Football Shirt

Football shirts

Organised Association Football emerged in the early 1860s but it was not until 1863 that the first nationally recognised rules were established with the formation of the Football Association (FA). In those early days clubs did not wear uniform kits: players would turn out in whatever they had to hand and teams would be distinguished by wearing distinctively coloured caps, scarves or sashes. Spectators were generally regarded as a nuisance and the game was a robust pursuit for gentlemen from public schools. The leading clubs were formed by old boys either as associations of former pupils (Old Etonians, Old Carthusians etc), by officers serving in the Army (Royal Engineers) and at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Each public school played under its own unique set of rules so organising games between them was problematic but gradually two codes emerged. The handling game, originating at Rugby School emerged as Rugby Football while Association Football evolved from rules set out at Cambridge University and by the Sheffield Club. In Scotland the game was pioneered by Queen's Park FC (formed 1867) who affiliated to the (English) Football Association and helped form the Scottish FA in 1873.

During the mid to late 1870s the first uniform kits began to appear. In England colours were often those of the public schools and sports clubs with which the game was associated: Blackburn Rovers first wore the pale blue and white of Cambridge University where several of their founders were educated, while Reading first played in the salmon pink, pale blue and claret colours of the rowing club that spawned them. In first FA Cup final in 1872, Wanderers wore pink, black and cerise while their opponents, The Royal Engineers played in dark red and navy shirts. Colours were changed frequently depending on what local suppliers could provide and the players could afford. The game was played almost exclusively by middle class men who could afford to buy a shirt in their clubs colours. That said, plain white shirts were the most popular kit of the period, being both relatively cheap and easily obtainable.

For a full history of kits: www.historicalkits.co.uk