Historical Football Kits

Sky Bet League One 2014 - 2015

 

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

Premier League | Championship | League One | League Two

Barnsley

Designer: Avec

Sponsor: CK Beckett

The Tykes were relegated last season. They have switched kit supplier and now wear Avec. The white strip was needed when the team visited Bradford City.

(Phil Garner, David Rafelle)

Bradford City

Designer: Nike

Sponsor: JCT600

The home strip may be a simple template from Nike's catalogue but combined with black shorts and socks, it constitutes the archetypal Bradford City strip. Last season's blue/white tops were worn at Crawley Town for no apparent reason.

(Colin Russell, Gav, George Pannell, Charlie Daw)

Bristol City

Designer: Bristol Sport

Sponsor: Resource Solutions Group

The Robins are now kitted out by their own in-house company who also supply Bristol Academy Women's strips. They have gone for a retro look with a rugby collar, a style worn in the 1950s. The purple and lime green third kit is a 1990s revival and begs the question of whether more of these horrors are going to be unleashed on a new generation of unsuspecting supporters.

(Mike Roberts, Matthew Gingell)

Chesterfield

Designer: Puma

Sponsor: Napit

Chesterfield won the League Two title last term. Their kits are updated to the latest Puma styles.

(Alec Hitchman, Robert Mansell)

Colchester United

Designer: Puma

Sponsor: Weston Homes (1st), Job Serve (2nd, 3rd)

Colchester's first strip is simply updated to the latest Puma design and is now complemented by a yellow and black alternative. The third strip was worn in the FA Cup against Gosport Borough in November complete with commemorative poppy.

(Mike Marchand, Ben Gershaw, Jon Jones)

Coventry City

Designer: Puma

Sponsor: Allsop & Allsop (1st) Stats Sports (2nd)

I didn't think that Coventry have had a white change strip since the Sky Blue Revolution of 1962 but Phil Arnold has pointed out they did have one in 1997-98 and 1999-2000. The first choice strip is retained and the sponsorship was donated to Coventry Community Responders, a local charity whose trained volunteers provide first aid treatment pending the arrival of paramedics, for the Capital One Cup match in August. After the club's previous owners, hedge fund Sisu, were roundly defeated in their High Court action the chief executive of the Football League intervened to facilitate a return to the Ricoh Stadium in September.

(Alexander Leiberich, Phil Arnold, Mark Hornby CFCF, Tom Ward)

Crawley Town

Designer: Puma

Sponsor: 32Red

There are no surprises with Crawley's new first choice kit, which is simply updated to the latest Puma template. Yellow and blue is chosen for the new change strip. For their match on 11 November, Crawley wore an old Puma shirt template with a red poppy. This was auctioned off afterwards to raise funds for the British Legion

(Harry Meadows, Jordan Knot, David Rafelle)

Crewe Alexandra

Designer: Carbrini

Sponsor: Mornflake

Crewe have updated their strips while retaining the basic combinations of red shirts/white shorts and all blue as the alternative. Black is added to the home strip as an accent colour while light blue replaces white on the change strip. Quite nice, we think.

(Andrew Mihaleff)

Doncaster Rovers

Designer: Avec

Sponsor: One Call Insurance

Rovers' new home shirt has a diagonal flash on the upper front left, which on reflection, we rather like. Note the asymetric sleeves. We also do like a sash so the change strip gets the thumbs up as well.

(Andrew Mihaleff)

Fleetwood Town

Designer: Puma

Sponsor: BES Commercial Gas (1st 2nd), Commercial Power (3rd)

Fleetwood have only been members of the Football League since 2012 and now find themselves in the third tier after a win in the play-offs. Their first kit is unchanged and the black change strip is now third choice. The new change outfit is in yellow, the colours of the original Fleetwood FC.

(Dave Horn, Alec Hitchman)

Gillingham

Designer: GFC (Own Brand)

Sponsor: MEMS Power Generation

The Gills have made the bold decision to design and market their own strips, having reverted last season to old Vandanel sets. In HFK's opinion, matching templates for alternative kits is elegant and reinforces a team's visual identity so 9/10 for this effort.

(Andrew Mihaleff, Lee Capeling)

Leyton Orient

Designer: Nike

Sponsor: 666Bet

Orient have adopted the latest version of Nike's Trophy design for their new strips. In March the club announced that the badge of the O's Somme Memorial Fund for the rest of the season to honour the 41 players and staff who enlisted in the 17th Middelesex Regiment (The Footballers' Battalion) in 1914.

