Item 2020.80 - Graffiti Covered Tottenham Hotspur FC Overalls

Identity area

Reference code

2020.80

Title

Graffiti Covered Tottenham Hotspur FC Overalls

Date(s)

  • 1974 (Creation)

Level of description

Item

Extent and medium

6 (overalls and 5 removable buttons)

Context area

Name of creator

(1961-1980)

Biographical history

Primalta was registered as a trademark in 1961 for clothing, footwear, headgear and textiles by Eurafric Trading Company Ltd (1958–2020). The company was incorporated in Liverpool. Men’s Primalta label cotton shirts, nylon shirts and tracksuits were advertised by retail outlets across the UK from the late 1960s until the late 1970s.
Sources: Companies House; Intellectual Property Office; Bury Free Press; Belfast Telegraph.

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Content and structure area

Scope and content

White cotton overalls with a turn-down collar, fastening at the centre front with three removable white 'bullseye' buttons. The overalls feature a button fly and two patch pockets with buttoned flaps, also fastened with removable white 'bullseye' buttons. A Tottenham Hotspur patch is stitched below the left pocket.

The overalls have been graffitied by hand in black, blue, and yellow ink across the front, back, legs, and shoulders. The right leg is marked with the Tottenham team and their positions, while the left leg features the text "Tottenham Hotspur Football Club" and "Paxton Road End." The right arm has "THFC," and the left arm lists Spurs' trophies and final appearances from 1901 to 1974. On the back, there is a large drawing in yellow and blue of the Spurs club symbol, depicting a cockerel standing on a football.

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      Physical characteristics and technical requirements

      Label: Primalta / SANFORIZED / EMPIRE MADE / SIZE 40
      Materials: cotton

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      Note

      Made by a Tottenham Hotspurs Football Club fan for the 1974 UEFA Cup Final with Feyenoord in Rotterdam.

      Note

      From Inside the Westminster Menswear Archive:

      GRAFFITI COVERED OVERALLS
      Primalta
      1974
      Young men started wearing butcher’s coats and white overalls to football games in the UK in the early 1970s. These garments were often graffitied with the players’ names, club crests, and insults directed at opposing teams. These overalls are decorated with felt-tip pen graffiti commemorating the 1974 UEFA Cup Final between Tottenham and Feyenoord held on 21 and 29 May 1974. The final was split into two legs, with Spurs supporters rioting in Rotterdam after Feyenoord scored in the first half. In footage from this incident, numerous Spurs supporters can be seen wearing butcher’s coats, many of which have been heavily defaced. The inscriptions include a list of Spurs’ trophies and final appearances from 1901 to 1974; a list of Spurs players and their positions; and a large drawing of the Spurs' cockerel crest.
      Cotton
      Archive no. 2020.80
      82

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