Harlequins, 2007/08

While the Harlequins jersey has forever been flamboyant, it also remained resolutely unchanged, with the famed quarters sacrosanct.

The iconic quarters of Harlequins were a firm fixture on the playing shirt for the first 141 years of their history. Chocolate brown, French grey, magenta and light blue, plus black and green sleeves, had long been distinctive enough that a change of colours had never been necessary. However, after pressure from the powers that be, that changed in 2007.

 A new diktat enforced by Premiership rugby ahead of the 07/08 season stated that all teams must not only have an away shirt, but also wear it regularly throughout the season. Quins may have been obliged to have an alternative for five seasons previous, but not to actually wear it. Unsurprisingly, this break with tradition was not well-received among the hardcore Quins fans.

They shouldn’t have been worried; kit designer KooGa ensured the away strip was as little a departure from the traditional as possible. The quartered silhouette remained but a plain white, alongside the usual magenta and light blue, replaced chocolate brown and French grey in the top right and bottom left quarters. The black and green sleeves remained, and green detailing was added along the new white sections.

 It’s grand debut came away at Newcastle in the third round of the Guinness Premiership in September 2007. Captained by Paul Volley, with the young faces of Chris Robshaw and Mike Brown also in the starting fifteen, the south-west Londoners fell to a 19-12 defeat. 

The new strip may not have brought victory, but soon after its entrance, alternative shirts were embraced at the Stoop. For their showpiece ‘Big Game’ the following season, a pink and blue strip was created, following in the footsteps of the Parisian peacocks Stade Francais. That tricky tightrope between stylish and gaudy has been walked by the club ever since, and even championed by some of their more characterful, tracksuit-loving and mohawk-sporting front rowers.