Tiger Rags book – Features
Tiger Rags book – Primary kits
Tiger Rags book – Change kits
Tiger Rags book – Tertiary kits (This page)
1970-72 Tertiary
Third kits are often seen as a relatively modern innovation, a Premier League-era method of generating revenue. The truth though is that City had a third kit long before replicas were available in the club shop.
Stripes were out of fashion at Boothferry Park for much of the 1960s and 1970s, an eleven-season hiatus for traditional looking primary shirts ran from 1963/64 to 1975/76. Solid amber shirts were the preference, but striped shirts were occasionally used for a time away from home, albeit in a colourway associated more with AC Milan than Hull City.
Wearing all-white was the usual method for resolving kit clashes on our travels, and that was sufficient at Watford and Norwich in 1970/71, and in 1971/72 when City wore white at Liverpool (League Cup), Swindon (Division Two) and Norwich (in the FA Cup as well as in the League).
A trip to Luton late in the 1970/71 campaign however, led to an alternate look. The BBC are believed to have paid for a new kit with red and black striped shirts, after they had selected the game as the main offering on Match of the Day. There’s little contrast between amber and white on black-and-white television sets, so the Tigers donned an emergency third kit.
Red and black striped shirts were popularised in England by Manchester City, who adopted the style as an away kit at the behest of manager Malcolm Allison. They won the 1969 FA Cup and both the League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970 wearing red and black, and Bournemouth switched from plain red home shirts to red and black stripes ahead of the 1970/71 season.
Our version of the stripy strip had a simple round collar in black that matched the elasticated cuffs of long-sleeved jerseys. There is no tiger-head crest (as on the home shirt and white away shirt) or text to identify the club. Plain black shorts and black socks with red fold-over bands completed the look.
Not ones to look a gift kit in the mouth, the Tigers also went Milan-a-like in 1971/72, in a 1-1 draw at Cardiff in the August, at Fulham in October for a 1-0 defeat, and in draws at Blackpool (December) and Oxford (March 1972). It’s hard to envisage us ever wearing red and black stripes again, but this alternate outfit remains a fascinating footnote in City’s kit history.
1980-82 Tertiary
The colours of Kingston Upon Hull, ‘Azure a pale Or’ as seen on the civic coat of arms, have often been simplified to blue and yellow when used on public buildings, city boundary road signs and municipal vehicles over the years.
Despite this association with the city, the notion of Hull City wearing yellow and blue seems a strange one, yet that is the colourway of a briefly used and seldom remembered third kit.
Not all kit clashes are caused by shirts, and City’s black primary shorts are the reason we tend to change up when hosted by Sheffield United. In 1979/80, City travelled to Bramall Lane in the January, and a shorts clash was avoided by mashing-up white away shorts with the home shirts and amber socks.
The next visit came in August 1980, in the last edition of the unloved Anglo-Scottish Cup. The Tigers again wore white away shorts with the home shirts, but this time they had black socks with white stripes on the cuffs, distinct from the regular primary socks with amber stripes on the fold-over bands. When we returned to Bramall Lane for League action in the December, a totally different approach was taken.
City donned shirts that, like those of the away kit, conformed to the ‘Rio’ template, which had a contrast V-neck with wide point polo collar and three stripes all the way down the arms. This was in a bright yellow hue, with royal blue contrast trim, but there is no tiger-head crest, or anything to connect it to Hull City. Blue shorts with three yellow stripes down the sides and yellow socks with blue stripes on the cuffs finished the ensemble.
Were the city’s heraldic colours a factor in the choice of kit, or was it just an easy colourway to source? After all, adidas already supplied yellow and blue kits to Brighton, Bournemouth, Oxford, Preston, Scunthorpe and Wimbledon.
The Tigers played cravenly in yellow against Sheffield United, when Bob Hatton ran riot as the Blades won 3-1, but there was some redemption for the yellow and blue get-up in late January 1981, when the Tigers played another side known for red and white shirts worn with black shorts, beating Exeter 3-1 at St. James Park. This was the third kit’s last match action, but it was spotted used for training when City visited Gibraltar for a two-match tour in May 1983.
