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Week Ending 26 September - 2020-21 Update Scottish Championship: Raith Rovers, Dunfermline Athletic, Heart of Midlothian, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Queen of the South. Scottish League One: Falkirk, Clyde, Cove Rangers, Dumbarton, Airdrieonians, East Fife, Montrose*, Partick Thistle. Scottish League Two: Stranraer, Elgin City, Cowdenbeath, Albion Rovers, Queen's Park, Stirling Albion*. Former Members: Berwick Rangers, East Stirlingshire. *Unchanged. Historical Miscellany Bernard Gallagher recently sent me this early photograph of West Bromwich Albion. This appeared in a report on the FA Cup Final replay in the Blackburn Standard on April 10 1886 but since the match was played on that day, it cannot be of the team that appeared in the replay. The process of developing a photographic plate and preparing it for reproduction in a newspaper could not have been completed in just a few hours. In fact it is an archive photograph dating from 5 September 1885 when Albion still wore cardinal red and light blue jerseys. They changed to navy and white stripes shortly afterwards. I originally found this in The A-Z of West Bromwich Albion (Tony Matthews 1996). That was in the early days of HFK, before we had an army of research elves and when I could not afford to buy many books. At the time my work took me around the country so I contrived to have time to call in on libraries and book shops around the UK. On a trip to HMP Reading, for example, I was able to track down a copy of the Official History of Reading FC 1871-2003 in WH Smith. I remember studying Tony Matthews' book in the Birmingham branch of Waterstones when a young shop assistant approached me and politely but firmly explained that I was welcome to browse the stock but sitting down with books and making notes was not allowed and perhaps I would like to leave. Elgin City (1933-1914 knickers corrected, hooped 1909-10 kit removed - this was a change kit in yellow and black - gaps in the record 1969-76 now filled): Gillingham (2013-14 correct manufacturer's logo applied): Bradford City (1962- 63): Accrington Stanley (1990-91, 1991-92 shorts & socks now confirmed). Port Vale (1909-10, 1912-14 trim altered, 1929-30, 1934-36, December 1979 added, 1965-66 shirt trim added, 1981-82, 1982-83 sponsor altered). (Material and photograph sourced from onevalefan.co.uk) Scotland 1905 Greger Lindberg found an interesting item in the Scottish Referee (24 March 1905). An unnamed sportswear manufacturer wrote, "As showing the superior quality of our football jerseys, we have again been favoured with instructions from the Sottish Football Association to supply jerseys for the great international matches - Scotland v England (primrose and pink), Scotland v Ireland (marone [sic]), Scotland v Wales (royal blue)." The photograph shows the match against England. (Photograph FIFA. Press cutting the British Newspaper Archive.)

Week Ending 19 September - 2020-21 Update League Two: Salford City. That wraps it up for the Premier League and EFL apart from some former members. I'll tackle those once the SPFL section is complete. Scottish Premiership: Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Livingston, Motherwell, Rangers, Ross County, St Johnstone, St Mirren. Scottish Championship: Ayr United, Dundee.

Week Ending 12 September - 2020-21 Update Premier League: Southampton (new sponsor added), Tottenham Hotspur (socks updated), Fulham. Championship: Bristol City, Blackburn Rovers, Brentford, Swansea City, Queen's Parek Rangers. League One: Hull City, Fleetwood Town, AFC Wimbledon (socks confirmed), Lincoln City, Bristol Rovers (socks updated), Charlton Athletic, Doncaster Rovers (socks confirmed), Gillingham*, Wigan Athletic. League Two: Morecambe, Harrogate Town, Forest Green Rovers*, Crawley Town (socks confirmed), Exeter City, Leyton Orient, Newport County, Stevenage (shorts & socks confirmed). Former Members: Stockport County, Wrexham (socks confirmed). Scottish Premiership: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Hamilton Academical. *Unchanged.

Week Ending 29 August - More on the New Boys Harrogate Town (1964-65, 1998-99 added, 1977-78 socks corrected). The Barrow section has had a major update with with eight new graphics, stockings 1920-31 altered and missing detailing added to numerous graphics. 2020-21 Update Premier League: Leeds United. Championship: Luton Town, Preston North End, Cardiff City, Coventry City. League One: Portsmouth, Milton Keynes, AFC Wimbledon, Oxford United. League Two: Southend United. Former members: Notts County.

