My Accrington report will follow tomorrow, but for now, I thought it best to get the group stages of the World Cup of Alternative Kits up and running.
The result are in from the other groups, they’re at the bottom of the page. If the number of votes per shirt is anything to go by, then the third kit from last season, worn once I believe, could be a favourite after picking up 45% of the vote in its group.
Before we look at the 12 that are already through, let’s look at the last two groups of kits.
Group G
This could be a tough group to call. Shirt A, the away kit in 1998/99, might be linked with a relegation season, but it could be a popular one. A ‘Celtic’ kit went out in qualifying, but does this one stand more of a chance? shirt B may be an outsider, but again in the stylish green with subtle white, it is likely to split the vote for the green shirts, and it could be held back by its ties to our National League season. Shirt C came second in its qualifying group, beating the green and white hoops from 2010/11, so it too might be a contender here. Shirt D, with a rather dodgy graphics, isn’t a well-known Imps away shirt, but it is one of the favourites in my eyes. This sample came from the Twitter account of Colin Murphy’s son, Ben.
[poll id=”60″]
Vote on Twitter here
Group H
Group H really is the retro group, with no shirts from the last decade and only one that is less than thirty years old. We open with what I think was a surprise qualifier, the 2009/10 away shirt and the first real foray into the grey colour scheme. I thought it was a weak shirt, but apparently, it has a few fans. Shirt B is a real beauty, away from 1983 to 1985. I haven’t seen this in the flesh, I would love to, as it seems to have red pinstripe in the blue. Shirt C is a favourite with many too, with some replicas spotted around the ground, and it has a great contrast between green and red. Finally, we have the blue and white of 1989/90, softer blues and a wildly underrated away kit. This could be the Group of Death, but which get your vote?
[poll id=”61″]
Vote on Twitter here
Last 16
12 shirts are already through to the last 16, as depicted below. Of those shirts, the top six are seeded, they won their groups, and will be drawn against shirts in the bottom half, unseeded. I’ll be doing the draw after voting finishes tomorrow evening, with the first set of ties due Monday.
Interesting that both this season’s shirts are seeded for the next round, with two more from recent times joining them. All in, six of the 12 currently through have featured in the last five years. Is that a case of better choices being made, or the demographic of voters?
