The Junior/Middle school I eventually played for had kept on being 3rd place or also-rans. The official school kit had been blue and yellow quarters with white shorts and blue and yellow hooped socks. When I went to the school I played in the team from the 2nd year on until he 5th [not saying I was good or anything ]. We came 3rd or 4th again, I think. No medals anyway. In my second season we changed to white socks and our drab kit had a fresh look. It gave us all a lift. So much so that we won the league at a canter, then won it the next year, then runners-up in my final year at the school. So I always associate hooped socks with crap [and they simply don't look good anyway] and white socks with class and style, 'cause we played some cracking football for a schools side back then. The lesson was, though we were too young to know it, back then, that when you're looking for every last advantage over your opponents, that last drop of confidence could be the thing that brings success rather than failure. We had suddenly looked great in our kits, and it made us feel a lot better, so we played a lot better. Basic psychology. For me, socks don't have to be white. Just don't **** about with them. Leave them essentially a single colour, or maybe a single thin band of difference at the top of the sock. The better they look, the better the kit looks, the better the players will play.
No van Dijk in the 25 man squad for France. Bertrand, Redmond and JWP all in. Cedric isn't though. Hopefully it isn't an injury, and hopefully he isn't off somewhere else!
https://southamptonfc.com/news/2017-07-24/southampton-pre-season-france-squad-announcement Full list.
As a school child, and merely as an observer and not someone wearing it, I have very fond memories of school hockey kit.
The other McCarthy. The GK that has been injured for 98% of his Saints career including the worlds longest layout with a pulled hamstring.