Archive for category: Blog Posts

It’s been a while since we’ve done any ‘shirt swapping’, in the sense of taking a look at the current and historical kits of another club in addition to Hull City. With the 2017/18 season upon us, we thought we’d cast a critical eye over the garb of our opening day opponents, Aston Villa, selecting their three best home kits, the worst, and judging the latest offering.

*Disclaimer* These things are naturally subjective, and done just for amusement, so don’t get bent out of shape if we’ve missed out a kit that you really like.

The three best Aston Villa home kits…

1981-83

The look of claret bodied shirts with blue sleeves has been an Aston Villa staple since the late 1800s, but the Villans have experimented on occasion. Between 1981-1983 there was an Ajax-ification of the basic design premise, with a thick claret band parting blue that was now more prominent, part of the body panels rather than just on the sleeves.

There were several versions of the shirt, a sponsor was added in 1982/83 and a set for use in UEFA competition pared down use of the maker’s mark, but for our money the unsponsored domestic 1981/82 version is best.  This had a Le Coq Sportif logo on each sleeve and a centrally placed club crest.  All versions of this shirt were matched with white shorts and blue socks.

Macron referenced this kit in 2013/14, but it wasn’t a patch on the original, worn when Villa were defending the title and cutting a swath throughout Europe, winning the Champions Cup against Bayern Munich.

1989-90

Hummel’s 1986 Denmark primary kit is one of the most iconic designs ever produced, and the template worked well for Southampton, Coventry and Hellas Verona too. A claret and blue version didn’t quite hit the spot when used by Villa between 1987-89 though, but Hummel’s follow up, worn for the 1989/90 campaign, fared much better.

The crossover V neck of the 1987-89 shirts was updated with chevrons replacing thin stripes, as was the Raglan sleeve construction, only this time the body was solid claret and the sleeves all blue. Hummel’s chevron logo appeared in pairs on each sleeve (the long sleeved version had two distinct pairs on each sleeve), whereas previously they were repeated inside sleeve ‘tape’. Overall, this was a much more restrained shirt than the one it replaced, but that design restraint meant the ensemble looked far more like what you’d expect from a Villa kit.

2009/10

It can be hard to let preconceptions go, and in the back of my mind there’s an automatic association with Nike and shirts that are overdesigned and garish. Sure, they’ve got form when it comes to that, but frankly which manufacturers haven’t? Nike have in fact  produced some great shirts that are devastatingly simple: Holland 2002, Arsenal 2010/11, England 2013/14 and France 2014 all qualify, as does the Villa home from 2009/10.

It featured a simple round collar, with a thin blue yoke panel bridging the gap between the collar and cuffs on an otherwise claret shirt. In future years sponsors would insist on fussy logos accompanying their wordmarks, but at this point Villa had the name of their nominated charity Acorns ( a Birmingham and West Midlands children’s hospice) in a clean, sans-serif and all lower case font. Lovely.

Honourable mentions…  1985-87 Henson,  1992-93 Umbro (with lace up collar), 1998/99 Reebok.

The worst Aston Villa home kit…

1999/2000

There exists a strange kit netherworld inhabited by shirts that are quite attractive designs, but that don’t work as shirts for the team wearing them. This is one such example. It’s hard to go wrong with claret and blue, they work so well together, and those tones in stripes looks rather good indeed. It’s just that this kit doesn’t say Aston Villa. The colours are right, but the styling is wrong for the club.

An FA Cup final appearance will often render a shirt memorable, and this strip is certainly that, but a Wembley outing doesn’t make up for this very good shirt being a bad fit for this club.

Rating the current Aston Villa home kit…

2017/18

Villa are in the second year of a deal with Under Armor, the Baltimore (USA) based brand. They seem to be going for a ‘luxury bag’ look, with embossed lions throughout the front and back pieces. A would be V-neck collar is squared off by an upside down pentagon shaped panel that straddles the border of ‘interesting’ and ‘fussy’. There’s the standard issue betting sponsor on the front, with Unibet’s interconnected balls logo tastefully applied in white, avoiding their brand colour of green was a wise choice.

