Followers of Palace’s early history will know that Crystal Palace were founder members of the Football Association in 1863 and were one of the four clubs who were instrumental in getting the rules of Association Football accepted against fierce opposition from the clubs who wanted to adopt the Rugby rules. Association Football, or ‘soccer’ as it came to be known, would eventually become the world’s greatest and most popular sport, and Britain did much to spread the word.
In the mid-19th century, Britain was the global powerhouse of the world and Brits, particularly Englishmen, travelled the world widely on business and study, taking their sports with them, introducing soccer to countries such as Switzerland, Spain, Italy and the continent of South America and helping to found clubs which are still famous today.
Often, these clubs, in their infancy, needed help to get established, and the travelling Brits would supply their first shirts or influence the choice of colours.
More serious students of football history may well be familiar with the story of John Savage, an Englishman playing for Juventus who, in 1903, got in touch with a Notts County supporting friend back home and asked for a set of shirts to be sent out to replace the club’s pink shirts which were fading in the wash.
Juventus accepted the replacement kit and adopted the colours as their own. They still wear Notts County’s famous black and white stripes today.