1995-97 Tertiary
The genuine necessity for a third kit is a rarity for Hull City, who didn’t truly need the Milan-esque alternative to all-white worn occasionally in the early 1970s, the penultimate time a third kit was used prior to 1995.
Wearing black home shorts with a white away shirt was usually sufficient to distinguish City from white-shorted opponents on our travels. However, the maroon away kit used for the 1995/96 and 1996/97 seasons didn’t lend itself to interchangeability with elements of the home kit, so Super League supplied a seldom used, but utterly gorgeous all-white third kit that wasn’t commercially available.
Aside from the red heat bonded sponsor wordmark and sewn on crests and maker’s marks, the kit is plain white, without even contrast trim on the shirt collar and cuffs. The only embellishment is a subtle shadow pattern of alternating glossy and matte stripes woven into the shirts and shorts. Manager Terry Dolan remarked that “players feel pure in white, that’s PURE in capital letters”.
The white socks were never used in competitive action however, appearing only in squad photographs. When the white shirts and shorts were first used in a game in November 1995, they were paired with the amber socks of the home kit against Bradford, whose claret and amber striped shirts ruled out use of either the full home kit or the maroon change kit.
Dean Windass scored for the Tigers in a 1-1 draw at Valley Parade in what was a season of contrasting fortunes for the two sides: City were ignominiously relegated from Division Two while the Bantams were promoted via the Play-Offs, which they reached following a 3-2 win at Boothferry Park on the final day.
City were a Third Division side the next time white shirts and shorts were used again, at Lincoln in September 1996. These shirts were evidently a newly produced batch, as the sponsor was now applied in black. Furthermore, to avoid a clash with the Imps’ red and white hooped stockings, City used the maroon with amber trim away socks.
The game, in which forward Andy Brown replaced an injured Roy Carroll in goal, was won 1-0 courtesy of a Richard Peacock strike. Amber socks were again used with white shirts and shorts in a 1-1 draw at Leyton Orient in the October, and the white over maroon look was replicated in draws at Exeter (November, 0-0) and Torquay (February, 1-1).
2014/15 Tertiary
City signed a four-year agreement with Umbro in 2014 that stipulated provision of a third kit for each season of the deal. Qualification for the Europa League made an alternate change strip a necessity in the first season, as UEFA rules on the distinctiveness of first and second choice kits precluded use of the black away shirts, shorts and socks in Europe.
The colourway of white and Azure blue tastefully merged classic and nascent tradition: City have used white as an away shirt tone for most of their existence, and varying shades of blue were used intermittently on change kits following the centenary season, when light blue away shirts referenced the first home strip worn after World War Two.
The shirts had a simple crew-neck collar in white with a blue centre stripe. As on the home and away shirts, an Umbro wordmark adorned each sleeve, and on the back two sets of four laser cut ventilation holes within heat applied eyelets (blue on the white shirts) lined up obliquely.
The logo of sponsor 12BET, rendered in white on the home and away shirts, had red letters on the third shirt. The shorts were blue with white side stripes, and white socks with a single blue stripe on each turn-over cuff completed the ensemble.
The kit was unveiled just days before the Europa League Play-Off Round game away to KSC Lokeren. The Belgian Cup holders agreed to wear their all-black away kit at home so the Tigers could debut their third kit. The Umbro sleeve text had to be removed to meet UEFA standards and was physically picked off, though a single wordmark remained on the shirts of both Harry Maguire and Tom Ince. City also debuted a bespoke font in this game with split letters and numbers resembling the stencils used on cargo boxes, possibly referencing Hull being a port.
At the Daknamstadion in Lokeren, an errant pass from ‘keeper Allan McGregor allowed Hans Vanaken to round him and score the only goal of the first leg as the Tigers lost 1-0.