There’s nothing to get excited about here, and nothing to enrage either, if this strip represents an upgrade on the first Under Armor Villa home shirt, it’s ever so slight an upgrade. The 2016/17 shirt had an unwieldy sponsor as a downside, but a tidy collar and placket as an upside. The embossed lions feel like they’ve been added just to create a different look from the plain finish of the previous year and whereas the rounded seams on the sleeves may offer a better fit than the straight cut set in sleeves of 2016/17, visually it neither adds or subtracts to the overall look.

7/10

PRESS RELEASE

Tuesday 20, June, 2017

Amber and black – The colours of culture 

A group of lifelong football fans have worked together to ensure their beloved Hull City plays a part in the UK City of Culture 2017 celebrations.

The group are putting the final touches to plans for an exhibition of classic Tigers’ kits, which will go on display from Monday 3 July.

Tiger Rags – The Fabric of Hull City AFC will run from Monday July 3 to Tuesday October 2 at the Streetlife Museum of Transport. Entry will be free.

The exhibition is part of Hull UK City of Culture 2017’s Creative Communities Programme.

Les Motherby, author of the Hull City Kits blog and an avid hoarder of memorabilia, has brought together a number of local collectors to exhibit their prized player worn shirts, on public display for first time.

He said: “Hull City may not have a glorious, trophy-laden past, but they have an interesting history regardless, one that means a lot to Tigers supporters.”

“Shirts worn by players are the ultimate physical representation of that history, they evoke memories of past players, games and seasons.”

“Hopefully the club will have their own museum one day but until then this exhibition, part of the Creative Communities Programme for Hull 2017, offers a chance for people to celebrate the visual identity of Hull City.”

Councillor Terry Geraghty, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Leisure and Chair of Hull Culture & Leisure, said: “Over the years Hull City have grown to become an integral part of the fabric of the city and its identity. The club is loved by locals and recognised all around the world.

“We are delighted to be working with Les Motherby by hosting the Tiger Rags exhibition, an individual Hull 2017 community project, at the Streetlife Museum, enhancing the experience further. I am sure it will prove a huge hit with visitors, supporters and residents alike.”

The Tiger Rags exhibition has two themes, Plurality of Polyester and International Tigers.

Plurality of Polyester will run from July 3 to September 3, followed by International Tigers from September 4 to October 2.

The first two months will focus on kit design.

Examples of different styles will be on display, as will shirts from the 1980s.

Shirts will also commemorate teams from 2008, 2014 and 2016, when the Tigers reached Wembley finals.

There’s also a UEFA rule compliant match shirt from City’s brief but memorable foray into European competition.

From September 4 to October 2 the exhibition switches to International Tigers.

The last month of Tiger Rags acknowledges the part played by foreign footballers during Hull City’s rise from the basement division to the Premier League, with a display of shirts worn by players from around the globe who have come to Hull to play for the Tigers.

Exhibited items will inevitably evoke memories, and Tiger Rags want to capture those memories, and ask that visitors share them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #TigerRags

An audio description will also be available for people to download onto their mobile devices from www.hullcitykits.co.uk

Streetlife Museum of Transport is free and open Monday – Saturday 10am – 5pm and Sunday 11am – 4.30pm.

Martin Green, Director of Hull 2017, said: “Hull City are woven into the fabric of the city’s cultural identity so it is fantastic to have such an amazing collection of memorabilia on display as part of Hull 2017.”

ENDS

For more information, please contact:
Les Motherby on les@tigernation.co.uk or 07887 555679

Images – Flyer/poster PDF   Flyer/poster JPG

NOTES TO EDITORS

Tiger Rags is one of 60 new projects to receive funding through the Hull 2017 Creative Communities Programme, which is being delivered in partnership with the Big Lottery Fund, a Principal Partner of Hull 2017.

A total of £750,000 is being invested in the programme, which was set up to celebrate, nurture and support local talent and develop opportunities for emerging artists.

In addition to cash from Hull 2017 and the Big Lottery Fund, the projects will receive staff support to build capacity in the arts sector, helping to create a legacy. The Creative Communities Programme is also being supported by Hull and East Riding Charitable Trust.

The projects – which range from photography exhibitions to music and food festivals and choral and orchestral concerts to audio-visual installations – will see local artists, community groups, cultural and other organisations in the city working with local people of all ages to create new artistic work, events, installations and other activity throughout 2017.

For a full list of projects visit: https://www.hull2017.co.uk/discover/article/sixty-community-projects-inspire-creativity-across-hull-2/

About Hull UK City of Culture

Hull UK City of Culture 2017 is a 365 day programme of cultural events and creativity inspired by the city and told to the world. Hull secured the title of UK City of Culture 2017 in November 2013. It is only the second city to hold the title and the first in England.

