Sporting Clube de Portugal 1988/89 Home Shirt

When Danish brand Hummel took over from Le Coq Sportif in 1987, it kept things pure. Green and white hoops, the crest on the chest and only the brand's trademark chevrons down the sleeves to give the maker away. The design stayed unchanged across the three seasons of the deal, from 1987/88 to 1989/90, the years when shirt sponsorship arrived for good at Sporting: first FNAC, then Nissan. This unsponsored version is the cleanest of them all, and the first team did wear shirts like this at the start of each of those seasons, always short sleeved. The winged collar suggests a period replica, the kind the club sold to members back when that was still a novelty. On the pitch these were trophyless years, with a runners up finish in 1988/89 as the high point. Off it, this remains one of the most elegant shirts Sporting has ever worn.

Here at Hoopster this Hummel stands for purity while it lasted: hoops without advertising, chevrons down the arms and the lion as the only argument. This is how members wore the club before the chest became a shop window.