The white and blue was next used in September for a 2-2 draw at Newcastle (Nikica Jelavić’s acrobatic strike was a contender for Match of the Day’s goal of the month) and for the last time just days after the replica shirts went on sale in October, in a 0-0 draw with Liverpool at Anfield.
2015/16 Tertiary
With third kits now established as a regular part of the Tigers’ kit-sets, Umbro had some freedom to experiment with unfamiliar colourways, and they looked to world renowned colour experts PANTONE for inspiration.
Azure Blue, the tone used on the shorts of the 2014/15 third kit, had featured in PANTONE’s trend forecasting Fashion Colour Report for Spring 2014, and for the follow up they picked a colour from the Spring 2015 edition: Scuba Blue. This medium dark shade of cyan would be the 2015/16 third kit’s secondary tone, used for contrast trim, with the main colour a navy-like shade termed as ‘Blueprint’.
The Tigers staggered their kit launches in 2015, releasing the home kit in mid-July, the away kit early in August, but leaving the third kit launch until well into the Championship season in late October. It was modelled by Jake Livermore, Moses Odubajo and Shaun Maloney in print and online marketing.
The shirt features a horseshoe shaped collar stand with tipping trim, joined up by a single tone mesh insert that sat above two ‘racing stripes’, parallel lines that ran from the neckline to hem, in Scuba Blue. These stripes were interrupted by a ‘free zone’, a space for the sponsor’s word-mark, which is applied in the orange and yellow colours of Flamingo Land. The North Yorkshire theme park and zoo signed a one-year main sponsorship deal with City and also became the back of shirt sponsors of Middlesbrough.
The set-in shirt sleeves had contrast tipping trim on the ribbed cuffs, and Umbro’s wordmark in white, matching the Umbro logo on the chest and the ‘TIGERS’ sign-off under the collar on the back. The logo of back of shirt sponsor Hudgell Solicitors is applied above the player name.
The Blueprint shorts had Scuba Blue trim on the waist band and hem band, and Scuba Blue cuffs topped the otherwise dark blue socks that completed the kit.
Utilised just twice, this kit was first worn a month after release in November 2015, in a 1-1 draw with Bristol City at Ashton Gate. Its last appearance came during the congested festive period, as City travelled to the New York Stadium for the first time in late December, losing 2-0 to Rotherham. Those disappointing results didn’t have much negative impact on City’s promotion push, the Tigers went up via the Play-Offs after a fourth placed finish, behind Burnley, Middlesbrough and Brighton.
2016/17 Tertiary
Umbro’s remit for Hull City away kits was to stick with the club’s established colour palette, hence a cycle of alternating black or white kits with amber trim. The third kit, however, provided designers with an opportunity to flex their creative muscles, to produce something…different.
‘Different’, though, often meets resistance when it collides with staid sensibilities, and so it proved with the 2016/17 third kit. Reaction on social media was unforgiving, and there was fierce debate on social media over whether the shirt is purple or pink, an argument settled by Umbro who announced the colour as ‘Cactus Purple’.
The shirt features shadow stripes on the body panels and a split crew-neck – black on the front, white on the back – matching two-tone bands on the sleeve cuffs which halted white mesh panelling that continued under the arms.
Several characteristics were shared with the home and away shirts, such as Umbro wordmarks on the sleeves, ‘TIGERS’ sign-off text on the back of the neck, stadium co-ordinates above a band of tiger stripes on the inside of the neckline, and the marks of sponsor SportPesa. Completing the kit were white shorts with truncated purple stripes on the sides, and purple socks with a thick white hoop sandwiched by thinner black hoops at calf level.
Though the challenging main tone proved too much for some Tigers fans, it was bang on trend: several Nike clubs shared a third kit template rendered in a variety of vibrant shades such as ‘Energy and Green Glow’ (Barcelona) and ‘Luminous Blue and Electric Green’ (Inter), while New Balance gave Liverpool a ‘Toxic Green’ third kit.