Divided into four seasons, this nationally significant event draws on the distinctive spirit of the city and the artists, writers, directors, musicians, revolutionaries and thinkers that have made such a significant contribution to the development of art and ideas.

The Culture Company was set up to deliver the Hull 2017 programme and is an independent organisation with charitable status. It has raised £32 million, with over 60 partners supporting the project, including public bodies, lottery distributors, trusts and foundations and local and national businesses. Key contributions are coming from: Host City – Hull City Council; Principal Partners – Arts Council England, BBC, Big Lottery Fund, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Heritage Lottery Fund, KCOM, KWL, Spirit of 2012, Yorkshire Water and the University of Hull; Major Partners –Associated British Ports, Arco, BP, the British Council, British Film Institute, Green Port Hull, Hull Clinical Commissioning Group, MKM Building Supplies, P&O Ferries, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Sewell Group, Siemens, Smith & Nephew and Wykeland Group.

68 per cent of the funding is dedicated to public facing activities, including the widest range of cultural events in every corner of the city, with a further 11 per cent for legacy and contingency. More than £5 million is being invested in volunteering, learning and community engagement. £1.6 million is being invested to ensure a legacy after 2017. This includes capacity building, such as supporting existing events so they can grow, staging curtain-raiser events, developing future programming for after 2017 and building a new platform to support a unified ticketing system for the city.

Hull 2017’s International Partners are: Aarhus, Denmark, which is European Capital of Culture 2017; Reykjavik, Iceland; Rotterdam, The Netherlands; and Freetown, Sierra Leone (twinned with Hull). These relationships are reflected in a number of events throughout the year.

For information go to www.hull2017.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter @2017Hull Instagram @2017hull Facebook HullCityofCulture
About Big Lottery Fund

The Big Lottery Fund is the largest funder of community activity in the UK. It puts people in the lead to improve their lives and communities, often through small, local projects.

It is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. Every year it invests over £650 million and awards around 12,000 grants across the UK for health, education, environment and charitable purposes.

Since June 2004 it has awarded over £8 billion to projects that change the lives of millions of people. Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £34 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.

About Hull & East Riding Charitable Trust 

The Hollingbery Family founded the business in 1933 with the first Comet superstore opened in Hull in 1968. The business was subsequently sold to Kingfisher and in 1985 the charity was established with the defined purpose of donating funds to help and support charities, both national and local, and other deserving causes, provided that direct benefit was forthcoming for people who live in Hull or the East Riding of Yorkshire.

For more information, including on how to apply for funds, see http://hullandeastridingtrust.org.uk/

The four year deal signed with Umbro to supply kit to The Tigers will soon bring to an end City’s (sometimes fractious) four year association with the brand with the three stripes. Whereas the boldly striped, turnover collared home shirt adidas made for The Tigers between 1979-1982 is still spoken of in reverential terms (despite it being modelled by some of the worst performing City squads in club history), it is fair to say we haven’t had a truly classic home kit from adidas since they became supplier for a second time in 2010. That is in part because other (highly visible) teams have shared the same templates as us, and having an unpalatable sponsor splashed across some of the garments has harmed overall perception of them.

Sponsor desirability aside, we reckon that adidas have done a better job with the away kits over the last four years than with the primary uniforms, and wondered where some away kits would rank when all eight distinct kits worn over the last four seasons were grouped together, so after a team huddle, we’ve put together a HCK ‘power rankings’ of adidas City kits used between 2010-2014.

We’ve tried not to consider feats achieved by the team wearing it when wearing each strip, the example of the 1979-1982 home kit shows that a uniform set can be considered classic even if The Tigers were terrible during the period of its use.

1: 2012/13 away

In the absence of a classic home shirt, the nearest adidas have come to producing an iconic kit for The Tigers over the last four years is the all black with amber trim away set used in 2012/13. This kit gave City a brooding, menacing look when on their travels, and was sometimes used just because it looked good, not because there was any kit clash, such as at Elland Road in a memorable win over Dirty Leeds.

