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End of an Errea Part Five - 2011-2014

Errea have made their last Brighton and Hove Albion kit after 15 long years with the club naming Nike as their "technical partner" from the start of the 2014/15 season.

The Italian company proved to be popular with fans having produced some of the best kits in the clubs history as well as being around for some of the most successful times, particularly with the move to The Amex.

In this mammoth five part series (presuming we don't get bored and give up after three), WeAreBrighton.com takes a look back at every shirt worn by the Albion that Errea came up with.

Part Five means that, against all odds, we haven't given up after three and have made it through the final instalment, containing all the kits worn since the move to The Amex. Thanks for the memories, Errea.

The First Game at the Amex Kit 2011:
What better way to celebrate the first game at a stadium you have waited 14 years for than a special edition kit. This one was available to purchase by fans and even came in it's own commemorative box which was a nice touch to ramp the price up. Simplistic in it's design, it featured blue and white stripes, white sleeves, white shorts and blue socks. The red numbers on the back and lack of sponsorship all added to the feel of a kit straight from the glory days of the 1970s which was rather apt for it's only use to come on that glorious day when The Amex opened for the first time for a first team game against Spurs
The First Game at Amex Goalkeeper Kit 2011:
Alongside that special edition kit for the first game at The Amex came a goalkeepers number as well. Taking it's lead from the outfield players kit, it too harked back to a bygone era which made it slightly disappointing that Casper Ankergren and Peter Brezovan didn't play the game minus goalkeeping gloves and while wearing flat caps. The gold inscription marking the significance of the occasion stood out far more on this little number than on its stripey cousin, as did Sexy Pete's goalkeeping while wearing it after gifting the winner to Jake Livermore with some typically questionable goalkeeping.
The First Amex Home Kit 2011-2013:
Statistically, this was the most successful home kit in 30 seasons if you take into account the league position it led the Albion two of fourth in the second tier. It will of course forever be associated with moments like hammering Palace at home, Vicente conducting an orchestra of flair and THAT game against Doncaster. It reverted to the classic 1990's look of blue and white stripes, blue shorts and white socks with the modern day addition of a smidgen of gold trim and was the first (and only) kit to be sponsored Brightonandhovejobs.com.
The Green and Black Away Kit 2011-2013:
First impressions were that this kit was bloody horrible and resembled somebody who had drunk too much Red Bull being violently sick onto a black t-shirt. But if anything proves that you should give something new time to grow on you, this was shirt was it as it proved to be one of the more popular away kits of the Errea era. Lime green and black stripes, black shorts and lime green socks was a bold and surprisingly successful mixture that also worked well with alternative lime green shorts and black socks when the occasion called for it.
The Lime Green Goalkeeper Kit 2011-2013:
The first goalkeeper kits of The Amex did what few of the predecessors managed and survived for two seasons. Somebody in the costume department at Errea must have been going through a serious fetish for lime green at this stage in their design careers as not only was the away kit reliant on that colour but the first choice goalkeepers shirt was based around it entirely. It featured a blue and white hoop around the midriff for the sponsors logo and was teemed delightfully with navy shorts and rather out of the blue, blue socks that didn't seem to match the kit in any way.
The Gold Goalkeepers Kit 2011-2013:
A lime green goalkeepers kit could obviously not be worn with a lime green away kit and so this gold little number came into being for the alternative goalkeepers kit. Used in conjunction with the away kit, it also made the odd appearance at home when we faced a side who happened to wear green. Exactly the same in design as the home effort, it too featured the blue and white hoop around the middle although this time the sponsor was in a white box. It was also worn effortlessly with navy blue shorts and again those out of place blue socks.
The White Goalkeepers Kit 2011-2013:
Of course, two completely different goalkeepers kits is never enough and so we needed a third one. And it was a return to white for the first time since the glorious days of 2009-10 and the Graeme Smith reign. The blue and white hoop was replaced with a black and - you've guessed it - lime green number with black shorts and those blue socks being paired together. This kit didn't have the finest of records, with Steve Harper wearing it in a 3-0 defeat at Southampton and David Gonzalez keeping a clean sheet in the most boring game in history on the last day of 2011-12 away at Barnsley.
The American Express Home Kit 2013-2014:
Errea's final foray into the world of the Brighton and Hove Albion home kit bought us this little number. Featuring the most white in a good few years, it infact only had two blue stripes on the main part down the front and white sleeves with one thin blue stripe along the top. Blue shorts and white socks remained in place while the well thought out plan of having yellow names and numbers on blue and white on the back of the shirt left many fans scratching their heads as to who was who - particularly from the West and East Upper - due to the fact it was completely unreadable.
The Yellow Pin Stripe Away Kit 2013-2014:
Yellow has long been seen as the traditional away colours of the Albion and so it seems apt that Errea signed off with a return to yellow for their final change strip. It was the first time the colour had been used in five years and as opposed to the normal deal of it being the colour of the shirts, shorts and socks we were treated to navy blue shorts. The shirt featured navy blue pin stripes as well which represented yet another stylish effort from the Italian suppliers. And as became the case in their final years, it also had it's own alternative shorts and socks of yellow and navy respectively.
The All Green Goalkeepers Kit 2013-2014:
With goalkeepers kits of all one colour having been the rage for some time, it incredibly took until their final season for Errea to get into the game and provide three for Brighton. The first choice among those was an emerald kind of shade of green that was used for home matches. The bizaarre design of a black colour complete with a white trim made it appear as if it was one of those fancy zip up cycling tops but alas no such technology was present for Tomasz Kuszczak, Capser Ankergren and Peter Brezovan to exploit on this kit.
The All Red Goalkeepers Kit 2013-2014:
If you have bothered to read the entirety of this series, you'll know that we bloody love our red goalkeepers kits. There frankly hasn't been enough of them down the years to satisfy that obsession which is why last seasons away goalkeepers kit was one of, if not THE best that Errea produced during their 15 years. Worn in conjunction with the yellow number, it of course suffered the fate of being used in that fateful play off semi final defeat to Derby County. And while the Rams made it through to Wembley by dishing out a hammering, at least we had the stylish player on the field in Tomasz Kuszczak that day. 
The All Yellow Goalkeepers Kit 2013-2014:
So we've got a yellow away kit? Check. Here is a bloody good idea - why not bring out a yellow goalkeepers kit as well? Of course this is not quite on the scale of the three blue kits cock up of 2008-09, but was this little effort really needed? It was worn on just a handful of occasions, mainly at home against sides whom the green couldn't be worn or presumably just because Tomasz Kuszczak realised how damn good he looked in yellow. It again featured that delightful little fake zip colour with the American Express sponsor being in a distinguished black.