The ‘hi-vis’ aesthetic extended beyond kits too. The Premier League introduced a striking new visual identity with an aubergine purple logo on backgrounds of minty green, pinkish red, lemony yellow and cyan. Closer to home, Hull was the UK City of Culture 2017 and the event’s colour scheme was described as ‘Scandalous Blue, Mischievous Pink and Ludicrous Purple’, the lattermost a tone similar to ‘Cactus Purple’.
One of the last releases of the season in mid-October, the kit’s active lifespan was just two weeks. It was first worn at Bournemouth in a 6-1 defeat, and a fortnight later its last outing came at Watford in a 1-0 loss. Despite a positive start to the campaign and a mid-season change of ‘head coach’, the Tigers ultimately fulfilled their role as relegation favourites.
2017/18 Tertiary
Umbro again sought colour inspiration from PANTONE, whose Autumn 2017 Fashion Colour Report reflected the hues seen at the New York and London Fashion Weeks, and forecasted colour trends for textiles and home interiors.
For the 2017/18 third kit, Umbro eschewed New York Fashion Week’s ‘Grenadine’, ‘Ballet Slipper’ and ‘Golden Lime’ as well as London Fashion Week’s ‘Otter Brown’, ‘Royal Lilac’ and ‘Lemon Curry’ for a tone seen on catwalks on both sides of the Atlantic – Navy Peony – a smoky dark blue described by fashionistas as “dependable and anchoring…the hue takes some of the load off black as a go-to neutral.” Indeed.
The bespoke kit was unveiled in mid-September and modelled by Stephen Kingsley, Fraizer Campbell and Jarrod Bowen in online marketing. Under a simple round collar, the front panel is embellished by a stylised tiger print Jacquard weave. The embroidered Umbro logo and polyurethane sponsor wordmark were both in amber, and as on the home and away kits the club crest had a parquet pattern texture on the amber field.
An aerated material for increased breathability is used for the dropped hem back, yoke, sleeve and underarm panels. Across the shoulders, thin amber taping contained a running double-diamond print and on the back, ‘TIGERS’ is applied in a squared, wildlife inspired typeface above the player name and number.
The Football League became the ‘EFL’ while City were in the Premier League in 2016/17, and the standardised kit numbers incorporated the logo of league charity partner Prostate Cancer UK. Under the numbers, a green rectangular patch advertised scaffolding firm Burflex.
The sides of the Navy Peony shorts carried the same amber taping as yoke panels of the shirt, and on the back a round appliqué bore the logo of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The dark blue socks were decorated with a single, thin amber hoop on the turn-over bands.
The kits first outing came in the October in a 1-0 win at Barnsley. By the next time it was used, at Nottingham Forest in February 2018, the Tigers had a new head coach after Nigel Adkins replaced affable Russian Leonid Slutsky. Adkins liked the Navy Peony kit so much he extended its lifespan beyond the 2-0 win at the City Ground, requesting it’s use at Middlesbrough later in February for a 3-1 defeat, and for April’s trip to Bristol City, a ten-goal thriller that ended 5-5.
2018/19 Tertiary
Though the Tigers have followed the broader kit trends over the years, such as monochrome ensembles in the mid-1960s and pinstripes in the early 1980s, some specific trends passed them by, such as the fascination with fluorescence that began in the late Eighties and continued throughout the Nineties.
Umbro released a yellow shirt suitable for acid-house raves that doubled up as a Sheffield United away in 1989, Borussia Dortmund’s yellow went neon between 1990-1998 at Nike’s behest, and Umbro supplied Celtic with a fluoro ‘bumblebee’ away kit for 1997/98. Even Scarborough got in on the act with a slime green away shirt in 1998/99 as hi-vis kits scarred the decade.
City joined the neon tone party fashionably (almost 30 years) late in 2018/19 but mostly limited their dalliance to the shorts of the third kit, electing for a white shirt. As in 2014/15 both the primary and change kits had black shorts, so those of the third kit had to be light. White shorts were out as 14 out of the 24 Championship clubs wore them at home, so Umbro went with a fluorescent greenish-yellow shade termed Sulphur Spring.
