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The White
Backed Home Kit 2008-2010:
The new kit for 2008 should have
represented a brave new start for Brighton and Hove
Albion - a new sponsor in the shape of IT First and
the return of Micky Adams at the helm. As it was,
this particular home kit is best remembered for two
seasons of struggle until the arrival of Gus Poyet.
A return to a more traditional home shirt following
the largely blue number of the previous two seasons,
it featured stripes on the sleeves and a white back
with white shorts and socks and was worn in such
memorable encounters as the 1-0 defeat to nine man
Walsall and the 4-1 home loss to Scunthorpe. |
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The Yellow and Blue Away
Kit 2008-2010:
So we had a home kit featuring blue.
Can't see there being any problems with an away kit
featuring blue as well? This was another popular
Errea effort with yellow and navy blue stripes and a
navy blue back proving popular with fans. It was
most regularly used with navy blue shorts and socks
although it came as a flexible interchangable number
that was also worn with a mixture of yellow shorts
and yellow socks. It spent 2008-2009 as away kit
before dropping down to be third kit the following
season when it had it's most famous hour in Gus
Poyet's first game at the helm away at Southampton. |
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The Coventry City Third Kit 2008-2009:
So we had a home kit featuring blue
and an away kit featuring blue. Can't see there
being any problems with a third kit featuring blue
as well? Lasting just the one season and being worn
in only a handful of away games against mainly teams
who wore red or white, the Coventry City inspired
number had it's fair share of highlights including a
come-from-behind draw away at Cheltenham Town and an
improbable Tommy Fraser bicycle kick at Hereford
United. The Johnstones Paint Trophy Wembley dream
also ended in it away at Luton Town and with it the
second Micky Adams Era. |
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The Green Black and White Goalkeeper
Kit 2008-2009:
After the unusual situation of two
years of the same goalkeepers kits, 2008 bought with
it four new ones. All of the same design, the most
popular of the lot proved to be the green, black and
white number being modelled by John Sullivan. It was
a somewhat bizarre design that featured a black
sleeve, a little bit of black rolling over the
shoulder and a big white panel at the bottom.
Coupled with black shorts and black socks, it
probably ranks as one of the worst keeper kits Errea
produced given the high standards of the previous
few seasons. |
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The Yellow Black and White Goalkeeper
Kit 2008-2009:
Second choice goalkeeping kit for
2008-2009 was the yellow version. Exactly the same
as it's green cousin, it just substituted the main
colour for a paler version of yellow making it an
extremely poor imitation of the beautiful Tour de
France kit of 2005. It was a uniform that was mainly
used in away games, more often than not with the
Coventry City kit owing to it's yellowness meaning
it would clash with the yellow and navy kit. John
Sullivan sported it when the Albion slipped into the
League One drop zone for the first time after a last
minute defeat away at Tranmere Rovers in December
2008. |
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The
Red Black
and White Goalkeepers Kit 2008-2009:
Given the popularity of red as a
goalkeepers colour in the 21st Century, it seems
remarkable that it took until the tenth season of
Errea's technical partnership with the Albion for
them to supply a traditional red coloured jersey as
opposed to a shade of ruby. That it was in this
particularly horrible design makes it even more
shocking. Again, it was exactly the same design as
both yellow and green kits and mainly appeared at
Withdean against teams who didn't wear red such as
Colchester United on the day Adam Hinshelwood scored
that most wonderful of own goals. |
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The Black
Sky Blue and White Goalkeepers Kit
2008-2009:
While the design remained the same,
there was at least one goalkeepers kit that had
something a little different about it. That was the
first and only one of the Errea era to be
predominantly black, with the sleeve taking on a sky
blue colour and the strange white panelling
remaining. This shirt was hardly used as can be seen
by the fact we had to resort to a photo of Michel
Kuipers posing in it rather than any match action
with it's most notable contribution coming in
conceding four goals in the fateful 4-1 defeat to
Nigel Adkins' Scunthorpe United. |
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The
White
Fourth Kit 2008-2009:
Well, who didn't see this coming
then? With a home kit, an away kit and a third kit
all featuring heavy amounts of blue, it was
inevitable we would come up against a side wearing
blue and have a bit of a problem. That finally
happened in the visit to Shrewsbury Town for the
Southern Semi Final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy,
meaning that a special "one off" white shirt had to
be commisioned. Exactly the same design as the
Coventry kit but featuring white and blue as opposed
to sky blue and navy blue, it was needless to say
not a one off and had to be used away at Millwall as
well later in the campaign. |
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The
Leicester City Away Kit 2009:
If having to release a fourth kit
because all your other three isn't farcical enough,
then having to play in the oppositions away kit most
rank as even more of a joke. Yet that was what the
Albion found themselves doing for the visit to
Champions elect Leicester City. With the match day
referee not happy with any of Micky Adams' sides
back up options, the Seagulls were forced into
wearing Leicester's away kit along with their own
yellow shorts and the Foxes' yellow socks. Not that
it had a detrimental effect as the pictured Chris
Birchall (remember him?!) and co took an impressive
point from a 0-0 draw. |
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The
Second Red
and Black Away Kit 2009-2011:
Realising the error of the previous
season, the away kit for 2009-2010 featured no blue
but instead went back to arguably the best of the
lot that Errea produced for its inspiration.
