Historical Football Kits

Barclays English Premier League 2011 - 2012

Despite record income the 20 top tier clubs lost a staggering £2.1bn last season, with just four of them turning a profit. The total debt owed now amounts to £2.5bn, a fall of £0.6bn largely due to the wiping out of Liverpool's leverage debt. Over half of this debt, £1.3bn, is owed by Chelsea and Manchester United. UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations come into full effect in 2014 and clubs will then be required to balance their books without recourse to large cash injections from their owners if they are to be allowed to compete in Europe.

The voluntary code that saw leading clubs retain their strips for two seasons is now more or less a dead letter.

(Contributors are credited in brackets. Opinions expressed on this page are those of HFK and not contributors.)

Arsenal

Designer: Nike

Sponsor: Emirates Airways

Fourth place may not be a satisfactory finish for supporters but it did see the Gunners safely back in the Champions League this season. The new home kit is another retro effort inspired by the shirts from the Eighties and has been well received. There has been some confusion over the socks but a club spokesman has confirmed to HFK that white will be first choice and red the alternative. The away strip is rather fancifully supposed to represent the pointer on a sun-dial (the club were original Dial Square FC) and is made from 13 recycled plastic bottles and is, coincidentally, 13% lighter than its predecessor, which is bound to encourage us to recycle more. Light blue shorts are available for this strip.

The commemorative crest marks Arsenal's 125th anniversary (a full explanation of the details is on the Arsenal page). This appears on the players' third shirts, last season's change strip updated. An all-yellow version was worn at AC Milan.

(Lawrence Emmanual, Nguyen Phong)

Aston Villa

Designer: Nike

Sponsor: Genting Casinos

The chequered theme introduced last season returns as a jacquard print, an altogether more subtle application than the fiddly trim of 2010-11. In fact excess detailing has been eliminated from what is a satisfyingly straightforward design. A Malaysian casino and hotel chain now sponsor Villa's shirts after the collapse of the deal with FX Pro. Rather than use their corporate logo, Genting have their name in both English and Chinese to appeal to the Far East market.

The home strip also has a chequered effect on the body: the sleeves are traditional light blue and are continued across the top of the shoulders. The addition of black to the socks is a nice touch that takes us back to the first half of the twentieth century. The away strip is registered with claret shorts but light blue shorts and socks were worn at Arsenal in the FA Cup and in the corresponding reserve game.

(Adam Mayers, Chris Dixon, Jerm Deeks)

Blackburn Rovers

Designer: Umbro

Sponsor: Prince's Trust

Rovers' latest home shirt breaks with tradition by continuing the colours on the front onto the back (they are usually reversed). The red V neck and cuffs revive a favourite design worn throughout the Eighties. The club's owners, Venky's, a division of the India-based VH Group, had their logo on the team shirts in the pre-season Asia Cup but on 11 August it was announced that sponsorship for the regular season would be donated to the Prince's Trust.

(James Clyde, Andrew Mihaleff, Ramazan Karsak, Martinos Perdikis)

Bolton Wanderers

Designer: Reebok

Sponsor: 188 Bet

Reebok have once again pushed the boat out and produced a controversial design for the Wanderers home kit. The asymmetric shirt is very striking but the large Reebok logos are just too intrusive. The away kit is all black with yellow trimmings and dispenses with the asymmetric features of the home version.

(Andrew Mihaleff, Craig Johnson)

Chelsea

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Samsung

Finishing as runners-up last season was not good enough for Roman Abramovich who sacked Carlo Ancelotti, the manager who had led the club to their first ever league and cup double two years ago, on the last day of the season.

Despite a debt of £734m, Chelsea pay a mere £0.8m in interest as Abramovich has converted the bulk of his loans into shares and written the rest off.

The new home strip retains the modern Chelsea "look" and dispenses with the red trim seen last season. The away strip is once again black but this season features an interesting "fresh splash" pattern across the top of the chest. The third strip is a smart affair in white with dark navy and lemon yellow features.

