My First Football Shirt: Luca Hodges-Ramon

We caught up with Luca Hodges-Ramon the founder of Beyond the Field of Play to talk about his first Chelsea shirt, favourite Sampdoria shirt and a couple of classic flicks from Zola and Mancini.

What was your first football shirt?  

My first football shirt was the Chelsea home strip of '99 with Zola 25 adorning the back. The diminutive Italian immediately captured my imagination and that particular strip always reminds me of his sheer genius.

CHELSEA REWIND: On this day in 1999 Chelsea won 1-0 at Newcastle United in the Premier League. Dan Petrescu scored the first half winner to ensure the 3 points.

Player manager Gianluca Vialli celebrates the victory at the final whistle. 👏 pic.twitter.com/WasdBxHgxM

— Chris Wright 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (@chriswrightzz) January 9, 2022

The white collar had a yellow and blue trim, which I admittedly chewed to death during my youth, while the autoglass sponsor even made a windscreen company seem trendy!

What is your favourite football shirt?

Tough question, Serie A always produces some crackers and I particularly like Fiorentina and Torino’s kits. Palermo’s pink also pulls at my heart strings too, however I remember a Sampdoria kit of a few years back being particularly chic.

Mauro Icardi playing for Sampdoria - 2012-13.#IcardiThrowback pic.twitter.com/g7tMiBJ2vR

— Football Throwbacks (@ftbl_throwbacks) January 27, 2016

Manufactured by Kappa, its blue theme was complemented by the white, red and black strip across the chest, while the iconic Blucerchiati badge was placed on the upper part of the sleeve. It was the perfect mix of simplicity and elegance. An honourable mention must also go to Atletico Madrid, they always have a very smart outfit.

In fact, if you were to have asked me for my favourite pair of football shorts, they would be a clear winner – absolute snip from a Nike outlet in Italy.

What is your favourite goal?

I can immediately whittle my favourite goal down to two, however choosing between them is nigh on impossible. They are both very similar, the first being Gianfranco Zola’s Cruyff-esque flick for Chelsea against Norwich, and the second being Roberto Mancini’s backheel volley for Lazio against Parma.

ON THIS DAY 2002 Gianfranco Zola scored THAT goal for #Chelsea against Norwich City #CFC pic.twitter.com/EKmj4F6VI8

— The Blues (@TheBlues___) January 16, 2018

Both were scored from a corner and both were scored as a result of a near post dash and exquisite improvisation. The goals encapsulated the flair and technique both players possessed. Trying either finish was audacious enough, but executing them was something truly special.