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Arsenal toast the future with some vintage claret
By Steve Stammers, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 21.01.05For one year only, Arsenal will return to their roots.
For their last season at Highbury, Arsene Wenger's team will revert to the same kit the players wore in the club's first campaign there in 1913.
Arsenal were actually formed back in 1986 by the workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. Although they had plenty of enthusiasm and a few good players, they had no kit.
One of the founder members Fred Beardsley, a former Nottingham Forest player, decided to contact his old club for help. A set of completely red jerseys and a ball arrived and Arsenal's commitment to red was born.
By the time they moved across the Thames in 1913, they were now sporting claret shirts.
"Woolwich" was dropped from the name but the red allegiance remained. Under the regime of Herbert Chapman, white sleeves were introduced and remained for the best part of 70 years - give or take the occasional and fleeting return to all-red.
Next season, as a one-off gesture to their past, Arsenal will play in the same crimson shade of red that marked their debut season at Highbury.
And it is a move that has been welcomedby George Graham, who won the Double as a player and two league titles, one FA Cup, two League Cups and a European Cup Winners' Cup as manager at the club.
"I love the historical side of Arsenal, the tradition of the club," he said. "This, to me, is a wonderful gesture to go back to those same shirts in the last season at Highbury that they wore in the first season.
"Clubs abroad seem far more aware of their history than those in this country and this is a chance to remember the wonderful past before the club move into the new stadium."
Some fans will be concerned about the expense of buying another kit but the reaction has been positive, including from the Arsenal Supporters' Trust spokesman, Glyn Taylor.
The claret concept has certainly found favour with manager Wenger, who said: "It is great that the club are finding ways to celebrate our last season at this fantastic stadium.
"I love the fact the team will be wearing a home kit that is inspired by the first one ever worn at Highbury. It's not only a way of encapsulating more than 90 years of memories."
When they wore these shirts for the first time at Highbury, they finished third - in the old second division - but the current hierarchy will be hoping for better luck come May 2006.
