The story of our alternative cup final kit colours

Sunday’s showpiece match at Wembley will see us run out in shirts other than Lilywhite in a major cup final for only the fifth time in our history.

Due to a colour clash with opponents Manchester City, we’re required to wear our dark green away kit for the match, as determined by the traditional toss of a coin.

Ahead of the game, we take a look back at the previous times we’ve worn alternative strips while competing for silverware...

1982 FA Cup Final

Think of cup finals and away kits, and the 1982 FA Cup success immediately springs to mind.

The blue and white of opponents Queens Park Rangers would naturally have clashed with our Lilywhite and navy so the toss of a coin determined that we’d be the ones to change to our all-yellow away strip. QPR subsequently decided to play in red and black anyway, as they had done in their semi-final victory over West Bromwich Albion.

The match ended 1-1 after extra time and was replayed five nights later with the same set of kits, Glenn Hoddle’s early penalty giving us a 1-0 win as we retained the famous old trophy.

Defender Paul Miller recalled: “We wore the yellow kit a number of times and it wasn’t a problem finding each other during the games, especially in the replay where it was played at night. The yellow kits were smart, they made us feel good and look the part and I think that helped us. Those kits were revolutionary at the time, nobody else was really wearing them, so Spurs were leading the way in that respect.”

The 1982 showpiece remains the one and only time, before this weekend, that we’ve worn alternative-coloured shirts for a Wembley final.

1974 UEFA Cup Final, second leg

We also wore a yellow kit in the ill-fated second leg of the 1974 UEFA Cup Final against Feyenoord.

For much of the 1960s, our away kits had been navy blue but in 1969, the Football League banned clubs from wearing navy shirts because they appeared too similar to the all-black referees’ apparel commonly used at the time, especially on black-and-white TV sets.

We therefore began wearing yellow when we couldn’t wear Lilywhite and when we were required to don a change strip for our trip to Rotterdam in the second leg of the European final of 1974, we went with yellow shirts, navy shorts and yellow socks, Feyenoord’s red-and-white halved shirts clashing with our usual Lilywhite look.

We’d drawn 2-2 in the first leg at the Lane, Mike England and Joop van Daele’s own goal accounting for our side of the scoreline, but went down 2-0 in the return game in a match marred by off-field events in the crowd.

1984 UEFA Cup Final, first leg

Happier memories of a UEFA Cup Final were spawned in 1984 when we won the trophy on penalties against Anderlecht at White Hart Lane.

The first leg out in Brussels ended 1-1, with centre-half Paul Miller on target.

We wore our all sky blue away kit on that occasion, due to Anderlecht’s outfit being predominantly white with purple trim, although the version used in that match – and in the quarter-final, second leg against Austria Vienna – had to be reconfigured due to UEFA regulations surrounding the number of manufacturer badges that were allowed to be displayed on the shirts, meaning the Club crest was moved from its normally central position to the left, with the manufacturers’ logo opposite on the right.

‘Maxi’ Miller remembers a number of successful outings in light blue during that period: “It was another kit that we liked as players,” he said. “With the blue kit, we felt it was quite lucky. We wore it a couple of times in that UEFA Cup run but also domestically as well. Our kits certainly stood out.”

Of course, we were back in Lilywhite for the second leg at home, as Graham Roberts scored in another 1-1 draw before goalkeeper Tony Parks became the hero of the penalty shootout.

2002 League Cup Final

The only time prior to this weekend that we’ve contested a League Cup Final in shirts other than white was in 2002.

This one, however, was played at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium while Wembley was being redeveloped.

Opponents Blackburn Rovers won the toss, but their blue and white shirts clashed with both our home and away kits during the 2001/02 season, so we had to wear a one-off yellow and blue design that was similar to – but not completely the same as – our away kit from two seasons earlier.

The shirts were primarily yellow with navy blue sleeves, complemented by navy shorts and socks.

Approximately 60 sets of the kit were produced for the squad, although replicas were never sold, making it quite a rare Spurs strip.

Sadly, its one outing wasn’t a memorable one as despite a first-half goal from Christian Ziege, we lost 2-1.

1971 League Cup Final

Although we played the 1971 League Cup Final against Aston Villa in white shirts, our overall kit that day warrants a mention in the context of ‘alternative’ colours worn while competing for a trophy.

Rules at the time meant that if the teams’ socks clashed, both sides would have to change, thus we ended up playing in yellow socks, which didn’t exactly fit with our white shirts and blue shorts.

Furthermore, our shorts in that match can also be considered out of the norm, as we took the decision to wear royal blue shorts instead of the more traditional navy. The embroidery on our shirts was also displayed in the same irregular shade of blue.

Despite such an unusual outfit, we ran out 2-0 winners at Wembley thanks to two late goals from Martin Chivers, securing the first of four League Cups in our history to date.

Can we make it five while wearing dark green on Sunday?

This season’s Nike away kit is now available in our online store with 30 per cent off.

If you’d like to learn more about the fascinating stories behind our kits down the years, The Spurs Shirt book is also available from our Spurs Shops.