Historical Football Kits

A Brief History of Football Kit Design in England and Scotland

Dave Moor (April 2007)

The Victorian Period (1857-1899)

Organised Association Football emerged in the early 1860s but it was not until 1863 that the first nationally recognised rules were established with the formation of the Football Association (FA). In those early days clubs did not wear uniform kits: players would turn out in whatever they had to hand and teams would be distinguished by wearing distinctively coloured caps, scarves or sashes. Spectators were generally regarded as a nuisance and the game was a robust pursuit for gentlemen from public schools. The leading clubs were formed by old boys either as associations of former pupils (Old Etonians, Old Carthusians etc), by officers serving in the Army (Royal Engineers) and at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Each public school played under its own unique set of rules so organising games between them was problematic but gradually two codes emerged. The handling game, originating at Rugby School emerged as Rugby Football while Association Football evolved from rules set out at Cambridge University and by the Sheffield Club. In Scotland the game was pioneered by Queen's Park FC (formed 1867) who affiliated to the (English) Football Association and helped form the Scottish FA in 1873.

During the mid to late 1870s the first uniform kits began to appear. In England colours were often those of the public schools and sports clubs with which the game was associated: Blackburn Rovers first wore the pale blue and white of Cambridge University where several of their founders were educated, while Reading first played in the salmon pink, pale blue and claret colours of the rowing club that spawned them. In first FA Cup final in 1872, Wanderers wore pink, black and cerise while their opponents, The Royal Engineers played in dark red and navy shirts. Colours were changed frequently depending on what local suppliers could provide and the players could afford. The game was played almost exclusively by middle class men who could afford to buy a shirt in their clubs colours. That said, plain white shirts were the most popular kit of the period, being both relatively cheap and easily obtainable.

In contrast, the sport was taken up enthusiastically by the working class in the central belt of Scotland during the 1870s, when the English game continued to be dominated by former public school clubs. Queen's Park provided all eleven players for the first ever international fixture between England and Scotland in 1872 and their navy shirts, white knickerbockers with red hose (stockings) became the most popular choice for the new clubs that sprang up north of the border in this period. Indeed, these remain Scotland's national colours (Queens Park did not adopt their famous black and white hoops until 1873). The formation of Hibernian FC in 1875 by impoverished Irish emigres living in Edinburgh marked another departure from the game's English upper middle class origins. With the active support of the Catholic church, similar clubs sprang up all over Scotland, wearing green and white to celebrate their Irish roots. The sectarianism that was a feature of Scottish life quickly became apparent: blue (usually navy), white and red are the colours of Unionism and became associated with the Presbyterian establishment while green and white were universally adopted by the clubs with roots in the poor Catholic minority. These sectarian roots faded away over time with the notable exception of the intense rivalry between Rangers and Celtic.

The first manufacturer of sports wear in the UK was Bukta who were established in 1879.

Players' tops were often described as "jerseys" (a close fitting knitted garment without a collar) and occasionally as "guernseys" (a heavier garment similar to a jersey and associated with fishermen). Burnley's tops in 1884 were described as blue and white "sarks," which means a loose fitting chemise or shirt (with collar). One of my contributors, Alick Milne, has suggested that if players placed their nuts in an "Aldernay" the association with the Channel Islands would be complete.

While there were several examples of halved and quartered tops the most popular designs were self-coloured or hooped, (described as "striped"). Vertical stripes did not appear until circa 1883, when the term "shirts" appeared for the first time. While it was technically possibly to produce vertical striped tops before this, it may have been cheaper to produce knitted garments in horizontal stripes. I speculate that the introduction of vertically striped shirts in the early 1880s was a result of mass participation in the game that stimulated a dramatic growth in demand for tops in distinctive colours that could be produced at economic prices.

