Classic City Shirts Down The Years
Whenever a fan sees an old kit, thoughts of feats performed when that shirt was worn, ranging from FA Cup Finals, League Cup wins, Promotion seasons and Premier League triumphs spring to mind.
Following the release of the Club's 2016/17 PUMA home kit last month, LCFC.com takes a nostalgic look through the years at some of the most iconic shirts worn by Foxes stars past and present.
Shirts have evolved almost beyond recognition. Designs, materials, crests, colours, manufacturers and sponsors have all changed. Woollen shirts have been replaced by lighter man-made materials.
Here, we pick some to have stuck in the memory...
1949 - FA Cup Final Shirt
Main colours: Blue and white
Circulation: One season
The first season that a crest appeared on a City shirt was 1948/49, although there had been the occasional use of the Leicester Town badge in their Midland League days in the early 1890s.
This is the first shirt design to feature a fox’s head. It was also the only season that the head was red. This was the beginning of the development of the Foxes brand for the Club.
The 1948/49 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.
Famous players who wore this classic strip included Don Revie, Sep Smith and Jack Lee, all of whom, at some stage in their careers, played for England. The following season it was replaced by the famous fox head in profile set above crossed riding crops.
1973-1976 - Home Shirt
Main colours: Blue and white
Circulation: Three seasons
This cotton home shirt from 1973 to 1976 is associated with some of the highlights of the Jimmy Bloomfield era.
These included the classic FA Cup tie against Luton at Kenilworth Road, rated as one of the best-ever City performances.
It was the shirt that was worn in the 1974 FA Cup Semi-Finals at Old Trafford and Villa Park against Liverpool. The shirt also featured on the nation’s TV screens as the Foxes went 2-0 down to Isthmian League Leatherhead, before coming back to win 3-2.
The shirt then featured in the epic series of three FA Cup games against Arsenal when the two replays went into extra time. Big money signings Jeff Blockley and Chris Garland made their debuts in it, too, as did Steve Kember and Brian Alderson the following season.
1983-1985 - Admiral Away Shirt
Main colours: Green and yellow
Circulation: Two seasons
This was arguably the most notorious shirt in the entire history of Leicester City. The original intention was to wear this green and gold shirt as part of an all-green kit for those away games where there was a colour clash, not just with shirts but also with shorts and socks.
The Foxes won none of the 13 league games in which it was worn. Wearing this shirt, they twice lost at West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City as well as being defeated at Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, QPR, Chelsea, West Ham and Sheffield Wednesday.
City drew at Ipswich and Everton but lost FA Cup games at Crystal Palace and Millwall. They did beat Chelsea in the second leg of a League Cup game in 1984, but still lost the tie on penalties.
Consequently, the decision to wear it for all away games was amended in favour of wearing a hybrid combination of kits which included, in various combinations, a red England shirt with a Club crest sewn on, blue Umbro shorts, white Admiral shorts, and blue socks.
1996/1997 - Fox Leisure Goalkeepers'
Main Colours: Black and green
Circulation: One season
On 18 April, 1997, Kasey Keller wore this shirt designed for the replayed League Cup Final at Hillsborough, when Middlesbrough were defeated by a Steve Claridge goal in extra time.
The lettering underneath the crest indicates that the shirt had been specially made for that game. Kevin Poole, the owner of the above shirt, was the substitute goalkeeper that night.
A key figure in the Leicester City goal, he played in the 1993 Wembley Play Off-Final and was also the Player of the Year in the 1994/95 Premier League season.
The popular shot-stopper played in 51 of the 53 games in the 1995/96 season which ended so dramatically in the Play Off Final at Wembley against Crystal Palace.
He was replaced in the 119th minute by Zeljko Kalac in anticipation of a penalty shoot-out which was rendered unnecessary by Claridge’s strike four seconds from the end of extra time.
2003-2005 - Le Coq Sportif Home Shirt
Main colours: Blue and white
Circulation: Two seasons
This shirt design is notable for many reasons. Its first season was the final time that City appeared in the Premier League for 10 years, before promotion in 2014.
It was first seen by most fans in August 2003 in the prestigious pre-season friendly against Barcelona in front of a Leicester crowd of over 32,000.
By contrast it was the last Foxes shirt to be worn by some great players from the Martin O’Neill era, including Matt Elliott, Muzzy Izzet, Steve Guppy, Gerry Taggart and Frank Sinclair.
The shirt featured here is more special than most. This was worn by Les Ferdinand during the maiden Remembrance fixture, against Blackburn Rovers on 2 November, 2003. As such, it was the first fixture to have embroidered red poppies on the shirts.
This innovation by the Club has now become an established tradition nationwide. For the away kit that year, City also looked back to their Leicester Fosse origins with a sky blue 'sash' effect (above).
2015/16 - PUMA Home Shirt
Main Colours: All blue
Circulation: One season
For the first time since 2009, the Club reverted to an all-blue home strip for the 2015/2016 season.
Even before this momentous campaign, it was a combination long associated with success. The shirt illustrated above was worn by Shinji Okazaki in the home match against Tottenham Hotspur on 22 August, 2015, a 1-1 draw at King Power Stadium.
Following a remarkable patch of form during the opening three months, the Foxes climbed to the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 success over Newcastle United at St James' Park in November.
It was a position they would ultimately hold as, to the amazement of all onlookers, not least the Blue Army, Claudio Ranieri's men ended the season as Premier League champions for the first-ever time.
Famous faces to have worn the shirt include N'Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, who broke a long-standing record to score in 11 consecutive top flight fixtures.
On 7 May, 2016, captain Wes Morgan lifted the Premier League trophy, alongside Ranieri at King Power Stadium; a sight few City fans ever thought they would witness.