Shirt History

Thanks to www.historicalkits.co.uk and www.truecoloursfootballkits.com

Early Years

Portsmouth shirts 1898-1911

Our first kit was a delightful pink colour and was used up until 1909. It was then changed to a white and blue number and in 1911, when the new club was set up as a new business after the old one folded, it was changed to the now more familiar blue shirts.

1920′s – 1930′s

Not a great deal of change in these years. The stripes on the socks the most noticeable. The collar and the addition of the badge the only others over the ten years. HistoricalKits.co.uk has a break in shirts between 1931-1936, the only shirt i can find for that period so far is the kit worn against Man City in the 1934 FA Cup Final, I assume this was the away kit at the time as Man City also wore their change shirts. The old rules stated that if a colour clash occurs, both teams change kit.

1930′s – 1940′s

Again, not a massive change. The stripes on the socks made way for a solid white top. The collar and badges were the other slight changes. 1939 saw us lift the FA Cup and the infamous ‘Who held the FA cup the longest?’ question came into being! Not many games were played in the 8yrs the last shirt was in use as the out break of the Second World War put a stop to all fixtures.

1950′s

After WWII the introduction of what is now the familiar kit of blue/white/red. This is reportedly to signify the 3 armed forces. Four different collars is all that separates these kits (there’s not much you can do about a plain blue shirt!)

1960′s

The Sixties brought a few changes, Stripes were put on the socks for a few years at the turn of the decade. A centred badge in the middle years and an all blue number to take us into the 70′s

1970′s

The 70′s brought on a couple of changes before going back to the classic blue/white/red combo. The club offered up the decision for the following seasons kit to the public in the early 70′s and as a result the white kit was introduced as the new home shirts. This was dropped after 3 seasons as it saw the club free fall down a few divisions.

1980-82

pompey shirt 1980-82

This Gola number was supported with an identical designed red away shirt and white third shirt.

1982-83

pompey shirt 1982-83

Gola introduced an all red away shirt for this season

1983-85

pompey shirt 1983-85pompey shirt 1983-85 Away

This is a nice effort from Le Coq Sportif. The actual away shirt isn’t as hard on the eye in real life as it appears in this image. There was a nice third shirt worn in these years, a red version of the home shirt, with red shorts and the red home socks.

1985-87

pompey shirt 1985-87pompey shirt 1985-87 Away

Umbro were next up and came up with my favourite shirts. The away shirt is now available as a Toffs repro. If I’m being picky I’d say the Umbro logo should be on the sleeve of the away shirt and not on the chest. The club badge was either central (as pictured) or to the right as you look at the shirt. Not sure why they chose to mix it up? An all red third shirt was also used during this time.

1987-89

pompey shirt 1987-89 pompey shirt 1987-89 Sponsored

Admiral take over the kit for this spell. With top flight football for a season, sponsorship was a bonus income and South Coast Fiat we the first company to get their name on our shirts. After relegation in 1988, they dropped their logo. The away kit was a lovely shade of red…well hints of pink I think

1989-91

Another manufacturer change. Scoreline this time. The checks are a little more subtle ‘in real life’. Not a bad kit and the away shirt was a very summery yellow and green number…just like watching Brazil, but colder. The image here gives a checkered shadowing on the away shirt, the shirt have is just plain yellow.

1991-93

pompey shirt 1991-93

Surprisingly, another kit maker lined up to take this on. Stand out kit for most fans as it was worn in the splendid FA Cup run. For that they had shorts that matched the shirts and blue socks, something that was copied in the 2008 FA Cup run. The away shirt was the same design only red.

1993-95

pompey shirt 1993-95

Another supplier change anyone? Asics take the batton for the 93-95 season. The away shirts were red and black halves for a season and white with thin blue stripes for the next.

1995-97

pompey shirt 1995-97

So a kit change without changing makes! Fratton Park gets a mention on the sleeves and the sponsor changes to the local rag, The News. The away kit was the same white one as the previous season for the first year and red and black stripes for the following season.

1997-99

pompey shirt 1997-99

Well Asics’ 4 year run comes to and end and Admiral make a welcome return. Nice kit this, with small star and crescents running through the material and an unsubtle ‘Pompey’ across the lower back. The Away kit was a nice yellow version with a large star and crescent on each shoulder. 1998 saw the centenary of the club and a new away shirt underwhelmingly celebrated it with a small tag on the back. The actual shirt was nice, white with blue shoulders.

