International Football Kits by John Devlin and World Football Club Crests by Leonard Jägerskiöld Nilsson have a lot in common. The Bloomsbury Sport offerings are incredible conversation pieces, aesthetically pleasing in every regard. While both would look just lovely on your favorite coffee table, they offer so much inside in terms of the history behind our favorite national teams and clubs.
International Football Kits says “illustrated guide” on the cover, but it is so much more than depictions of national team kits. It shows the history and evolution of each kit, sharing stories about the great players that wore them. You’ll soon discover the various designs, both good and bad, were often done by designers other than Nike and adidas. You’ll see some that are unbranded and even unknown and others with Baila, Landoni, Le Coq Sportif, Enerre, Sportlandia, and ABA Sport (and numerous others) listed as the designers. There’s plenty of things to Google after reading this one.
The research needed to create this content is simply mind-boggling. There are so many different versions of kit from the 1966 World Cup on, but Devlin absolutely nails it with incredible precision. And brilliant photography, illustrations, and commentary take this title to a whole new level. It is easy to see that this is the one book you will need if you want to learn more about the history of football kits. Its level of depth is absolutely unprecedented; it’s the definitive text when it comes to football kits at the national team level.
World Football Crests is equally incredible. It is literally a history lesson on the world’s most recognizable crests. It features great storytelling, beautiful photos, and 200+ crests from across the footballing world. You’ll see how crests, brands, and clubs grow and change over time. Every crest has a story and every crest owns a piece of a club’s history.
We were delighted to see an amazing variety of clubs involved from England and Scotland to Russia, the U.S., and Australia (and literally everywhere in between). Even our beloved Columbus Crew SC was featured across two pages.
This book was an incredible undertaking to say the least, but we are glad that Nilsson put in the work. What was created is pure brilliance from a football perspective, a real masterpiece of sport history.
Remember this brilliant pair this holiday season as any football fan, casual or hardcore or even curious, would absolutely love to own these.
