Kit History
1892-1897 A
1900-1906 A
1906-1907 A
1909-1911 A
1911-1912 A
1912 A
1922-1923 A
1928-1929 A
1929?-1935 A
1938-1952 A
1953-1954 A
1957-1958 A
1961-1962 A
1964-1969 A
1969-1970 A
1972-1973 A
1976-1977 A
1976-1979 3rd
1977 FA Cup Final
1977-1979 A
1979-1982 A
1979-1981 3rd
1981-1982 3rd
1982-1984 A
1984-1985 A
1985-1986 A
1985-1986 3rd
1986-1987 A
1986-1987 3rd
1987-1988 A
1988-1989 A
1988-1989 3rd
1989-1991 A
1991-1992 A
1992-1993 A
1993-1995 A
1994-1996 3rd
1995-1996 A
1996-1997 A
1997-1998 A 98-99 3rd
1998-1999 A 99-00 3rd
1999-2000 A 00-01 3rd
2000-2001 A 01-02 3rd
2001-2002 A 02-03 3rd
2001-2003 EUR
2002-2003 A 03-04 3rd
2003-2004 A 04-05 3rd
2004-2005 A 05-06 3rd
2005-2006 A
2005-2006 EUR
2006-2007 A
2006-2007 3rd
2007-2008 A
2007-2008 Eur
2008-2009 A
2008-2009 3rd
2009-2010 A
2009-2010 3rd
Background
In 1901 Liverpool FC adopted the Liver bird as their official emblem and won the first of their many League championships: their change colours at the time consisted of white shirts with a red yoke worn with their usual white knickers and red stockings.
Sometime later the adopted their familar change kit consisting of white shirts with red trim, black shorts worn with the home stockings of the period. The club badge was not worn except in FA Cup finals until the mid 1950s.
The first variation on this firm tradition came in 1976 when an all-yellow third kit was added. The outfit was rarely used but proved popular and in 1982 all-yellow with red trim became the team's official change strip. Both white and yellow kits were used until 1987 when Adidas introduced a silver-grey strip which became the standard colour for their change kits for the next four seasons. Subtle grey trimmings also featured on the home strips of the period. In 1991 Adidas introduced yet another innovative outfit that broke with tradition with a bottle-green and white kit with bold white stripes, mirrored on the home kit. These attracted quite a lot of criticism from supporters who thought the three-stripe motif associated with the manufacturer was too dominant. Three more away kits featuring bottle-green were introduced before Reebok took over in 1996.
There was at the time a fashion for introducing unusual colours to away kits and Reebok followed suit with a shirt that became known as "ecru", a term that seemed more market friendly than "beige." In 1997 Liverpool returned to tradition with an all-yellow change kit followed by a white and black one in 1998. The club now adopted the practice of introducing one new kit on an annual rotating basis: so this season's away kit was used as a third kit the following seaon and one of the three kits was changed each year, providing supporters with a new product to spend their cash on each season. Cynical observers accuse clubs, who submitted to pressure to retain kits for two seasons, of using this rotation to exploit the market.
Over the next few seasons the new change kits owed little to tradition and were in completely different colour schemes each year although the 2003 and 2005 kits were reinventions of the classic white, black and red strip. Liverpool also followed the example of Manchester United and a number of leading European clubs by introducing special editions of their home kit for European competition.
In 2006 Adidas once again became Liverpool's kit partner and their designs over the next few seasons paid homage to the full range of traditional colour schemes associated with this great club.
Sources
Liverpool Home Kits- A = Away (change) kit
- 3rd = Third choice kit
- EUR = European home kit
- Eur = European away kit
Photograph courtesy of lay77ours4keeps.