Figure 1.-- It looks like the team in the Ggreen uniform are all wearing black tights. This is a German youth soccer league.. |
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The dominant type of hosiery worn for soccer is kneesocks. We are not precisely why this is. Unlike Scouting where kneesocks were useful protective garments for hiiking, we see no real utilitarian benefit from kneesocks. The one factor we see here is that kneesocks cover shin gusards. They are not needed for the shinguards, but the uniforms perhsaps look better when kneesocks are worn over the kneesocks. We suspect that kneeesocks are essentially the residual influence of the fact that kneesocks were commonly worn with short pants at the formative era for soccer. We note that during the winter that tights are now worn, often with kneesocks when playing soccer. This is especially common in Germany. We note that ankle sicks are not commonly worn for soccer, at least as part of team uniforms.
We note that ankle sicks are not commonly worn for soccer, at least as part of team uniforms. This is true even in America where kneesocks were not common, except for tube socks in the 1970s and 80s.
Soccer is the only sport in the 2000s for which kneesocks are almost always worn. Although not specifically mentioned, this traditional look probably can be traced back to soccer's European origins (as contrasted with American football, where below-the-knee knicker-style pants can be observed in photos of turn-of-the-century American college football games; hence, even today, soccer is always played wearing shorts while American football pants are much longer). Another reason for the enduring popularity of kneesocks with soccer uniforms is that most all players wear SHINGUARDS: the socks help hide and keep the unsightly shinguards in place, as well as help protect the legs from
abrasions and stray kicks.
We note that during the winter that tights are now worn, often with kneesocks when playing soccer. This is especially common in Germany. We are not sure to what extebnt they are worn in other countries. Black tights seem to be often the color choice for soccer tights. In some cases tights are a team choice.
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