From the sky blue rugby-style jersey to the iconic ‘Spew jerseys’ from the early 1990s to the classic gold numbers of recent times, the Socceroos have experimented a lot with colour and design in their 100-year history.
There’s even a goalkeepers jersey that makes it look like Australia is declaring war on the moon with a flaming ball.
So which designs got it right, and which kits should end up in the dustbin of history? Be sure to vote in our poll at the end of the story.
The kit Australia’s Socceroos, complete with iconic white socks, will be wearing at this year’s World Cup in Qatar
Hits
2006 World Cup
Australia’s 2006 World Cup kits are one of the most beloved Socceroos jerseys of all-time
Tipping there are a lot of these iconic 2006 jerseys hanging in home bars or being worn religiously for every Socceroos match.
The kit Australia wore to its first World Cup in 33 years, the golden shirt with simple bottle-green detailing on the bottom, sleeves and Nike swoosh was paired with green shorts and golden socks.
Against all odds, the Socceroos looked set to advance to the quarter-finals before Italian diver (excuse me, footballer) Fabio Grosso flung himself in front of Lucas Neill and earned a penalty; one of the great sporting injustices in Australian history.
It also marked the first time Nike used a mostly blue away jersey, something that continues to this day.
One of the absolute classics.
2014 World Cup
The 2014-16 Home jersey is one of the best kits our Socceroos have ever worn
Simple, classy and one of the best kits our Socceroos have ever played in.
The kit worn at the 2014 World Cup in Germany and right up until 2018, the simple golden-yellow home strip featured a green collar and cuff to pay homage to the jersey Australia wore at their first-ever Cup in 1974.
Despite going winless in a tough group in Germany, the combination of yellow jerseys, green shorts and white socks is without a doubt the best blend any Aussie sporting team could wear.
1974 World Cup
The golden Umbro jersey that the Socceroos wore at their first World Cup in 1974
For Australia’s first appearance (and it would take more than 30 years for another) at the World Cup, the Socceroos
Long-time suppliers Umbro, one of the oldest and most iconic football manufacturers after being founded in England in 1920, actually had to concede Cup production to Adidas, given the company’s sponsorship with Germany, the hosts.
The jersey did retain the unique green Umbro diamonds and capped sleeves on a golden jersey that also has a significant historic nostalgic value.
2010 World Cup
The jersey the Socceroos wore for the 2010 World Cup was the first time white featured prominently on the kit
The 2010 World Cup jersey was the first time the Socceroos sported a combination of green, gold and white, and we are HERE for it.
While Australia didn’t manage to get to get out of the group stage in South Africa, the jerseys and green shorts hit all the right notes.
2002 Home
The last time green was used as the primary colour on a Socceroos home kit: 2002
The 2002-2004 Adidas home jersey was the last time green was used as the primary colour – and to be honest, we don’t hate it.
Paired with yellow shorts and solid green socks, this kit has strong historical nostalgic value; as it was worn by Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, John Aloisi and Paul Okon et al., when Australia beat England 3-1 in a friendly at Upton Park.
1922 – first-ever Socceroos match
The sky blue jersey Australia wore for their first-ever international football match, which was a loss to New Zealand in Dunedin
The jersey Australia wore in their first-ever football match was not green and gold, it was in-fact sky blue.
The woollen rugby-style jumper was paired with maroon hoops on the socks for Australia’s match against New Zealand on June 17, 1922, and featured an Australian logo with a kangaroo, fern leaf and a large A.
Very different to all the other Socceroos kits, but for purely historic nostalgia it gets a big tick.
1982 Home
The first time Adidas produced the Socceroos jersey, in 1982, was a resounding triumph
1982 was the first year Adidas designed the Aussie jersey, and the darker green sleeves and emblem pair very well with the iconic golden Adidas stripes.
For the next eight years it would be kept very simple, and despite the Socceroos not playing much international football during this period, the jerseys starred.
2020-21 Home and Away
The most recent Home and Away kits had nice retro touches, but the Away jersey was a stinker
The most recent jersey had some real old-school vibes, with a primarily golden-yellow jersey featuring a green two-button collar and capped green sleeves used as the home kit.
The retro nods (forest-green button-up collar) are slightly modernised.
That away jersey, though, YIKES. Turquoise, navy and yellow is not a colour combination that ever needs to be repeated.
1986 Away
This 1986 Away jersey is a beautiful blend of forest-green and gold
This forest-green Away kit from 1986 was worn by the team during an ultimately unsuccessful battle to qualify for the World Cup in Mexico that year.
The gold collar and stripes on the sleeves are a great nod to Australia’s landscape and proud sporting history.
Misses
The 1990-93 Spew jerseys
The 1990 Home Kit which was made by now-defunct Aussie manufacturer Kingaroo has long been termed the ‘Spew jersey’
What. Were. They. Thinking.
This is a kit so bad, that word has it opposition players refused to swap jerseys with the Socceroos.
The early 90’s jerseys looked like something Ken Done threw away, yet are quite likely the most remembered kits in the Socceroos history – but that isn’t a compliment for a shirt that resembles a RSL club’s carpet.
So iconic are they that Football Federation Australia actually re-made them recently: so you can easily buy a modern replica!
