Footballers have always been fashionistas - despite what 'yer da' might say

The footballing fashionista isn't a new development. From Bobby Moore through to David Beckham, football's top stars have always been trend-setters

Hector Bellerin made headlines this week when he turned up at London Fashion Week in a pair of gold pyjamas and Gucci slippers – managing to look like he’d just rolled out of bed, but in the most stylish way possible. 

After Bellerin’s late goal against Chelsea earlier this month, Jamie Carragher rather unkindly compared Bellerin’s look to that of Mickey Pearce from Only Fools And Horses.

Rio Ferdinand chipped in with his two cents this week too. 

People in glass houses, eh Rio…?

Anyway, it’s easy to look at footballers like Bellerin, hanging out at fashion shows, spending their time with models and rappers, and diagnose the whole thing as symptomatic of the pampered culture of the modern footballer. 

Yer da probably bashes his keyboard to a messy pulp every time a new image pops up in his timeline of Roberto Firmino wearing another solid gold neck tie. 

Well, tell him that this is nothing new, actually. Footballers have always been fashion-forward fancy dans. Just get a load of this lot: 

Before the likes of Daniel Sturridge were setting up their own clothing brands, ‘El Beatle’ George Best had his own boutique clothes shop in Sale, Manchester.

In the Sixties and early Seventies, George was a dandy style icon with his gorgeous mop top and a chest rug to rival Giggsy.

The jury’s still out on these denim cut-offs from his spell with the LA Aztecs in the late Seventies. You let the sun get to you there, George.

Bobby and Tina Moore, teenage sweethearts, were perhaps the original Posh and Becks, appearing in Vogue together.

The England and West Ham legend was a poster boy for the clean-cut Mod look of the Sixties, and redefined ‘flair player’ in the Seventies. 

Look at him and German footballer Franz Beckenbauer looking like a right pair of sharp shooters here.

Arguably the world’s greatest ever footballer, Pele, looking here like he’s just stepped out of Studio 54. 

Graeme Souness was one of the most fearful midfielders of the Seventies and Eighties, and he’s clearly got no hang-ups about his masculinity here with Sampdoria’s Trevor Francis in 1984. 

That perm and ‘tache look would later be immortalised by Harry Enfield, in his ‘scousers’ characters. 

Those shoulder pads, the frosted tips. England internationals Chris Waddle and Glenn Hoddle could be the Kemp brothers in Spandau Ballet here.

This was, of course, after those two diamond geezers had recorded their smash hit pop classic, Diamond Lights.

Often talked about retrospectively now as the pioneers of a new era of celebrity footballer, while Liverpool fell behind Manchester United in the race for trophies during the mid-Nineties, off the field, their top players were doing interviews with Loaded Magazine and picking up modelling contracts. 

This famous incident in which the Liverpool squad appeared at Wembley wearing matching white suits ahead of their FA Cup final defeat to Manchester United in 1996, has now become a cautionary folklore tale about the excesses of the modern footballer.

As stylish off the pitch as he was on it, David Ginola brought a certain je ne sais quoi to the North-East during the Nineties. We love how he has the look of a man who has wandered onto a catwalk by accident here at the Cerruti Fashion show in 1995/96. 

At FIFA’s 100 Best Players (as chosen by Pele), Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Edgar Davids, Rustu Recber, Ronaldinho, and Patrick Kluivert all look exactly like they’re on their way to some MTV show about school proms.

The ultimate footballing fashionista, Becks has had so many style incarnations…

The Nick Carter blond tips circa ‘99.

The Craig David bootcut and beanie circa ’02.

The Mohawk circa ’03. 

And who could forget the ‘sarong but so right’, circa ’98.

This was perhaps the exact moment that the ‘metrosexuality’ movement was born. When Becks stepped out for a night on the town during World Cup 1998, wearing this flimsy bit of beach apparel, it caused quite a media furore. You know what though, no one died, did they?

And yer da still probably gets all misty-eyed every time he sees him turn out for the national anthem.

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