We have to talk about…Tottenham’s controversial new third kit
According to Nike its colour is Taupe Haze, but to many it was a little bit beige and a little bit meh!
With no European football this season, Spurs found themselves playing in the Second Round South of the Carabao Cup, the least prestigious of England’s two cup competitions.
Even more surprising than new manager Ange Postecoglou replacing nine players from Spurs’ previous game, was the kit his team were giving a debut to.
A little bit beige, a little bit meh:
Leaked nine months earlier, but only officially launched the day before the Fulham game, it was certainly unusual. One could say it was a bold choice, but bold is not the way to describe the colour Nike has dubbed Taupe Haze. It was a little bit beige, a little bit meh! And it left a lot of people confused.
“Spurs new third kit is debuting today but even under floodlights we can’t determine what colour it is. Any suggestions?” (@MenInBlazers)
Taupe Haze is in fact quite difficult to describe.
“Taupe Haze sounds like something you might pick up in an Amsterdam coffee shop. The colour is like something you’d see on some bland office wall. Basically, it’s bloody horrible!” (@Lad1966)
One attempt was to call it a “pinkish, brown cappuccino” although that doesn’t really convey the colour, which to my eyes is either a dark shade of pinkish beige or a light shade of pinkish brown.
“Why does this Spurs kit look a different colour on every photo?” (@rhysclough)
Fergie’s grey mist:
Whatever its hue, it instantly reminded me of the infamous grey kit that Man Utd wore back in 1986 when Ferguson made his team ditch it at half-time because he felt it made the players blend in with the crowd. Despite changing to a more conventional blue and white strip, United still lost the match. Incidentally, the kit change didn’t just cost them the game, they were fined for doing so.
“Is it just me or does our third kit make it seem like the players can’t see each other?” (@SpursParody1)
Reflecting on the incident in 2020, ex-Man Utd player Gary Neville who played in that game, recalled that Ferguson had been told by Professor Gail Stephenson of Liverpool University that grey was the worst possible colour to spot players in when there are fans in the background.
“Terrible colour choice. Why make it harder for Spurs players to see/find each other on the pitch?” (@jina_huh)
“Only Spurs could manage to find a kit colour where our players cannot see each other.” (@SpursyX)
The need to stand out:
No matter the colour, the one common feature of most team’s kits is for it to stand out. It helps that supporters can readily identify their team and easily distinguish between their side and the opposition.
“I genuinely think Spurs players couldn’t see each other in that stupid brown away kit last night. Kept passing to thin air.” (@ormandroyd)
Other more modern day considerations concern the legibility of player numbers and names. This has made striped kits more challenging as it’s hard to read a name applied over a set of narrow stripes. As a consequence, we now see stripes just on the front of jerseys or a plain panel on the back of a striped jersey.
But on Spurs third kit the names of the players and their number were almost impossible to read as the fine lettering and numbering was so subtle it was almost invisible.
“@SpursOfficial what are you going to do about the fact no one could see the names or numbers on the back of that disgusting poo coloured kit last night?” (@NFESpur)
Others also thought it was a shit colour choice.
“Spurs third kit is the worst colour ever. Like purple diarrhoea colour. And the names/numbers are illegible the moment players sweat. Awful.” (@HLouiseL)
And it didn’t matter whether you were watching at home or in the stadium.
“Not a nice kit in the flesh and even sitting near the pitch you can’t see the players’ names or numbers.” (@Debaser92)
Speaking of flesh, some compared it to being too close to a skin tone.
“This one looks like skin and it freaks me out.” (@TheForceFed)
Another compared the shade to that of plaster:
“Spurs new third kit giving fresh plaster vibes.” (@stats_player)
After the defeat, Ange Postecoglu laughed off suggestions that Spurs new taupe haze third kit was to blame for their League Cup exit:
“I dunno, maybe we need to check out our colour matching capabilities. Cappuccino was it?”
