The Fabric Of Leicester City

01

Home: 1948/49

Although there had been the occasional use of the Leicester Town crest on Fosse shirts in their Midland League days in the early 1890s, it wasn’t until 1948/49 that a crest appeared on a Leicester City shirt. It featured a fox’s head in red. This particular design only lasted for one season. It received national exposure because it was worn by Leicester City in the 1949 FA Cup Final at Wembley against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

02

Away: 1962/63

The home version of this round-neck collar design, a blue shirt with a white trim, had been introduced halfway through the season, on Boxing Day 1962. The away version was this white shirt with a blue trim. Leicester City wore the away version in the 1963 FA Cup Final against Manchester United. Black and white television coverage meant that their blue shirts would have been indistinguishable from Manchester United’s red shirts on the nation’s screens. With only five games to go, Leicester City were realistic contenders for the league and FA Cup double. In the end, they finished fourth in the league and were beaten cup finalists.

03

Home: 1972/73

In 1972/73, inspired by the example of Real Madrid, the Club adopted, on the initiative of manager Jimmy Bloomfield and some senior players (and for one season only) an all-white home kit with blue trim. The above sample shirt features club ambassador Alan Birchnell’s signature. An impressive array of Leicester City players wore this white home shirt. These included Frank Worthington, Alan Birchenall, Steve Whitworth, Dennis Rofe, John Sjoberg , Graham Cross, Jon Sammels, Keith Weller, John Farrington, Len Glover and Mike Stringfellow. Halfway through the season, in January 1973, the directors, realizing that he fans weren’t happy with the white shirts, resolved to revert to the blue shirts the following season.

04

Home: 1976-79

The prolific use of the Admiral logo was a radical departure from previous Leicester City shirts. Admiral was the brand of a local firm, Cook and Hurst, based in Wigston. In the mid-1970s they had a highly visible presence, with their brand prominent on the shirts of England, Leeds United and Manchester United amongst others. For each of the three seasons that Leicester City wore this shirt design they had a different manager. These were Jimmy Bloomfield, Frank McLintock and Jock Wallace. Keith Weller wore it when, famously wearing white tights, he scored his last goal for the Club in an FA Cup tie against Norwich City. It was also the shirt worn by a young Gary Lineker when he made his debut against Oldham Athletic on New Year’s Day 1979.

05

Home: 1983-85

This shirt design was the first-ever Leicester City shirt to include a sponsor’s logo following a deal with the brewers Ind Coope. It was the first shirt to sport the ‘running fox’ logo, which was the official badge until 1992. It was also the first shirt since 1922 to incorporate pinstripes into the design. In the two seasons of this shirt’s existence, Gary Lineker, Alan Smith and Steve Lynex scored well over 100 goals between them.

06

Away: 1986/87

In the fourth and final year of their shirt sponsorship, the Ind Coope brewery used the team’s home and away shirts to advertise their John Bull bitter. This match-worn red Admiral John Bull shirt was worn for one season only and in seven away league matches. It was also worn by the Leicester City Past XI when they played the first team in Tommy Williams’ testimonial match in December 1986 and in a friendly against Valencia on a trip to Spain in March 1987. In what turned out to be a relegation season, City won only two league games wearing this shirt design.

07

Away: 1983-85

Arguably the most notorious shirt in the entire history of Leicester City Football Club, this shirt was part of an all-green kit with yellow stripes. Green and yellow were the brand colours of the shirt sponsors Ind Coope and the idea for this kit design emanated from Ind Coope’s marketing department. The players hated it because in its two seasons, they never won any of the 13 league games in which it was worn. Despite the team’s record in this shirt, the unique design remains a cult favourite among supporters to this day.

08

Away: 1987/88

This shirt design is truly historic. It is the first yellow shirt ever worn by Leicester City. It is extremely rare and was worn as the second away shirt for the 1987/88 season. It was only worn in two games. These were at Crystal Palace in the league and at Scunthorpe United in the League Cup. This shirt wasn’t a one-off. Ever since, the colour yellow has been a regular feature in Leicester City away shirts; the most recent being in 2011/12, when the previous season’s away shirt was employed as the team’s third option.

