We know them for their prowess on the pitch rather than for their fashionable flair beyond it, but that isn't to say that footballers – yes, they're everywhere at the moment, so if you can't beat 'em, join 'em – don't necessarily have something to add to the annals of style history too.

There's the obvious example, of course, of Cristiano Ronaldo's championing of the 'murse' (that's a 'man purse') many years ago. Had he not so brazenly, and so regularly, stepped out with an incongruous clutch under one arm, would we have seen the sudden uptake in man-bags and portfolio cases of recent seasons? Discuss.

And Beckham, too. Now there's a man whose sartorial flair has blossomed even at the same rate as his fabulous wife's has. In fact, you can easily divide football's interest in fashion into pre- and post-Beckham.

It's the public personae of men like these that have developed so brilliantly the footballer's sartorial recitative of T-shirt and jeans into something both weird and wonderful. Not for this demographic Mr. Normcore; footballers either do fashion well, or very, very 'interestingly'...