Players who were picked for their county or international team sewed the appropriate badge onto their jerseys for club games and in team pictures, it was not unusual for players to wear medals won in cup competition. Over time the exotic colour combinations of the earliest era of organised English football began to disappear. I believe two factors were at work here, one practical and the other economic. The early rules made players in front of the ball "offside" (as in rugby football) and the game featured forwards who would dribble the ball towards their opponent's goal supported by a mob of players. Changes in the rules allowed players to pass the ball forward (a tactic pioneered by Queen's Park FC) making it essential that the player in possession could distinguish his colleagues from opponents. While multi-coloured shirts might look attractive as the players trot onto the pitch, they can be difficult to pick out on a gloomy winter afternoon, especially when covered with mud. It is interesting to note that rugby union clubs generally retained their multi-coloured shirts, perhaps because the offside rule means that only players behind the ball are in play (so there is less need to pick out a team mate at a distance or in front of play).

The economic factors were probably more significant. A survey of Scottish clubs in the 1870s and early 1880s reveals that most clubs played in plain jerseys (navy, red, maroon, green or rarely white) or narrow hoops in a combination of two of these colours. Remember that players had to buy their own kit in those days: the working class lads that took up the sport would not be inclined to join clubs that required expensive colour combinations associated with public schools or universities that they had no connection with. Vertically striped shirts began to appear in the early 1880s and were usually much more narrow than their modern counterparts.

During the 1880s the balance of power in England shifted decisively from the middle class clubs of the south towards the industrial heartlands of the midlands and northwes. Rows over broken time payments led in 1885 to a decision by the FA to recognise professionalism and The Football League was formed in 1888 to provide the leading clubs with regular fixtures against the best sides. The owners of these clubs were usually self-made men with successful careers in the textile, steel and allied industries. Their interest was in the commercial potential of association football as a commercial venture. Attracting the best players and playing the best opposition so that they could charge growing numbers of spectators to watch their matches began to drive the game. As association football developed as a spectator sport, the importance of supporters being able to pick out their own team from a distance became evident, giving added impetus to the development of simple kits in contrasting, primary colours. One of the consequences of the introduction of professionalism in England was that the best players in Scotland were induced to move south to play for wages. The Scottish Football League was formed in 1890 but payments to players were not permitted until 1893: even then most clubs could not afford to match the wages on offer in England and the drain of talent to the south remained a bone of contention well into the 1980s.

Once clubs became professional the expense of buying playing kits fell on the club rather than the players. Secretary managers with an eye for the accounts naturally preferred to spend as little as possible reinforcing the trend towards simpler kits in basic colours. In 1890 the Football League required clubs to register their colours for the first time and stipulated that no two clubs could register similar kits. This rule was later relaxed (probably when the Second Division was added in 1892) and clubs were required to travel with a second set of shirts (usually white) in case of a colour clash.

Heavy shin guards were worn outside the socks. In England the colour of stockings were not registered until the turn of the century. Scottish FA records do, however, record include "hose," which were usually self-coloured and sometimes horizontally striped.

Knickerbockers, which had to cover the knees were only available in white, black or navy blue (occasionally grey). It was not unusual for clubs to switch from one colour to another or indeed for players in the same team to wear different knickers. Some clubs registered their knickers simply as being "dark."

One of the difficulties of recording kits from this period is that until 1890, there was no requirement on clubs to register their colours with the FA so we must rely on press coverage and other sources. Until 1914 the UK textile industry imported dyes from Germany and there was no standardisation of colour until 1930. It seems likely that terms such as cardinal red, claret, maroon and chocolate may have been used to describe similar shades of dark red, for example.

By the close of the century most of the leading clubs were wearing strips that would be recognisable today.

The Edwardian Period (1900-1915)

By 1901 the regulations that required footballers to cover their knees were relaxed and shorts (known as “knickerbockers” or "knickers") became shorter. Shirts and shorts were close fitting and made from tough, heavyweight natural fibres. For the first time, stockings became part of clubs’ strips. These were initially self-coloured but quickly design features such as contrasting rings on the turnover began to appear. The main stocking colour was always dark (red, blue, black or navy blue): pale colours did not generally appear for another 50 years.

