A romp through the history of Sunderland kits. And a prize competition

Simply the worst? Home top 1981
Simply the worst? Home top 1981

What are the best and worst SAFC shirts you can remember? Below, our occasional contributor John Penman takes you on a colourful tour of his own history of owning them whether good, bad or plain ugly.

BUT FIRST A COMPETITION – WHICH EXPLAINS WHY COMMENTS ARE DISABLED FOR THIS POST:

Salut! Sunderland and Classic Football Shirts combine to offer all SAFC fans around the world – in other words, no Guess the Score-type restrictions on overseas delivery addresses AND no one is ineligible to enter – the chance of winning a £50 voucher to spend, choosing from the huge Classic Football Shirts collection of original football kits from around the world.

‘Whether new products with the tags still on, rare player issue items or pre-owned classic shirts from the past, our site has something for any football fan,’ says CFS’s Danny Taylor, who describes working with a stock of 300,000 tops as like being a museum curator.

‘It couldn’t be simpler to enter all you have to do is answer the question: who is Sunderland’s all-time top goal scorer?’.

Enter the competition by sending your reply to marketing@classicfootballshirts.co.uk before the closing date of midnight on December 18 . No answers or comments below – the winner will be selected at random from all correct entries received. There is no special consolation prize for answering: ‘It’s either Jozy Altidore or Danny Graham.’

Every entrant will receive a £5 voucher towards purchases at Classic Football Shirts

And now over to John Penman for a look at the Sunderland replica kit he has known and loved …

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Summer Gold: why our man put cement in a workmate’s cheese sandwiches

The new home kit: courtesy of safc.com
The new home kit: courtesy of safc.com

Back in March, John Penman, an East Stand regular who makes long trips down from his home in Scotland to be at games – was my companion at the Capital One Cup final at Wembley. He won’t have forgotten that day but it may have slipped his mind that almost exactly seven years ago, he wrote his first Salut! Sunderland guest piece charting the history of SAFC tops he has known and loved. He can update the story in Comments; it seemed a good candidate for the Summer Gold series …

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Countdown to Wembley: merriment, misery and mishaps on Sunderland cup final days

Jake: 'que sera sera'
Jake: ‘que sera sera’

John Penman and his 10-year-old daughter Hayley are fixtures in the East Stand at home games – home for Sunderland, a longish trip south for them. Hayley is promising to become Salut! Sunderland‘s youngest columnist, younger even than Sixer. She won’t be at Wembley, willing to settle this time for a One Direction concert, but dad will. Here John retraces the steps of ghosts of cup finals past …

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