The shirt features a self-coloured mitred V-neck, and ‘Sulphur Spring’ accents on the back of shirt hem and cuff panels that contained Umbro double-diamond ‘taping’. For a second successive third shirt, the waters were tested for tiger stripe acceptance ahead of a home shirt inspired by the legendary 1992/93 design.
In 2017/18 it took the form of front panel Jacquard weave, but the follow up went with a graphic print: a chest band of pencil drawn looking grey tiger stripes framed the SportPesa wordmark. The all-Sulphur Spring shorts provided the bulk of the kit’s fluorescence, and the white socks had Sulphur Spring blocks on the turn-over bands.
Various parts of the city provided the backdrop for the launch imagery of all three 2018/19 shirts, and following the home shirt (Argyle Street footbridge) and the away shirt (the derelict Lord Line building), the third shirt was modelled by players Jon Toral, Stephen Kingsley and Jarrod Bowen atop the Humber Quays office complex overlooking Hull Marina.
Revealed on the 14th of August, the third kit was given a debut a week later at Rotherham in a 3-2 win. It was later used at Bristol City and twice at Millwall, in the league in December 2018 and in the FA Cup in January 2019.
2019/20 Tertiary
Kits referencing the home grounds of clubs were on trend in 2019/20: Chelsea’s home shirt featured an abstract graphic inspired by the stands of Stamford Bridge, while Everton’s primary shirt had a tonal print evoking the criss-cross steelwork of Goodison Park. The home shirt of German giants Bayern Munich sported a diamond pattern in tribute to the polymer panelled exterior of the Allianz Arena.
Hull City got in on the act too, but their third kit took a more subtle approach, using colours instead of a print to honour the Tigers’ home between 1946 and 2002. “The bespoke design pays homage to the iconic colours of sections of our former home, Boothferry Park”, read the launch blurb. This caused some confusion among fans who didn’t naturally associate the colours ‘Deep Lagoon’ and ‘Medieval Blue’ with the old ground.
For Deep Lagoon, a dark teal tone, an explanation was found in an image from the ‘Homes of Football’ exhibition by acclaimed documentary photographer Stuart Roy Clark. Taken in 1990, it depicts a ramshackle wooden ticket hut situated behind the South Stand.
Though re-painted amber and black, evidence of the hut’s original paint job remained on the hatch panel. From the 1960s to the early 1980s, the Boothferry Park stands were painted a teal-like green. Medieval Blue was said to represent dark blue leather seats in the West Stand.
The Deep Lagoon shirt had a simple V-neck below a light amber ribbed band matching the bands on the sleeve cuffs. The Umbro logo and SportPesa wordmark were also in light amber, distinct from the amber of the crest, and shattered diamonds decorated split shoulder panels. The accompanying Medieval Blue shorts had light amber trim and Deep Lagoon socks topped by dark blue cuffs had Umbro logos on the shins and ‘TIGERS’ on the calves in light amber.
This kit was used four times, in games played before the season was paused by the Coronavirus pandemic. It debuted in the 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest in the October, was worn twice in November at Middlesbrough (a 2-2 draw) and Barnsley (a 3-1 defeat) and was last seen in January 2020 for a 1-0 loss at Derby.
The Tigers were 12th in the Championship following this game, but dropped to 20th by the time football was suspended in the March. Form after the season restart in June was abysmal and ultimately led to relegation.
2020/21 Tertiary
After several years of third kits in unconventional colourways, such as ‘Cactus Purple’ and ‘Deep Lagoon’, an alternate change kit in white and blue might have been viewed as underwhelming and basic when the shirt alone was belatedly unveiled on September 9th, 2020. Kit launches typically take place each June and July, but a pandemic-caused pause meant that the 2019/20 campaign was not completed until late July.
When the entire 2020/21 kit-set had been revealed, the practicality of a ‘White and Ibiza blue’ kit became fully evident: both the primary and change kits had black shorts, the home shirt features black and amber stripes, and the away shirt was largely ‘Carbon grey’. A high contrast and light third kit was a necessity, and on those terms this ensemble fit the bill perfectly.
