Third 1995/97
Manufacturer: Kappa
Source: eBay
THE SHIRT
This shirt has always been a bit of a mystery. Often falsely labelled as the away shirt to the infamous gold/wild home model, it is probably more of a third or even fourth shirt, if not just a fan shirt. While the white/gold away shirt used during the COSAFA Cup doesn’t differ that much from the actual home model, there is a third away shirt that replaces the gold with dark green that saw some use in 1998.
Fellow collector Nick just recently discovered a picture of South Africa’s U23 team wearing a similar flag design in a game, which stirs up hope that this fantastic design was indeed worn on some occasion or that it was at least considered to be used as an official shirt.
Until I received my own shirt, I wasn’t entirely sure if this design was even official, but comparing it to my other Kappa South Africa jersey, it’s made out of the same shiny and sticky material and has the same sloppily applied badges and logos.
It’s a flag shirt, so it’s obviously great! Based on one of the most colorful flags in the world, the shirt is about as 90’s as it gets: big collar, button, some Kappa logos all over the fabric and the fact that it could easily house two adults, make it a quintessential mid-90’s shirt.
