Historical Football Kits

Coca Cola League One 2009 - 2010

League One, the third tier of the English pyramid, now includes some very illustrious teams fallen on hard times. Leeds United, relegated from League One in 2007 have failed to escape in the play-offs every season and are now joined by Charlton, Southampton and Norwich, all of whom played in the Premier League quite recently.

Three clubs are promoted to the Championship each season: the champions and runners-up go up automatically while the next four teams contest the end of season play-offs for the remaining place. Four teams are relegated to League Two each season. Critics complain that the play-offs allow inferior teams to win promotion over teams that, over the season, have performed better but there is no denying that the system, with its Wembley finale, has added excitement and interest to the end of the season and reduced the number of meaningless fixtures.

The 2008-09 League Two champions are entitled to wear a special gold sleeve patch in League One games.

Brentford

Designer: Puma

Sponsor: Hertings Fixings (Home), MKT Computers (Away & 3rd)

The Bees were crowned League Two champions on 25 April and wear a special sleeve patch in their league games. They have stuck with Puma and wear a very unusual interpretation of their traditional red and white stripes. Each stripe is now edged in black and includes a narrow stripe in white in the middle. Puma's signature curved panel adorns the side of the shirt and continues onto the sleeve (on long sleeved versions the black trim extends to the cuff). The stripe motif is repeated at the waist diagonally.

The away kit is black with pale metallic gold side panels and last season's blue and navy strip now serves as a third choice.

(Adam Balchin, Stephen Toogood, Lance Boyd)

Brighton & Hove Albion

Designer: Errea

Sponsor: IT First

Last season Brighton had to introduce a third and fourth kit in addition to alternate shorts for their first and second choice kits because the different shades of blue involved were thought by match officials to clash with opponents. This season the home kit is retained while the navy and gold away kit now becomes the third choice. Errea have provided yet another excellent design from their current catalogue for the new away kit in red and black that features a sweeping red panel (extended onto the back of the shirt) that interrupts the otherwise conventional stripes. Metallic gold piping adds to the dramatic effect. For away games alternate shorts are available for each set in blue (H), red (A) and gold (3rd).

(Phil Swain, Luke Conboy, Karl Stringer)

Bristol Rovers

Designer: Errea

Sponsor: N-Gaged Training (Home), Stevens, Hewlett & Perkins Solicitors (Away)

Rovers return to a traditional mid-blue this season and reverse the quarters on their shirts, which are all-white on the back. Blue shorts also reappear for the first time since 2001 (a white set is also available). The fabric used features nano-particles of silver and titanium, which are supposed to resist staining and posess anti-bacterial qualities. The club has registered their supporters with the Football League with the squad number 12 and replicas ordered with this number are available at a discount.

During the pre-season the club held a lottery with the winners and runners-up having their logos on the shirts, a method of raising sponsorship funds that has been used succesfully in the lower Scottish divisions for some time.

(Mark Leech, Bertie Wright)

Carlisle United

Designer: Le Coq Sportif

Sponsor: Eddie Stobart Transport

Carlisle have extended their contract with Le Coq Sportif for a further two years. The French company have come up with an attractive strip on Carlisle's traditional blue, white and red theme. The red away kit is based on the same pattern and can be worn with the white home shorts and stockings if necessary.

Last season's black strip is retained as a third choice (quite unnecessarily) while the white kit, trimmed in the colours of the club's sponsor, was used for the match at Leyton Orient.
(Simon Ståål)

Charlton Athletic

Designer: Joma

Sponsor: krbs.com

The Spanish company Joma turn out some very interesting and individual designs and this season they have taken inspiration from Charlton's centenary kit, worn just twice in 2005-06 and sold in special presentation packs. The away strip is similar to the one worn two seasons ago, which proved popular with supporters.

The charity shirt, with the logo of the Street Violence Ruins Lives campaign was worn in the derby game with Millwall. These were auctioned off with proceeds going to the Rob Knox Memorial Fund. An Addicks fan, Knox was murdered last May in a street attack.

(Rob Rob, Andy Keeley, Al Gordon)

Colchester United

Designer: Puma

Sponsor: Weston Group (Home), Jobserve (Away & Third)

Colchester retain their attractive Puma home kit for a second season and introduce a plain, dark navy away strip, devoid of any trim apart from the usual crest and logos. Last season's yellow away kit becomes the U's third choice.

(Rob Rob, Johnny Gleeson, Francesco Pernigoni, Mike Marchand)

Exeter City

Designer: Carbrini Sportswear

Sponsor: Flybe.com

It was not long ago that Exeter were in the Conference, several million pounds in debt and facing an uncertain future. Thanks to the hard work of their supporters, the Grecians have overcome their financial problems and two successive promotions have taken them to the third tier.

