Stockport County

Kit History

1890 s u

1898-1899 u

1900-1905 o s

1905-1906 a o u

1906-1908 o r s u

1913-1914 u y

1914-1915 s u

1919-1920 x

1920-1923 u C

1923-1924 s

Some shirts reversed

1924-1925 u

1929-1930 s u

1931 b

1933-1934 s u

1934-1937 c e k m C

1939-1940 u

1945-Sept1947 u

March 1947-1948 u B

1949-1953 u

1954-1955 C

1956-1959 p u

January 1958 A C

Worn at home v Halifax 18 Jan 1958

1961-1962 u

1962-1963 d

1964-1965 e u

1965-1966 u

1966-1967 C

Crest sometimes omitted

1967-1968 p

1968-1969 p

1969-1970

1971-1972 f C

1972-1973 f p

1973-1975 u

1975-1976 w

Bukta

1976-1977 p w

Bukta

1977-1978 w

Bukta

1978-1979 (1) w

Admiral

1978-1979 (2) u

Adidas

1979-1980 h w

Adidas

1980-March 1982 w D

Adidas

April 1982 s

Adidas

1982-1984 s

Bukta

1984-1985 u

Bukta

1985-1986 C

Sponsor needs corroboration

Umbro

1986-1987 i

En-S

1987-1989 j C

Ribero

1989-1990 n t z D

Ribero

1990-1991 n t

Gola

1991-1992 l q t D

Gola

1992-1993 l t D

Super League

1993-1994 l

Super League

1994-1995 l t D

1995-1996 l D

Adidas

1996-1998 l s

Adidas

1998-1999 l

Patrick

1999-2001 l s

Patrick

2001-2002 l t

TFG Sports

2002-2004 l t

TFG Sports

2004-2006 a

TFG Sports

2006-2007 a

Diadora

2007-2009 a v

Macron

2009-2010 a

Nike

2010-2011 a

Nike

2011-2012 a

Nike

2012-2013 a

Background

stockport county 1905-06 Formed 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers by members of the Wycliffe Congregational Church, the club became simply Heaton Norris FC in 1888 before taking the name Stockport County in 1890 when the town became an independent county borough. The first known photograph shows the team wearing striped shirts at least two sizes too small - presumably they had shrunk at the laundry! This was also the year that the club turned professional. The area was the regional centre for the manufacture of headgear, an important industry at a time when every man and woman in the country owned at least one hat. Inevitably, the club became known as “The Hatters,” a nickname they share with Luton Town.

After a spell in the Football Combination, County joined the Lancashire League, finishing as champions in 1900 after which they were elected to Division Two along with Blackpool. One of the clubs they replaced was Luton, who did not seek re-election.

County's early career in the Football League was a disaster. After seeking re-election four times in succession, they lost their place to Doncaster Rovers in 1904 and joined the Midland League. The following season, they applied to rejoin the Football League but were unsuccessful. It was then decided to expand the League, creating four vacancies in the Second Division. On a second ballot, Stockport were successful while Doncaster lost their place.

The club struggled but only faced re-election again in 1913. In 1921 County, now playing in distinctive broad stripes, were relegated to the new northern section of the Third Division but they returned a year later, winning the championship by six points. In 1926 The Hatters were relegated and were stuck in Division Three (North) until 1937 when they returned briefly to Division Two.

A crest was worn in the 1924-25 season but HFK has not been able to establish the details.

stockport county crest 1956 During the 1930s the club adopted plain white shirts with black shorts but their fortunes did not improve. The crest, adopted in 1956, featured the central shield from the Stockport coat of arms surrounded by a laurel wreath.

The old gold and black kit worn at home in January 1958 is something of an anomaly: this stockport county crest 1966 was the club's change kit at the time and was adopted as a temporary "lucky kit."

In 1959, Stockport were relegated after a single season in the new national Third Division. A colour version of the crest was introduced in 1966 and is particularly remembered for appearing on the white shirts with a single blue hoop worn in the last years of the decade. Promotion came in 1967 but in 1970 they stockport county crest 1977 were back in the Fourth Division. The Latin motto means "With Courage and Faith" while the blue central shield is derived from the arms of the de Stokeport family.

Lean times followed after white became the team's primary colour and County had to apply for re-election in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1985. A monogramme stockport county crest 1978 was worn in the 1977-78 season before it was replaced by a new crest with a crosslet as it's central motif. This appeared in various colour combinations with or without the SCFC lettering until 1989.

In 1979 the club adopted broad light blue and white stripes after Argentina's triumph in stockport county crest 1989 the World Cup: these were dropped in April 1982 after the outbreak of the Falklands War.

In 1989 the club adopted a modernist crest in the red, white and blue colours worn at the time. Such innovations are rarely popular with traditionally-minded football supporters and it was no surprise when a more traditional crest was introduced just two seasons later, based stockport county crest 1991 on the arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The new crest was introduced at the same time that the team returned to wearing blue shirts.

stockport county fc crest 1996 During the 1990s the club underwent a transformation. Promoted to Division Three in 1991, they reached the play-offs for the next three seasons and in 1997 won automatic promotion to Nationwide Division One (the old Second Division), the first time they had played at this level since 1937-38.

During their promotion season Stockport wore a rather peculiar crest with intertwined letters. This was replaced after two seasons by a modified stockport county fc crest 1998 version of the older crest.

After finishing in eighth place in 1998 the future seemed bright indeed but behind the scenes debts mounted. Inevitably a club with such limited resources could not afford to compete at this level: after relegation in 2002 they were back in the lowest stockport county fc crest 2006 division (now Coca Cola League Two) and facing bankruptcy.

In July 2005 the club’s owners, Cheshire Sport, sold their interests to the Stockport County Supporters’ Club, making County the latest in a growing band of community owned clubs. In 2006 County narrowly avoided relegation to the Conference. To reflect this change of ownership the crest was altered to be almost identical to that of the local council.

Supporters were now regularly involved in the design of the team's kits although their clear stockport county fc crest 2010 favourite for 2007-09, a revival of the striped top worn at various periods in the past, was overruled by the board, who opted for an all-blue outfit with a white chest band reminiscent of the iconic shirts worn in the 60s, but with the colours reversed.

In June 2010 a consortium of local business people (the 2015 Group) took control of the club, which had been in administration for 14 months. A revised crest and new strip were introduced as a result. The Metropolitan Council sponsored Stockport in 2010-11 with their own coat of arms appearing on the team shirts, apparently prompting the club to stockport county crest 2011 alter their own crest as it would otherwise have appeared twice. The new regime was unable to reverse County's misfortune and they were relegated in 2011 having finished last in League Two, losing their place in the Football League after 107 years.

In need of a fresh start, County reverted to stripes in 2011, last seen in the Eighties after a poll of supporters. The club motto (which translates as "courageously and faithfully") was also restored to the crest at the request of fans.

Historical Football Kits

Kit History

Background

Sources