Proportionately the shirt is mostly white, but the front is visually dominated by an upper chest panel in Ibiza blue that contained the Umbro marks in white embroidery and the woven club crest. The simple, mitred V-neck is self-coloured but with white tipping trim, and the mostly white sleeves were capped by curved Ibiza blue panels. The customary ‘TIGERS’ sign off on the back of the neck is applied in blue text, above the standard EFL letterset applied in black.
After four seasons backed by a Kenyan bookmakers, the club had a local main sponsor again in the form of Giacom, a Hessle based information technologies firm. Their upper-case wordmark is cleanly applied in black underneath the blue chest panel. On-Line Group and East Riding College returned as back of shirt and shorts sponsors respectively.
The lower parts of the kit repeated the upper’s blue-over-white colour blocking, with blue shorts that had wide white rectangular sections at the bottom of self-coloured side panels, and white socks with blue fold-over cuffs.
The quick turnaround between seasons left no time for pre-season friendlies, so the first use of the third kit came at Harrogate in the November, a 2-0 win in a group game of the Football League Trophy. It was later used in League One fixtures at Oxford, Blackpool, Accrington and Burton in a season played entirely behind closed doors.
The Tigers picked up only one league point wearing this kit, but that proved no impediment as City matched the 1965/66 exploits of Waggy, Chillo & Co. in winning a third-tier title. The Tigers were promoted as League One Champions.
2021/22 Tertiary
After taking a gap year to find themselves, the third-tier title-winning Tigers were back in the Championship. They started the new season with an experimental primary shirt featuring a ‘glitch sash’ print, and an achingly cool ‘blackout’ change shirt that quickly sold out, appealing to both Tiger Nationals and ‘blokecore’ aesthetic rocking hipsters.
The reveal of the 2021/22 third kit occurred five games into the campaign, and it took inspiration from a classic Tigers ensemble. In 1995, the club had new sponsors in haulage firm IBC, who’s deep red and yellow shipping containers were stacked at ports around the world. That ‘sea can’ livery informed the colour of the new change kit by Super League, described at the time as maroon.
On their homage paying kit, Umbro referred to the main colour as ‘claret’. It features an amber crew-neck split by a triangular inset panel, and across the shoulders, wide black bands trimmed on the shirtfront by thinner amber bands, connected the collar to claret cuffs on set-in sleeves. Umbro’s marks were embroidered in amber, opposite a woven club crest. Sponsor Giacom’s wordmark is heat-applied in amber letters on the chest, and an amber ‘TIGERS’ sign-off is added on the back, under the collar.
The shorts were like those of the ‘home’ kit, just with the colours reversed. Amber shorts may seem like an odd choice here, but there was a practical rationale: interchangeability. The EFL tinkered with their kit rules for 2021/22, now only three full outfield kits could be registered, though elements of them could be worn in any combination.
This effectively outlawed ‘alternate’ shorts. Amber shorts had become an established part of the Tigers’ wardrobe, so they registered some nominally part of the third kit. Really, they were intended for use with the primary shirts, and the third shorts were used this way on opening day at Preston. Completing the kit, claret socks had black cuffs split by a thin amber band, and Umbro logos were woven at shin level in amber, with ‘TIGERS’ on the reverse.
Jacob Greaves modelling the new shirt upon release had real meaning, as his father Mark played in the 1995-97 change kit it is based on and launch imagery honoured Hull’s version of Milan’s Maldini defensive dynasty!
Sadly, the shirt and socks of this kit were worn only once, mashed-up with black shorts for the October 2021 trip to Huddersfield, a 2-0 defeat.
2023/24 Tertiary: Kappa/Corendon Airlines
Shoppers were lured into a new city centre branch of ‘Tiger Leisure’ on 14th July 2023, with the promise of seeing Kappa’s first Hull City third kit. At the front of the store in St. Stephen’s, a mannequin was bedecked in the all-Royal blue affair, and the shirt was given an impromptu modelling by dedicated fan Lee Walker for the club’s social media channels.