(Ade Kellers, Andrew Mihaleff)

Everton

Designer: Le Coq Sportif

Sponsor: Chang Beer

The new amber and "virtual navy" away strip is, according to the club's web site, a "reinvention" of the outfit worn in the late 60s: photographs of Alan Ball wearing the original appear to have had the shorts artificially darkened to more closely resemble the modern remake. It is in fact rather more similar to a change strip worn in 1960 but no-one remembers that one.

The new home kit has been well received while Everton's penchant for unconventional colours is again apparent with the third shirt, which is in "glacier marl."

(Fadi Sabbagh)

Fulham

Designer: Kappa

Sponsor: FxPro

For the first time in their history, Fulham are wearing predominantly white shorts rather than black with their home strip. The new, figure-hugging away strip is an austere all-black relieved by sponsor and manufacturers' logos that are bigger than ever. A dark gold and navy strip is third choice.

(Andrew Mihaleff)

Liverpool

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Standard Chartered

Supporters were pleased to see the back of their American owners after a remarkable takeover struggle that saw the leverage debt loaded onto the club wiped out.

The all-red home strip is retained (Liverpool are one of the few clubs still observing this convention) while a rather impressive charcoal away strip with red and silver trim serves as the new away outfit.

The third kit has not met with universal approval because of the inclusion of an unfamiliar light blue (or cyan as the press release has it), a deliberate reference to the club's earliest colours. What the publicity does not mention is that those original shirts were inherited from Everton.

(Paul Weasel, Paul A Schofield, Mark Wild)

Manchester City

Designer: Umbro

Sponsor: Etihad Airways

Thanks to their Abu Dhabi backers, City are once again a force to be reckoned with. The FA Cup holders have introduced an away kit based on the favourite worn the last time they had their hands on the trophy 35 years ago. The curious sleeves are designed to line up the stripes with those on the body when players hold out their arms horizontally after scoring. So do watch out for that one.

The home kit, launched in July after many leaks, is one of the most original football strips of the decade. Superficially it is a return to the all-sky blue look of the mid-Seventies but closer examination reveals a chequered insert at the V neck collar and a fine dotted motif across the body. This is a graphical representation of the sound wave produced by fans singing "Blue Moon." Now that is original.

Last season's navy change shirts are now worn with white shorts and new socks as third choice.

(Matt Rossall, Alex Howells)

Manchester United

Designer: Nike

Sponsor: Aon

United's turnover last season was £286m: they are £590m in debt on which they pay an astonishing £107m in interest. They may have won more English championships than anyone else but the financial model will have to change if they are not to fall foul of new UEFA regulations.

Nike's new home offering is restrained although here at HFK, we prefer not to see any black on United's shirts at all. The socks are almost traditional but the trim on the turnover is a bit modern for our taste. 6/10 then - could do better. As usual, white socks are worn in Europe and black shorts are available.

The away kit in blue and black has some interesting touches. The black hoops carry five narrow horizontal stripes in "midnight blue" so each hoop is made up of eleven perfectly formed little ones (just like a football team - geddit?). The marketing people have once again made a spurious reference to an earlier kit (the cherry and white worn briefly in 1934) but this seems to me pointless and misleading. This is a well designed strip that deserves to stand on its own merits.

(Kieran White, Fadi Sabbagh, Mark Randall, Daniel Gellatly)

Newcastle United

Designer: Puma

Sponsor: Northern Rock/Virgin Money (from 1 January)

United's management is unlikely to win any friends among the already hostile Toon Army by taking liberties with the sacred striped shirt. If the team win something, of course, it will become an all-time favourite. You wish.

To complement the mainly black home strip we have an almost entirely black third kit. The word you're searching for is "pointless." White shorts and reversed socks are available. The away kit recalls the colours worn briefly by East End FC in the nineteenth century.

Virgin Money's logo was introduced to the shirts after the Virgin Group acquired the nationalised Northern Rock on 1st January and was worn for the first time against Manchester United three days later.

(Andrew Mihaleff, Jonathon Auty, Rob Stow, Mark Padden)

Norwich City

Designer: Errea

Sponsor: Aviva Insurance

In the past four seasons, Norwich have gone from the Premier League to League One and back again and their manager has called this latest promotion "An absolute miracle." The club has ended its contract with Xara early in order to exploit the additional replica sales that a new strip will bring and it is good to see Errea, a company with a flair for design, making an appearance at the top level once again.

