By the time of the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, the three stripes did appear on the sleeves, except on Cryuff’s which only had two. By the end of 1972, Cryuff was wearing non-Adidas tracksuit tops due to his exclusive deal with Puma before three stripes were even worn on the shirts. What was to come was already evident in 1971 as Cryuff can be seen in a line up wearing a round neck shirt while the rest of team wore v-necks. The Dutch would also turn this on it’s head with new concepts and more fluidity of the kits within their sides. In the early part of the 20th century, kit consistency within a starting XI wasn’t guaranteed but things had become more uniform by the 60’s. Netherlands wearing three striped shorts vs Luxembourg, November 1971 In 1971 they were among the earliest adopters of Adidas branding, wearing shorts and tracksuit tops with 3 stripes going down the sides including, at this stage, Johan Cryuff. What adds to the allure of the Dutch was their strikingly handsome orange, black and/or white kits that would help define the era. Similarly, the Dutch were so cool and so good that in the end they didn’t really need to win a tournament as they are looked back on as fondly as the West German and Argentinian World Cup Winning sides of the decade, and more so than 1976 European Championship winners Czechoslovakia (the Netherlands came 3rd at that tournament West Germany won Euro ’72). Of course this really only adds to their heroicism, like how Jake The Snake Roberts was never WWF Champion because he never needed to. But internationally, despite playing some delicious football (or so we’re led to believe, this website isn’t about the actual sport of football) success at the major tournaments eluded them. At club level they dominated much of the decade as Feyenoord had won the 1970 European Cup with Ajax securing the following three, and Feyenoord and PSV also picked up UEFA Cup wins. In the 1970’s, the Netherlands were the people’s champions of international football.
***For the debut installment of Champagne Kit Campaigns where we focused on the beginning of Norway’s 90’s golden age, click here.*** As the specifically “kit-interested” tentacle of Pyro On The Pitch continues to grow and thrive, like some sort of wonderful, psychedelic, kit-obsessed weed, we now break down a mouthwatering selection of Adidas ensembles worn by the fascinating and funky Dutch at Argentina ’78.
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