Knickers were still only available in white, black or navy blue (occasionally grey). It was exceedingly rare for clubs to wear matching shirts and shorts although Swansea Town (now Swansea City) have always worn all-white.

Shirts with laced crew necks became popular but a variety of collar designs were evident. Striped shirts were popular and the trend was for stripes to become wider than they had been during the previous century. Striped jerseys tend to make the wearer appear taller while hoops emphasise the wearer's bulk. This seems to be the reason why rugby teams favour hoops while soccer clubs prefer vertical stripes. This trend was not followed in Scotland, where hoops of various widths became increasingly popular and are to this day.

Unusual designs that appeared in this period included yoked shirts (most prominently worn by Bradford City when they won the FA Cup in 1911) and the bold V design (Clapton Orient, Birmingham and others). These faded from fashion although the V design continued to be favoured by Rugby League clubs in the north of England. Pink and Salmon Pink also fell out of favour although shades of light blue continued to be popular. The reasons for this are obscure but we can speculate that pink was not considered sufficiently manly for the working men who both played and watched the game in ever growing numbers. Perhaps the English adage "pink for a girl and blue for a boy" has a wider application than what baby wears!

The Inter-War Period (1919-1939)

The Football League was suspended at the end of the 1914-15 season for the duration of the Great War. Some clubs continued to play with official sanction in order to boost civilian morale but were forbidden to pay players. The majority closed down for the duration and more than a few went out of business. In Scotland the First Division continued but the Scottish Second Division was suspended and it appears from Brian McColl's research that the members were disenfranchised around 1918.

When the Football League resumed in 1919 the First and Second Divisions were both extended from 20 to 22 clubs each. The following season the First Division of the Southern League was incorporated as associate members of the Football League to form Division Three. A year later the leading northern non-league sides were incorporated and the regional Third Divisions South and North were formed. The Scottish Football League also resumed in 1919 but without a Second Division. The surviving members formed a rebel Central League that proved such a threat that it was incorporated into the Scottish League structure in 1921

There was little innovation in kit design during the 1920s although, with both the English and Scottish leagues having expanded, there was considerably more diversity. Bukta's domination as suppliers of football kits was challenged by the formation of a new company in 1920, Humphrey Brothers Clothing, which became in 1924 Umbro.

In 1927 the Scottish Football League's management committee decided that clubs should wear white shorts when at home, black when playing away. The reasons behind this bizarre rule are lost and it proved very unpopular with clubs and fans alike: there is some evidence that the more influential sides openly flouted the rule, which was rescinded at the league's Annual General Meeting in June 1929.

During the 1930s several innovations to kit design appeared. The laced crew neck began to disappear in favour of collared shirts with a short fly (a style that remained traditional in rugby union until quite recently) and stripes began to appear on the side of shorts. In 1933 Herbert Chapman introduced a radical new look to the Arsenal kit incorporating contrasting sleeves and hooped stockings.

In 1939 numbers on the back of players' shirts were introduced in England although Chapman's Arsenal had experimented with numbered shirts earlier. Kit became more generously cut, giving rise to the baggy shorts reaching to the knee so fondly remembered on shorter players.

In 1939 the Football League and Scottish Football League were suspended following the outbreak of war with Nazi Germany.

The Post War Period (1946-1959)

Numbered shirts were first introduced in Scotland in 1946 but were not compulsory until the early 1960s. Celtic, rather quirkily, insisted on wearing their numbers on the players' shorts until comparatively recently.

