Mathieu Flamini has been in trouble with Arsene Wenger for taking a pair of scissors to his Arsenal shirt and cutting off the sleeves. A football kit is meant to be a standard uniform, but modifying your kit is one of the few ways a player can express his individuality. And you’d be surprised what tricks they get up to…
7. Eric Cantona
King Eric was never going to tolerate looking like any other player. He modified his Man United kit by turning up his collar in the fashion of James Dean, making him look like a rebel in search of a chance. Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock famously turned down Cantona’s collar. The upturned collar was particularly effective with his ‘well, what else do you expect from a Gallic genius like me?’ shrug-come-goal celebration.
6. Thierry Henry
The Arsenal goal machine always played with his socks pulled up over his knees, becoming the first player to play in what appeared to be white stockings. Opposition fans said Henry looked like a schoolgirl, though these days it might be more Grayson Perry. It didn’t do his goalscoring record much harm though.
5. Sam Ricketts
The Wolves full back would rip holes in the top of his socks, “because the socks always seemed tight on my legs and made them feel heavy and tired. So it became a bit of a ritual.” With Bolton and then Hull City, Ricketts became the first Premier League footballer to look like his kit had been attacked by moths.
4. Benoit Assou-Ekotu
While at Spurs Assou-Ekotu was spotted playing in odd boots, one blue and one white. One of his boots had split, and as he didn’t have a sponsor, Assou-Ekotu said he wasn’t going to waste the good boot, so teamed it up with one of a different colour. Odd boots were also spotted on striker Steve Claridge, who played for just about everyone, usually with his socks rolled down.
3. Paolo di Canio
The maverick Italian would wear shorts that were a size too small and sometimes even wear his shorts back to front. Was it to emphasise his manhood? No, Di Canio claimed the tight shorts were to stop players pulling at his kit as he dribbled past them.
2. Julian Dicks
When West Ham played in wide collars in the 1990s Dicks would rip the collars off at the start of games to appear well hard and intimidate opposition wingers. If he did that to his shirt, what might he do to them?
1. Johan Cruyff
The great Netherlands side of the 1974 World Cup played with three black stripes on their sleeves representing sponsors Adidas. Individual genius and awkward so and so Johan Cruyff insisted on playing with just two stripes though, as he was sponsored by rivals Puma.