Neck-warming snoods were briefly popular among Premier League players in the 2010s – until they were outlawed
With winter approaching, it’s time for footballers (and journalists) to start bringing out the extra layers.
A certain amount of wrapping up is permitted for footballers, such as wearing long-sleeved undershirts…as long as they match the main colour of the kit that’s worn on top, of course.
But snoods are not an option: have been outlawed by the football authorities for quite some time, despite briefly looking like becoming a popular optional part of the winter football kit.
Snoods really had a moment back around 2010, when a number of Premier League players took to the field wearing the offending garment.
Manchester City players were particularly fond of them: Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli and Yaya Toure all gave them a go. So too did then-Arsenal man Samir Nasri, whose moved to City the following summer was presumably the result of City scouts ticking the ‘wears snood’ box when filtering potential targets.
After months of spluttering and gnashing of ever-so-macho teeth about players having gone ‘soft’, the things finally came to a head (or to a neck, we supposed) in 2011, when the International FA Board (IFAB) ruled they were not permissible.
IFAB is the body that sets out the Laws of the Game and how they should be interpreted.
They held that wearing snoods posed a safety hazard as they could be grabbed or snagged and lead to injury.
As IFAB put it after a meeting in March 2011: “The IFAB agreed that in relation to Law 4 – Players’ Equipment, the wearing of snoods should not be permitted.”
Since then, nary a snood has been seen on a professional football pitch.
Bizarrel, the issue really brought out an absurd degree of toxic masculinity from some players and managers at the time, with the very concept of the desire for warmth apparently indicative of a troubling moral decline.
Then-Notts County boss Paul Ince said: “It’s not right. Back in my time, and I sound old now, it was black and white boots and that was it. People wearing headphones when they are doing interviews, which I find disrespectful, pink boots, green boots, you name it they’ve got it, tights – they’ll be wearing skirts next.”
And so what if they did, Paul?
Sir Alex Ferguson also chipped in with: “Real men don’t wear snoods.” God knows what that’s supposed to mean.
Still, the ban stands to this day – though we can only imagine the detractors were left incredibly confused about their stance on the issue, given it was made on health and safety grounds.