Clothing rationing limited the ability of clubs to replace their kits and several were forced to change from their traditional colours to those that they could purchase with ration coupons. Southport FC turned out for several seasons in green and white hoops, a gift from one of the club’s directors made during the war; Oldham had to borrow a set of red and white hooped jerseys from the local rugby league club and West Brom wore plain blue. It appears that Clyde FC turned out in khaki shirts during 1946-47, although the reason for this is obscure. Laced crew necks all but disappeared aside from a few die-hard traditionalist clubs in favour of collared shirts. Hooped stockings became extremely popular. During the early Fifties most clubs stuck to their traditional designs with only minor alterations to shirt and stocking trims.

In 1953 Bolton Wanderers played in the FA Cup Final in a novel kit made from shiny material, the first time that artificial fabric had been used in the manufacture of shirts and shorts. Torquay United were one of the clubs to adopt this new style the following season.

The first predominantly pale stockings appeared in the early 1950s and by the end of the decade white socks became widely available.

Exposure to European football led to a dawning realisation that British football was perhaps not as superior as it had always been supposed. England’s 3-6 humiliation at Wembley by Hungary marked the beginning of a new era and over the rest of the decade, with Hibernian and Manchester United leading the way, clubs began to participate in European competition despite the initial hostility of the FA and SFA.

Continental influences were seen in new lightweight strips that began to appear in 1955, featuring bold V-necks, short sleeves and more streamlined shorts. Rather sensibly, given the winter weather north of the border, most Scottish clubs retained long sleeved versions of their shirts including old-fashioned collars. There were several innovations in design, perhaps most notably the "candy-stripes" first worn as change strips by Manchester City and Aston Villa in successive FA Cup finals (1956 and 1957 respectively). This design enjoyed a vogue that lasted until the mid Sixties and (in Scotland at least) beyond.

By the end of the Fifties the heavy playing kits and boots of previous eras had disappeared.

The Sixties and Seventies (1960-1979)

Beginning around 1960, crew necks started to replace V-necks. Shirts became ever tighter, shorts became very short indeed and stockings were lightweight.

It might be supposed that technical advances in textile manufacture and dye technology would have resulted in greater innovation in kit design. The reverse was true. The Sixties was a period when tradition was unpopular and sleek, simplified design in everything from furniture to fashion was the norm. Plain kits stood out better under floodlights, which now became universal and allowed mid week games to be played at night. Coventry City were the first club to adopt matching shirts and shorts in 1962 (although all white kits had been popular as change colours and of course are Swansea's traditional kits). The idea was taken up by Chelsea (1963), Liverpool (1964) and Aberdeen (1966) setting a trend that led to many well-loved traditional designs disappearing. A survey of kits worn around 1970 reveals a picture of drab uniformity.

In the 1960s clubs started to wear numbers on their shorts for the first time, an innovation that became practically universal in the 1980s and 1990s.

During the Seventies a reaction gradually set in as clubs began to assert their individuality once more. In 1969, the manager of Aston Villa, Tommy Docherty, introduced a radical redesign of the club’s traditional strip featuring a collar with V inset. Within a few years almost every League club was wearing similar collars. (These had in fact first appeared in the mid 1950s and were worn by Hearts during the early 1960s but had not caught on.) As the decade wore on more clubs adopted new look strips (Burnley, Crystal Palace) or returned to traditional themes (Bristol Rovers, Huddersfield Town.)

It was Leeds’ manager Don Revie who first understood the commercial potential of distinctive club strips. He entered into a deal with a brand new kit manufacturer, Admiral, who produced the first replica kit that could be sold to fans at a premium in 1975. These featured a new club badge as well as the manufacturer’s logo. The established manufacturers, Umbro and Bukta, quickly followed suit and logos began to appear all over the place. Admiral pursued a vigorous and innovative marketing campaign, targeting the top clubs, radically redesigning their kits, which would then be showcased at important Cup Finals.

