Football Shorts
Olive

I love shorts and every year when the sun comes out, I set myself the challenge of making better knee-exposers than the previous year. So this year, I went back to basics and thought about all the things that make shorts wonderful. I identified the common features in the first pairs of shorts that I fell in love with and came up with our new style of football short.

These shorts pay homage to the great footballing era of the 1960s. Shirts were starting to get trimmer, shorts shorter and technology was starting to appear in football apparel for the first time. Although the shorts were still made from the same robust cotton drill from the previous decade, there were some real changes made, which meant that shorts went from being something an early ’00s rapper would wear, to something that the likes of Pele, Eusebio and Charlton could show off their skills (and thighs) in. From the adjustable waist, the shorter length and the split side seam, shorts had now become an essential piece of football-playing kit.

So with that, I headed back to the drawing board and came up with these football shorts. First things first, I wanted a really robust fabric that can wash and wash and wash. What Anabela and her team came back with is a wonderful cotton drill that has been washed and slightly peached to give a beautiful, worn-in handle that feels lovely against your skin. The wash on the fabric also happens to make it look like you have had these shorts for years, which is a lovely added bonus.

I also added the split seam at the side of the leg for extra mobility and to pay homage to Celtic who are generally credited as the first team to do this. If you are into shorts and the history of Celtic’s innovations, have a look at their giant squad numbers that they placed on their shorts – well before anyone else was doing it. The split helps to improve movement and it happens to look great too.

At the waist is an adjustable, elasticated waist, for a custom fit and because the originals had an adjustable waist. In order to pay respects to the originals, the shorts are a pull-on style with no fly or top button, because these are designed to be slipped on and off, should you need to do a Temur Ketsbaia-esque celebration after eating the holiday buffet dry. Obviously the most frustrating thing about football shorts is that they never have pockets so we added two at the sides and one buttoned and flapped pocket to the back. Use it for a wallet, keys, notebook or red and yellow cards, we are all friends here.

A pair of shorts, modelled on the best of shorts with some upgrades to make them a little more usable. That’ll do me.

100% cotton.