Historical Football Kits

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15 May Additions for 2012-13: Crewe Alexandra, Milton Keynes Dons.

The fire that gutted Southport's main stand, offices and changing rooms in 1966 also destroyed the club archive so it is always a delight when something new turns up, especially when, as with this team photograph from 1958-59, an unrecorded kit is revealed. Fleetwood Freeport (2000-01 added); Wrexham (1976 ECWC one-off kit added).

14 May 2012-13 additions: Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle United (A), St Mirren, Burnley, Wigan Athletic.

8 May: The 2012 FA Cup Final kits have been added.

While spring cleaning the Dundee section (2003-04 European kit, 2012-13, crest history added and a brilliant one-off strip posted in the SFL Division One section) I came across this image hidden behind a radiator.

This is how our graphics looked when we launched the website in June 2006.

That does seem rather a long time ago.

4 May: Fleetwood Town have been added to our Football League section and a brand spanking new Welsh Premier 2011-12 section is now available. An Irish Premiership section will follow shortly.

MLS 2012 - Toronto FC (A), Houston Dynamos (3rd) added - too orangey for crows, that one.

2012-13 additions: Sheffield United.

Port Vale (1952 crest added).

1 May - more 2012-13 kits: Crystal Palace, Swindon Town, Brentford, Middlesbrough, Falkirk.

30 April - 2012-13 additions: Celtic, Rangers, Cowdenbeath, Hereford United, Cambridge United, Bristol Rovers, Leeds United, Carlisle United.

25 April: The current Notts County home kit used in away games has been added and detailing on Preston North End (3rd), Walsall (H) updated. Portsmouth (1989-93 crest added).

Newcastle United (1898-99 added - photo left; 1897-98, 1965-66 amended; 1973-74 third socks altered).

Arsenal (1910-11, 1913-14, 1917-18 added; 1945-46 change added; I've rendered the early kits to 1918 in a darker shade of red to be more consistent with photographic evidence and the 1919-28 graphics now have the correct lace-up shirts. A good example is shown here in this card showing J Rutherford and promoting a product that somehow has not survived. Yum.

24 April: During the 1920s and 30s, Aston Villa wore some very distinctive change shirts such as this one modelled by Pongo Waring. Like their "home" tops these were ribbed woolen garments that must have been extremely heavy whenwet but which would have kept the players warm in even the coldest winters. As we can now see, the necks were secured with attractive tassles rather than conventional laces. (1933-34, 1934-35, 1955-56 change kits added.)

For years I have believed that West Bromwich Albion wore mid-blue and white striped shirts until 1920 but the 1891 cutting posted on 20 April below has forced me to re-evaluate this opinion. In the second paragraph the writer states that West Bromwich have always used the navy and white and have had it registered as being the senior wearers. After reviewing photographs from the period, I have concluded that the lighter shade evident in many is due to fading of the shirts and/or the now well-documented limitations of contemporary photography. On the right is the Albion team in 1887-88 showing how much variation there was in individual shirts at the time.

Thanks to the magisterial and hugely entertaining History of the Queen's Park FC 1867-1917 (Richard Robinson 1920) I have been able to add five very early kits (1868-1876) to the Queen's Park section as well as detailing for Scotland's first kits. You can download a free PDF of Robinson's book (long out of print but a must for anyone interested in the early history of Scottish football) from Brian McColl's excellent Scottish Football Historical Archive.

23 April: Mansfield Town (2012-13 added): AFC Wimbledon (2012-13 added): Tottenham Hotspur (Boxing Day 1945 change, Xmas Day 1950 change, 1967-68 change worn at Lyons kits added; 1962-63 change amended): the one-off kit worn by Scarborough in the 2003-04 FA Cup against Chelsea has been added.

20 April: This cutting, discovered by long term HFK contributor Kjell Hanssen in the Burnley Express archive from 11 July 1891 is pure gold. Not only does it shed light on an obscure period, it indirectly confirms that the Football League required member clubs to register distinctive colours for the 1891-92 season. We learn, for example, that Stoke and Darwen were waiting to find out what Burnley would opt for before choosing their own colours. I believe this futile rule was dropped when the Second Division was formed in 1892.

It does pose one puzzle however, by referring to West Bromwich Albion's colours as navy and white. The various sources we have accessed suggest that Albion adopted navy after the Great War but we would like confirmation.

