Great Tracksuits of Our Time: No.10

England (1986):

Our recent podcast covering World Cup Memories has given me the perfect excuse to mention Mexico 86 again, and what better way to do so than by selecting Tracksuit No.10.

Considering the staidness of the England kit of the time, this is actually quite a flashy affair... albeit flashy in a rather staid way, of course.

The merest hint of collar, far from the huge winged articles of the 70s, gives an air of modern cool that continues with a mixture of horizontal pinstripes and chest panels that would have looked at home on the tail fin of a British Airways Concorde.

We're getting hints of style and international air travel. It's the 80s in nylon! With this tracksuit, we are going places... mainly the quarter finals!

The fashion police 'disappear' another perp

One other point of note is that this was also one of the last England tracksuits that actually was a tracksuit, i.e. before the dreaded shellsuit appeared. Check out Italia 90 and it's all-crinkly nylon and geometric shapes... rave on! (Just not too close to an open fire!)

Thankfully, Bobby refused to take part in this unbecoming trend and instead stepped out in a grey double breasted suit. Legend!

Seen any great tracksuits from football's rich and illustrious past? Tell us all about them by dropping us a line to admin [at] thefootballattic [dot] com. We could feature your words on our website!

Other Great Tracksuits of Our Time:

• No.9: Argentina (1978)
• No.8: Derby County (1978)
• No.7: Coventry City (1978)
• No.6: Brighton & Hove Albion (1983)
• No.5: Arsenal (1989)
• No.4: John Bond special
• No.3: Leeds United (1974)
• No.2: Liverpool (1977)
• No.1: Slovan Bratislava (1976)