Week Ending 22 August - Harrogate Town Update With the help of Sam Walsh and Phil Harrison I have been able to add no fewer than 27 new graphics to the Harrogate Town section and added detailing to several more. Our kit history now extends back to the formation of the original Harrogate AFC in 1919, pictured left. (Photograph Phil Harrison) 2020-21 Update Premier League: Burnley. Championship: Huddersfield Town, Birmingham City, Stoke City, Derby County, Nottingham Forest, Reading, Millwall (shorts detailing corrected), Sheffield Wednesday. League One: Peterborough United, Swindon Town, Shrewsbury Town, Rochdale. League Two: Crawley Town, Port Vale. Former members: Wrexham.

15 August - 2020-21 Update My congratulations go to Harrogate Town who recently won promotion to League Two via the play-offs and whose recent kit record is now available on HFK. Pictured here is the Sulphurites team from 1956-57, currently the only confirmed strip we have prior to 1985 but I hope to rectify this shortly. (Photograph Phil Harrison Official Club Historian.) Premier League: Everton (socks corrected). Championship: Wycombe Wanderers, Norwich City, Watford. League Two: Stevenage, Barrow.

7 August - 2020-21 Update Premier League: West Ham United. League One: Sunderland, Ipswich Town. League Two: Bolton Wanderers, Oldham Athletic, Scunthorpe United, Walsall.

6 August - 2020-21 Update The 2020-21 Premier League/EFL gallery is now open. Premier League: Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sheffield United, West Bromwich Albion, Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton. Championship: Rotherham United. League One: Doncaster Rovers, Plymouth Argyle. League Two: Grimsby Town, Cheltenham Town (shorts/socks confirmed), Tranmere Rovers.

23 July - Bits 'n' Bobs Pictured here are Jimmy Greaves in his Barnet days and Terry Paterson of Cheltenham Town probably taken in March 1978. The previous June the FA had bowed to pressure from clubs and permitted shirt sponsorship and the Robins are wearing a very early example. (Photograph supplied by James Fenn.) Scotland (1901 v Wales), Shrewsbury Town (1911-12), Millwall (1889-92 added).

22 July - Victorian Spurs Our Tottenham Hotspur Elves, Tony Sealey and Richard Essen have been looking into early minute books with the help of a club historian and author and made some very interesting finds: - It seems that the Maltese Cross that can (just about) be made out in this 1885-86 photograph was only worn in cup games. - Between 1886 and 1889 Spurs wore mid-blue and white tops (presumed to be halved) and once again a special badge was added for cup matches in 1887-88. - The strip recorded simply as "navy and white" for 1889-1890 is now confirmed to have been white shirts with dark blue britches. Northampton Town Update It has long been thought that the Cobblers' original colours were chocolate and light blue but we can now reveal that this is not correct. Tim Hickling, who is researching the early history of the club in the local newspaper archives, has found three references dating from 1897 to 1899 that confirm that the team wore claret and white from their formation. (Photograph Northmpton Town FC.) 1893 FA Cup Final On 22 May I published a cutting from the Birmingham Daily Post that described the shirts worn by Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup final as "yellow and purple." It now appears that the reporter was mistaken. Simon Monks has found reports in no fewer than five newspapers that describe their shirts as "amber and black." It was not unusual at the time for provincial papers to simply lift copy from their rivals so it is possible for mistakes to get repeated but in this case at least two of the reporters were definitely at the match. Perhaps the Post reporter was confused by the appearance of Wolves' brand new shirts in the bright sunlight. Early Arsenal I have revised the Arsenal records for the Plumstead era thanks to material shared with HFK by Andy Kelly and Mark Andrews. This has resulted in some tweaks to dates for first choice kits and a comprehensive overhaul of the change kit section.

21 July - Barrow AFC Update Over the past fortnight I have been occupied with updating Barrow's kit record covering the 48 years since they lost their place in the Football League. With the help of Peter Naylor and several of his chums involved i the club's fan forum, Ihave been able to make considerable progress and the record is now up to date. There are, however, still some gaps in the 1970s and early 1980s that need to be filled and quite a few of the kits from the past two decades are missing important details (noted below the graphics). All help will be gratefully received. In the 1930's and 40's the team's signature blue shirts featured a large blue chevron (a look that has yet to be revived) but for the 1934-35 season, a large white V neck was worn, a very unusual design for the period.