1999-00

pompey shirt 1999-2000

1999 saw new owners, new sponsor and another new kit maker. A very internal affair this one. Pompey Sport make the kit and the Pompey Centre sponsor it. This kit was a touch rushed. The first batch was a very cheap, shiney material and was released with no sponsor. The sponsors name did appear on the 2nd batch made for the public but by the 3rd batch the material had improved. The away shirt for the season never got a sponsors name across it and with a yellow/blue/white combo was another Brazil inspired kit. More info on the Pompey Sport era can be found here

2000-02

pompey shirt 2000-02

Pompey Sport continued with this offering. A nice white away shirt with blue trim accompanied it and a not so nice orange and black 3rd shirt was brought in for the games against the blue and white striped teams. More info on the Pompey Sport era can be found here

2002-03

pompey shirt 2002-03

Much to the joy of the more manly elements of the fan base, TY Europe paid a record amount to have a nice fury heart logo on the shirts. It must have a positive effect on the team as promotion to the Premier League was achieved in it. An away shirt mirrored the home shirt, mainly white with blue trim. A third shirt also appeared, a strange colour that is somewhere between gold and washed out copper?! More info on the Pompey Sport era can be found here

2003-05

For the first season in the Prem, Pompey Sports went back to basics. Plain blue with small white trim. The away shirt was also a blue colour but much darker. The previous seasons white away shirt was worn as a third shirt a few times in 2003-04. A new white third shirt completed the set for the 2004-05 season. More info on the Pompey Sport era can be found here

2005-06

The club opt for Jako as the next manufacture, though fairly last minute, some kit could be brought from the shop that had Pompey Sport logos covered with Jako badges. The back of this shirt had an Arsenal-esq back to it so the shirt was blue with a white area for the players name. The away shirt was the same design but mainly red with a ‘goldy’ trim. Strangely a third kit was released. Not sure we played any one who wore blue and red that season*.

* I’m sure it was only worn against Manchester United and Arsenal in the league and Ipswich in the FA Cup

 

2006-07

Jakos first proper effort, not bad. The away kit is the reverse of the home and the third kit was a plain black affair with yellow piping.

2007-08

Rugby specialists Canterbury moved into football this year with Portsmouth, the special shirts having ion-x technology to aid performance. It must have worked as we won the FA Cup. Half way through this year the canterbury logos appeared on the shoulders of the players shirts. The only replica shirts to have them were the FA Cup Final shirts released before the Wembley win. The cup run also saw us adopting an all blue affair as it was deemed ‘lucky’.

2008-09

A controversial all blue affair come out to celebrate 110 years of Portsmouth FC. The gold was also added as the 2nd colour of the home shirts. The white away kit was only worn once during the 2008/09 season, the opener against Chelsea on 17th August. It only had 2 league outings, the first was in the last game of the 2007/08 season when it was previewed against Fulham at Fratton Park. The home shirt was used in all of the UEFA Cup games.

2009-10

Historical Kits images of Portsmouth FC shirtsHistorical Kits images of Portsmouth FC shirts

A slightly lighter home shirt but back to the now traditional blue/white/red combo. As an additional throwback, the away shirt is a copy of the randomly white home shirt of the 70′s. Another black home shirt completes the line up (it has thin blue horizontal pinstripe going through the shirt)

The Remembrance Weekend game for Portsmouth used the black third shirt and had the Poppy in the centre of the chest.

For the FA Cup Semi Final the club released a special one-off shirt. Due to Canterbury going out of business during the season, a new manufacturer has been lined up for the 2010/11 season. Kappa signed up for 5 years and the club are allowed to use a sample it from them for the game on 11th April. They will announce the new kits in the summer but I guess a new kit will be used on the last game of this season.

2010-11

Historical Kits images of Portsmouth FC shirts

Last seasons trips to Wembley showcased this years kits. The Home shirt is the same as the one worn in the Semi v Tottenham (except the gold logos on the sleeve are now white) and the away shirt is the exact copy of the final kit The third shirt follows the same simple design but in black with blue trim. No pink keepers kit this year but a return to traditional all green or all yellow.