Rapidly a market was created. Instead of having to buy three or four sets of kit each season, leading clubs found that manufacturers were queuing up to offer free kits and a share of the profits from replica sales. The new kits had, of course to be distinctive to be marketable. When Manchester United adopted an Admiral kit in 1975, the popular press raised an outcry. Devoted fans now had to shell out £15 for an authentic United shirt instead of the £5 that would have bought a generic red shirt with white trim: in the pre-Thatcher era the Daily Mail for one considered this to be gross exploitation.

These commercial considerations drove a new wave of innovation in kit design. It became desirable for clubs to register copyright on their badges and to feature these on their shirts. Manufacturers competed to produce new designs that displayed their own logos to best effect. Admiral led the way and were quickly followed by Umbro and Bukta who all introduced kits that featured sleeve trim with their distinctive logos.

Towards the end of the 1970s there was increasing pressure on clubs to feature sponsor’s logos on player’s shirts, pressure that was resolutely resisted by the football and broadcasting authorities. In 1977 Hibernian became the first top-level UK club to wear shirts carrying sponsorship (by Bukta, the kit manufacturer). Derby County landed the first English deal with Saab in 1978 but the sponsored shirts were never worn after the pre-season photo shoot. It fell to Liverpool a year later to wear the first shirts to carry a sponsor’s name in the Football League in 1979.

The Eighties – The Market Rules (1980-1989)

Once Hibs and Liverpool broke the mould clubs began to exploit the potential revenue from selling shirt sponsorship. The BBC and ITV companies refused to broadcast matches featuring branded shirts, forcing clubs to remove sponsors’ logos when the cameras were present. Coventry City thought they were on a winner when they introduced a kit that incorporated the logo of the Talbot car manufacturing company into the design but the TV companies boycotted them until they introduced an alternate strip for televised games.

In 1983 the TV companies finally gave way and allowed sponsored shirts to be broadcast: immediately the value of a sponsorship deal with a club that would feature regularly on Match of the Day or the equivalent ITV programmes went through the roof. At the time, Football League regulations restricted the size of logos to a maximum of 81square centimeters (32 square inches) but for televised games they had to be half this size.

Mercifully, the English and Scottish Leagues resisted the trend seen in some countries to permit virtually unlimited advertising on players' kit. In Austria, for example, kits are plastered with three, four or even five logos as well as the club badge and manufacturer's logo, reducing teams to mobile advertising hoardings.

A third colour was introduced to the strips of most clubs: Liverpool, for example, who had introduced yellow to their kit in 1976, featured pale grey trim in the mid-1980s and later dark green.

The monopoly enjoyed by Umbro and Bukta enjoyed since time immemorial was now broken as a new breed of kit manufacturers stepped in with sophisticated new brands. Le Coq Sportif (France), Hummel (Denmark), adidas (Germany), Patrick and Hobotts (UK) captured significant sections of the market that now included selling replica kits to fans. Admiral, who had done so much to transform kits in the previous decade over-extended themselves and were bought up by adidas, although the brand re-emerged later in the decade.

In the 1982 FA Cup Final Tottenham Hotspur unveiled the first shadow stripe design and suddenly everyone was similar shirts, pin stripes or both as technology allowed for ever more intricate designs.

Towards the end of the decade shirts became more generously cut as new lightweight fabrics became available. Improvements in production allowed for intricate designs to be woven or printed into the fabric itself, permitting manufacturers to counteract the burgeoning market in cheap counterfeit kits that began to appear.

The Nineties (1990-2000)

The marketing of replica kits now exploded and everyone who considered him or her self to be a supporter was expected to turn out on match day wearing the current replica kit. Shirts had to look good not only on the pitch but also when worn with jeans.

The leading clubs faced increasing criticism for exploiting their fans by changing strips too frequently. As a result of this pressure, most top clubs entered into a voluntary agreement to retain their kits for two seasons. By the end of the decade clubs were required to include a “sell by” date.

In the FA Cup final of 1991 Tottenham Hotspur, once again set the trend by turning out in long, baggy shorts. Many sniggered at the time but within no time at all, every team in the England and Scotland was turning out in similar kit.

