The green detail at the collar is the one thing on this shirt that is not red, and it has been there in one form or another for decades. It is also the part that changes most between seasons, which is why people can date a Liverpool shirt from a photograph of the neckline alone.

If you are buying an older design, that trim is what to look at in the listing photos. It is the fastest way to confirm you have the year you meant.

Liverpool shirts get printed with forward numbers more than anything else, which follows the club's history fairly directly. The numbers people ask for are the ones attached to players who stayed, rather than the ones attached to a single season.

The practical version: if you know the recipient's favourite player, print his number. If you do not, print a surname — it removes the risk of choosing an era they did not mean.

The home shirt is the safe buy and the one everybody recognises. The away designs are where the club has done the more interesting work — including some that people still ask for years later.

Fit is standard English: roomy enough to layer, your usual size normally correct. If you are between sizes and want it to sit like clothing rather than kit, take the smaller one.