirt against England for the first time. However, as it was paired
with white shorts and stockings, it meant that England, now in Umbro
uniforms, were obliged to change their stockings to red.
When it came to the World Cup Final,
the teams tossed a coin to decide who would wear white shirts on the big day
and, once again, it was England who ended up playing in red. This might seem
a familiar sight nowadays, but it was only the third time ever (and the
first time in twelve years) that England had worn red shirts for a full
international played at home. West Germany, meanwhile, had now settled on
white stockings, to go with their white shirts and black shorts.
The final firmly established red as
England's preferred second-choice colour of shirt and when they met again in
Hannover, in 1968, both sides appeared in the same colours.
1970 saw England relieved of their
status of World Champions, in an epic quarter-final, by West Germany. This
time, they were happy to change and must have thought it would be a good
omen. Sporting a lightweight red shirt with small holes for ventilation in
the Mexican heat, England stormed into a two-goal lead, but extra time was
to prove their downfall.
Two years later, they met again in the
two-legged quarter-final of the European Championship, where, at last, in
their eighth meeting, England got to wear their full first-choice uniform of
white shirts, navy shorts and white stockings, against West Germany. Their
opponents added green stockings to their change uniform and wore rounded
collars for the first time against England. In all their previous
encounters, they had appeared in v-necked shirts. The other notable
curiosity about the first leg at Wembley was that England's goalkeeper,
Gordon Banks, was sporting what appeared to be a yellow training jersey,
without emblem or number on it.
The second leg, played two weeks
later, in Berlin, saw England back in red, facing a 3-1 deficit to claw
back, which proved to be too much.
Their next meeting saw England's
uniform transformed by the new Admiral contract into
a red, white and blue strip and from hereon in, the
goalkeeper also had his own separate uniform; a
yellow jersey, with black shorts and stockings. At
Wembley in 1975, West Germany wore the same green
uniform they had worn three years earlier.
In 1978, in München, England's red
Admiral change uniform was worn against West Germany
for the first time and, despite their opponents also
wearing black shorts, Ray Clemence, in the England
goal, wore his usual uniform. West Germany's
stockings bore the three adidas stripes across the
tops.
For their next
meeting, in the 1982 World Cup, it was England, once
again, in red, though this time, it was the second,
more flamboyant Admiral design, albeit modified from
the version they had worn in the opening game of the
tournament. West Germany had also updated their kit
and were curiously wearing shorts made by Errea,
paired with adidas shirts and stockings. The shirts
had also acquired a winged collar with a v-neck and
displayed the three stripes on the sleeves, for the
first time against England. Both sides wore numbered
shorts.
Four months
later, at Wembley, West Germany chose to wear white
stockings with the green change uniform and, as in
1966, England had to pair red stockings with their
white uniform, which was the second made by Admiral.
West Germany, meanwhile, had updated their change
shirt to include white pin-stripes. This was their
last visit to England, before the re-unification of
the country.
Their next
meeting, in 1985, was their second in Mexico.
England were now back in Umbro red and Peter Shilton,
who saved a penalty for the one and only time in his
125-cap international career, wore a strange
combination of grey jersey, coupled with the same
red stockings as the outfield players, but the navy
shorts from the white uniform. It was the same red
uniform in
Düsseldorf, in 1987, but Shilton was now in an
all-grey outfit.
For their
final meeting, in the 1990 World Cup semi-final,
another epic encounter, England managed to wear
white against the Germans for the first time in a
major tournament. West Germany, meanwhile, had
brought back the green stockings for their change
uniform.
England
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