The Shirts of D10S
As Diego Maradona's 1984-85 shirts are our most popular items, we thought it would make a nice blog if we could detail out what exact shirt he wore in every single game that season - ideally with video and photographic evidence for every single game! It's taken us a few weeks and - bar 2 very minor pieces of detail - we're basically there.
In spite of what you might actually read elsewhere, Diego Maradona's first game for Napoli at any level was a friendly against little known US Castel del Piano on Thursday 2nd August 1984. Napoli were based there for their pre-season training. Castel del Piano is a small town of 5,000 inhabitants between Perugia and Grosseto, but it is said that in those 15 days between July and August 1984 over 30,000 Neapolitans crowded it to witness their first glimpse of Diego in Italy. He then went onto make his competitive debut for Napoli in the Coppa Italia on Wednesday 22nd Aug 1984 against SS Arezzo. Diego scored 1 and assisted a team-mate to another. He finally made his Serie A debut on Sunday 16th September 1984 away to Hellas Verona. Hans-Peter Briegel's close marking made sure it was an unhappy first outing.
His first goal in Serie A came on Sunday 23rd September 1984 at home to UC Sampdoria and his first away goal coming almost a month later on Sunday 14th October 1984 away to SS Lazio. The game against Lazio was unique in that it marked the only time that Diego wore a short-sleeved yellow shirt for Napoli. It would be worn again later in the season away to FC Inter Milan, but that time with long sleeves. Lazio are notable in that they were the first team that Diego scored a competitive hat-trick against in Serie A - an incredible trio of goals that has to be seen to be believed.
The only 2 games that we are missing some info on are 2 friendly games that took place during that season. The first was against little-known Pro Calcio Afragolese, which took place at some point in November 1984. But we don't know the exact date or if Diego scored in the game. The final game was one of urban legend: when he played in a fundraising match in one of the poorest suburbs of Naples to aid a sick child in need of an expensive operation. It was acts like this that only helped build his reputation in Naples. We know this game took place at some point near the end of 1984, but again we don't know exactly when or even where and against whom. If anyone has this info, please get in touch.
All the detail of every game that Diego played in during the 84/85 Italian season can be found below; including how many goals he scored and what exact shirt he wore in each game. The shirt illustrations have been kindly provided by our friends at Museum of Jerseys.
| Date | Opponent | H/A? | Score | Goals | Shirt | Photo | Video |
| Thu 02 Aug 84 | Castel del Piano | A | 1 - 13 | 4 |  |
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| Thu 09 Aug 84 | Arezzo | A | 2 - 4 | 2 | |
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| Sun 12 Aug 84 | Siena | A | 0 - 4 | - | |
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| Thu 16 Aug 84 | Livorno | A | 0 - 3 | ? | |
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| Fri 17 Aug 84 | Reggello | A | 0 - 9 | 2 | |
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| Sun 19 Aug 84 | River Plate | H | 0 - 0 | - | |
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| Wed 22 Aug 84 | Arezzo | H | 4 - 1 | 1 | |
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| Sun 26 Aug 84 | Casertana | A | 0 - 3 | 1 | |
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| Wed 29 Aug 84 | Perugia | A | 0 - 0 | - |  |
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| Sun 02 Sep 84 | Pescara | A | 0 - 3 | 1 |  |
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| Wed 05 Sep 84 | Cannes | A | 0 - 2 | 1 | |
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| Sun 09 Sep 84 | Fiorentina | H | 1 - 1 | - | |
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| Sun 16 Sep 84 | Hellas Verona | A | 3 - 1 | - | |
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| Sun 23 Sep 84 | Sampdoria | H | 1 - 1 | 1 | |
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| Sun 30 Sep 84 | Torino | A | 3 - 0 | - | |
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| Sun 07 Oct 84 | Como | H | 3 - 0 | 1 | |
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| Sun 14 Oct 84 | Lazio | A | 1 - 1 | 1 |  |
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| Sun 21 Oct 84 | Milan | H | 0 - 0 | - | |
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| Sun 28 Oct 84 | Atalanta | A | 1 - 0 | - | |
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| Thu 1 Nov 84 | Pro Cisterna | A | 1 - 7 | 5 |  |
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| November | Afragolese | A | ? | - | |
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| Sun 11 Nov 84 | Avellino | H | 0 - 0 | - | |
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| Sun 18 Nov 84 | Ascoli | A | 1 - 1 | - | |
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| Sun 25 Nov 84 | Cremonese | H | 1 - 0 | - | |
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| Sun 02 Dec 84 | Inter | A | 2 - 1 | - |  |
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| Sun 16 Dec 84 | AS Roma | H | 1 - 2 | - | |
 
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| Sun 23 Dec 84 | Juventus | A | 2 - 0 | - |  |
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| Sun 06 Jan 85 | Udinese | H | 4 - 3 | 2 | |
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| Sun 13 Jan 85 | Fiorentina | A | 0 - 1 | 1 |  |
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| Sun 20 Jan 85 | Hellas Verona | H | 0 - 0 | - | |
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| Sun 27 Jan 85 | Sampdoria | A | 0 - 0 | - | |
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| Sun 10 Feb 85 | Torino | H | 2 - 1 | 1 | |
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| Sun 17 Feb 85 | Como | A | 1 - 1 | 1 | |
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| Sun 24 Feb 85 | Lazio | H | 4 - 0 | 3 | |
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| Wed 27 Feb 85 | Milan | H | 1 - 1 | - | |
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| Sun 03 Mar 85 | Milan | A | 2 - 1 | - | |
 
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| Sun 17 Mar 85 | Atalanta | H | 1 - 0 | - | |
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| Sun 24 Mar 85 | Avellino | A | 0 - 1 | - | |
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| Sun 31 Mar 85 | Ascoli | H | 1 - 1 | 1 | |
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| Sun 14 Apr 85 | Cremonese | A | 1 - 1 | - | |
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| Sun 21 Apr 85 | Inter | H | 3 - 1 | - | |
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| Sun 28 Apr 85 | AS Roma | A | 1 - 1 | - | |
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| Sun 05 May 85 | Juventus | H | 0 - 0 | - | |
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| Sun 12 May 85 | Udinese | A | 2 - 2 | 2 | |
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| Sun 19 May 85 | Fiorentina | H | 1 - 0 | - | |
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