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Chris Wright, Toe Poke writer
While the modern tendency is to dress goalkeepers in simple hi-vis outfits or jerseys based on dreary templates, it wasn’t so long ago that professional football was in a period of total lawlessness when it came to their kit designs.
We are of course talking about the 1990s, the decade when the uniform of the player between the posts went from an afterthought to an outlandish mix of spots, stripes, polygons, prints, hoops, hashing and a lot more besides — sometimes all at once — slathered all over the same shirt.
Many of the world’s top shot-stoppers suddenly found themselves dressed in the loudest, most egregious football kits ever created. The 1990 World Cup ushered in this new era of kit design, with the tournament used by manufacturers as a opportunity to let their imaginations run wild.
From then, things just got weirder as patterns previously deemed to be incompatible were melded together by force, colours clashed like never before and giant oversized elbow pads became normal.
We’ve delved back through the archives and picked out a selection of the most memorable goalkeeper kits that the 1990s had to offer. Presented chronologically, we’ve also given them a definitive “weirdness” rating out of 10.
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As worn by maverick sweeper-keeper Rene Higuita, Colombia’s World Cup jersey was suitably flamboyant with a multicoloured triangular pattern that was further adorned with small square “patches” of traditional South American art.
As if to personify Higuita’s wild-card credentials, Colombia’s alternate keeper kit was equally rough, with a shiny silver shirt highlighted by a massively oversized two-tone neon collar and haphazard checkerboard arrows.
Weirdness rating: 6.5/10
Almost overshadowing his Colombian counterpart in the grotesque kit stakes, Austria goalkeeper Klaus Lindenberger was forced to appear at the 1990 World Cup while wearing striped shorts. Just to compound matters further, the stripes in question were bright yellow and purple.
Weirdness rating: 8/10
Poor old Walter Zenga was force to wear this arrow-covered monstrosity during one of his final seasons at Inter. From the uber-bright colours (including various shades of purple) to the cheap synthetic material, this jersey is absolutely peak-90s.
Weirdness rating: 9/10
Italy failed to qualify for the 1992 European Championship, and it’s probably just as well. The Azzurri remaining at home spared a continent the need to witness their atrocious goalkeeper kit that year.
Somehow they managed to take Dino Zoff’s otherwise immaculate silver kit from the early 1980s and make a complete mess of it by adding a random assortment of nonsense to the mix.
Weirdness rating: 8.5/10
All bets were off by the time the 1992 Euros rolled around, with the tournament playing host to several zany offerings from across the continent. Denmark’s neon rainbow shirt, worn by goalkeeping great Peter Schmeichel, has since become something of a cult classic. Winning the competition while wearing it probably helped, of course.
Weirdness rating: 5.5/10
Continuing in much the same vein as Euro 1992, the enduring memory of the 1994 World Cup — at least as far as goalkeeper kits are concerned — belonged to one man and one man alone.
Mexico’s Jorge Campos already had a reputation for donning his own custom designs for club and country. But the oversized, super-bright kits he wore during the tournament in the U.S. will forever be lauded as his magnum opus.
Weirdness rating: 9.5/10
Boca Juniors, 1994-95
Carlos Navarro Montoya and his brilliant goalkeeper shirt! pic.twitter.com/mHvm7gy1Yw
— 90s Football (@90sfootball) September 9, 2020
Campos wasn’t the only goalkeeper designing his own wares. Boca goalkeeper Carlos Navarro Montoya following suit, quite literally. Rather than a colourful geometric barrage, the Colombian produced a gleefully ugly shirt that came complete with a bespoke cartoon truck on the front. Closer inspection also reveals that Montoya himself is perched in the driving seat.
And, in case you were wondering if the back of the jersey featured an illustration of the back of the truck, we’re happy to confirm that for you.
Weirdness rating: 10/10
Sunderland, 1994-96
Sunderland was keeping it 💯 with the goalkeeper kit in the 90s: pic.twitter.com/7JNsUKWe37
— Weebz (@jordanweeb) September 17, 2015
In the unlikely event that Alec Chamberlain or perhaps even the young Shay Given (who was on loan from Blackburn) forgot their gloves on matchday, Sunderland took the initiative and thoughtfully provided their goalkeepers with a spare pair. The fact that you don’t even notice the migraine-inducing torrent of checkerboard up top is testament to just how uniquely odd the bottom third of the shirt is.
Weirdness rating: 9/10
Ajax, 1995-96
The midpoint of the decade was truly the golden era of the “absolutely anything goes” period of goalkeeper kit design. This lurid nightmare, as foisted on Edwin van der Sar, encapsulates the burgeoning “more is more” approach.
Beige, blue, red and white; cross-hatching, spikes and swirls all over the place; giant diamond-shaped elbow pads and what looks like a supremely uncomfortable raised collar clamped precisely around the Adam’s apple.
Weirdness rating: 8.5/10
England, 1996
England’s yellow and turquoise home goalkeeper kit at Euro 1996 was bad enough, but it was totally upstaged by the away version. David Seaman was draped in a risible patchwork of bright red, plum purple, lime green and custard yellow that stood out even more against the drab grey jerseys worn by his teammates. The fact it was worn as the Three Lions were sent packing in the semifinals by Germany is a fitting epitaph.
Weirdness rating: 10/10
This year was a prolific one for unique goalkeeper uniforms, with Japan filing one of the wildest entries. Indeed, Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi looks as perplexed as the rest of us by the garish flame-engulfed shirt he was asked to wear while on international duty.
However, Kawaguchi’s club uniform at the time was arguably even further off the scale, with Yokohama F. Marinos giving him a psychedelic yellow shirt to play in. So perhaps he was actually better off playing at international level after all.
Weirdness rating: 8/10
Velez Sarsfield, 1996
José Luis Chilavert wearing his bulldog goalkeeper kit. Legend! pic.twitter.com/D0mqUCbxa0
— 90s Football (@90sfootball) July 13, 2015
Renowned for his set pieces (he is the second-highest scoring goalkeeper of all time) and pugnacious demeanour, Jose Luis Chilavert was affectionately known as “El Bulldog” during his playing days. A club legend at Velez, the Paraguay international briefly wore a custom kit that carried the image of his canine spirit animal.
Weirdness rating: 8.5/10
Perhaps feeling that Schmeichel got off a little too easy in 1992, Manchester United really made the Danish colossus suffer as the decade rolled on by plying him with a procession of retina-pummelling designs. In a field of shockers, perhaps the worst was 1996-97’s purple extravaganza.
Weirdness rating: 7.5/10
There is precious little to redeem Liverpool’s 1996-97 away kit, which had an awful Liver bird pattern overlaid on top of an orange backdrop. Not even David James, who for a time modelled for top designer Giorgio Armani, could carry it off.
Weirdness rating: 7.5/10
By spending seven years at St James’ Park between 1991 and 1998, Pavel Srnicek was able to don several of the club’s most revered goalkeeper kits — from the shattered glass jersey of 1994-95 to the whirlpool shirt of 1997-98.
However, none came close to matching the outright audacity of the 1996-97 kit, which featured a blushing “tequila sunrise” base behind a silhouette of the Newcastle skyline. Still as majestic and gloriously weird today as it was back then.
Weirdness rating: 9/10