Sheffield Wednesday

Kit History

The Wednesday

1867

1872-1876 y D

See notes

1878-1881 a k n

See notes

1881-1886

1886-1890 a k s z

1890-1891 a

1891-1899 a b g k

1900-1903 a e k v

1903-1904 v

1904-1905 v

1905-1910 a b k v

1910-1918 a k

1920-1921 a k

1921-1922 a

1922-1924 a v

1924-1930 a k t v

Sheffield Wednesday

1929

1930 v

1932-1933 a

1933-1934 v

1934-Feb 1935 k

March 1935-1936 v

Blue centred stripes also worn

Oct 1936 t

1936-1939 b f k

1939-1940 a k

1942-1943 a k

1945-1946 a h k

1946-1947 a b k t

1947-1949 a k v

1949-1953 d k

1953-1954 v

1954-1955 a

1955-1958 b d i k

1958-1961 i s

1961-1962 i s

1961-1962 late i s C

Worn in 2-3 home games

1962-1963 early q s

Worn in a few games

1962-1963 v

1963-1965 k s v

V neck & short sleeves worn in warm weather

1965-1972 a d i k

1972-1973 d l

Aug-Nov 1973 l

Nov 1973-1974 x

Umbro

1974-1975 l

Umbro

1975-1977 l

Bukta

1977-1978 l A B

Bukta

1978-1981 c d h i l B

Bukta

1981-1983 c h B

Bukta

1983-March 1984 x

Bukta

March-May 1984 1 x B

Bukta

March-May 1984 2 x B

Umbro

1984-1986 c

Umbro

1986-1987 c

Umbro

1987-1988 c j p

Umbro

1988-1989 c p

Umbro

1989-1990 c j m B

Umbro

1990-1991 w B

Umbro

April 1991 B

League Cup Final

Umbro

sheffield wednesday august-december 1991

Aug-Dec 1991 w B

Umbro

Jan-May 1992 c w B

Umbro

1992-1993 c B F

Puma

1993-1995 c

Puma

1995-1997 c j o

Puma

1997-1998 c o

Puma

1998-1999 w

Puma

1999-2000 c

Puma

2000-2001 c

Diadora

2001-2003 c j

Diadora

2003-2005 b j

Diadora

2005-2007 b

Lotto

2007-2008 b

Lotto

2008-2009 b

Puma

2009-2011 b

Puma

2011-2012 b

Puma

2012-2013 b

Puma

2013-2014 b

Sondico

2014-2015 b

Sondico

2015-2016 b

Sondico

2016-2017 b

Elev8

2017-2018 b

Elev8

2018-2019 b

Elev8

2019-2020 b

Elev8

2020-2021 b

Macron

2021-2022 b

Macron

2022-2023 b

Background

wednesday fc 1878 Sheffield is the crucible of football, boasting the world's oldest clubs, Sheffield FC and Hallam FC formed in 1857 and 1860 respectively. On Wednesday 4th September 1867 the Wednesday Cricket Club formed a football branch to keep members together during the winter season. The cricket team played on Wednesday afternoons when members, craftsmen, shopkeepers and clerks, had a half day off work. The new club was officially named The Wednesday Cricket & Football Club. Although they were frequently referred to as Sheffield Wednesday, the club did not formally adopt this title until 1929.

In their first ever game, The Wednesday defeated the Mechanics Club by three goals and four "rouges" to nil. Under "Sheffield Rules", the goal posts were four yards apart and a second pair of vertical posts stood four yards to either side. If the ball passed between these outer posts and was touched down by the attacking side, a rouge was scored: if teams finished level on goals, the one with the most rouges was the winner. The club's colours were royal blue and white although this was before the introduction of uniform kits. Players initially wore whatever they had to hand adorned by royal blue caps, scarves or sashes but by 1872, they registered ther colours as blue and white hoops.

A press report of a match on 14 January 1876 describes the team as wearing "blue striped jerseys and smuggler's caps, look(ing) all the world like Dutch sailors." The team photograph from three years later reproduced above shows various styles of jersey and two players are wearing self-coloured tops one of which bears what may be the crest of the Sheffield FA. Furthermore various knickerbockers, ducks and hose are apparent. This motley appearance was typical of the period when players provided their own kit.

In The Romance of the Wednesday 1867-1926, the author records that Wednesday wore "blue and white quarters like Blackburn Rovers" in 1886-87. In 1890 their shirts were described as "blue and white butcher's stripes."

By 1883 the club was one of the strongest in the country and the footballers split from the cricket club arguing that they earned all the money while the cricketers merely spent it. In 1886 the club secretary forgot to submit Wednesday's application to the English FA Cup in time and several leading players defected to a local works side, Lockwood Brothers FC in order to play in the competition. They then threatened to form a breakaway professional club, Sheffield Rovers, but after protracted negotiations they were persuaded to return to The Wednesday in return for payment of 5 shillings (25p) per home game and 7/6d (37.5p) for an shefield wednesday 1890 fa cup final crest away game. On 22 April 1887, The Wednesday formally became a professional team.

Wednesday were overlooked when the Football League was founded in 1888 so the club president formed the rival Football Alliance in 1889, winning the championship at the first attempt. They also reached the FA Cup final, the first Yorkshire team to do so, but were beaten by Blackburn Rovers. A white rose was embroidered onto the pale blue shirts worn in this match.

