The launch of any new kit is one of the most exciting dates in the footballing calender for supporters and the same can certainly be said when it comes to Huddersfield Town fans and strip reveals.
Since adopting blue and white stripes in the late 1910s, the Terriers have strayed only occasionally from this traditional football look, wearing all blue in the late 1960s (when the sport appeared to go through a ‘historical cleansing’ exercise) and then again in 1975–77.
But over the years the stripes have gone through many imaginative incarnations; adorned with additional colours and thinner stripes, decorated with subtle shadow patterns and more recently rendered in fading, gradiated designs.
And who can forget Matchwinner’s radical and rather controversial re-interpretation from 1987–89 that introduced thinner stripes and a white chest panel. Is it a coincidence that this ‘challenging’ outfit corresponded with a dire period in the Terriers’ history?!
The shades of blue have varied too, from an opulent royal blue hue, being replaced in recent years by lighter tones.
White shorts are generally favoured although blue do make the occasional appearance with the sock colours are a little more unpredictable with all manner of white, blue, hooped and, in a spirit of the club’s early days, black pairs worn.
Away from home, a whole plethora of colours and designs have been sported by the side.
As a rule of thumb, red in some form or other tends to be the hue of choice, most notably in the simple red and black stripes from the late 1960s and infamously in 1991, courtesy of Gola, with the introduction of a brave abstracted ‘electric’ design in black and red hoops.
White, blue and even ‘ecru’ (during a bizarre late 1990s craze for the beige-like colour) have also been worn by the club.
Yellow also pops up from time to time, but will always be associated for the Matchwinner chequerboard strip that was worn in ‘that’ defeat to Manchester City in 1987.
Shirt sponsorship arrived at Leeds Road in 1982 thanks to Central Garage Mirfield whose red logo was emblazoned proudly across the traditional stripes.
Since then other sponsors have included Daihatsu, Greenalls, Panasonic, Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Radian and Pure Legal.
A huge variety of manufacturers have also passed through the Terriers’ kitbag with the aforementioned Matchwinner and Gola joined by Bukta, Barralan, Pony, Mitre, Super League, Admiral, Pony and Puma over the years.
For the 2018/19 campaign Umbro return to the John Smith's Stadium to continue the fine work they undertook from 2011–13.
The sportswear legends have also surprisingly reintroduced a ‘Terriers’ themed badge, a motif first introduced in 1969, that replaces the more familiar Huddersfield coat of arms crest.
Supporters will be hoping Umbro’s fresh new look will bring some inspiration to the side as they look forward to another season in the Premier League.
John Devlin's latest book, International Football Kits (True Colours) charting the evolving football strip design of the world's leading national football teams, is current available to purchase from all good bookshops, Bloomsbury online bookshop or the True Colours Football Kit website.
