German Retro Shirts
September 4, 2009 by edd
Filed under National Team Retro
Germany’s team’s home kit has always been a white jersey and black shorts which derived from the 19th century flag of the north German State of Prussia. The away jersey color has changed several times but historically a green shirt with white shorts is the most often used alternative color combination but other colours such as grey and black have also been used. The last change, from black to red, came in November 2004 on the request of Jürgen Klinsmann, citing that teams in red are statistically more successful and he hoped to use the red away shirt as first choice for the 2006 World Cup but Germany played every game at the 2006 World Cup in its home white colors.
In the 1954 World Cup, West Germany, captained by Fritz Walter played favorites Hungary in the group stage and suffered an incredible 3-8 loss. They went on to meet Hungary again in the final, facing the legendary team of Mighty Magyars again, which had gone unbeaten for 32 consecutive matches. In a shocking upset, West Germany came back from an early two goal deficit to win 3-2, with Helmut Rahn scoring the winning goal with only six minutes remaining. The success is called “The Miracle of Bern” and the unexpected victory created a sense of euphoria throughout a divided postwar Germany. The triumph is credited with playing a significant role in securing the postwar ideological foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany. They’ve even made a film about it – Das Wunder von Bern!
You can view all Germany’s classic retro football shirts in our store ~ Click Here
i see the reasoning for white black and red but why green?
The Germany nation is made up of three separate states Prussia, Saxony and Bavaria. The Prussian flag is white & black (Germany’s home kit colours) and the Saxony Flag is green and white (Germany’s away colours). The Bavarian flag is blue and white but it is not used even as a third strip.
One urban myth that you may hear is that Germany wear a green away shirt as a mark of respect to the Irish national team, who it is claimed was the first team to play Germany after WW2… it’s not true