09

Away: 1989/90

Part of the two-year deal with Scoreline, which ran from 1988 to 1990, this shirt design was only worn twice during these two years, against Crystal Palace in the League Cup and the final away game of the season, against West Ham. This is a rare shirt, with very few photos in existence of the players wearing it. The main away shirt for this period was a red one.

10

Home: 1990-92

Forever associated with some unforgettable matches in the Club’s history, this design was worn for the last game of the 1990/91 season, when a Tony James goal against Oxford United prevented Leicester City being relegated to the old Third Division for the first time in the Club’s history. It was also worn the following season when Leicester City, under their new manager Brian Little, fought their way through to the Play-Off Final at Wembley against Kenny Dalglish’s Blackburn Rovers for a place in the newly-formed Premier League. The shirt was manufactured by Bukta, a long-standing Manchester-based sportwear firm who had produced their first football shirts in the 1880s.

11

Home: 1992-1994

This shirt design was part of an all-blue kit and was designed in conjunction with manager Brian Little and the players. There was a completely new Club crest on the shirt. It replaced the old ‘running fox’ badge. The new crest featured a fox’s face set on the white cinquefoil, taken from the city of Leicester coat of arms. The shirt was the first to carry the Club’s own official clothing brand, Fox Leisure, which lasted until 2000. The Nationwide Football League sleeve badges are also embroidered into the fabric. The design was worn in the 1993 Play-Off Final against Swindon Town. Its final appearance was at the Wembley Play-Off Final against Derby County in May 1994. The last goal scored with the team wearing this shirt was Steve Walsh’s iconic second (and winning) goal, six minutes from time in that match.

12

Home: 1994-96

Part of another all-blue kit, this design was first worn by Leicester City when they made their debut in the recently-formed Premier League at the start of the 1994/95 season. Nine months later they were relegated. It made its last outing (with the words ‘Division One Play-Off Final Wembley 1996’ written beneath the crest) at the end of the following season when promotion was secured under Martin O'Neill against Crystal Palace at Wembley, following Steve Claridge’s famous ‘shinned’ goal four seconds from the end of extra-time.

13

Away: 1995/96

For the 1995/96 season only, the Club issued this ‘Fox Leisure’ jade and navy third kit. It was worn with jade and navy halved shorts together with jade and navy socks. For only the third time in Leicester City’s history, the Club badge was in the middle of the shirt. It provided an alternative to the all-yellow away kit. Leicester City failed to win any of the three matches played wearing this design. Neil Lennon made his Leicester City debut wearing this shirt design.

14

Goalkeeper: 1996-98

On 18 April 1997, Kasey Keller wore this shirt for the replayed League Cup Final at Hillsborough, when Middlesbrough were defeated by another Steve Claridge goal in extra-time. The actual shirt included here was worn by Kevin Poole, the substitute goalkeeper that night, although he had been a key figure in the Leicester City side, playing nearly 200 games between 1991 and 1997. The shirt design lasted until the end of the 1997/98 season. The alternative goalkeeper shirt for the period 1996 to 1998 had the same pattern, but with pink instead of green and purple instead of black.

15

Home: 2003-05

Home fans first saw this shirt design in August 2003 in the prestigious pre-season friendly against Barcelona. The shirt featured here, meanwhile, was worn by Les Ferdinand in the home fixture against Blackburn Rovers on 2 November, 2003. This was the first-ever Remembrance Fixture, and as such, the first fixture to have embroidered red poppies on the shirts. This innovation by Leicester City has now become an established tradition nationwide.

16

Away: 2004/05

The Club’s 120th anniversary was marked by the introduction of this third kit. Despite its khaki coloured appearance, it was known as Fosse Gold in a deliberate reference to the Club’s origins. It was reversible with a dark blue interior. This was an extremely disappointing season with the Foxes finishing 15th in the Championship. What made this shirt a surprising all-time best selling replica away shirt at the time was its association with the Club’s FA Cup run through to the quarter-finals. It was worn at Charlton Athletic in the fifth round, even though the Addicks wore their usual red shirts.