In a perfect world there would have been a small amount of contrast amber trim on the collar and it wouldn’t have the Cash Converters logo on the front (a decision way beyond adidas’ making), but even advertising a tat shop couldn’t taint the majestic appearance of this kit , which had its own set of amber alternate shorts (distinct from the amber alt shorts designed for the home shirt) that were used just once, in a League Cup clash at Doncaster. You wouldn’t want to have seen that look a lot, but it was a striking matchup and a handy alternative.This kit was used less after City signed a player with some level of colour blindness, causing City to go more with the home shirt with amber shorts and socks, but it was nonetheless a lovely set and the best produced in the four years being supplied by adidas.

2: 2010/11 away

Though we’re happy with the occasional change-up, we prefer to see City wear traditional all-white when playing on the road when a change kit is necessary, and adidas nailed it with the 2010/11 away kit.

The set features just enough amber trim to make it unmistakably a City away kit, while also offering the flexibility of mash-ups using parts of the home kit. This happened a lot during our first season after relegation from the Premier League, the white shirt was worn with black shorts more than once, and sometimes with the black home socks too.

The white shorts were used with the home shirt on occasion, such as in the televised win at Preston. The back of shirt sponsor above the player names didn’t look as jarring as it did on the home shirt that year, but the strip would have benefitted aesthetically from it not being there at all, and that can’t be pinned on adidas.

Having the adidas logo on the breast as opposed to being centrally positioned would have looked more balanced, but this was still a lovely kit that ticks all the boxes on a requirements of a traditional City away kit checklist.

3: 2013/14 home

It’s all about the socks for us, where the 2013/14 home kit is concerned. We’d been hankering for hooped socks for some time so yelped with glee when they made a return. Black socks with striped shirts can make the overall set look too dark, and amber socks often look washed out compared to the shirt ( that’ll happen with different materials), but if you have hooped socks that are black and amber in equal measure, the amber looks right and you don’t have to change when away if the home team uses solid black hose.

The shirt is just fine too (apart from the sponsor which is blah, blah, blah you know our views on the tat shop by now). Thick stripes? Ding! That’s always the starting point of a good City home kit. The collar, which reverses the stripe alignment, is a contemporary adidas staple (it appears on Bayern Munich’s Champions League shirt) and we’re not as fussed as some by the angular black sleeve panels so the competition patch doesn’t get applied unevenly over adidas’ trademark three stripes.

The one benefit of that black sleeve panel is it allows City’s kitman to be able to issue black compression undershirts rather than amber, as the white elastane hidden within the form fitting garment makes the shade of amber hard to get right. What is poor is the embroidered club crest, which looks shrunken and distorted, giving the tiger a bozz-eyed appearance.

The shorts used give the kit SOME distinction from West Brom, who have the same shirt and socks template, but our true love is the glorious pair of hooped socks which elevate this over other recent /// home kits. If we had our way, we’d always have striped shirts and hoopy hose.

4: 2011/12 away

Light blue was once a home kit colour for Hull City, when amber dye was prohibitively expensive post WW2 and blue dye was readily available from local firm Reckitts, at the time the world’s largest supplier of blue pigments. As a result, it makes for a welcome change kit colour when we’re not in all-white or all-black.

This shade of blue was termed ‘Argentina blue’ by adidas and the shirt was normally paired with white shorts though on occasion alternative navy-blue shorts were used. Featuring a simple collar, white piping trim and a shadow pattern of shiny horizontal bands on the front, this was a rather nice away shirt. Early concept images showed the same horrific black sponsor patch that blighted the home shirt, totally unnecessary on a solid colour shirt, but the club responded to online criticism by removing the patch, to their credit.

It isn’t the most memorable of away kits, but it was decent, and found use as a third shirt in 2012/13 when the all-black away kit wasn’t sufficient to prevent clashing. Derby used the same template for their home shirt, but that isn’t anywhere as near as annoying as sharing the same home kit template with another team from the same division.

5: 2011/12 home

Never has a perfectly functional City home shirt been so sullied by the application of a sponsor patch (and before you suggest the Needler’s Sweets patches on the front of Pelada’s leopard spot aberration usedbetween 1993-95, that was far from being a perfectly functional home strip!) as on the 2001/12 home kit.

As in the season previous, adidas gave us the same template as they supplied Stoke with, and that’s frustrating, but critiquing this set from only a City kit perspective, this is a decent strip before the sponsor patch is added, and we saw that when it was used san-sponsor for the ‘Legends Game’ part of Andy Dawson’s testimonial year events.

