Many people know the famous origin stories of football kits; how Juventus wear black and white stripes because of Notts County, for example, but what about some other kit evolution stories?
There is a mention in the Staffordshire Sentinel in September 1883 that Stoke ‘played in their new uniform of flannel shirts with red and white stripes and white knickerbockers, presenting a very smart appearance.’ But I’ve never uncovered why they switched kits. You’ve inspired me to write a little bit on their early shirts - I’ll send a link when it’s done.
Juventus got theirs from Notts County, but there is a theory that Partizan Belgrade switched to black-and-white stripes because of a set of kits they got from Juventus after an encounter of theirs. That theory is not confirmed – the only thing that is for sure is that Partizan started wearing that kit in March 1959, long after their founding in 1945.
Until then, Partizan had all sort of kits: blue, red, white, blue-and-red halved like Basel, and burgundy-blue like CSKA Moscow. This last kit is today Partizan's away kit precisely because of this history. The burgundy-blue became particularly cherished when Partizan wore it when they knocked out Newcastle in 2003 at St James' Park and qualified for the modern Champions League for the first time.
Yes, I remember that iconic kit, they even had it last season I think. It'd be cool if someone was to make a tree graph of which clubs are connected in this way, like The Blizzard did with the history of tactics :)
Love this, didn’t know any of these stories
Cheers, is there any story behind Stoke’s colours?
There is a mention in the Staffordshire Sentinel in September 1883 that Stoke ‘played in their new uniform of flannel shirts with red and white stripes and white knickerbockers, presenting a very smart appearance.’ But I’ve never uncovered why they switched kits. You’ve inspired me to write a little bit on their early shirts - I’ll send a link when it’s done.
🙌🏼
Juventus got theirs from Notts County, but there is a theory that Partizan Belgrade switched to black-and-white stripes because of a set of kits they got from Juventus after an encounter of theirs. That theory is not confirmed – the only thing that is for sure is that Partizan started wearing that kit in March 1959, long after their founding in 1945.
Until then, Partizan had all sort of kits: blue, red, white, blue-and-red halved like Basel, and burgundy-blue like CSKA Moscow. This last kit is today Partizan's away kit precisely because of this history. The burgundy-blue became particularly cherished when Partizan wore it when they knocked out Newcastle in 2003 at St James' Park and qualified for the modern Champions League for the first time.
Thanks - Juve were big in the 1950s, so I guess that would be aspirational.
Interestingly, Newcastle often have a burgundy and blue away kit - amazing hooped edition when they choked the Prem in 1995/96.
Yes, I remember that iconic kit, they even had it last season I think. It'd be cool if someone was to make a tree graph of which clubs are connected in this way, like The Blizzard did with the history of tactics :)
Great minds! I just added one https://outsidewrite.substack.com/p/kit-evolution-who-wears-what-because?r=5miaim&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true