Retro football shirts: a GuardianWitness Assignment – gallery

Wimbledon I'm confident that this is the only one of these Wimbledon shirts left in the world (not a great claim to fame I admit). I got this shirt for my 12th birthday maybe a week before the 1993-94 season started and at that time Wimbledon didn't have a shirt sponsor. It must have been in that week that the club announced a sponsorship deal with LBC Radio and therefore started the season with LBC's logo on the shirts. To this day, and including that whole season, I have never seen anyone wearing this shirt without the sponsor. It was purchased from New Malden Sports, one of the very few places that sold Wimbledon shirts. From memory, Ribero only made the shirt in two sizes, the smallest being "regular", so, 20 years on, it still fits. Get in! dgb123 Photograph: GuardianWitness

West Bromwich Albion I bought this shirt when I was a teenager in 1982, for 50p, from a lovely old sports shop in West Bromwich that was closing down: Dickens Sports, in New Street. It had wooden floorboards: proper old-school. The shirt was made in the 1930s by Umbro. This shirt had been used for a time as a window display (hence the fading in certain places) and then sat for years in a drawer in the back of the shop. It is beautifully soft and very nicely made. It's really comfortable to wear and is my most treasured memento of my childhood supporting West Brom, with Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham, Bryan Robson etc. I was a season-ticket holder from 1977 until 1981, the last truly glorious time at the Hawthorns. Having this genuine 1930s shirt made me realise that so many of those "heritage" shirts, which became trendy in the 1980s, were really rather poor efforts - lacking the authenticity, detail and feel of the originals. RoboScribe2000 Photograph: GuardianWitness

Sunderland Not my first ever Sunderland shirt - that was the 1982 light blue away shirt that for some reason became synonymous with Ally McCoist, and is now long gone (although I recently acquired a contemporary 'retro' version of it). This is the home shirt worn during the shock run to the 1992 FA Cup final (but not in the final itself; Liverpool won the toss so Sunderland wore their white, blue, and green away ensemble instead). I'm proud to say that it still fits (can John Byrne or Don Goodman say that I wonder?) and the 100% polyester material is in pretty good nick, although the hummel chevrons on the collar have curled a little thanks to over-washing. The much-loved and much-missed ship badge is in better condition than others on some of my later shirts, and the sponsor's rather simplistic logo (Vaux Breweries - pronounced 'Vorks', and not, as I've heard on occasion, 'Vo') is as bold today as it was 22 years ago. HardcorePrawn Photograph: GuardianWitness

Tottenham Hotspur This was the first football shirt I owned, and I got it at my very first trip to White Hart Lane, aged 10. The kids' version of the shirt didn't have the Holsten logo on it, so I went for a rather oversized adult shirt, with, of course, Klinsmann on the back. He was our star signing and was a joy to watch. The game was postponed because the pitch was waterlogged, so I had to wait a bit longer to see him play. It was a blessing in disguise, however, because we waited at the players' entrance and got a few autographs: Gary Mabbutt, Sol Campbell, Teddy Sheringham. Jurgen Klinsmann sadly never appeared, but I was hooked. Eighteen years later, and making the trip up the Victoria Line to Seven Sisters is still every bit as exciting. COYS! Tom Newman Photograph: GuardianWitness

Southampton Bold cherry-and-white striped shirt, button-down colour and navy blue knickers. Sixty years ahead of the Mods! In this kit Southampton dominated the Southern League. Fred Harrison established himself in Saints' fifth championship season, 1902-03, scoring 17 goals in 13 games. They don't make "good old days" like they used to. Boniface Photograph: GuardianWitness

Paris Saint-Germain PSG away, 1992/93. Beautiful top, this. Lovely collar. lewiskongrosian Photograph: GuardianWitness

Newcastle United Classic black and white with a classic sponsor's logo, no wording just a blue star, which is as much a symbol of the city as a sponsor's logo. This was the first shirt NUFC wore at the start of a golden period in the Premier League, when the mags briefly became known as the entertainers. For all these reasons it's my favourite shirt, and the giant ketchup bottle, well, that's just a giant ketchup bottle. gill09 Photograph: GuardianWitness

Napoli This is the Napoli home kit from the late 1980s and 1990s: the Diego Maradona era. This remains special to me as it was my first-ever full football kit. The kits were a present to my brothers and me from our aunt, Rose Reilly, who was a professional footballer in Italy at the time and is now in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame. We have kept the jerseys to this day. The picture shows my brothers, Robin and Gordon, and me in our full glory in the front garden. Dunlop85 Photograph: GuardianWitness

