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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Timothy Abraham

The ECHO picks Liverpool best ever home kit with just five on the shortlist

Liverpool's new home shirt for the 2023-24 season has been revealed - and now we want YOUR vote on what can be considered the Reds' greatest kit of all time.

To make the job a little easier the ECHO's sports team have narrowed down the field to five iconic kits and explained why they deserve their place on the shortlist.

Joe Rimmer - 2017/18

I always think a football kit is like music. You might love a certain song because of the memories it invokes. The same goes for a football jersey. Let's face it, Reebok's 2000/01 efforts shouldn't be fondly remembered but three glittering trophies ensure it is, and I even have good memories of some of the hideous Warrior efforts of a decade ago. Tattoos on a kit? Luis Suarez makes it all okay.

Mohamed Salah scored 44 goals in all competitions in the 2017-18 season (Getty Images)

But the best kits are when they combine style with performances on the pitch. Think all of Adidas' late eighties efforts, for example. Or even the 2019/20 kit from New Balance. But my personal favourite has to be New Balance's 2017/18 home kit. The deep red, the classy collar, the excitement of a European adventure and the sight of Mohamed Salah scoring week after week. It felt like both Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool and the partnership with New Balance had taken flight. Liverpool might not have won the Champions League wearing this kit. But they deserved to. Don't worry Liverpool and New Balance, you'll always be champions in my eyes.

Ian Doyle - 1991/92

Football kits are hardly a fashion statement, given their limited scope. Some, though, are snazzier than others. And with most people no doubt favouring a kit from their youth or when a particular team was successful, the ideal combination is one that combines a good look with success on the pitch and fond memories of yesteryear.

John Barnes played for Liverpool from 1987 to 1997 (Getty Images)

Introducing, then, the 1991/92 home kit in which Liverpool won the FA Cup against Sunderland. But from the moment it was first unveiled before the season, it was a winner, an exercise in simplicity with the sheer red of the shirt, shorts and socks save only three bold white stripes representing the kit manufacturer of the time, adidas. More than 30 years on, it still stands the test of time as a minimalistic masterpiece.

VOTE: For your choice on Liverpool's greatest kit of all time below

Paul Gorst - 2018/19

The New Balance era was one that yielded plenty of beauties for the Liverpool kit collection. The 2018/19 vintage tops the lot. I tend to associate my levels of admiration for kits with how good the season it was worn was. For example, the strips donned between 2009-2013 have not tended to live long in the memory, while the Warrior range were largely some of the worst the club have ever had.

On the flip side, the gold and blue Reebok tones of the 2001 away kit shouldn't really work but memories of Michael Owen streaking away from Tony Adams and Martin Keown before planting a strike past David Seaman to win the FA Cup remain vivid. So that iteration will always have a place in my heart. It's why the 20219/20 edition was given serious consideration, given it was THE shirt they wore when they finally ended a 30-year wait for league title No.19. As much of a fan I was of the slim gold stripes down the front of the final New Balance kit ever supplied, I am naming its predecessor as my favourite Liverpool kit.

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson lifted the European Cup in Madrid in June 2019 (Getty Images)

The 2018/19 edition was a darker red than usual with a flash of white on the collar and shoulders. It was the campaign that ended with the Reds lifting their sixth European Cup in Madrid and who can forget the image of Divock Origi leading the celebrations at the Wanda Metropolitano after making it 2-0 against Spurs? What a way for that kit to bow out - adorned across all the images of that famous night for eternity.

GET INVOLVED: Is our shortlist right? Let us know in the comments section

Charlotte Coates - 2019/20

There have been some lovely home shirts over the years, but it's hard to ignore the shirt that was worn when Liverpool ended their 30-year wait to be crowned Champions of England once again. It was the final time Liverpool would wear a New Balance kit as they switched to Nike the following season, but they certainly made sure it was one to remember. Jurgen Klopp's side produced one of the best campaigns you will ever see as they beat Manchester City to the title by 18 points. It was a sight to behold with Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane at their very best.

Virgil van Dijk was a key part of Liverpool's Premier League title-winning side of 2019-20 (Getty Images)

Timothy Abraham - 1988/89

You never forgot your first. And for me, it was a shirt that Liverpool wore in the 1988-89 season. In the days when getting a football kit as a present as a kid was a rare treat, I can still recall the pre-pubescent thrill of opening a box from George Henry Lees (before social media unboxing was even a thing) and feeling that, ahem, polyester mix in my hands. The shirt Liverpool wore the following season en route to their 18th league title was much more eye-catching, or kitsch depending on your view, than this timeless classic.

Ian Rush scored twice as Liverpool beat Everton 3-2 in the 1989 FA Cup final at Wembley (Offside/Getty Images)

The shield badge, Adidas trefoil logo, three stripes on the arms and collar oozed class. Candy, an Italian domestic appliance manufacturer, even gave it a curious touch of Euro-chic. Liverpool beat Everton in the 1989 FA Cup final wearing this shirt, and lost a league title decider against Arsenal at Anfield. It evokes memories of John Aldridge, Ian Rush and John Barnes. Indeed it was in this kit Barnes gracefully dealt with a banana thrown at him with an effortless backheel. Originals go for around £400 these days. Somewhat foolishly, I gave mine away to a mate sometime in the mid-nineties.

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