8 July- 2020-21 Update As many regular visitors have assumed, I am holding off from adding the new 2020-21 strips until all the remaining promotion and relegation issues have been resolved in England. As I wrote on 31 March, I am reviewing my current workload and have decided that I will no longer add second, third and one-off kits to the season sections, which will now revert to a single consolidated page showing first choice strips for all the top tiers in England and Scotland. I realise that this will come as a disappointment to many visitors who look forward to these updates each season and I will greatly miss writing snarky comments about each new folly but the work involved in drawing so many increasingly intricate designs is no longer sustainable. This will, however, ensure that I have capacity to cover the Euros when they (I hope) go ahead next year. The Future of the Canarinho Back in May, when we were looking into the reasons behind Brazil's odd choice of grey socks for some matches in the 1970 World Cup, our Brazil Elf, Gabriel Vogas mentioned to me how the supporters of the country's far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, had co-opted the iconic canary yellow shirt of the national football team as well as the Brazilian flag as emblems in support of their extremist views. This topic was covered in today's Guardian. The issue has divided the Brazilian public. Many on the political left are outraged that the Bolsonaristas have pre-empted these iconic national symbols during anti-democratic rallies and protests against social distancing and have called for the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) to return to the white and blue colours worn up until 1950 and revived for the 2019 Copa America (left). Not all progressives agree, however. Rather than retire the famous yellow shirt, leading journalist Juca Kfouri and a top newspaper, Folha de São Paulo, have called for moderates and leftists to reclaim these treasured national symbols. Surrendering them to the far-right, they argue, would represent a victory for the Bolsonaristas. The Canarinho shirt was designed in 1950 by Aldyr Garcia Schlee, then aged 19, (pictured right in 2007) following Brazil's disastrous defeat in the 1950 World Cup final. Schlee, who passed away in 2018, was appalled at the way far-right parties had co-opted the iconic shirt he had designed and, following the impeachment of Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff (from the social democrat Workers' Party) in 2016, a process widely regarded by the international comunity as driven by a right-wing conspiracy, he wrote: "The jersey itself has become a symbol of the coup in this country...The whole wave of cheap moralism of the worst kind...served to support, feed and define the coup in the name of a jersey that I (now) detest." In a separate blog Schlee wrote, "I don't want anything to do with it any more. I abdicate any relation about making it. Wear another colour. Preferably brown, the colour of shit." (Photographs: Pedro Martins/Nike/EPA, Gilbert Perrin/The Football Museum.) New Affiliate Partners I'm pleased to announce that HFK is now partnered with Arsenal Direct and the official West Ham United online store. You can now buy official merchandise by clicking on the crest at the top of the respective club pages and through the Sponsored Links on this page. HFK receives a commission on sales generated in this way. Congratultaions to Barrow AFC After an absence of 48 years it was confirmed last month that Barrow are to be promoted to League Two. I've started on the mammoth task of filing in the huge gap in our records since 1972 and all offers of help will be appreciated!

18 June - A Victorian Miscellany I've been taking another look at the evidence for Stoke's earliest colours prompted by an e-mail from Sam Booden who has found a previously unrecorded kit for 1871-72. Examining Robin Horton's notes from CW Alcock's Football Annuals I see that their colours for 1873 are recorded as crimson and blue. There is an infuriating gap before the next entry for 1879, which gives us blue and black. I've come to the conclusion that the 1877-78 team (left) is wearing hoops of crimson and light blue while the 1882-83 side (right) is in light blue and black. (Photographs Stoke City FC: Images of Sport [Tony Matthews] 1999) Robin Horton has uncovered some very early colours from the 1864 FA Minute Book, less than 12 months after the Football Association was formed and there were only a handful of members. Barnes (1864), Crusaders (1864), Lincoln (1864), Forest School (1864). Some more colours have come to light for the following decade: All Saints Shrewsbury (1877), South Reading (1888 left), South Bank (1880 jersey corrected), Hanover United (1880 shirt corrected). (South Reading photograph Chris Lee The Biscuitmen) If you have few moments to spare I should like to direct you to The National Football Museum website where a short article by yours truly awaits your reading pleasure.