With the launch of the (English) Premier League in 1992 there came a vogue for generously cut retro strips. The wave of nostalgia led to the success of companies like “Toffs” who marketed replica cotton shirts to fans. In contrast there was also a thoroughly modern trend for varied patterns, vivid colours, paint flecks and abstract designs. The typical kit of the period was a cluttered, busy affair with complicated collars, contrasting trims, elaborate shadow stripes and piping. Players' names were now printed out on the back of their shirts, ostensibly to aid recognition. It was also a smart marketing move, as fans could now pay for the privilege of having their idol's name - or indeed their own - printed on their expensive new replica shirts.

Towards the end of the decade styles became more minimal and the emphasis was on the technology of the material as much as the design. Reversed seams appeared for a more comfortable fit without rubbing the skin while lightweight, hi-tech fabrics promised to keep the wearer cool (or warm) and draw moisture away from the body. Each company introduced its own new fabric, enhanced with mesh panels, integral undershirts and other features that would enable peak performance, or so it was claimed.

 

The New Millennium

The trend for simpler designs continued with subtle piping and plain trim at collar and cuff. Kappa’s body hugging Kombat 2000 range made its appearance in 2002 when it was worn by Tottenham Hotspur (inevitably). The skin tight Lycra outfit was intended to emphasise the physique of the players but proved less popular with fans whose body shape was more influenced by consumption of pies and beer.

In 2003 Fulham introduced a dramatic asymmetrical design, a trend that was taken up by other clubs the following season. Another design innovation was the introduction of trimmings that can only be appreciated from behind. In 2006-07 the Football League permitted secondary sponsors' logos to appear on the back of player's shirts and shorts (the Premier League did not follow suit)

Every season, manufacturers vie with each other to introduce the latest design innovation and new strips are often showcased in the last match of the previous season. For the top clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, sales of replica kits world-wide now create annual revenue streams of tens of millions of pounds sterling. For the majority of clubs existing on more modest means, the annual or bi-annual introduction of new kits is a balancing act between generating revenue and alienating their loyal fanbase. More than one deal has been scuppered because the new design was disliked by fans or because demand has outstripped supply. A welcome trend has been for fans to be involved in the design process. Manufacturers recognise that involving their potential customers has commercial advantages while clubs now frequently consult their fans when choosing next season’s design.

Another welcome trend was a report from the office of Fair Trading published in 1999 that ended price fixing by kit manufacturers and allowed retailers to sell replica kits to fans at discounts.

Many clubs, and certainly all of the members of the Premier League in England, now have three kits each season, their "Home," "Away" (ie change) and "Third" kits. The biggest clubs now retain each kit for two seasons but replace one of them every year, so that last season's "Away" kit becomes this season's "Third" kit. However, when a contract with a manufacturer ends, the new contracter will usually introduce a brand new suite of kits, thus ensuring that there is always something for the fan to spend their money on. New designs are frequently showcased in the final matches of each season and appear in club shops over the summer.

Special anniversary kits were introduced such Charlton Athletic's 2004 centenary kit. These were generally worn on only one or two occasions and sold as limited editions to fans.

Further Reading

The Football Shirt Culture website has a collection of interesting articles and information for collectors.

The True Colours Website includes an interesting illustrated article on the history of Football League kits

An entertaining and detailed history of the game in the nineteenth century is available on the Association of Football Statisticians site.

Even more entertaining is the catalogue of the ten worst ever kits from all over the world to be found at ESPNsoccernet and at AveIt.Net.

You can read an interview with Darren Medley, who designs kits for Umbro at the British Council's Japanese site.

A Press Release from the Office of Fair Trading report that ended price fixing of replica kits is available here.

Visit Colours of Football to view recent kits from around the world. The site includes excellent graphics (including change kits) and provides vivid examples of how advertising has got out of hand in some countries.