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Bringing Back One Past Uniform for Each Philly Sports Team
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There’s been a lot of chatter about the Sixers’ Allen Iverson-era black uniforms this week, following their appearance in the Tyrese Maxey contract video. It looks like those A.I. jerseys will be back at some point in the future, but not this season, so it’s something to keep an eye on moving forward.
It also raises a good question – with kelly green returning in 2023, are the Iverson blacks the most-requested throwback uniform in Philly? Do people even like the design and color, or is it a nostalgia thing? I took those ideas and wrapped them into a short listicle for a slow week in July.
Here’s one look we should bring back for each of the five majors:
Eagles
something that utilizes the white helmet
concept photo from MicCheckTapTapTap on Eagles Reddit
The Birds made fans happy with the 2023 Kelly Green redux, bringing back the classic look of the 80s and 90s with white and silver throughout.
One of the uniforms that’s been forgotten in time is the white helmet look of the early 1970s, likely because the team was dreck at that point and turned in 14 losing seasons between 1962 and 1977. They wore all-whites with a green eagle wing on the helmet, and a green jersey + white helmet + white pants look. There are various interesting mockups of white helmets across Eagles Reddit and social media, some using a kelly wing and others a silver wing. The Eagles in 2023 opted to go with a 2nd helmet that includes all three colors, using kelly as the base, silver for the wing, and then a white trim. It’s similar to the 2010 throwback that Mike Vick and Shady McCoy wore, only without the white trim on the wing while replacing the silver pants with white.
Phillies
bring back the burgundy!
Photo: MLB.com
People didn’t like these uniforms, which were originally worn in the 1970s. They brought them back in 2019 as part of a retro night.
Bill Giles was quoted in an article back then, explaining the jersey and pants:
Bill Giles, then the executive vice president of the Phillies, thought it would be neat to have a solid burgundy uniform with white trimmings. They would be worn only on Saturdays, making them special.
Losing 10-5 to the Montreal Expos didn’t help. The immediate overall reaction of the media, fans, and players alike was negative, with many describing the despised uniforms as pajama-like. As such, the idea was “Outta here!” as Harry Kalas would say.
“They just didn’t match up to our expectations. They also didn’t fit well,” Giles recently said, laughing.
Larry Christenson was the starting pitcher for this “special” night. “I’m getting dressed next to Jim Lonborg, I looked at him and said, ‘check out the Bull [Greg Luzinski].’ Lonnie [Smith] yelled across the clubhouse, ‘Hey Bull, you look like a giant grape.’ Bull didn’t take it as a compliment. Hey, none of us liked the uniforms. We stood out like a sore thumb.”
Dunno. It’s 2024. Color is in. That doesn’t necessarily mean we need wild City Connect flag colors, but the Phillies look very good in powder blue and cream. You can mix it up a bit while always finding plenty of opportunities to wear the classic whites and the road grays.
Flyers
late 90s blacks
Photo: Lou Capozzola-USA TODAY Sports
The Flyers uniforms haven’t changed much over the years. They’ve always rolled with various combinations of orange, white, and black and really only change the trim of the shoulder and sleeve to provide various groupings of those three base colors. They haven’t done any kind of wacky, off-brand designs outside of the Winter Classic and Stadium Series, which were still based largely off the same palette.
One uniform to bring back is the original black that debuted in the 1990s. The orange was limited to trim and the white focused on the shoulders. It was one of the uniforms worn by Eric Lindros, John LeClair, Mikael Renberg, Bundy, and all of those great players of 25 years ago.
Sixers
Iverson blacks
RVR Photos / USA TODAY Sports
There’s no other choice here, unless you like those Shawn Bradley red/blue star uniforms of the mid 90s. It’s true that the Iverson black jerseys were off brand at the time, and went away from the typical color palette of years past, but the fan base really likes that kit for the nostalgia, if nothing else. It’s the uniform the Sixers wore the last time they went to the Finals, and it reminds them of A.I. leading the team to a shock Game 1 win in Los Angeles.
Beyond that, you might want to go back to a uniform that actually says “Sixers” on the front. They’ve gotten away from that in recent years and done the “Phila” and “Philadelphia” thing, outside of the Spectrum City Edition jersey of a few years back.
Union
2011 3rd shirt with blue shorts
Photo: Earl Gardner / Philly Soccer Page
The Union introduced the Bimbo sponsorship in 2011, and with it a new third kit that featured blue and khaki on the shoulders and white throughout. They wore this top with the typical gameday navy shorts and white socks in an exhibition game against England’s Everton FC, a rare combination that was only used sparingly back then. I could be wrong, but I don’t think they actually wore this kit in any MLS games that season, and preferred to match white on white with the white socks as well. Regardless, this look is rare in the Union archives, and they didn’t reintroduce the white shirt until four years later, in 2015. White was only ever used as a 2nd jersey, and oftentimes worn with white shorts, so we haven’t seen the white/navy look in more than 10 years. The closest thing I can remember is the black/white of 2015, when they wore the Bethlehem Steel throwbacks and the white shorts.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com