The modern day football shirt traces its origin to Victorian era in English history. Prior to 1863, there was no regulation for player's uniform in football. The two rival teams were distinguished from each other by color of the caps and the scarves, worn around the neck. The first football uniform regulation was introduced in 1870. Initially the player, who could afford to wear the shirt more often, was able to play for the team. The first jersey was manufactured in 1879 by Bukta and later in 1883; the term football shirt was coined.
During this period the shirt was made of hard cotton fiber, to withstand shirt tugging during the match. However gradual changes in the rules led to introduction of light weight shirts. The shirts in team colors were initially restricted to players only. But from middle of twentieth century due to new concepts in mass production and steadily increasing demand of the fans; replicas of team shirts were manufactured on mass scale.
The modern version is short sleeved for summer and spring use, and long sleeved for winter. The material used for manufacture of shirt is polyester and nylon, because of their light weight and the comfort they provide to the wearer. Nowadays the shirts are button-less and even without collars.
In 1939, the football league management introduced numbers on the players' shirt. The goalkeeper got number 1 because his position was fixed at the goal post, unlike the other players whose position changed throughout the match. In 1965 substitutes were given 12 and 14 numbers, while the goalie got number 13.
In 1954, FIFA introduced squad numbering system which made it mandatory for players of the national teams to wear the same number throughout the tournament. On April18th 1993, in the League cup the name and the number of each player were printed on the back of the shirt. The 1994 world cup for first time in its history saw, both the name and number printed on the back side of the players.
The football shirt worm by the goal keeper is different from that of his team members. Initially in 1970's the color of the goalie shirt was restricted to green, red, blue or white. The goalie shirt looked like long sleeved vest and the other type looked like, a v-necked polo sweater. It was modified to lighter version and looked like athletic shirt; like the one worn today by goalkeepers.
From the early 19th century heavy cotton uppers, to modern day trendy designer shirt, with huge demand among the fans, the football shirt have come a long way indeed. The replicas of shirts of national or club teams are widely manufactured and easily available for the fans. They wear the replicas of the football shirt to show their love and support for their team. This increase in sales of shirts has increased the revenues of the clubs. Further the official sponsor of the team has their logo of the brand affixed on the shirt. This has facilitated advertisement of corporate brand in front of the global audience that the game of football attracts.
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