(Alec Hitchman, David Rafelle, Ben Gershaw)

Milton Keynes Dons

Designer: Sondico

Sponsor: Suzuki

Many supporters are underwhelmed by the new Sondico design, a somewhat pedestrian design when compared to recent efforts. To mark their tenth anniversary a small strip in the club's colours has been added above the maker's trademark and on the back of the collar, hardly an extravagant gesture.

The alternative kits are in the same template as usual but, in a break with tradition, the third choice is yellow rather than black.

(James Blackwell, Andrew Macpherson)

Notts County

Designer: Carbrini

Sponsor: PayGroup (1st) Women Make Waves (2nd)

Although the Maggies have worn white shorts with their striped shirts twice in the modern era, it simply doesn't look right, especially when the stripes are oversized like these. The change strip is an attractive design in green and primrose.

(Neil Ward, Damian Marshall)

Oldham Athletic

Designer: Sondico

Sponsor: Sports Direct

Over the summer Oldham signed a seven-figure contract with Sports Direct but delays in building their new club shop and with delivery of their new strips meant that the team played their pre-season matches in training gear. The new change strip revives the fluorescent yellow tops worn in 2008-09. The first kit is a neat, assymetric design with subtle gold piping.

(Simon Barnett, Colin Russell)

Peterborough United

Designer: Nike

Sponsor: Mick George

As usual the Posh are wearing standard Nike designs.

(Andrew Mihaleff, Bruce E Bailey, David Rafelle)

Port Vale

Designer: Errea

Sponsor: GMB

The Italian designers at Errea always produce striking outfits so it is good to see them picking up the Port Vale contract. Amber trim is restored, a reference to one of their earliest colour schemes. Amber and black stripes were first choice in the late 1950s and now make a welcome return in the change kit. The third strip was introduced for the match at Notts County and will be retained next season.

(Andrew Mihaleff, Alec Hitchman, Bill Lodey PVFC, Alexander Leiberich)

Preston North End

Designer: Nike

Sponsor: Virgin Trains

HFK is not a fan of Nike's aggressive marketing strategies and there are many who find their standard templates dull but it cannot be denied that their designs lead the field when it comes to elegant simplicity. The new Preston first choice is a good example, re-creating a classic from the 1950s.

(John Smith, Peter McDermott)

Rochdale

Designer: Fila

Sponsor: Crown Oil

While retaining their blue and black colours, promoted Rochdale have dropped the striped shirts that have been their signature since 2008. The result, I suppose, is a return to the all-blue theme adopted in 1988 but with black replacing white as the accent colour. Not convinced.

(Alex Leiberich, Matt Smith)

Scunthorpe United

Designer: Nike

Sponsor: Rainham Steel

Scunthorpe were promoted last season. As usual they are wearing off-the-peg Nike designs and have chosen the new Park Derby template as choice while recycling their change strip. The third kit commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Irish Iron, their supporters' club in Ireland. It carries the old circular unity crest.

(Richard Young)

Sheffield United

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: John Holland Sales (1st, 2nd), Topspring (3rd)

The distinctive Macron kits of recent years are now a thing of the past and the Blades will be wearing standard Adidas outfits for the next four seasons.

The special strip worn against Port Vale in March marks the club's 125th anniversary and features a period crest and the butchers' stripes that appeared on their 1891-92 shirt. It will be their first choice strip next season.

(Phil Banerjee, Matt Brownhill, David Rafelle)

Swindon Town

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Imagine Cruising (1st, 3rd), C&D Recruitment (2nd)

Swindon have new shirt sponsors after Samsung withdrew their support and have adopted the latest Regista 14 design for their first choice kit. Adidas will only supply shirts to lower league clubs if they can pair at least two up with the same design and colours so we can expect to see another team in this template. The third strip was used for the FA Cup tie at Cheltenham.

(Alexander Leiberich)

Walsall

Designer: Diadora

Sponsor: Home Serve

There is more black trim on the new "home" shirt than ever, giving it a stylish look. Note the similarity to Crewe's new Carbrini shirt: they are in fact the same template (Diadora and Carbrini are both part of JD Sports) with a white side panel added to Walsall's top as well as a different collar. The change kit is very unusual.

Yeovil Town

Designer: Sondico

Sponsor: W+S Recycling Services

Yeovil's adventure in the second tier lasted just one season. Their new first choice strip features a shirt that is a shameless rip-off of the current Celtic top. The only difference is that the the hoops are in a different order, a detail that JD Sports' legal team must think sufficient to stop Nike engaging m'learned friends for an expensive copyright infringement action. The nasty fluorescent yellow change strip is replaced by an altogether more pleasant gold and green outfit.

(Russel Mackenzie, Ian Hambidge)