The Kits

of the 150th Anniversary Season

The First Kit

The Second Kit

The Third Kit

Having already extolled the virtues of the anniversary kit, this might be a time to look at a few of the nuances. Unfortunately there are no discernible differences between match worn player issue and replica that we can tell. Ever aware of the marketing possibilities, the club kept a tight hand on all kit to the extent that Zoko's throwing of his to a fan at an away game gained national coverage when he was fined for the loss. The result was that, come the end of the season, sponsors had a chance at the kit they had paid for and players were allocated one each.Any remaining shirts were then taken by the club and sold to fans - some reaching three figures at auction. Forty or so went from the club shop, the first kit going most quickly of them all. The well-used shirt of Jamal Campbell-Ryce (shown right) reveals the detail it is a size XLB ! Perhaps the winger was keen to demonstrate his well-muscled torso in a figure-hugging little number. Perhaps he didn't want the opposition using it to pull him back. It's really not for us to say....

The embroidery carried over from last season's anniversary issue but the writing on the back  of the shirt below the collar is nice.

The names of all season ticket holders appeared in the black stripes. Nice touch !

Although nominally the second kit, this was never as popular as the pink and wasn't worn as often. The away sponsors were unchanged but there was none of this wearing home kits with away sponsors on business that had happened last year except for the goalkeepers who had an amazing eight shirts issued, each colour with different sponsors. For outfield players both this design and the pink had Vision Express on. Some of these shirts cropped up for sale in the shop though (no keepers did) and all had the same writing on an detail as you can see on the home shirt above.

The pink third kit proved an instant hit - especially with female fans who had been waiting a long time for something they could wear to games. The team didn't seem to mind either and it cropped up quite a lot at away games. This shirt belonged to Jeff Hughes, the penalty-taker who was with us for two seasons. Jeff was a full international with Northern Ireland and netted 24 times in his two years before signing for league newcomers Fleetwood.