“Spurs definitely deserved to lose last night based purely on the outrageously horrible kit they wore.” (@genericname1892)
One other thing to note, the sponsor’s logo, which hitherto has always been in red, was black on this kit, causing one fan to joyfully remark:
“No red AIA always brings a smile!”
Hi-viz Gooners:
Contrast Tottenham’s prosaic third kit with their North London rivals shiny dazzling away kit for the 23–24 season and there couldn’t be any more of a difference. Love it or hate it, the Gunners’ fluorescent yellow and black kit is about as bright as you can get. Described by Adidas as both ‘Shock-Yellow’ and ‘Solar-Yellow’ it’s like the Arsenal players are wearing hi-viz jackets!
Both kits of course were designed with the leisure market in mind. No one buys a replica kit to play sports in, it’s a casual top to wear with jeans. And we’ve seen a huge increase in recent years in people wearing football jerseys. Obviously, the home kit is the main seller, but create an attractive away or third shirt and boom, you’ve got a hit on your hands.
But whatever the colour, whatever the design, kits become even more popular when the team wearing them wins. The shirt worn on a big occasion like a Cup Final victory, instantly becomes iconic to that team’s fans. Conversely, kits can become so intrinsically linked to a painful defeat that nobody will want to wear it. Fans will also deem a particular kit as being unlucky, even holding it responsible for their team’s poor performances.
Before the days of Taupe Haze and Shock Yellow, things used to be a whole lot simpler.
Sporting colours:
Ever since the first ball was kicked professionally, football clubs have taken to the field in kits that predominantly consisted of primary colours. Whilst some clubs differentiated themselves with stripes, quarters, or hoops, the majority wore a combination of solid colours. It’s why, to this day clubs are so closely associated with the colour of their kits.
Liverpool are the Reds, Chelsea the Blues and Spurs the Lillywhites.
In Serie A, the nicknames of the big Italian teams are even more tied to the colour of their kits.
AC Milan are I Rossoneri (the red and blacks), Inter Milan are I Nerazzurri (the black and blues) Fiorentina are Il Viola (the purples) Juventus are most commonly known as La Vecchia Signora (the Old Lady) but also go by I Bianconeri (the white and blacks) Lazio are I Biancocelesti (the white and sky blues) Napoli are Gli Azzurri (the blues) and Torino are I Granata (the maroons)
While clubs introduce new kits every season, rarely, if ever, do they change the colour scheme of their home kit. If they do, it’s more likely to be a subtle change of shade, rather than adopting a completely different colour.
There’s a a good reason for this: a club’s kit colour is part of its DNA. So much so, it’s reflected in the stadia. You can guarantee that the seat you’ll be sitting on at the Emirates will be red, as it will at Anfield and Old Trafford, but it will be blue at Stamford Bridge and Goodison Park.
So when club’s change their home kit, it’s almost always a tweak to the design, the fabric graphic or the placement of the badge, and hardly ever a change of colour.
When kits clash, usually the away team are the ones that have to change. For some time now, the rules on what’s permissible have been tightened so that both teams have a clear visual contrast on all three elements of their kit.
Colour-wise, there’s a lot more license with the second kit, what was once known as the away kit. Arsenal’s always used to be yellow tops and blue shorts, but latterly they’ve been in a whole varieties of colours.
One popular recent trend has been the all-black kit, something previously not seen because it used to be that only referees and linesmen wore all black.
Similarly, goalkeepers used to exclusively wear green tops, but now it’s as common to see them in all-black, all-yellow or all-pale blue. What’s more, they often wear the same colour as the officials.
The choice of kit colour is not only to do with heritage, but visibility. If you see a team wearing black and white stripes, it’s almost certainly Newcastle or Juventus, although the Football League’s oldest club, Notts County also are known for sporting black and white stripes.
If we take the current members of the Premier League, Man City play in Sky Blue (as do Coventry who are known by that name), Arsenal always wear red tops with white sleeves, Liverpool play in all red, Man Utd have red shirts and white shorts and are known as the Red Devils, Everton wear blue tops and white shorts and Fulham’s kit is a white top and black shorts.
