My First Football Shirt: Perry Groves

Can you imagine growing up loving a team and their shirts, only to then be given the opportunity to play for that team one day? Well that is what happened to Perry Groves, who went from loving Arsenal's classic 70s kits to wearing them throughout the 80s and 90s.

We caught up with Arsenal legend and utility player as part of our My First Football Shirt series, to talk about his first and favourite shirts.  Perry told us all about wearing a Birmingham City home shirt for his under 10s team, the iconic Arsenal 1971 shirt and his greatest football moment.

What was your first football shirt?

Birmingham City squad photo 1971#BCFC #BirminghamCity #Blues pic.twitter.com/eLTXFLfwHL

— Football Memories (@footballmemorys) August 1, 2020

My first football shirt was the 1971 Birmingham City home kit. I was 6 years old and played for Cornard Dynamos, an under 10s team. Like a lot of local youth clubs in those days, they were given old kits by the pro clubs to kit us out. We got the 1971 Birmingham City one. 

What is your favourite football shirt?

Morning everyone! On this day in 1971, @Arsenal beat Liverpool in FA Cup final to clinch their first double pic.twitter.com/0StuvkVcqC

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 8, 2014

For me it’s easy.  My favourite football shirt is Arsenal’s iconic red and white home shirt from the 70s and specifically the 1971 double winning shirt. It was an absolute classic.

What is your favourite goal?

On this day in 1989 Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-0 to win the League title at Anfield thanks to a last minute goal from Michael Thomas #afc pic.twitter.com/93mPeYxHJF

— The Arsenal (@davidhickman14) May 25, 2017

Easy again. The best goal scored in a match I was playing in was Michael Thomas scoring the second goal for Arsenal against Liverpool on May 26th 1989.  It won us our first title for 18 years, and it was so unexpected. What a moment!

Perry was one of a number of Arsenal legends who have shared their favourite football shirt stories with us.  You can have a read of our interviews with; Bob Wilson , Arseblog and Amy Lawrence and loads more. 

Pick-up your own Gunners shirt in our store, including classics from the 90s & 00s. Browse all Arsenal shirts here.