In England, the earliest football games did not have formal jerseys. They wore cricket white shirts, formal shirts, or flannel pullovers to play. Some clubs use old-fashioned colors and shirts, while others use hats, scarves, and waistbands to distinguish teams, which is the starting point of jersey history. Figure 1- No formal jersey With the emergence of professional football in the 1880s, clubs began ordering some cheap jerseys, thick cotton collared shirts, buttons or straps on the neck, and several standard designs. When the football league was established in 1888, the Three Furniture Club chose solid colored jerseys: Akrington (red), Bolton Wanderers, and Preston (all in white). Figure 2- Solid color jersey Five other teams have chosen jerseys that look like two halves, but are made of four materials. They are Aston Villa, Blackburn, Derby County, Everton, and Notts County. There are also four options for vertical stripes, Burnley, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, and Wolves. Figure 3- Style of jersey In the opening game of the 1890/91 season, Wolves faced the newly added Sunderland away, both wearing red and white striped jerseys. The referee had to force Wolves to change into their white shirts, and the league required all jerseys to be registered, and all clubs must have a white jersey to prevent color conflicts. Figure 4- To prevent color conflicts At the beginning of the 1892 season, Wolfsburg changed the jersey to the familiar combination of gold and black, and adopted an unusual diagonal design. Figure 5- Wolves jersey design In the next decade, the expanding league will adopt most of the standard jersey designs we see today. The circular jerseys of Bradford, Queen's Park Rangers, and Reading, the sleeves of Derby County, Burnley, and Aston Villa, as well as the deep V of Clapton, Leeds United, and Birmingham City. Figure 6- Style change In the western region, Bristol chose a jersey made of eight materials, but few British clubs use shoulder straps or a single large stripe, which is popular in Latin America. Unfortunately, the polo shirts worn by Bolton in 1884 and 1886 did not rise. Figure 7- Popular Trends in the Americas Regardless of the style of the jersey, it is not allowed for any jersey to wear black for matches, as it is the exclusive color for referees, although for most of this era, they would wear customized tops or formal tops instead of jerseys. Figure 8- Referee wearing formal attire In 1992, England lifted this restriction when the Premier League allowed referees to wear green clothes. At the 1994 World Cup, FIFA officials wore black, yellow, or magenta clothing, and from then on, referees began exploring the full range of colors in blue, pink, yellow, and green. XFL Seattle Sea Dragons Jersey XFL San Antonio Brahmas XFL Houston Roughnecks XFL Houston Roughnecks XFL Arlington Rengades Figure 9- Exploration of Colors At the turn of the century, the goalkeeper wore a jersey of the same color as his teammates and a hat to show the difference. Even so, it is still difficult to award handball in the penalty area because ![]() |