For the new season the team wear traditional striped tops with solid red sleeves and shoulders. White shorts have been introduced to replace the usual black ones, a style that was worn when the club first switched from green to red and white in 1911. The away kit is in fashionable black.

(George Tomlin, Giancarlo Altube)

Gillingham

Designer: Vandanel

Sponsor: krbs.com

The Gills earned their place in the third tier thanks to the play-offs having finished in fifth place at the end of the regular season. After wearing the same home and away kits for the past two seasons, a new set is introduced for 2009-10. As usual, the home kit is all blue while the way set is yellow and both are designed from the same template. Contrastng sleeves and side panels are introduced.

Severe traffic congestion meant that the Gills' arrived for their match at Leyton Orient on 2 December without their kit and had to borrow the O's black away strip.

(Jane Carey, Lee Capeling, Chris Matterface)

Hartlepool United

Designer: Nike

Sponsor: Dove Energy (Home), GPS Arabia (Away), Larsen Oil & Gas (Third)

Hartlepool return to blue and white stripes this season, based on Nike's Flash template. The shirts are mainly blue on the back. Last season's orange and black away kit appears again but with a slightly modified sponsor's logo. The black third strip was used for the first time at Leeds on Boxing Day.

The sponsors are all part of the Dove Energy group who currently own the club.

(Alexander Perkin, Rob Rob, Ben)

Huddersfield Town

Designer: Mitre

Sponsor: Yorkshire Air Ambulance Charity (Home), Radian B Muscle Rub (Away)

Huddersfield join the trend to promote charities on their shirt this season and introduce new home and away kits into the bargain. The broad stripes on the home shirt are slightly paler than mid-blue with a curious red seam. The red and navy away kit provides an excellent contrast and features a white flash from collar to armpit on the right hand side only. Variants include blue shorts for the home strip and red ones for the away set.

The one-off charity strip was worn against Southend United at home with proceeds from the ensuing auction going to the Yorkshire Ambulance Trust and the club's academy.

Nathan Stewart

Leeds United

Designer: Macron

Sponsor: Net Flights.com

Leeds were relegated in 2007 with a 15 point penalty for the following season but overcame this to reach the play-offs. Last season most neutral observers expected them to win an automatic promotion place but they could only manage the play-offs once again and were knocked out by Millwall.

Leeds' new home kit is an attractive reinterpretation of their familiar all-white strip with a royal blue flash down the left hand side, trimmed with gold. Tradition is also maintained with the all-yellow away kit, which has royal blue side panels to the shirt and shorts, an attractive interpretation of Leeds usual second choice. Last season's third strip is retained.

(Matthew Warmby, Ben Gershaw)

Leyton Orient

Designer: Puma

Sponsor: Party Casino.com

All red is always a safe choice for Orient but it is disappointing to see a club that in the past was never afraid to innovate, settling for a bog standard Puma template. The away kit is rather smart in all-black with silver grey trimmings: it is, according to the publicity puff inspired by the Puma King range made famous by legends such as Eusebio, Pele, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff. The key phrase here is "inspired by," which roughly translates as having very little to do with but it might help us shift some units. The Puma King range are very expensive football boots.

(Rob Rob)

Millwall

Designer: Bukta

Sponsor: CYC Courier Services

Millwall's new strip was unveiled in the League One play-off final at Wembley in May and is a return to the popular all-blue look. Furthermore the shade of blue used is deeper than that seen in recent seasons and closer to that of the early years of this decade. The shirt carries a bold, asymetrical white trim and tucked away in the lower right-hand corner is the Millwall lion, discretely picked out in black. On the rear tail of the shirt the words "We Fear No Foe" are embroidered in bold white letters. The lion motif also appears on the away shirt although it was missing on the first occasion that Millwall had to change. The third kit was used as last season's change strip and may be worn with navy or white shorts.

The one-off charity shirt was worn in the derby against Millwall, a match dedicated to the memory of Rob Knox and Jimmy Mizen, who were murdered in separate incidents last May. The shirts were later auctioned off, proceeds from the Millwall shirt going to the Jimmy Mizen Foundation.

(Rob Rob, Mark Aspen, Stephen Mills, Bill Henderson. Ben Gershaw, Al Gordon)

Milton Keynes Dons

Designer: Nike

Sponsor: Double Tree by Hilton

MK Dons have signed a new sponsorship deal with the Hilton chain, who have taken on the hotel that adjoins the now completed Stadium:MK. They stick with Nike as their kit provider, updating their strips to the new Classic III template.

(Harry Clarke, Ben Gershaw)

Norwich City

Designer: Xara

Sponsor: Aviva

It's a long time since the Canaries were in the third tier and their supporters will be hoping for a quick return to the higher levels of the league. Their home kit is retained from last season while a new, all-white outfit with green piping on the shirt, has been introduced as an alternative. Norwich are the only team at this level playing in yellow shirts so the white set may not be called upon.