The shirt features an asymmetrically trimmed overlapping V-neck, with an amber panel covering part of the left side (as worn) on an otherwise self-coloured neckline. The body of the shirt is like that of the primary kit, the appearance of Raglan sleeves is created by the back panel and collar band extending over the shoulder where they are stitched to the front body panel and set-in sleeves.
The front hem is finished off by an amber panel, and similar panels edged the outer side of each sleeve, a design feature seen on other Kappa ‘Kombat’ shirts, such as those for Monaco, Fiorentina and Bari. Kappa’s ‘Omini’ logo is applied high on each sleeve in amber vinyl, and another appeared opposite the club crest, which is a heat-bonded TPU patch.
Amber appliqués were used for the logo of main sponsor Corendon Airlines on the chest, a collar band ‘THE TIGERS’ sign-off and even the standard EFL typeface for player names and numbers. The kit is made whole with blue shorts edged by amber panels on the front of each leg-opening, and blue socks with amber fold-over bands and HULL CITY woven in amber at shin level.
The shade of blue may have changed between the initial design process and production. Concept artwork shown to supporters by owner Acun Ilıcalı depicted a much darker, almost navy kit, but after he saw a high-profile fan wearing a lighter blue away shirt from the club’s recent past, he asked for a more regal blue, coincidentally similar to the Azure blue of Hull’s coat of arms.
The third kit was given a debut the day after it launched in a friendly at Grimsby, an unconventional game played over two hours with four half-hour quarters. It made a competitive debut in the opening day 2-1 defeat at Norwich and was used just once more in a 0-0 draw at Watford in April 2024.
Coach Liam Rosenior preferred his side to wear regular club colours, which they could do in either the ‘home’ or ‘away’ kits.
2024/25 Tertiary: Kappa/Corendon Airlines
In the first season of Kappa Türkiye supplying the club, the colourway of the third kit, blue with amber trim, was replicated on coaching staff attire, and the same approach was taken early in the design process for the licensee’s follow-up year.
Samples were made of a khaki green and black with amber trim third kit, which matched the polo shirts, hoodies, quarter zips, bench coats and rain jackets modelled in pre-season training by newly appointed German head coach Tim Walter and his staff. However, at a late stage, an executive decision was made to go with another all-amber kit, after the 2023/24 change kit in that style was used in 73.91% of Championship away games that campaign.
Launched on 23rd August 2024, the marketing blurb on the club website remarked that “The amber shirt pays tribute to two notable kits in our club’s history.” The plain black polo collar was implied to be referencing the shirts worn during the promotion-winning 2003/04 season, the most recent primary shirts to feature a turnover collar.
The tonal tiger stripe print naturally evoked the 1992/93 shirts by Matchwinner, which coincidentally would be reissued as part of a 120th anniversary year merchandising drive that troubled the wallet but enhanced the wardrobe.
Collar and sublimated print aside, the shirt uses the same ‘Kombat Pro’ chassis as the ‘home’, with an embossed herringbone pattern decorating the fabric and collarbone level applications of the Kappa logo and club crest (which is heat bonded silicone patches on player shirts but woven fabric sewn-on to replicas). Raglan sleeves finished with ribbed black cuffs have an ‘Omini’ logo high on each arm in black, matching the marks of sponsor Corendon Airlines on the chest the 120th anniversary graphic applied under the collar on the back.
The amber shorts were slightly lighter in tone than the two shades used on the shirt, and the kit is completed by black-cuffed amber socks with HULL CITY woven in at shin level in stacked text.
Used just once during the reign of the emotionally turbulent yet tactically rigid Walter, at Derby in October, the amber kit was favoured by his replacement, the genial Spaniard and gilet devotee Rubén Sellés. It was worn at Coventry, Preston and Blackburn in December, and in 2025 it saw use at Millwall, Sheffield United, Burnley, Sunderland, Cardiff, Sheffield Wednesday, Swansea and Portsmouth as the Tigers narrowly avoided the drop.
HULL CITY KITS 