In 1892 the Alliance was incorporated into the Football League as Division Two and in the process The Wednesday were elected to play in Division One. After two consecutive semi-final appearances The Wednesday won the FA Cup in 1896. After a single season in Division Two (1898-99) the club were First Division champions in 1903 and 1904 and won the FA Cup again in 1907.

Wednesday's original nickname was "The Blades" until 1903 when they adopted "The Owls" and their original soubriquet was taken up by their rivals, Sheffield United.

sheffield wednesday fa cup final crest 1935 In 1920 the club were again relegated but returned as Division Two champions in 1926 and went on to win consecutive Division One titles for the second time (1929 and 1930). Around 1929 the club formally adopted the title of "Sheffield Wednesday." In 1935 they won the FA Cup for the third time. As was now customary, the city's coat of arms were worn on the shirts in the final. Two years later, Wednesday were back in Division Two.

In the final year of wartime competition (1945-46), Wednesday were unable to obtain their traditional vertical blue and sheffield wednsday crest 1956 white shirts so played in hooped jerseys instead, a style they had previously worn in the reign of Queen Victoria.

During the 1950s, the "Owls" (the club's home is in the Owlerton district of Sheffield) were promoted and relegated between the top two divisions with bewildering frequency. sheffield wednesday 1966 fa cup final crest The club's first official crest was adopted in 1956 but was never used on the team's shirts. This featured an owl, which would become the regular motif of future crests along with the club's Latin motto (which translates as "By Wisdom and Courage").

The 1960s were spent in the First Division and included an FA Cup final appearance in 1966 (in which the old crest appeared for the first and last time). This period saw different versions of the traditional stripes being trialled for a few matches in 1962 and in 1965, in a complete departure from Wednesday's traditional look, a smart blue shirt with white sleeves was adopted. In 1970 Wednesday were relegated and in 1975 they dropped into the Third Division for the first time.

sheffield wednesday crest 1973 The striped shirts were reinstated in 1972, now for the first time with blue shorts, and the following season a stylised outline of an owl appeared on the players' shirts. This became one of the most iconic of all the "animal badges" and has been worn (apart from a break 1995-99) ever since in one form or another.

sheffield wednesday crest 1984 In 1980 the Owls were promoted back to Division Two and only four years later the club was back in the First Division. At this stage the crest was modified to include the club's initials. This badge appeared in blue and gold, as shown, or in white.

Apart from one season in Division Two (1990-91), Wednesday became firmly established at the top for the next twenty years. Ironically it was while they were in the Second Division that Wednesday won a rare trophy, beating Manchester United in the League Cup final. In the 1992-93 season they visited Wembley four sheffield wednesday crest 1995 times for a League Cup Final, FA Cup semi-final final and replay. However, they ended the season without adding any more silverware to the trophy cabinet.

In 1995 a new crest was adopted with an altogether more traditional feel to it. The original version had a blue and white background, echoing the team's traditional striped shirts but this was replaced by a plain white background in 1997.

1999 In 1999 the previous crest was replaced by a simplified version that reintroduced the popular, stylised owl as the centrepiece.

Wednesday began another downward cycle that took them to the depths of the third tier in 2003. After narrowly avoiding relegation to the basement in 2004, Wednesday returned to the second tier (now the Championship) via the play-offs in 2005. After several campaigns of mixed fortunes, the club was relegated to League One on the last day of the 2009-10 season.

Superstitious supporters favour a blue central stripe on the players' shirts, regarding white central stripes as unlucky.

In a landmark deal in England, Wednesday and Sheffield United shared the same sponsors shefield wednesday crest 2016 in 2011-12. Wednesday wore the logo of a Volkswagen dealership on their home shirts and that of Westfield Health Insurance Company on their away shirts while United reversed the arrangement. This followed concern expressed by local businesses that by sponsoring one club and not the other some supporters would be alienated from their brand. Similar concerns had led to Celtic and Rangers sharing sponsorship over a decade earlier.

In January 2016 and after consultations with supporters, Wednesday's owner Dejphon Chansiri, announced that the club's original crest from 1956 would be revived for the 2016-17 season. This would be the first time that the badge had featured regularly on the team shirts. Many supporters were dismayed when it was revealed that the new crest would appear on an all-blue strip quite unlike anything worn previously in the club's long history.

The following season marked Wednesday's 150th anniversary and a special set of strips was commissioned. Curiously the first choice shirt was a reproduction of the admittedly smart version worn 1965-72, one of the rare periods when the club departed from their traditional stripes. These were manufactured in-house with an unknown brand, Elev8. Elev8 Clothing Ltd and Elev8 Energy Drink Ltd were registered with Companies' House in August 2017 with Wednesday's chairman, Dejphon Chansiri, being the sole director.

In July 2020 the club were docked 12 points for breaching the EFL's profitability and sustainability rules. This followed Chansiri purchasing Wednesday's stadium for £60 million in June 2019. This was recorded in the club's accounts for the previous year, turning a £35.4 million loss into a modest profit. (Losses are limited to £39 million over a rolling three-year period.) Inexplicably the independent disciplinary commission applied the points penalty to the following season allowing the club to avoid immediate relegation. The penalty was later reduced to six points on appeal. On the final day of the 2020-21 season, during which they had three managers, Wednesday were in fact relegated, ending a nine-year spell in the Championship.

Historical Football Kits

Kit History

Background

Sources