Is this the worst sporting kit ever?

Eurosport - Fri, 10 Oct 17:35:00 2008

Stade Francais have been as famous for their outlandish kits as they have for their rugby prowess in recent years but their latest shirt (pictured) really takes the biscuit.

RUGBY: Stade Francais WORST KIT EVER - 0

The French powerhouse will wear their new third kit for the first time against Ulster in the Heineken Cup this weekend.

The shirt is a homage to the Pop Art style made famous by Andy Warhol and contains the image of Blanche de Castille, the wife of Louis VIII and mother of Louis IX.

In honour of Stade's questionable, yet gutsy, fashion statement, we have decided to celebrate some of the bolder fashion moves made by sport stars and teams over the years.

We were not just looking for the plain bad, rather the so bad that they were good efforts - anything with car crash quality that meant you couldn't keep your eyes off it no matter how hard you tried.

We have also decided to pick only one football shirt although we accept that - from Coventry's hideous brown effort in the 70s to Manchester United's infamous "where are they?" 1995/96 grey shirt - we could have had entire piece dedicated to the worst football shirts of all time.

Anyway - here we go - to see the photos we are talking about just click on the relevant links to your right with the slideshow link containing all the selections.

Football - Jorge Campos, Mexico - 1994

Every Mexico match at the USA 94 World Cup was a treat to watch not because of the team's Latin flair but rather to see what glow-in-the-dark outfit their eccentric keeper Jorge Campos would wear next. All his kits had a common theme: they managed to give the effect that someone had just vomited a packet of Skittles all over him.

Cricket - Hamish Marshall, New Zealand - 2005

The New Zealand throw-back beige shirt they wore for the 2005 Twenty20 international with Australia was alarming enough, but Kiwi all-rounder Hamish Marshall completely and utterly stole the show when he unveiled a retro afro for the occasion too. Everybody sing now - "burn baby burn, DISCO INFERNO, burn baby burn!"

Tennis - Andre Agassi - 1990

Could it be anyone else? The hair? The colours? The headband? The bicycle shorts? Put them together and you have Andre Agassi circa 1990 who was THE coolest man on the planet at the time. Ok, so those old pictures look ridiculous now, but trust me, the kids who dug out their old tennis rackets in the summer of 1990 didn't run out of the house pretending they were Ivan Lendl.

Motorcycling - Valentino Rossi - 2008

It is not easy for an individual to make a fashion mark in motorsports - he usually needs his sponsors to do that for him - however Valentino Rossi has utilised his helmet to great effect over the last few years. We liked when he roared around the track with a helmet designed like a football, but loved it even more when he put his own face on his helmet earlier this year. If somebody like Randy de Puniet tried a stunt like that he would just look like a prat, but because it's Rossi, it's cool!

Athletics - Cathy Freeman - 2000

Cathy Freeman looked more like she was gunning for a part in a re-make of 'The Running Man' than Olympic gold when she wore her full bodysuit at the Sydney Games. She looked how 80s movies projected WE would look like today - in other words ridiculous! However, when it was "time to start RUNNING!" Freeman ran away with gold in the 400m to delight of the home fans. Beat that Ben Richards!

Cycling - Kelme cycling team - 1993

Take a Wall's Twister ice-cream; then leave it in the sun for about 30 minutes; and you will end up having something that resembles the Kelme cycling team's shirt from 1993. There are lots of different colours in the peloton so to stand out really is something. Kelme's shocker managed to do just that.

Snooker - Dominic Dale - 2007

Bet you didn't expect to see a snooker player on the list eh? Well Dominic Dale manages to someone look more like John Travolta than Steve Davis when he enters the snooker arena. Forgot about John Virgo and his fancy waistcoats on Big Break back in the day - that was a silly TV Show. Dale has been known to wear a white tuxedo with a red shirt in high-pressure ranking events. We also liked teh purple shirt and peroxide blond hair combo he unveiled at the Shanghai Masters last year (see link). It worked for him too as he went on to win the tournament.

Ice Skating - Jenna McCrokell - 2008

We concede that there are not too many ice skating fans in the Eurosport office but we know there are plenty of hideous outfits out there. So we typed "ice skating" into the search box of one our photo agencies and low and behold a monstrosity came up on the very first page - take a bow Jenna McCrokell.

