Hull City

Kit History

1904 c

1904-1905 s

1905-1909 a c h s

1909-1910 s

1910-1914 c h

1914-1915 s

1918-1919 c

1919-1921 a

1921-1922 v

1922-1923 s

Shorts & socks not confirmed

1923-1931 a c l

1931-1933 s

1934-1935 a

1935-1936 b c s w

1936-1939 a c

1940 s

1946-1947 c o w

May 1947-1948 a o

1948-1957 a m

1957-1960 a

1960-1963 a c

1963-1964 s

1964-1965 a c

1965-1968 a c

1968-1969 a c

1969-1971 a c

1971-1972 g

1972-1975 a c

Europa

1975-1976 j q

Europa

1976-1978 a g j q

Europa

1978-1979 a j q

Europa

1979-1980 j q

Adidas

1980-1982 a p

Admiral

1982-1983 a k

Admiral

1983-1984 f k

Admiral

1984-1986 a

Admiral

1986-1987 a e

Admiral

1987-1988 a e

Matchwinner

1988-1989 a r

Matchwinner

1989-1990 e r

Matchwinner

1990-1992 a e i

Matchwinner

1992-1993 a c

Matchwinner

Aug- Dec 1993 a c

Pelada

Jan-May 1994 a c i

Pelada

1994-1995 a c

Super League

1995-1997 a

Super League

1997-1998 c

Olympic Sports

1998-1999 c i r

Avec

1999-2000 c i

Avec

2000-2001 c i t

Patrick

2001-2002 c

Patrick

2002-2004 d

Diadora

2004-2005 d

Diadora

2005-2006 d

Diadora

2006-2007 b e u

Umbro

2007-2008 b

Umbro

2008-2009 b

Umbro

2009-2010 b

Adidas

2010-2011 b

Adidas

2011-2012 b

Adidas

2012-2013 b

Background

The Tigers were formed in July 1904, too late to apply to join a league so the club played friendly matched during their first season, submitting an application to join the Football League the following year. At the time, the Football League's policy was to encourage the development of professional association football in Yorkshire, a stronghold of Rugby League. Hull's application was initially rejected but then it was decided to expand the two divisions by two clubs each, which resulted in four vacancies in the Second Division. On a second ballot, Hull were accepted.

hull city crest 1935 The years leading up to the First World War saw Hull City's strongest League performances and in 1910 they narrowly missed out on promotion to Division 1 on goal average. Between the Wars, Hull carved out a reputation as formidable Cup fighters, reaching two quarter-finals and in 1930 the semi-final. Sadly this last achievement was marred by relegation to Division 3 (North) where they languished for three years. In 1935 the club adopted the city's municipal colours of ultramarine and white adorned with the coat of arms of Kingston upon Hull only to be relegated once again. The traditional stripes returned the following season.

After the Second World War Hull's new owner, Harold Needler, had wanted to rebrand the club as Kingston upon Hull AFC and adopt orange, blue and white but he could not obtain the new kits because of the rationing of clothing so light blue shirts were worn instead and the name change did not materialise.

In 1949, now wearing plain amber shirts with a bold tiger's head badge, City returned to hull city crest 1947 Division 2 and enjoyed another stirring cup campaign, losing 0-1 to Manchester United in the quarter-final. There was little to celebrate during the Fifties and by the early Sixties, hull city crest 1957 City were in Division 3.

The roaring tiger appeared without a background shield between 1957 and 1960 when it was dropped before it was reinstated in 1971.

After a period wearing stripes once again, an unusual all amber strip with black bands was introduced only to be universally derided by fans who called it the banana-strip. hull city crest 1975 1966 brought another FA Cup quarter-final and a return to Division 2 where the club stayed until 1978.

Stripes appeared once more in 1975 when white was introduced to the strip for the first time. The club's initials were embroidered onto these shirts until 1979 when the tiger's head hull city crest 1979 appeared once more. The club always used the suffix "AFC" to distinguish them from the town's two rugby league clubs, Hull RFC and Hull Kingston Rovers RFC.

The Eighties brought disaster as the club slipped briefly into the Fourth Division. They recovered and climbed back to Division 2, finishing in sixth place in 1986 but then they have slipped down the leagues once again, alternating with some regularity between the lowest two divisions. hull city crest 1982

Hull have not been afraid to experiment with their playing kit, including a bizarre tiger-print design adopted in 1992 generally regarded as one of the worst strips of all time. Despite being met with widespread derision at the time, Hull fans became very attached to the outrageous design. When Matchwinner's contract was cancelled in late 1993, the company refused to hand over the design templates to Pelada, who had replaced them as Hull's kit supplier. As a result Pelada produced their own version with a finer print in a sort of dirty brown colour: hull city crest 1998 supporters consider this version infinitely inferior to the original.

In 1998 the club crest was given an overhaul with the addition of the Humber Bridge along with three crowns, the municipal symbol of Kingston upon Hull, as well as a slightly hull city crest 2001 comical looking tiger. This proved unpopular and was retired in favour of a rather more traditional design in 2001.

In recent years, the club has often consulted fans when choosing a strip for the new season. Supporters have consistently favoured plain amber shirts in the belief that the little success the club has enjoyed has been when they played in plain shirts. Despite this, stripes regularly re-appear, including in 2004, the club's centenary season and a promotion season. Since then support has increased for the striped shirts, not least because they are unique in the top tiers of English football and when Hull gained promotion to the Premier League in 2008, they were adopted for their first ever campaign in the top tier.

The Tigers managed two seasons in the Premier League before they were relegated back into the Championship in 2010.

Historical Football Kits

Kit History

Background

Sources