The photographs above are of the actual No.
2 shirt issued to right fullback M. Gary Stevens for the World Cup 1986
tournament. Josh Benn, one of the contributors of this website, bought it at
an auction of Stevens' memorabilia in London.
The red World Cup 1986 shirt, however, made
no appearance at the tournament. England wore their white shirts in the
first four matches. Then came the quarterfinal against Argentina,
against whom England usually wore red in contrast to Argentina's pale blue and
white striped shirts. But this time Argentina wore their alternate solid
blue shirts, and so England donned their white shirts again, this time over
the pale blue shorts and stockings that were part of one of their
alternate tournament strips, all pale blue. Maradona's Hand of God goal
put paid to England, and they got no further chance to wear either their red
or pale blue shirts.
Although this shirt was not worn in an
official match, it did make an appearance two years later, on June 4th 1988,
when England won 7-0 at Aylesbury United in a warm-up game for the 1988
European Championship Finals.
This shirt differed to the
1984 version in that the red, white and blue
striped cuffs were removed.
England
Football Online