As a result of this new information we have Bolton Wanderers (1890-91 revised; 1891-92 added): Burnley (1890-91 added): Derby County (1890-91 revised): Wolverhampton Wanderers (1891-92 revised):

More "Buy From" links have been added to the Euro 2012 and Chelsea sections. Partick Thistle have a new shirt sponsor. Leyton Orient (2012-13 added).

Wales (1881, 1883 added): Scotland (1902 & 1972 change added): Northern Ireland (sequence of dates modified).

The origin of Tottenham Hotspur's cockerel crest is now explained in the club section. Rotherham United (1985-86 added).

We will be adding a Fleetwood Town gallery in due course following the club's promotion to the Football League. All contributions to their kit history will be most welcome.

19 April: Spain's Euro 2012 away kit has been corrected. Norwich City 2012-13 home kit added.

Gillingham have announced that next season they will be wearing a re-creation of the red and blue kit worn in 1913-14. This marks 100 years since the club changed their name from New Brompton. The original crest, the town's coat of arms, will be embroidered onto the brand new shirts. Shown here is the team, with the Lord Mayor, proudly showing off their brand new kit in 1913. (Photograph from Gillingham FC, Roger Triggs 1999).

Historical Updates: Exeter City (1986-87, 1987-88 added): Bristol Rovers (1980-82 crest added): Hereford United (1988-89 missing details now added): Port Vale (1988-89 added; 1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1986-87 detailing updated: 1983 crest added).

17 April: The Euro 2012 section has been updated after Nike released details of more of their kits.

A missing badge from the 1966 FA Cup final has been added to the crest history on Sheffield Wednesday's page an the FA Cup Final section. Also added are kits from November 1973-74, 1981-83 while there are two new graphics for 1983-84.

15 April...and we're back in the room. We've been taking a break over the past four weeks to recharge the batteries and now we're back, ready to start work on the backlog of contributions in the HFK inbox.

I was very taken with this image submitted by David Drew, a rare, if not unique, example of a large painted ceramic tile showing a football match. It was commissioned in 1878 from Copelands and installed in the home of a very wealthy individual in Glasgow. I do not think the artist intended to depict real teams in action but rather to evoke the spirit of the game, with perhaps Anglo-Scottish rivalry in mind (click on the thumbnail to examine the image, and the crests on the players' jerseys, in more detail).

We have learned that the Welsh national team played in a variety of colours in the 19th century, probably because the cash-strapped FA of Wales bought whatever they could afford for the team. We hope to have more details later this year but in the meantime we have been able to establish their strips from 1877 and 1888. This photograph from 1886 fails to shed any light as the players are wearing their club strips. None, as far as I know, are from Ruabon FC, who now feature in the Eminent Victorians section.

The one-off silver outfit launched by Brentford a little while ago was not used in the match with Notts County as planned and will instead appear next season. Birmingham City have officially dropped their striped away shirts, which have not been worn this season. Missing detailing has been added to the current Sporting Kansas and Aberdeen graphics.

Just like Christmas shopping, the season for new kits comes round earlier each year. First off the mark for 2012-13 are Ipswich Town closely followed by Chelsea.

Euro 2012 is now complete with the addition of France (H) & Sweden (A). Updates will be added to the group sections once the tournament is underway but meanwhile the FA has announced the strips England will wear in their Group D games.

14 March: This interesting photograph, submitted by Nick from the fine Up The Maggies website, shows a Notts County player wearing the distinctive chevron shirts from 1923-26. This is the first time that I've had an image with sufficient detail to make out the details of the crest, which is clearly a magpie rather than the town coat of arms as I previously thought. The use of emblems like this was very new at the time and the trend was probably started by Tottenham Hotspur who adopted their cockerel badge in 1921.

The MLS 2012 section as been updated. Links to various newly available replica shirts have been added to the Newcastle United Home & Away, Oldham Athletic, Swansea City, Hibernian and Republic of Ireland galleries. Hibs' famous purple and white change shirt from 1977 is available via the Iconic Away Kits section.

2 March Euro 2012 Updates: Spain (A), Denmark (A), Sweden (H) added: detailing on England (H), Netherlands (A), Italy (A) amended. Several new "Buy From" links have been added as the new shirts arrive with our affiliate partners. By purchasing your replica shirts through these links, you will be supporting HFK as we earn a modest commission on each sale.

28 February: Here we have a fine formal photograph of Jock Espie of Burnley, dated 1896 and found by George Chilvers. This date resolves an anomoly in the record (we had previously believed it dated from several years earlier). This very distinctive style of striped shirts was worn by only two or three teams.

