Best-Ever Dutch Eredivisie Kits Announced

May 19, 2020

by Chris

On April 17 April 2020, the Dutch Eredivisie started a contest to find out which is the best-ever Eredivisie kit. Now the league announced which kit won the "Eredivisie Shirt Festival" contest and was crowned as all-time best Eredivisie kit.

Eredivisie Shirt Festival - Willem II 1958-67 Home Kit Wins Contest As Best-Ever Eredivisie Kit

An ode to 64 years of Dutch football history, the Dutch Eredivisie football kit history included 1,754 home and away shirts. In total, 162,164 nominations were made by fans in to the Eredivisie online shirt election, spread over 54 clubs that once played at the highest level in the Netherlands.

After the public voting was finished, a professional jury focused on all club winners and top 20 of the Eredivisie Shirt Festival to select the ultimate winner.

According to the jury, it was an old-fashioned case of "kill you darlings". The choice between classic shirts from Feyenoord and Ajax turned out to be almost impossible. And how do you balance aesthetics with special memories? Do you choose a shirt with a sponsor or not?

"Actually impossible to do," said jury chairman Sjoerd Mossou. "Sometimes it was really comparing apples and pears. We have expertly disabled our emotions. In that respect, Victoria had an important role in the jury: from the first moment she looked purely at the design, without all kinds of old-man romance. Fortunately, there were a number of subcategories, with winners per decade and a 'most beautiful away shirt'. In the end, all our top favorites got a nice, deserved place."

3. Ajax Home Shirt 1969-72

The professional jury couldn't possibly get around this shirt, recently voted the most beautiful shirt by the football magazine France Football. "That white round collar, eh," said jury member and style guru Arno Kantelberg. “As far as I'm concerned, every perfect shirt has a round collar. The Ajax shirt is beautifully recognizable in itself, especially with long sleeves. This classic is almost virgin in its simplicity, but everyone in the world recognizes that red track. ''

2. Feyenoord Home Shirt 1983-84

The sponsor name 'Gouden Gids', the championship with Johan Cruijff, the design: this shirt has everything, according to the jury. "That golden yellow combines beautifully with the Feyenoord shirt," says Van Gangelen. Mossou: "I personally like the eighties, some enthusiasts do not want a sponsor, but here you see: a sponsor name can also be very beautiful and iconic."

1. Willem II Home Shirt 1958-67

Aesthetics was the deciding factor. The jury quickly came to the conclusion that memories are difficult to compare: that is different for individual enthusiast, fan or supporter. This classic Willem II shirt from 1958/59 (worn up to the 1967 season) stands out in terms of beauty and style among all jury members, even with sworn NAC fan and jury chairman Mossou. viewed objectively, I cannot argue against the enthusiasm of the rest of the jury. This is a recognizable, special and typical Dutch shirt. You don't see this design in any other country. ''

Winners per decade