You don’t need AI powered analytics of retail sales to know that nothing opens the wallets of Gen-Xers and Millennials quicker than retro sportswear….

Take the Kappa x HCAFC retro range, which had men of a certain age weeping bitter tears because they’d missed out and contemplating paying over the odds to coin-eyed meffs on eBay who’d bought jackets and hoodies with the express purpose of reselling them at profit.

Those garments weren’t even based on actual past Tigers merch, they were ‘faux-backs’ instead of throw-backs, giving classic Kappa garb an amber, black and red colourway.

It’s not surprising then that Tiger Leisure want to keep mining that rich retro seam, there’s a demographic with disposable income in the Tiger Nation just itching to post the Fry from Futurama “Shut up and take my money!” .gif on social media when they see some retro goodness, and the next wave of polyester nostalgia recreates garments that actually existed back in the day.

City’s retail arm have signed a licencing agreement with Fourex Group, the Dewsbury based sportswear firm who own the branding rights to Spall, TFG, Ellgren and more pertinently… Matchwinner.

The original Matchwinner firm was established in Scotland, and they made their mark producing kits for Birmingham City in 1986, adding St. Mirren and Huddersfield Town to their portfolio soon after.

Hull City joined the Matchwinner stable in 1988, and they supplied the Tigers until 1993, when the club’s parlous financial situation and tendency to not pay up in a timely manner made them too risky to keep doing business with. This, despite the evident success of one of the most famous/infamous football kits ever made, the 1992/93 Hull City home kit, featuring the original tiger print shirt.

There’s more to Hull City in Matchwinner than just that, however, and wisely Tiger Leisure are beginning with other classic designs as they reissue items from the sartorial back catalogue.

They open with the 1990-92 primary shirt and the 1992/93 presentation jacket. The home shirt released in the summer of 1990 was the first since 1982 to not feature red as a tertiary colour, and it saw the return of traditional black and amber stripes, the look that inspired our nickname of The Tigers.

There’s so much to love about this shirt: the black polo-collar, the three button placket with white inner panel, the repeating parallelogram Jacquard weave that runs throughout the fabric, and solid amber arms to brighten up the overall kit which had black shorts and socks.

It’s true that City suffered relegation in this shirt’s first year of use, but we looked magnificent and this shirt was modelled by some legendary Tigers, such as Garreth Roberts, Richard Jobson, Peter Swan, Andy Payton, and err… Gwyn Thomas.

Later in this shirt’s lifespan it was worn by a young Dean Windass as City adapted to life back in the third tier, and in a final hurrah it was used in Garreth Roberts testimonial game against Tottenham Hotspur so clothed Billy Whitehurst, Keith Edwards, Steve McClaren and Brian Horton.

The tiger stripe shirt got all the attention, but it wasn’t the only notable item from the 1992/93 kitset. The reissued presentation jacket is styled on the one worn by club staff on the 1992/93 squad photo, namely boss Terry Dolan, assistant Jeff Lee and physio Jeff Radcliffe.

The mostly black jacket features an angular white front panel that contains the Matchwinner arrowhead logo and club crest, split by the zip. A white band containing oblique amber and black stripes split by black ‘dashes’ extends from beside the white front panels round the back. A white shoulder band contains alternating thin amber and black stripes and is truncated at elbow level.

The reissued 1990-92 home shirts are priced at £40, with the 1992/93 jackets costing £45. Reasonable prices if you’re not prepared to pay what eBay sellers want for the originals, and even if you are prepared to pay that, you might still prefer to wear an official remake instead of a valuable three decade old artefact.

What else could be reissued in the months to come? Let’s consider…

1992/93 primary
Let’s get it out of the way. It’s cliché, it’s cheesy, it’s inevitable.

1988-90 primary

The wrap-over V neck, the amber and black bars, the centralised tiger-head crest (with red tongue!), the chequerboard Jacquard weave, the booze sponsor, it’s magnificent and resellers want a platinum bucket full of diamonds for an original. Let us have a wearable, faithful replica!

1990-92 jacket

It might seem a bit milquetoast compared to the 1992/93 jacket, but we prefer to see it as understated elegance. Angular amber panels over a black field, simple but lovely. Make them.

Tiger Leisure’s ability to exploit the retro market was probably set back a few years by the unofficial ‘Hull City Retro’ range, which like phosphorus burnt brightly but burnt out quickly. There’ll be some oddbods who’ll denounce this as a ‘cash grab’, which is an odd charge to level at a retail outlet, presumably the mere existence of a club shop is offensive to them, but for most people this is a welcome development, well made, licenced gear that scratches the retro itch.

Personally I can’t wait to get my hands on the 1992/93 jacket, with shirts I prefer to wear the originals, but saying that there are some Matchwinner replicas I don’t own and these will do until I can pick up an original, which might now drop in value to a more reasonable price. I can hope.

What Matchwinner garb would you like to see reissued?