On the 40th anniversary since the Australian football team made it to its first World Cup finals, Socceroos will pay tribute to the past as they enter the pitch wearing replicas of the 1974 jerseys.
With their new yellow Nike shirts, green shorts and white socks – the kit inspired by the jersey worn in 1974 – Socceroos will be paying tribute to Australia’s first ever World Cup team.
Inside the back of the neck of the predominantly yellow jersey is a quote from 1974 Socceroos captain Peter Wilson: “We Socceroos can do the impossible.”
And Australia will need to do just that having drawn World Cup champions Spain, 2010 runners-up the Netherlands and world number 15 Chile in its group.
“The Socceroos will wear a strip that will help inspire our players to represent the values of Australia by paying tribute to the 1974 team,” Postecoglou said when the playing kit was unveiled in February this year.
The jersey boasts a modern green “Johnny” collar, another reference to the iconic 1974 Socceroos kit.
Nike’s design team crafted the Australian coat of arms on the chest of the jersey within a new shield that replicates the shape of the crest worn on the jerseys at the 1974 tournament, and fulfils the current Socceroos’ stated desire to “feel the history of our country.”
The shirt, shorts – and for the first time in an Australian national team kit, the socks – feature fabric made from recycled plastic bottles (100 per cent recycled polyester in the shorts, 96 per cent in the shirt and 78 percent in the socks).
Each kit is made using an average of 18 recycled plastic bottles.
“It’s very emotional and it’s fantastic timing, that 40 years later, you have something to remind you of those people who made this country so proud. People
say ‘at last’, but better late than never,” said former Socceroos coach, Rale Rasic.
*This article appeared in Neos Kosmos’ World Cup magazine on June 12.
