PRETTY POLY SHORTLISTED FOR PRESTIGIOUS PRIZE

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Steve Fleming, Eleven

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Neil Dunkin, Anfield of Dreams

01 Sep

PRETTY POLY SHORTLISTED FOR PRESTIGIOUS PRIZE

Pitch are pleased to announce that Pretty Poly: The History of the Football Shirt was shortlisted for the 2024 Lord Aberdare Literary Prize, awarded by the British Society of Sport History.

We would like to congratulate author Alex Ireland on the nomination for the Lord Aberdare prize, awarded "annually for the best monograph in sport history by a British author or dealing with a British topic".

Pretty Poly tells the fascinating story of the football shirt, charting its dramatic evolution over a 150-year period, from modest beginnings to a product at the centre of a billion-dollar industry.

An emblem of everything it means to be a fan, the football shirt evokes memories of triumph and disaster and acts as a symbol of belonging to a chosen footballing tribe.

Packed with facts, figures and anecdotes, Pretty Poly explores the history embedded in every feature of modern-day strips. It covers their ever-changing shape, the emergence of dedicated club and national colours and the often surprising reasons behind them. It also looks at the companies and designers behind some of our favourite strips, and explores the birth and exponential growth of the replica-kit industry.

Along the way, we learn the histories of the iconic sponsors, names, numbers, patches and badges, and meet the kit collectors with a burning lifelong passion as we delve into the burgeoning vintage kit market that feeds their interest.

Author Alex Ireland is a university academic, football writer and kit collector. He is an editor of KIT Magazine (www.kitmag.co.uk) and has written about football kits and football history for a number of publications including KIT, World Soccer and Halb Vier.

Alex co-founded the KIT Magazinepodcast and is a regular panellist on other football podcasts. He supports his local side, Manchester United, and collects 1990s long-sleeve club football shirts.