10 June - Mixed Stuff Following on from my piece about Norwich City last week, Nick Hayhoe has sent me this photograph of Cecil Potter in his Norwich strip dating from 1914-15. Nick confirms that despite going in to voluntary liquidation in December 1917, the team continued to play fixtures against sides from the armed services and others throuout 1918-19, including fundraisers for the Hospital Cup which is probably the trophy on display in the team photograph posted on 2 June. Maidstone United (1983-84 added), Aston Villa (1900-01 change added), Morton (1976-77 broad hooped kit added), West Ham United (in November 1924 the team switched back to claret jerseys with blue sleeves after wearing the same colours reversed from the start of the season), St Johnstone (1967-69 added), Cardiff City (1988-89, 1989-90 detailing added).

2 June - Norwich City Update I've made a few tweaks to the Norwich City section including adding a graphic for this rather poor quality photograph purporting to show the 1918-19 team. This is rather odd as the club had gone into voluntary liquidation in December 1917 and was not re-launched until February 1919. I assume this team played a few friendly matches before the season ended and they rejoined the Southern League. (1919 added, 1909-10 now correctly dated, 1927-47 graphics tweaked, 1972-73 early season version without badge added, 1985 League Cup Final added).

1 June Tony Sealey and Richard Essen have uncovered new evidence that Tottenham Hotspur wore black and white change shirts in 1899-1900 before switching to mid-blue and white stripes the following year. This remained their standard alternative until red shirts were adopted in 1904. The team photograph is from 1903-04 with the reserves in striped change shirts. (Photograph The Golden Penny Football Album 1903-04.) Crystal Palace (1936-37 added), Darlington (1920-21 added), Everton (1949-50, 1953-54 added), Halifax Town (1932-33, 1938-39 added), Hartlepools United (1908-11 revised, 1952-53 added), Hereford United (1948-49 revised, 1954-55 added).

29 May This is the Barrow team from 1910-11 wearing previously unrecorded striped jerseys. I've provisionaly rendered these as light blue and black but this has yet to be confirmed. (1908-09, 1910-11 added). Supporters in the Furness area are anxiously waiting to find out if their team, who were top of the National League when fixtures were suspended, will be promoted to League Two to fill the vacancy created by Bury's expulsion. (Photograph Barrow AFC The First Hundred Years.) Lincoln City (1997-98 socks corrected), Notts County (1889-90 added),

28 May - More on Brazil's 1970 Grey Socks There is a theory circulating on social media that Zagalo, Brazil's coach in 1970 chose the grey socks worn twice in the 1970 World Cup because they were worn by Botafogo when he was their coach but there is no evidence to back this up. A far more likely explanation is offered by John Lovett who points out that Felix, the Brazilian goalkeeper, always wore grey socks with his dark blue jersey and shorts, as in this photograph taken before the final. There were three goalkeepers in the squad so assuming they had brought sufficient kits for the entire tournament they would certainly have had enough grey socks to go round the rest of the team. Random Stuff Darlington (1969-70 added), Crystal Palace (1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02 detailing added, 1999-2000 shirt sponsors added), Sheffield Wednesday (1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-93 watermarks revised, 1991 League Cup Final kit added). Soviet Union (1968 socks corrected).

22 May - A Bit of Victoriana This engraving is of the 1883 FA Cup Final between Blackburn Olympic and Old Etonians and was the source I used to draw my graphics (dark blue for Olympic, white for Old Etonians). This seemed logical given the similarity of the tops worn by the two team, suggesting that both wore alternative tops. However, Brian Webb has uncovered this report from Sporting Life published on the eve of the match (30 March 1883) which states that Olympic "will play in light blue jerseys and the holders in white and blue shirts," that is to say their regular colours. 28 May Update: Graham Brack has found a post-match report in The Times (April 2 1883) that confirms Blackurn Olympic wore light blue. Even more remarkable is this find, also made by Brian, concerning the 1893 FA Cup Winners, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Everyone has always assumed that the striped shirts worn in this match instead of their usual diagonal halves were old gold and black. However, this match report from the Birmingham Daily Post (27 March 1893) sheds an entirely different light on the matter. (Press cuttings & engraving from The National Newspaper Archive.) Accrington (1883-84 added), Small Heath (1890-99 shirt colour and dates adjusted).