Featuring red and black stripes with red sleeves,
black shorts and red socks it proved to be one of
the more popular change strips they produced. It
lasted two campaigns with its greatest moment coming
in the second of those when Peterborough were
absolutely dismantled 3-0 at London Road on the day
Gus Poyet's side firmly established themselves as
the outstanding team in League One. |
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The
Emerald
Green Crop Circle Goalkeepers Kit 2009-2010:
Another season, another new set of
goalkeepers kits following the great escape. These
ones featured a bizarre pattern that was a lighter
shade of the main shirts colour. In the emerald
green case, that meant a paler green for the crop
circle style design. This was easily the most
popular of the three on offer for 2009-10, being
worn in the majority of home games as well as on
that historic day away Southampton when Gus Poyet
took charge of the Albion for the first time and
Michel Kuipers celebrated in what can only be
described as a totally mental manner. |
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The
White Crop Circle
Goalkeepers Kit 2009-2010:
Second choice of the crop circle kits
was the absolutely beautiful white number. Featuring
grey patterning as it's secondary colour, it was the
best of the three on offer in 2009-10. Had something
of a mixed bag with the pretty horrific memory of
Graeme Smith conceding four in a disastrous Tuesday
night game away at Norwich City but it was also the
kit we got our first glimpse of Sexy Pete Brezovan
in when the big Slovak saved a penalty on his debut
in a 1-0 win at Exeter City. Always teemed very
nicely with black shorts and black socks. |
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The Charcoal Crop Circle Goalkeepers Kit 2009-2010:
The third and final of the 2009-2010
edition of goalkeepers kits came in the form of this
charcoal coloured number. The phrase "criminally
underused" seems to have cropped up far more than
can be considered healthy during this series but we
make no apologies for using it again when it comes
to this number. With a secondary colour of grey it
was one of the most unique kits that Errea put
together in their 15 years yet was unfortunately
given only one really big outing when Michel Kuipers
modelled it superbly in the FA Cup Fourth Round away
at Aston Villa. |
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The Goodbye Withdean Home Kit 2010-2011:
The final season at Withdean was bid
farewell with it's won special kit which will always
be remembered as the one worn when the Albion romped
to the League One title in one of the most
impressive seasons in the clubs history. Blue shorts
were used for the first time since the Gillingham
days while blue socks also returned for the first
time since 2002 and the previous third tier title
triumph. The shirt was also predominantly blue with
a series of thin white stripes, featuring a tag
towards the bottom listing Withdean's trophy haul.
It of course had one more by the end of this kits
only campaign. |
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The Green Spiderman Goalkeepers Kit
2010-2011:
To the untrained eye, the 2010-2011
goalkeepers kits could have been exactly the same as
the previous seasons efforts. Except of course they
weren't. The crop circle design was out and in it's
place came a spider front and centre of the shirt
using the same lighter shade technique that had been
pioneered in 2009-2010. The green one was the most
used of these with Casper Ankergren choosing to wear
it in virtually every game he played whether they be
home or away. Coupled with black shorts and black
socks, it is the goalkeepers kit that remains
synonymous with the League One title success. |
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The Red Spiderman Goalkeepers Kit
2010-2011:
True red was back after a years
absence when it also received the Spiderman
treatment. Light red and dark red were put to good
effect on the shirt that made its debut along with
Mitch Walker in the final game of 2009-2010 against
Yeovil Town. It was rarely seen after that as you
can tell by the standard players photo rather than a
match action shot with Casper Ankergren chosing to
use it only when he was forced to - namely against
sides away from home who wore green. Which basically
amounted to the 2-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle. |
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The Yellow Spiderman Goalkeepers Kit
2010-2011:
The third and final goalkeepers kit
for 2010-2011 saw the return of yellow, also after a
years absence. This received slightly more game time
than the red number, being used at home against
teams who wore green including on the day we won
promotion against Dagenham and Redbridge and in a
handful of away games such as the FA Cup First Round
replay at Woking from where the photo of Sexy Pete
Brezovan wearing it originates from. The colouring
featured a vibrant yellow and a paler shade and it
was coupled with black shorts and socks. |
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The
Dagenham and Redbridge Away Kit 2011:
Another season, another kit colour
clash disaster. This time it came about thanks to
Dagenham and Redbridge wearing Crystal Palace-esque
colours of red and blue stripes, meaning neither the
home kit nor the red and black away kit were going
to be of much use for the Albion's first ever visit
to Victoria Road. Step forward a brand new all white
kit with a slight bit of blue on the shoulders to
avoid the embarassment of again having to wear an
oppositions away kit as Glenn Murray scored the only
goal of the game to give Gus Poyet's men an eighth
win in a row of Marvellous March. |