Oldham Athletic

Designer: Carbrini Sportswear

Sponsor: Carbrini Sportswear

The Latics home strip is unchanged but their new away kit, launched after a tease campaign on the club's official website revives the orange colour that first appeared in the 1960s, teamed with navy blue. Last season's fluorescent shirts are available when Oldham play teams wearing blue.

(Rob Rob, Ben Gershaw)

Southampton

Designer: Umbro

Sponsor: Flybe.com

The Saints were relegated last season before the holding company that controls the club went into administration and can expect a points penalty for the 2009-10 season as a result. In July, the imaginatively named DMWSL613 Limited, controlled by Swiss entrepeneur Markus Liebherr, completed a takeover, ending anxious speculation about the club's future.

A new away kit in yellow and navy is introduced and used for the first time in a pre-season match with Ajax. It features Umbro's latest interpretation of the shadow stripe and has a novel yellow yoke. The home kit is unchanged from last season.

(Lee Chamberlain, George Tomlin)

Southend United

Designer: Nike

Sponsor: Insure & Go

Southend kick off 2009-10 wearing a new interpretation of the all navy strip that has been their choice since 2001 based on Nike's new Classic III template. The shade appears a somewhat richer blue than in recent years and is set off by contrasting white sleeves and stockings as well as trim across the shoulders and down each sleeve. The same template is used for the yellow and mid-blue away strip.

The charity shirt was worn on 23 March at Roots Hall with proceeds from the ensuing auction going to the End Polio Now campaign.

(Ben Hall, Robbie Stow)

Stockport County

Designer: Macron

Sponsor: Just Search

There is something undeniably smart about a blue strip with white stockings and Macron's new offering for Stockport hits the spot. County first wore a similar kit in 1966-67 when they won the old Fourth Division title and the theme has been revived in recent years. A feature of the Emir template used for both home and away kits is the silver grey flashes on the body. Orange is chosen as the main colour for the matching away kit, again harking back to the 1960s.

(Andy Kellett)

Swindon Town

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Four Four Two magazine (H & 3rd), EA Sport FIFA 10 (A)

Swindon have dropped Lotto and signed up with Adidas for the new season. As usual their home kit is all-red and made up from one of Adidas' basic templates. Secondary sponsorship by EA games for their FIFA 10 game appears on the back of the shirt and is the main logo on the white away strip. The blue third strip was used for the first time when Swindon met Wrexham in the FA Cup in November.

(Tom Eatwell, Adam Balchin, George Tomlin, Ian Raffel)

Tranmere Rovers

Designer: Vandanel

Sponsor: Wirral Metropolitan Council

2009 marks Tranmere's 125th anniversary and to mark the occasion 125 years appears in the centre of the club's usual crest and is also embroidered onto the front of the shirt as well as on the back, just below the collar. It seems a shame that the club have not been more adventurous with their choice of kit: the home outfit remains all-white, with a nod towards the design that first appeared in the early 1960s while the away kit is unchanged. It would have been nice to see the team turning out for some games in the splendid maroon and orange shirts they wore in 1889.

The blue away kit is retained as a third choice and a brand new away kit in lime green was unveiled in August.

(Curtis Mcardle)

Walsall

Designer: Admiral

Sponsor: Walsall Hospice

The Saddlers return to red tops and white shorts this season, a move that will disappoint those who applauded the shift back to 1960s white shirts with red shorts worn over the last two seasons but these were the club's colours between 1949 and 1962 and on and off since then. The kit also sees a welcome return of the Admiral brand, even with the intrusive supersized logo.

The new away kit is a stunning creation in dark green and black and it's hard to see how increasingly petty match officials will be able to pick fault with it. It may also be just plain hard to see.

(Neil Morris, our man in Adis Ababa)

Wycombe Wanderers

Designer: Joma

Sponsor: Bucks New University

Joma replace Prostar as Wycombe's kit partner and their first design marks a welcome return to tradition. The colours are once again Cambridge and Oxford blue and dark blue shorts are reinstated. A fashionable all-black away kit makes an appearance, trimmed in white. The yellow third strip appeared for the first time in October at Gillingham.

(Karl Olszewski, Dave Peatey)

Yeovil Town

Designer: Vandanel

Sponsor: Jones Building Contractors

The Cidermen continue to play in hooped shirts, a style they adopted after they were elevated to the Football League in 2003. Vandanel's latest version, chosen from a shortlist by supporters, restores the original white shorts, and now features very broad hoops with solid green sleeves and shoulders. Black trimmings are added to the shirts providing a little additional contrast.

Yeovil's away kit is unchanged this season.

Jones Building contractors also have secondary sponsorship on shirts and shorts.

(George Tomlin, Tom Parfitt)