21 May - Pieces 'n' Bits This photograph, taken in 1887, shows a Preston North End players posing in a red and white striped shirt. Vertical stripes were still a rarity at the time and this may be an early example from the Rothwell Hosiery Company in nearby Bolton who invented a new loom capable of weaving vertical stripes at around this time. Northern Ireland wore black shorts when they met the Netherlands in a World Cup qualifier in April 1965. This may the first occasion that they wore a variant on the standard green and white strip. Maidstone United (1926-27, 1947-48, 1958-59 added), Lincoln City (1987-89 corrected),

15 May - Bobs 'n' Bits This is Abbey United in 1928-29 with a truckload of trophies from local competitions. They changed their name to Cambridge United in 1951, a signal of a new and more ambitious approach that eventually took them into the Football League. The photograph is from 100 Years of Coconuts which has a fine selection of team photographs that I've used to refresh the club section. Clydebank (1977-78 corrected), Shrewsbury Town (1988-89 added, detailing tweaked on 1983-85, 1985-86, 1986-87, 1989-90 and crest history updated).

13 May - Bits 'n' Bobs Thanks to Dave Wherry I have added a one-off Grimsby Town strip worn in the FA Cup in January 1963 to the record, added an unrecorded 1976-77 kit and tweaked detailing and dates for various graphics between 1985 and 2000. Our old chum Tony Sealey has finished rifling through his family's collection of Portsmouth memorabilia and provided a detailed account of the team's kit variations 1946-1967. Pictured here is the Pompey team from 1963 with the predominantly white socks they would wear against opponents wearing red stockings in both home and away matches. (Photograph Beyond the Last Man.) Millwall (1994-96 collar corrected & detailing added), Leyton Orient (1946-47 added).

11 May - Are Crystal Palace the World's Oldest Football Club? Last month Crystal Palace FC made the astonishing claim that they are the oldest football club in the world, dating back to 1861 illustrated by the fetching graphic shown here. The claim is based on Peter Manning's book, Palace at the Palace (available from Amazon) and I decided that before I form an opinion I should read the book. Essentially, Manning sets out to establish a link between the original, amateur Crystal Palace and the professional Crystal Palace formed in 1905. He argues that both the 1861 incarnation and the 1905 professional team were subsidiary businesses of the Crystal Palace Company, which took over management of the Great Exhibition buildings after they were moved from Hyde Park to Sydenham Hill in 1852. Although there was a hiatus between 1875 and 1895 during which no fixtures were played, Manning claims that the ownership of the parent company is proof of continuity, as is the fact that a Crystal Palace team played three games (only) between 1895 and 1897. He also suggests that because many of the players in the original side also played for the Crystal Palace Cricket Club who continued to play matches after 1875 then the football club continued to exist right up until 1905 when it became professional. These seems to me to be tenuous claims indeed but one detail towards the end of the book struck me. Manning writes that in 1905 Chelsea FC and Crystal Palace FC both applied for affiiation to the FA at the same time. But according to his own thesis, Palace had been affiliated to the FA since 1861 so why were they making a fresh application? I then turned to a document written by Mark Metcalf and Clive Nicholson, two football historians with impeccable credentials (available here free of charge). Backed up with copious contemporaraneous references, the authors comprehensively demolish Manning's thesis and the claims of the club. For example: * The Crystal Palace Cricket Club (formed 1857) and the Crystal Palace Football Club (1861) were not subsidiaries of the Crystal Palace Company but their tenants, paying rent for the use of the park. * There are no records of Crystal Palace being affiliated to the FA after 1875, nor did they play any matches or receive any coverage in the press. * The teams that played just three matches as Crystal Palace in 1895, 1896 and 1897 were made up primarily of Corinthians' players. There are no records of a Crystal Palace club being affiliated to the FA at the time even though the park now contained the largest football stadium in London. * Attempts by the Crystal Palace Company to form a professional club in 1901-02 failed because the FA considered there would be a conflict of interest if the owner of the FA Cup Final venue also owned a professional football team. * When Crystal Palace Football & Athletic Co Ltd was formed in 1905 it was as a separate company under the direction of an independent board and while the Crystal Palace Company invested heavily in shares, they did not control the new club. So there we have it. I must say Manning's book is a good read with a lot of fascinating detail even if it suffers from trying to make the facts fit the conclusion so buy a copy by all means. But do also read Metcalf & Nicholson's rebuttal. It's a fine way to spend a couple of days in lockdown.