Newcastle wear black and white stripes, Brighton wear blue and white stripes, while Sheffield United wear red and white stripes as do Brentford, Aston Villa, Burnley and West Ham have long turned out in lookalike claret shirts with light blue sleeves. Crystal Palace also wear claret and blue. Wolves have always worn Old Gold, although in recent years the shade has noticeably changed. Newly promoted Luton Town are the only anomaly as their home kit is orange.
And, as for Spurs it’s not just their third kit that’s different, they’ve also changed their home kit. For years, Spurs wore white tops and navy shorts, but this season they’re turning out in all-white, a colourway most associated with Real Madrid and Leeds United.
It’s no surprise that the colour of a team’s kit stirs such emotion. Most top club’s have worn the same colours since they were formed, so their colours are part of their tradition. Mess with the colours and it usually doesn’t end well.
Back in 2012, Cardiff City were taken over by Malaysian owners who promptly upset the club’s fans by changing their home kit from blue to red, despite their Bluebirds nickname. It didn’t last long. Despite categorically ruling out a return to blue in 2014: “No way will I change it back to blue under my ownership” said a defiant Vincent Tan, the club’s owner, after continuous criticism and threats of anti-red protests, Cardiff finally bowed to supporter pressure and reverted back to their traditional blue strip in 2015.
While second and third kits don’t have anything like the same emotional attachment as home kits, there’s a good chance we won’t ever see Spurs turn out in Taupe Haze again. Out of the Carabao Cup, they only have the FA Cup left. Unless they face an away tie against a club whose kit clashes with all-white or their all-navy second kit, Taupe Haze was in danger of quite literally disappearing without a trace, having been worn just the once!
Postscript: On 5 October 2023 Craig Pankhurst posted this on X:
“Spurs already offering 15% off the third kit. Is this unprecedented to already be discounting a kit only launched a few weeks ago?”
In response, Shane Randall said:
“Was in the Spurs shop and was told it’s not selling at all. Blue one is!”
And White Hart Liz added:
“Most people I know hate the shirt as well.”
On 7 October 2023, in their away game against Luton Town, Spurs unexpectedly wore their third kit. They narrowly won the match, but once again their kit came under fire.
“Spurs look like a bunch of turds in their third kit.” (Debt Peon)
“What colour is the Spurs third kit? I’ve never been so confused by a colour before.” (Woso journalist)
Speaking two days later on The View From The Lane podcast, host Danny Kelly had this to say:
“I thought we would lose because of that kit. I’m never going to like it, am I? Even down to the practicalities. They weren’t that visible to each other with that puke coloured kit were they? And Spurs changed their kit for no reason, they could have played in the home kit. There was no reason to change the kit.”
And on 3 December 2023, Spurs wore their third kit again when they drew with Man City at the Etihad. Some speculated it was to try and get rid of excess stock. Whether that was the reason I don’t know. What I do know is it hasn’t got any better with familiarity!
About the author: Based in Sussex-by-the-Sea, on England’s south coast, Gary is a creative writer and image-maker. He specialises in creating out of the ordinary portraits of musicians and people with interesting faces, as well as photographing some of the world’s finest flowers and gardens, not forgetting an array of automotive exotica.
On the writing side, he has used his research skills to author deep dives into some noteworthy songs beginning with Bryan Ferry’s ‘These Foolish Things’ ‘Ghost Town’ by The Specials, ‘Real Wild Child’ by Ivan and ‘All The Young Dudes’ by Mott the Hoople.
He has also written a biography of Robert Palmer and the stories behind Whitesnake’s blatant Led Zep rip-off, ‘Still Of The Night’, Harry Styles’ anthem to positivity, ‘Treat People With Kindness’ and the little known Queen track ‘Cool Cat.’
Most recently, Gary has penned the fascinating story behind George Orwell’s dystopian novel ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four.’ as well as ‘Believe It Or Not’ a look into the rise of fake news.
All these can be found here on Medium, along with his reviews of gigs and events and chats with musicians including the likes of Royal Blood, Joe Satriani and Wolf Alice.