Bold stripes on both front and back always get our approval, and having plain amber sleeves brightens up a kit that can look quite dark if (as is usual with striped shirts) black socks are used with the black shorts. It wasn’t just the sleeves that were plain amber on this shirt, as the yoke sections were tonally solid too, and though the extended, overlapping collar piece looks like it was inspired by a pharmacy staff uniforms, it looks just fine.

Some parts of the shirt were made of a mesh material to help with sweat wicking, and as a result some panels looked to be a different shade of amber than others when vied from some angles (or when the shirt was wet). This happens on all kits, but is less obvious on a red or blue shirt than it is on amber, but given that it’s part of a performance garment that needs to have moisture dissipation properties, we think it should be overlooked. Peel off the sponsor, and this is a decent Hull City home kit.

6: 2012/13 home

The only non-striped home shirt during adidas’ four year run was used during City’s 2012/13 promotion campaign, and it wasn’t quite solid amber, because of a large black panel on the front. This is an ok kit but not one that causes excitation, though it is notable for working well when paired with amber alternative shorts.

Ordinarily amber shirts matched with shorts and socks that are also amber lack sufficient contrast trim to stop the tone looking pale and washed out, but the hefty black panel on the top part of this shirt meant the amber still ‘popped’ and didn’t appear to be same shade as a faded dishcloth. The promotion, sealed on a chaotic final day of the season, is what will keep this kit in the memory, not the design, which Fulham have used as an away kit in 2013/14, The Cottagers wore their red and white version for the 6-0 thrashing at the KC Stadium.

7: 2013/14 away

The use of high blue and red for an away kit got some people’s goat when this kit was first released, and some fans voiced displeasure at the unbalanced look created by having red socks with blue shirts and socks that don’t have much red trim to link the full kit together.

We feel it’s ok to throw something different in now and then where away kits are concerned, such as when we went purple and white on our travels in 1999/00, as long as we have an away set that looks like it’s a City kit more times than not. On that charge, this kit is guilty, nothing about it says Hull City, even if blue is a main colour of the city’s civic crest* and even though City have worn blue as a home kit, in the 1930s. This is an alright football strip, even with the red socks (that were sometimes replaced with white hose when the home side had a predominantly red kit, creating a Chelsea-ish look) but as a Hull City kit, it doesn’t get much love.

*Thinking about the civic crest (of three stacked coronet crowns in gold on a field of blue), a mostly blue kit with metallic gold trim would say ‘City of Hull’, if not Hull City. Maybe not a bad idea for 2017 when our fair port is celebrated as a city of culture.

8: 2010/11 home

The first home kit of the 2010-14 adidas deal was based on a template also used by Stoke. Fuzzy stripes had been popular on the continent in the preceding few years, especially in Italy where Juventus and both Milan clubs had their black stripes rendered in a blurred or softly defined manner.

The stripes on this City shirt had the look of oily tyre tracks, which wasn’t a great look, yet having them on both sides of the shirt would have at least made the kit look balanced, the back panels on these shirts were plain amber (and sullied by a back of shirt sponsor advertising ambulance chasers Neill Hudgell Solicitors, that was unwisely placed above the player names and applied in blue and red) that created an odd effect when one City player faced forwards and another player faced them, making it appear that City players had different, non-uniformed shirts on.

That goes against the entire point of a football kit, which is to definitively identify who is on the same side. Having fuzzy stripes on the back would have meant using white for the screened on player names, squad numbers and back of shirt sponsor, which would have looked far smarter, and having a back of shirt sponsor (which served to highlight our parlous financial state after relegation from the Premier League) underneath the squad numbers on player shirts would have looked better than having two stacked rows of text in different typefaces, which was a cluttered and messy combination.

Some fans didn’t like the way the club crest looked or how it was applied. It was similar in appearance and construction to the Lextra competition patches heat bonded onto the sleeves of all nPower League teams.The two layered patch featured a printed felt tiger head and club name over a shiny, woven amber field, creating a multi dimensioned look. Like sleeve patches, the crests were ironed on rather than stitched on.

With solid stripes printed on both front and back panels, the back of shirt sponsor applied in white underneath the numbers and an embroidered crest, this kit’s shirt would have looked far better, but as it is, it’s the main part of the worst of the four home kits and in our mind, the worst overall.