Good, Bad and Ugly kits from the past – Middlesbrough
Good – home shirt 1995/96
Summer 1995 and times they were a changin’ in Teeside!
Middlesbrough had moved out of their old home Ayresome Park, home for the last 92 years and had a huge all-seater stadium to move into for the start of the 1995/96 season.
That season would be spent in the Premiership, having won the Division One title the previous season, sending Ayresome Park off in style.
The home shirt from the 1995/96 season can be seen in the photo above and is worn by Nicky Barmby. The shirt was sponsored by Cellnet (who also sponsored the new Riverside Stadium) and manufactured by Errea, who would go on to make Middlesbrough’s shirts for a number of years.
It remains one of the most iconic Middlesbrough shirts of a generation.
Bad – away shirt 1994/95
The only reason the shirt isn’t in the Ugly section is that it gets the excuse of being made in the mid-90’s. There were an abundance of bad shirts being made then and this was Middlesbrough’s bad offering from the time!
A turquoise and dark green shirt with thin orange stripes wasn’t the most appealing of shirt designs. Manufacturer Errea also had their name watermarked across the shirt, as if to mark that it is their responsibility for such an awful design!
Ugly – away shirt 00/01
A plain black shirt works well but with loads of red and white stripes all over it? Not for me and luckily, only worn a handful of times at the turn of the Millennium.
Ok, I’ll admit it, I also have some hideous memories of Middlesbrough wearing it when they beat my team Arsenal at Highbury. It was a disastrous game as we lost 3-0, the first two being hideously, freakish own goals. If you don’t believe me, then watch the video below.
The final reason why the game was a nightmare was that as we lost the game, Manchester United won the League title. The shirt is still utter crap though!