Manchester United I received this for Christmas in 1986. Check out the excellent (forged) Bryan Robson signature, which I copied when I was about eight years old. Jackyladdo Photograph: GuardianWitness

Liverpool Here is my wonderful brother in his vintage Liverpool shirt. I think he likes it! tayhey Photograph: GuardianWitness

Liverpool Here's me, aged around 11, a West Ham fan wearing the Liverpool kit of the era because I loved the pinstripes so much. I'm standing next to Ray Reardon, former world snooker champion. Before you ask, it's because he was visiting the Pontin's holiday camp I happened to be staying at in Devon. Random, but pleasing in a retro sort of way. Dagenhamite Photograph: GuardianWitness

Juventus Pure beauty. Probably the best top in the history of football. carlocantore Photograph: GuardianWitness

Italy This shirt marks the moment I fell in love with football. Bought for me by my Italian uncle when I was nine years old, it coincided with me discovering football through a class assignment on the upcoming World Cup in Italy. Being half Italian, something just clicked and I became obsessed. This shirt was worn almost constantly, even when it all ended in tears on penalties against Argentina. I discovered it again last month when clearing my mum's loft and it still fits as well! Pinti
Photograph: GuardianWitness

Doncaster Rovers Even as a proud wheelchair jockey myself, it amused and bemused me that my team would be sponsored by a company providing wheelchairs and mobility scooters to the handicapable denizens of the town. BillyBovril Photograph: GuardianWitness

Cork City This early 1990s Cork City shirt – known as the pidgeon shit shirt due to all the white splotches - brings back happy days of supporting Cork City in Bishopstown when I was young. irishhillbillyboy Photograph: GuardianWitness

Pazzocarne Special edition shirt Cameroon shirt, with Roger Milla Dancing Lion corner flag dance steps guide printed on back. Photograph: GuardianWitness

Borussia Dortmund I bought this when I lived near Dortmund as a 20-year-old during the 1990-91 season. I'm pleased to say it still fits me well more than two decades later! colinperry Photograph: GuardianWitness

Sampdoria I bumped into a bunch of Sampdoria Ultras in Kings Cross tube station on their way back from losing to Barça in the 1992 European Cup final, so the obvious thing to do was swap my Arsenal shirt for this to cheer at least one of them up! Mancini No10, a top top. clapposcillator Photograph: GuardianWitness

Arsenal This shirt now also doubles up as my eldest's nightie! Kulendg01 Photograph: GuardianWitness

Tottenham Hotspur These are just some of my Tottenham home kits from the 1990s Rothy1 Photograph: GuardianWitness

Manchester City Steve Mac's collection of shirts, now all happily residing in Hong Kong. What makes them special? Er, they're City shirts. Not a comprehensive showing, given the most distant season represented is 1956 (the Bert Trautmann FA Cup final shirt, right, second row from top). Fourth row, second right, is the away shirt from our recent title-winning campaign; on its left as we look is my favourite, the 1969 Cup final shirt. My original bore a No9, painstakingly sewn on by my mum, for my hero, Francis Lee. Third row, second right, is a 2003 home shirt signed by the Tiatto, Anelka, Fowler and the squad, to the right of which is the 1973-74 home shirt that became synonymous with Denis Law. And I'm sure you'll all remember that 2005 match against Middlesbrough during which David James played centre-forward (top row, left). A shirt much worn and thankfully often washed, hence the faded badges and logo. Or did I partly iron them off by accident? Cantab32 Photograph: GuardianWitness

Brazil This is an original shirt from the 1986 World Cup. It took me almost two decades to get my hands on this shirt. Made by the South American brand Topper, the shirts were characterised by sunshine cotton-blend jerseys that got darker with sweat, forest green trim and paired azul-blue shorts with little stripes. The 1982 version perhaps remains the purist’s pick, but I’d always been a fan of the 1986 model. In 2009 I was finally able to buy it from an ebay seller located in Malaysia. Sounds shady, but I know a 100% genuine Topper jersey when I see one. The shirt came with Zico’s No10 on the back; since commercially sold kits were never personalised in those days I suspect it originated from the CBF kit room, and may have been prepared for the legend himself. Brazil ended their relationship with Topper in 1991. Despite winning two more World Cups in the ensuing years, they’ve never looked as good since. jamesviola79 Photograph: GuardianWitness