The away kit from the early 1990s is enough to make your eyes hurt
It was the first year the now-defunct Australian apparel manufacturer Kingroo made the Socceroos jerseys, and boy did they make a statement with the home and away jerseys featuring shades of green and yellow brushstrokes.
It is essentially an attempt at abstract art gone wildly wrong. Artists aren’t always appreciated in their time, but it is hard to imagine a time in the future where this will be heralded, not mocked.
Somehow the goalkeepers shirt is possibly worse than either of the kits the outfield players wore. The purple, orange and black combination isn’t really seen in any other sporting jersey, for a very good reason
So what do you think: crap or classic?
The goalkeepers jersey was possibly even worse than the one the outfield players wore. The purple, orange and black combination isn’t really seen in any other sporting jersey: for a very good reason
1997 Out-of-this-world goalkeepers jersey
This 1997 goalkeepers jersey looks like Australia has declared war on the moon
Who came up with this?! This might just be the strangest jersey in football history.
This goalkeepers jersey from 1997 not only looks like Australia has declared war on the moon by sending a flaming football in its direction, but also bizarrely has a number of star constellations featured on the front.
It’s hard to know where to start with this, and you’d love to know what was going through the designer’s mind when he mocked this up.
It was worn by Mark Bosnich in 1997 as a talented Socceroos side tried to make the 1998 World Cup in France.
No wonder they didn’t qualify.
2018 World Cup
The 2018 World Cup jersey was not Nike’s finest work when it came to Socceroos designs
Likely in an attempt to connect with the youth of Australia, Nike came up with some sort of jungle striped sleeves on a sunshine-yellow jersey for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The all-yellow ensemble had one single green hoop on the socks, and the shades did no one any favours.
The Away kit, which the side wore against Denmark, was not much better. The neon green sash on a forest-green background might be the worst jerseys Australia have worn at a World Cup.
2004 Home
2004 was the first year Nike produced Australia’s kit; making the huge change of using an almost entirely yellow home jersey
2004 was the first time Nike became the apparel sponsor for the Socceroos – a role they still hold today.
Their first kit was a huge change from the primarily green Adidas kit; putting out a jersey that was almost entirely golden-yellow.
It gets points deducted for the weird white piping over the ribs.
1980 Away
This 1980 Away kit turned the traditional golden yellow into a more neon colour – and it is a lot to take in
Traditionally, until 1999, home kits were primarily gold and away kits were mainly a bottle/forest green.
This green, with a central coat of arms on the chest, is a lovely rich colour, but the neon-yellow Umbro diamonds and collar are a LOT to take in.
2022 World Cup
Nike says the 2022 World Cup Home jersey nods to Australia’s iconic golden wattle flower
When Football Australia released the jerseys our Socceroos will wear in Qatar, there was a mixed reaction – particularly to the away kit.
The predominantly golden-yellow home jersey was no surprise, albeit with a kind of heat-map blotching.
But the fact it was paired with green shorts and white socks (similar to the 2014 World Cup kits) made it popular with Aussie fans.
According to Nike: ‘The design nods to the iconic Golden Wattle flower and the traditional colours of the national side, using colours of ‘University Gold’ and ‘Tour Yellow’ to capture the adventurous nature of Australians and the physical beauty of the land.’
‘The green shorts (have) … a clear connection to nature, conjuring the rugged, sandy landscape of the outback and the rich wetlands and forests. The kit is completed with iconic white socks.’
There are not many fans of the neon aqua and navy Away jersey, with one fan saying the strange aqua splash below the neck looks like a bib
Iconic is right! The white socks are the saviour here. The lighter shade of green feels more like a South Africa look, and the muted cheetah pattern on the yellow jersey has us undecided.
The Away kit has not won many admirers though – so let’s just hope the Socceroos don’t have to wear it in Qatar.
One fan even suggested the bizarre neon aqua and navy kit made it look like the players were wearing a bib, while another said it ‘looks like their head is mounted on a kicking tee’.
1993 Home
Adidas were given back control of designing the Socceroos kits in 1992, and plastered their iconic three stripes as a sort of slash across the front of the jersey
After the debacle of Kingroo’s early 90s ‘spew jersey’, Adidas were given back control of designing the Socceroos kits in 1992 – but they didn’t do a much better job.
The 1993 Home jersey featured a sash of sorts made up of Adidas’ iconic three stripes; but the bright yellow and green is rather offensive to the eyes.
2000 Home
The bright green and yellow on Adidas’ 2000 Home kit is a lot to take in
The 2000 home kit is the first time green was the primary colour on the front of the jersey instead of yellow.
The long-sleeved emerald green jersey with a solitary yellow stripe in the centre as well as the three Adidas stripes on the sleeves was worn in the Socceroos two-goal win over Scotland. But it wasn’t because of a stellar jersey design.
2012 Home and Away
The 2012 kits featured a solid, off-centre green or gold stripe
It wasn’t a great period for the Socceroos, with Pim Verbeek and Holger Osieck both getting the flick after a series of poor results, and the jersey didn’t help.
The solitary off-centre stripe is like some sort of military tie-in, but it was the shades of yellow and green that make this strip rather unpalatable.
Source: Daily Mail Online