Golf - Payne Stewart - 1996

Ian Poulter may be golf's prince of style, but the late Payne Stewart will always remain the king. Stewart was loved by the galleries for his old school tam o'shanter caps and patterned trousers, which were a combination of plus fours and knickerbockers. We particularly like how dapper he looks with the addition of a tie in the attached photo. However, you can do an image search of Stewart anywhere and you'll see nothing but funky outfits.

Give us your thoughts on the best and worst of sporting fashion, leave your comments below.

Seán Fay / Eurosport

Comment 23 - 42 of 82

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  1. Hi Love the shirt were can I buy it from i love it tthe­ team i Love as well Is Leeds Rhinos
    Dave

    From Zoltar, on Fri 10 Oct 11:41PM
  2. I think is fine, it is not about the outfit, that's­ just a bit of fun!

    From roberto, on Fri 10 Oct 11:41PM
  3. stade francais new shirt is wonderful-it has several­ pictures of a beautiful blonde- brilliant! i wonder­ where i can get one from? SLATER777

    From waynederek s, on Fri 10 Oct 11:40PM
  4. marcmcaloon..Were spouse to be talking about outrageous­ kits/shirts here not bleeding Celtic..3 in a row you­ say yes maybe so only because the scotish spl is the­ easiest league in the world.Proves how **** Celtic are­ when they play in Europe..

    From halfmoonhammersfc, on Fri 10 Oct 11:38PM
  5. I am French and although I am not a fan of rugby, I­ think this tee-shirt rocks !

    From gerard_elodie, on Fri 10 Oct 11:37PM
  6. Well it would take the french to come up with a stunt­ like like this. Are they trying to distract the­ opposition ? Well thumbs up for creativity ! Lets see­ what this looks like on the pitch !!

    From Andy B, on Fri 10 Oct 11:33PM
  7. back in the 80's Man Utd had a blue away kit that­ looked like a paint explosion in an acid factory

    From Dai or Limpy, on Fri 10 Oct 11:30PM
  8. Great shirt. Still not as cool as last years 3rd­ strip.... brown and pink. That one was a work of art.­ The people who say hard men cant wear pink are also the­ people who wont wear the tight fitting tops either...­ you Ken Hom wok smugglers!!!

    From dudleyhoare, on Fri 10 Oct 11:27PM
  9. To JohnJ - Everton's salmon pink home shirt?­ Don't think so. They had a pink and blue away shirt­ which was quite nice though

    From christian_stephenson, on Fri 10 Oct 11:26PM
  10. Best shirt I've seen EVER!
    I'm a die hard­ Harlequins fan

    From tonylong1961, on Fri 10 Oct 11:20PM
  11. oh shut up

    From pshaiyon, on Fri 10 Oct 11:18PM
  12. Only the French could get away with wearing a shirt­ like that. I can't imagine you'd get the­ Ospreys or Munster players wearing pop art or pink­ (except for Gavin Henson - he loves that sort of stuff­ - maybe he could get a transfer)

    From taffyApples, on Fri 10 Oct 11:15PM
  13. Personally I like that rugby strip... retro.

    From taffyApples, on Fri 10 Oct 11:10PM
  14. I would like one of them, they are FAB

    From edu2001ve, on Fri 10 Oct 11:09PM
  15. love it very creative

    From tawfiqa, on Fri 10 Oct 11:08PM
  16. These guys are the worst. I thought rugby was for tough­ guys??
    Isn't their main kit PINK? Pink!! OMG, they­ should rather play netball.. and hit each other with­ tishoo's

    From Liverpool FC Rules, on Fri 10 Oct 11:04PM
  17. 3 IN AROW 3 IN AROW 3IN A ROW 3 IN A ROW 3 IN A ROW 3­ IN A ROW

    From GLASGOW REPUBLICAN, on Fri 10 Oct 11:00PM
  18. it's not ugly. it's fashion, and it's fun.

    From Nigel, on Fri 10 Oct 10:59PM
  19. I reckon golfers in general look ridiculous. But you­ cant count figure skaters can you? Their whole look is­ meant to be flamboyant. I'm a little surprised­ there aren't any Darts players shirts in the mix.

    From Sean M, on Fri 10 Oct 10:57PM
  20. This item should've had pics :D
    And don't hate­ on Agassi, his outfits where awesome.

    From Nene33, on Fri 10 Oct 10:55PM
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