7 May It appears that the story about the Uruguay team wearing the São Paulo club crest in the 1950 World Cup match against Spain is untrue. Our Brazilian Elf, Gabriel Vogas has provided the background to this myth. On the left is a colourised photograph of the South American side lining up before the game in question and standing on the right is the reserve goalkeeper, Anibal Paz, wearing a club top. His presence is a little odd as he was not selected for the match and I suspect this is an early example of photo-bombing. (Photograph São Paulo FC.) While we are myth-busting, Phil Marriott, Biffa and Gavin Haigh have discovered that the yellow Newcastle United Umbro change strip with green trim ascribed to 1980-82 did not exist. In fact Toon's change strip between 1980 and 1983 was yellow with blue trimmings, worn without sponsorship in televised games.

29 April Thanks to Richard Essen and Tony Sealey I've revised some dates in Tottenham Hotspur's early kit history. In the course of his research, Richard discovered that during the period that the team wore red (1890-96) they kept a set of white shirts for use when colours clashed. This means that Spurs sometimes wore white several years before this became their first choice in 1898. The team photograph is from 1894-95. Brentford (1901-03 stripes corrected), Oxford United (1974-75 added), Scarborough (1999-2000 shorts & socks corrected), Alloa (1976-77 corrected), Caledonian (1976-77, 1983-84 added). The photograph shows Alloa (black shorts) playing Caley in the 1976-77 Scottish Cup.

22 April Today's photograph confirms that Royal Arsenal wore navy knickers in 1892-93. Note how dark their shirts appear, a typical example of the effect of orthographic film stock. It is photographs like this that gave rise to the (now disproved) notion that the Gunners wore dark red shirts during this period. (Photograph Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News found by Richard Essen.) One of the side effects of the current lockdown is that the HFK Elves are beavering away unearthing litle gems for us. For example, Oldham Athletic wore Umbro strips throughout the Seventies but Tony Sealey has discovered that in the FA Cup tie against Liverpool on 26 February 1977, they wore this Bukta strip. Presumably this was a one-off but I have no idea what the story behind it is. Reading (1905-06 added), Crystal Palace (1983-84, 1987-88, 1988-90 detailing fixed), Fulham (1984-85 colour of sponsorship corrected).

20 April Regular visitors will know that the rules of the FA Cup used to require both teams to change when colours clashed. With this in mind, Liverpool bought a set of red and white hooped shirts for their FA Cup tie with Crystal Palace in January 1938. (Both sides had white change shirts at the time.) Pavel Shalaev has found this newspaper cutting showing Tom Cooper leading out the Liverpool team for the game. The hoops also appeared on New Years' Day at Chelsea, presumably as a try-out since no change was needed for this game. Cardiff City (2001-02 detailing added, 2002-03 two additional strips created), Bristol City (1973-76 the vee-neck and crew necks shirts worn in this period have been re-categorised as warm and cold weather strips). Maidstone United 1970-72 added, 1972-73 socks corrected). According to the Sunderland Daily Echo (April 18 1898) Nottingham Forest wore black knickers rather than their usual navy in that year's FA Cup Final. Other contemporary newspaper articles found by Graham Brack indicate that Sunderland wore navy knickers between 1896 and 1899.

16 April This photograph is of Fergie Suter, the world's first professional player in his Darwen days, 1879-80. Peter Stevenson spotted that the letters "DFC" are embroidered onto his jersey. Closer examination of the team photograph from which this image is taken reveals that the rest of the team are wearing the same emblem. (Photograph bbc.co.uk) Thanks to detailed notes sbmitted by Paul Burnham, I've revised the Norwich City section, re-colouring the graphics to present a more accurate rendition of canary yellow, adding detailing and revising the early crests. This photograph is of the 1913-14 team, which has a unique yoke although it is quite hard to make out. Also in evidence are an early version of the canary crest and the reserves clad in the old blue and white tops. I assume these were kept as a change kit. (Photograph Hayward Kidd, Norwich) Exeter City (1991-92 collar corrected), Coventry City (1907-09, 1909-10 changed).