Other Historical Updates: Lincoln City (late 1982-83 variant added): Port Vale (1986-87 added): Manchester City (shade of blue adjusted on 2003-07 graphics): Clydebank (1975-77 logos added): Celtic (2001-03 socks amended): St Johnstone (1976-77 added; 1910-14 collar adjusted).

Ukraine (A) added to Euro 2012. Crest on Portland Timbers 3rd kit revised. Bristol Rovers 1974 strip added to Classic Kits Section.

24 February 2011-12 Updates: Brentford (special added), Preston North End (3rd added), Aston Villa (FA Cup Away added), Torquay United (socks corrected), Dundee United (H&A shorts swapped over), Columbus Crew (sponsorship added), Chivas USA (H added), New England Revolution (H added), San Jose Earthquakes (H&A added).

23 February: Following on from the discovery of Wigan Borough's crest (3 January), George Chilvers has provoked a concerted effort among the Wigan Athletic supporters' community to establish the colour of Borough's jerseys in 1924-26. Among the tantalising clues discovered is this rare and fragile programme recently sold at auction. Unfortunately the image was not of sufficient quality to make out the description of Borough's colours, although the letters G**** and White can just about be made out. The final corroboration arrived with the discovery of a report from the AGM in July 1926 when it was noted the team's jerseys had been changed from green to gold and black (my emphasis). This colourised image is by George and HFK would like to extend thanks to everyone involved in solving this long-standing conundrum.

The radically new England strip has been added. Additions to Euro 2012: England (H), Greece (H & A), Germany (A modified), Czech Rep (A), Croatia (A), France (A), Italy (A), Russia (A).

8 February: Republic of Ireland (new away added): Scotland (new away added): Croatia (Euro 2012 home added).

6 February: The 2012 Major League Soccer gallery is now open. Just take the lift to the third floor and follow the signs. Visitors are kindly asked to avoid dropping food crumbs on the new carpets.

Smoking is not permitted in any part of the HFK complex.

3 February: This photograph shows clearly the details of Wigan Borough's crest as it appeared in 1925 and it is not, as we had previously thought, made up of the Wigan coat of arms but the letters WBFC intertwined. We have assumed the jerseys are gold but have not been able to confirm this.

Wigan Athletic (1964-65 added; 1933-34 socks corrected; minor tweaks to 1965-69 graphics): Derby County (1925-26 crest amended): Kidderminster Harriers (1903-04 added).

23 January: This season marks the 125th anniversary of the formation of Glossop North End and to mark the occasion the club has introduced this special commemorative shirt, based on the top worn when the team played in the First Dvision for one season in 1899-1900. It is this team that is featured in HFK's banner at the top of every page on the site. Incidentally, the gentleman wearing a button-hole and gazing proudly across the team from the far right of our banner is their chairman, Samuel Hill-Wood. The son of a succesful cotton magnate, Hill-Wood was captain of Derbyshire Cricket Club and funded the Glossop football team until the outbreak of World War One. Elected MP for High Peak in 1910, he was created a baronet in 1921 and presided over Arsenal during their first period of success in the mid 1930s. His descendants remain inextricably linked to Arsenal FC and when Glossop reached the FA Vase final in 2009, they were presented with a silver plate from the London club as well as the use of their training facilities.

Updates: Swindon Town (2011-12 FA Cup strip added).

19 January: Tim Ashmore recently passed on this interesting observation from Mark Wylie, curator of the Manchester United museum. Among the collection in his care is a minute book from 1934 that records that the FA had agreed to the club changing their registered "home" colours from red to "maroon and hoop" (sic) from 3 March of that year. These tops have been commonly described as "cherry and white" but Mark has confirmed there are no contemporary references to these terms. I am delighted to add this to the record and, in the process, have extensively reviewed our entries for United's Home and Away sections with the latest information from the superlative unitedkits.com, the site that Tim runs with Paul Nagel.

Euro 2012 Updates: Republic of Ireland (H) added, Poland updated.

6 January: Today we launch our Euro 2012 section as a work in progress. With many of the participating nations still to announce their playing strips, we encourage visitors to let us know as new kits are launched (but please no leaks). Once the tournament is underway we will post strips in the Match-by-Match sections, building up the definitive record of the competition.

Please take care to avoid wet paint in the new gallery and place children in the receptacles provided.

5 January: A very Happy New Year to you.

Today's updates: Newcastle United's (new shirt sponsor): Coventry City (2012 FA Cup strip added): Third Lanark (1959-60 added).

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