Norwich rarely need a change strip, which has been white or red in recent years but now they have a simple green and white alternative.

(Lee Capeling, Rowan Dinwoodie)

Queens Park Rangers

Designer: Lotto

Sponsor: Malaysia Airlines (Home), Air Asia (Away, Third)

After Bernie Ecclestone indicated in March that he might sell his 69% stake in the club it was confirmed that preliminary takeover talks were underway.

The Championship winner's new third kit takes its inspiration from the change strip of 1974-75 although, unlike the original, it is worn with red rather than black shorts. The large diagonal white flash across the upper chest is a novel addition. The home shirt is more conventional than those worn in recent years while the orange and navy away strip has some unusual contrasting flashes.

Shirts were worn without sponsorship until a deal was announced on 12 September. Both carriers are associated with club owner, Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes, who took over in August.

(Simon Ståål, Tony Sealey, Paul A Schofield)

Stoke City

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Britannia Building Society

From the front the differences between Stoke's new home strip and last season's are barely noticeable. The stripes now have nice clean edges, the yoke is slightly bigger and the detailing is updated to the latest Adidas template. The important change is that the stripes are restored to the back of the shirt, a welcome development. Away from home Stoke impersonate Inter Milan when a change is needed.

Last season's away strip appeared when Stoke played FC Thun in Switzerland in the Europa Cup.

(Andrew Mihaleff)

Sunderland

Designer: Umbro

Sponsor: Tombola

Umbro get full marks for a very traditional home top but it is spoilt by the black trim: Sunderland's shirts should really have red trimmings at collar and cuffs. We would also liked to have seen last season's socks retained. The away strip is in a vivid shade of blue.

(Lee Capeling, Michael Peters, Mark Randall)

Swansea City

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: 32 Red

Swansea are back in the top flight for the first time since 1983 and become the first Welsh team to play in the Premier League. Their new Adidas home strip restores black trimmings: the flashes on the side of the body meet up in the small of the back to form a V shape.

Naturally these are more than just football shirts: according to the press release they provide "Adidas ClimaCool and ClimaLite technologies offering heat and moisture controlling materials, ventilation channels and 3D fabrics which improve air flow to the skin in the key heat zones." 3D fabrics no less.

The away strip, in one of Adidas' lesser known templates, is bright orange, a nice reference to the early Sixties, when the team's traditional white strips were trimmed in that colour.

(Al Gordan)

Tottenham Hotspur

Designer: Puma

Sponsor: Aurasma (Home, Away, Third), Investec (Cup & Europe)

Purists will be delighted with the clean simplicity of Spurs latest home strip, adorned only by the usual logos. As usual, an all-white version is to be worn on Cup and European competition. Purple returns in the away kit for the first time since 2004 and an all-black third strip in Puma's new template completes the wardrobe. The new shirt sponsor logotype belongs to a division of Autonomy, who have sponsored the club since the beginning of last season. Investec's logo appears on the away and third strips when worn in cup matches.

(Andrew Mihaleff)

West Bromwich Albion

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bodog Casinos

Adidas replace Umbro and have supplied two strips in their latest templates: the away strip is in cyan, a shade that is appearing on a number of strips this season. The new sponsor has recently expanded into China, hence the addition of Chinese characters in their logotype.

(Andrew Mihaleff)

Wigan Athletic

Designer: Mi Fit

Sponsor: 12Bet.com

Wigan have gone back to 1972 for the inspiration behind their satisfyingly straightforward home kit while the collar is reminiscent of the Fifties. Navy is a curious choice for the new away kit and is unlikely to be suitable as a change kit at Everton or Chelsea, for example so we are likely to see the attractive third kit used instead.

(George Chilvers)

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Designer: Burrda

Sponsor: Sporting Bet

Fans polled by the club apparently favoured reducing the amount of black in the shirts for the new season. Aside from the curious snail tracks across the chest and down the sleeve, they have got their wish. Gold shorts and socks are also available.

The away kit is unchanged.

Wolves only just avoided relegation last season but from a financial point of view are one of the best run clubs in the Premier League.

(Andrew Mihaleff, Geoff Bell)