7 April - Bits 'n' Bobs Grimsby Town (1933-34 corrected, Sept 1934 socks changed and switch to red socks now correctly dated, alternate kits added for 1972-73, 1973-74, 1979-80, 1988-89 and various details have been tweaked on modern graphics). My thanks go to club historian, Dave Wherry, for all of this new material. Wolverhampton Wanderers (2002-04 sponsor's logo fixed),

6 April - Alloa Athletic Update Officially Alloa Athletic's colours are gold and black although they have also been registered as orange and black in their formative years and between the wars. There seem to have quite a few variations over the last 50 years and since 1998, an attractive shade of deep amber has been preferred. I have revised the entire Alloa section to better reflect these colour variations and added some previously unrecorded crests. The photograph is of the 1929 team. (Photograph The Alloa Advertiser.)

31 March - Future Plans I've received several enquiries about whether I am going to upate the MLS and NIFL sections for the current season and thought I should explain the position. As modern kits become ever more complex, more and more of my time is being consumed keeping them updated. While a kit from the pre-1990s eras might take just a few minutes to draw, some recent designs have consumed two hours or more of my time, which is clearly not sustainable, particularly as I'm not getting any younger and I do have other things to do. I've therefore decided to prioritise HFK's central purpose which is to document historical kits. As a result some sections that record modern kits will no longer be updated. Because of the postponement of the UEFA European Football Championship and the uncertainty surrounding arrangements to complete the current season I have yet to make a decision about updating the Euros section and future club Season Galleries but I will make an anouncement in due course. More Historical Stuff Manchester United (change strip worn at Sheffield United March 1910 added), Middlesbrough (3 variant kits added for 1972-73). I've tidied up Millwall's early kit history, removing a couple of strips I now believe to have been change kits and correcting the date the club changed their name from Rovers to Athletic. The photograph on the left is of Jasper John Sexton, the club's first secretary. His father ran a beer shop in Tooke Street where the team would change before matches. My thanks to Richard Essen for sending me detailed confirmation of the team's early kit history (Photograph Millwall FC: Images of Sport 1999)

30 March

On March 16 I published a photograph of Portsmouth wearing black socks with white turnovers against Arsenal. This prompted Senior HFK Elf Tony Sealey to search his family collection and establish that the team wore their regular red socks (shown left) until at least February 1957, which suggest the black stockings were adopted for the last part of the season. Tony has also provided more details on when and why Pompey adopted red socks in te first place and corrected the 1962-63 alternate kit.

(Photograph taddyclown.co.uk)

I came across this oddity while trawling through the Senior Tigers Club website. It's from a match between Hull City and Crystal Palace. The south London team are wearing conventional 2" stripes rather than the candy stripes they adopted at the beginning of the season. This might be a one-off but perhaps our Palace Elves can shed light on this mystery.

Last week I reported that I had removed the striped 1974-75 striped kit from the Gillingham section because I thought it was a change strip. Simon Hart has now uncovered evidence that the Gills did indeed wear stripes in at least five home matches between August and October 1974. The photographs shows them playing Aldershot in September. To confuse matters further, they also wore their new blue shirts with white flappy collars in a home match against Charlton Athletic on 31 August. These seem to have been reintroduced in October.

(Photograph Gillingham FC Scrapbook)

For some time I have suspected that Southend United adopted navy and white rather earlier in the Sixties than my records have shown. The evidence was sketchy, however: some black and white photographs of their candy striped shirts (1961-65) seem very dark while I have a memory of watching them play Southport in 1966 wearing rather scruffy, faded dark blue tops but memory can play tricks. Other black & white photographs I have seen from this period are equally ambiguous. This team group, kindly submitted by Peter Stevenson, appears to confirm that the Shrimpers did indeed wear navy and white during 1964-65 and almost certainly as far back as 1961.