17

Home: 2009/10

Heavily influenced by a fans’ vote in January 2009 that gave supporters the choice of four options; shirts emblazoned with 'Forever Foxes', '125 Years', 'Blue Army' or a plain shirt. Leicester City fans voted in favour of having a plain, classic shirt for the 125th anniversary year. This shirt was worn for one season only. However, it was adapted by new manufacturer Burrda the following campaign. For the first time in 26 seasons, there was no sponsor’s logo on the front of the shirt. There were also some minor changes to the Club’s crest. The dates ‘1884-2009’ and the legend ‘125 Years’ were added to the crest and the decision was taken to replace the gold muzzle and cheeks of the fox, which had been a feature since 1992, with a white muzzle and white cheeks. The Club started the season as League 1 champions. The sleeve badges on the shirt are gold coloured, as a tribute to winning this title.

18

ชุดเยือน: 2009/10

นี่คือการนำชุดแข่งแรกในประวัติศาสตร์ของ เลสเตอร์ ฟอสส์ กลับมาประยุกต์ใช้ในช่วงฉลองครบรอบ 125 ปีของสโมสร โดยอย่างที่เห็นในภาพชุดแข่งเป็นสีดำล้วนและคาดด้วยสรฟ้า โดย โจม่า แบรนด์จากสเปนเป็นเจ้าของดีไซน์ พร้อมกับมีโลโก้ที่ฉลองซีซั่นประวัติศาสตร์นี้ ขณะที่ตรงกลางเป็นโลโก้ของ โลโรส ซึ่งไม่ใช่องค์กรที่แสวงหากำไร เนื่องจากเป็นความตั้งใจของสโมสรที่ไม่ต้องการยุ่งเกี่ยวกับเรื่องการค้าในวาระพิเศษของทีม โดยเกมที่อยู่ในความทรงจำที่สุดคงหนีไม่พ้นนัดที่ “จิ้งจอกสยาม” ชนะ คาร์ดิฟฟ์ ซิตี้ ในเกมเพลย์ออฟเลื่อนชั้น นัดที่ 2 ได้ แม้สุดท้ายพวกเขาจะพ่าย จุดโทษ จนตกรอบก็ตาม

19

Home: 2013/14

This Puma shirt was worn in the record-breaking 2013/14 season when Nigel Pearson’s Leicester City won the Championship title for a record seventh occasion, securing the Club’s return to the Premier League for the first time since 2004. This shirt also is associated with a host of new Club seasonal records. These included the highest number of points accumulated (102), most wins (31 out of 46 games), most home wins (17 out of 23), most consecutive away wins (5), most consecutive away games unbeaten (13) and most consecutive wins (9). For the final home match of the season, the team wore a special limited edition version of this shirt with the words ‘Sky Bet Football League Champions 2013-14’ embroidered beneath the shirt crest.

20

Home: 2015/16

This design was made famous globally as the home shirt worn by Leicester City when they historically won the Premier League title in 2016. It will forever be associated with a host of memorable moments from that season, such as Jamie Vardy’s goal against Manchester United, which created a new Premier League record of scoring in 11 successive games, and his magnificent volleyed goal against Liverpool. Sight of this shirt will always prompt many other memories of the heroics achieved by that famous side.

21

Home: 2016/17

Proudly displaying the UEFA Champions League logo on the sleeve, this shirt design was used in all of Leicester City’s home games on their way to the quarter-finals, as well as in away ties at FC Copenhagen, FC Sevilla and Atlético Madrid. It is most memorably associated with both legs of the dramatic Round of 16 tie against UEFA Europa League holders Sevilla, when Leicester City overcame a 2-1 first leg deficit to win the tie 3-2, with Kasper Schmeichel saving a penalty in both legs. It also brings back memories of the narrow defeat in the closely fought quarter-final tie against Atlético. In addition, throughout the Premier League season, this shirt design displayed the golden Premier League logo on the sleeves to indicate the Club’s status of Premier League title holders.

22

Away: 2019/20

This adidas third kit for the 2019/20 season is a first for Leicester City. It is the first predominantly pink shirt in the Club’s long history. It is currently the best-selling shirt this season and anticipates the future, looking forward to the modern era. It follows the current trend for pastel colours and is made from 100 per cent recycled polyester.