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size? collections – Morgan Allan – Designer at Mundial Mag

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On this edition of size? collections, we’re taking a step away from footwear and – with ITV’s ‘Euro 96 Relived’ on the television screens – checking out Mundial Mag Designer Morgan Allan’s amazing football shirt hoard.

Keep on scrolling and take a look…

Morgan Allen - Designer at Mundial Mag - collection

“I’ve been collecting football shirts for a long time. I’ve always been a big football fan and have been interested in design since I was young, so the shirts were as big a part of my football experience growing up as watching and playing the game.

I’ve bought a lot of gems (Napoli ‘93 Away, Chelsea ‘98 Third) and a ​lot​ of shit ones in my time (a particularly horrible v-neck Stuttgart training shirt comes to mind), but currently, my collection stands at around 40.

Some are rare, some are old, some just look insane. Here are some of my favourites…”

England training – 1994 / 95

England training - 1994 / 95

“I source the shirts from all over. eBay, boot sales, that bloke down the market who has two crates of deadstock 90s training-wear he ‘found’ – I rarely buy from the same place twice. One place that does have my repeat custom is the Hartex shop in London Bridge. I’ve known Harry for years and his crate in Vinegar Yard is the number one stop for football memorabilia in the capital.

He is well aware of my collection and it has got to the point now where he’ll message me if he finds something he thinks I’ll like. Oftentimes I have to turn him down on the basis of the fit not being quite right, or the fact I’ve already bought three off him that month – but some are just too good to say no to. This particular number, looking like the FA had asked Salvador Dali to kit out Gazza and co, was an easy sale.”

LA Galaxy home – 2005/06

“This was Galaxy before Becks, before adidas and before the rebrand. Nike kitted Landon Donavon and the boys out in this lovely green-gold number and they repaid the favour by winning the double.

The shirt itself is made of that weird, inflexible almost linen-like material that almost all shirts in the mid-2000s were made of. Playing in it is a bit of a nightmare – it sticks to you as you run and feels like it’s going to rip when someone pulls on it – but boy does it look nice in the sun.”

Juventus home – 2000/01

Juventus home - 2000/01

“Zidane, Del Piero, Trezeguet, Van der Sar, Conte, Fonesca, Ferrera, Davids. They didn’t win anything this year, but they looked fucking great. A classic.”

England home – 2001/02

England home - 2001/02

“Some shirts are great because they are brilliantly designed, others because they were worn by heroes. Occasionally the two things overlap, and when they do, the shirt reaches an elite level in my brain wardrobe.

David Beckham dragged England to the World Cup Finals in this shirt, in 2001. This is ​the shirt for a generation of England fans, ​the outfit of choice to your Thursday night five-a-side. My flatmate recently shaved his hair into a Mohican, just so he can lounge around in this shirt, feeling like David in 2001. Quarantine does strange things.”

Spain home – 1998/99

Spain home - 1998/99

“I picked this up at a pop-up at Peckham Springs for a fiver. The table belonged to a lovely couple selling a variety of vintage goods, and in between the Burb shirts and Fendi, scarves was a small collection of deadstock footy shirts.

When I asked where they came from, the man fixed me with a forlorn look. ‘There’s no more room under the bed, so she says I have to sell some’. ‘You’re 35, Darren.’ replied the lady. Life comes at you fast.”

PSV Eindhoven home – 1996/97

PSV Eindhoven home - 1996/97

“This shirt was given to me by MUNDIAL’s Head of Football, Alan Bond. I have never in my life met a man who knows more about football than Bondy.

In a recent game of ‘Who’s That Player?’, he correctly identified a pixelated Tomasz Radzinski ‘Because of the way he wore his shirt’. It was insane. I couldn’t believe it when he told me he was giving me this Drake Ramberg-designed beauty. It was a touching moment between two football shirt nerds.”

Chelsea leisure T-shirt – 2004/05

Chelsea leisure T-shirt - 2004 / 05

“My dad got me a much smaller version of this shirt when I was five years old. I wore it to my first game when Joe Cole scored a screamer against Fulham to all but secure the title for the Chelsea. It was a happy day.

Over the next 15 years or so, I grew to a point where I could no longer fit into this original shirt and it was given to a cousin or to a charity shop or something. Thankfully, many years later, I was able to find another, bigger shirt and now I wear it around the house or to go to Lidl. Joe would be proud.”

Thailand home

Thailand home

“My dad worked abroad a fair bit when I was growing up and he would always bring back a shirt for me and my brother from wherever he was.

We had Steaua Bucharest, Palermo; once he even brought back a Sri Lanka national team shirt he bought off one of the U21 coaches. This particular gift was a Bangkok market special and is, admittedly, less than authentic.​ ​Still, I treasure it. You won’t find this online.”

England School Boys home – 1994

England School Boys home - 1994

“This is, and I don’t say this lightly, the best football shirt in existence. Centre badge, horizontal stripes on the arms, unnecessary mock neck collar. Sponsored by Walkers and made by not just adidas, but adidas Predator.

This shirt was worn by England School Boys in 1994. It was never made available for general purchase and it is only through the fact I know Harry that I own it. Michael Owen wore number 9 and I have number 15. Rare doesn’t cut it.”

Keep checking back on the size blog for more size? collections.

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