The Poppy Day Appeal shirts this year were the home shirts with the Poppy above the Kappa logo. For Marie Curie week the Marie Curie logo was underneath the Kappa logo for the home gain against Sunderland.

The Royal Navy charity had their logo on the back of the shorts for some games, see here.

2011-12

Historical Kits images of Portsmouth FC shirts

Kappa’s latest offering.  Plain blue, round necked shirt with traditional white shorts and red socks. The black kit is the away shirt for the first time, leaving a third kit open to the designers/clubs imagination…the imagination took them back to 1993 and that seasons away kit. As much as any Southampton fan will tell you,that is not the outline of a male ‘member’ on the front…

This year was the first year we had sponsors on the back of the shirts. The clubs new owners had their own logo (Powerplay Golf) on the back of the shirts above the players names in some games.

Remembrance Day poppies were worn center chest against Nottingham Forest at Fratton on 5th Nov (taxi for Cotterill…)

There were alternative shorts produced for the home kit in blue but were never worn in the season, some unsponsored ones were sold off in the club shop at the end of the season

2012-13

Historical Kits images of Portsmouth FC shirts

With Jobsites 3 year contract up we expect a new kit. So far no news of that. Rumours of an orange away kit similar to Fulham have been heard and release dates of November also banded around we are still no clearer. Our first pre season friendly was due today but was cancelled, would have been interesting to see what we wore. I have asked the club but no response yet.

**Update**
Now we have successfully fielded a ‘team against Gibraltar, Brighton, Bolton, Wimbledon and Salisbury we can see that the kit room dusted off the 2010-11 kits. The White/Burgundy kits for the Spanish tour, and the blue home kit against Bolton and Salisbury.  Still no word about next season’s kits.
**Update – 2 **
First home game of the season and first site of 11 new players…and a new kit. Kit is the same as 1976-78 which I guess was chosen due to the similarities of financial trouble and being in 3rd tier of English football!. The only difference is the Kappa logos which are featured down the sides (and thankfully not on the shoulders, hate that!
**Update – 3**

First away game tonight and the orange is confirmed. Not as orange as the Bishops Printer days but not as washed out as the promotion campaign third shirt. Comes with black shorts and socks matching the shirts.

2013-14

Historical Kits images of Portsmouth FC shirts

The first outing for Sondico and the first for the fan owned period. The home shirts have a ‘wave’ across the shoulder as a tip of the hat to our sea connections. The away kit has the Pompey Sailor logo watermarked on the front. The third kit harks back to the clubs original colours.

2014-15

Historical Kits images of Portsmouth FC shirts

The home kits this year are a commemorative shirt. As the the centenary of WWI comes round the club have put the names of the Pompey Pals through the stitching and the crest is a replica from the 1914 season. The away kit is another retro affair, taking the single vertical stripe from the 70’s. The third kit goes back to a proper yellow.

2015-16

Historical Kits images of Portsmouth FC shirts

Another collared home shirt, this time a little more chunky with no need to buttons. Standard white away shirt and the ever popular black third completes the season line up. The old style crest is now across all three kits.

2016-17

Historical Kits images of Portsmouth FC shirts

A fan vote resulted in these three choices. The away kit has a retro feel to it. The shirts have 1898 in the ‘v’ on the neck.

2017-18

Historical Kits images of Portsmouth FC shirts

Another fan vote. The home shirt is a throwback to the 1960’s kits. The away has a very light grey checkered pattern and the third sees purple being used for the first time. The kits were revealed slowly with close up details shared on social media as teasers. Though as there was a vote it was easy to spot which ones had won.

2018-19

Historical Kits images of Portsmouth FC shirts

New kit, new sponsor. Nike’s first outing is the Challenger II template. Has a nice camo shadow. The new sponsorship deal with Portsmouth Uni was apparently not the biggest bucks on the table, but the Eisner family wanted to promote higher education in the city. A trip to Wembley in the EFL Trophy saw us play Sunderland. As the away team we had to switch to blue socks. The shirts had the added match details to the chest.

 

 

 

2019-20

Yearly refresh of the kits. Home kit has hints of 2003’s kit. The away kit used the same template as last season 3rd shirt. This seasons 3rd kit uses the colours of Portsmouth University. Another trip to the EFL Trophy final, originally scheduled for 5th April. Due to the outbreak of the corona virus, Covid-19, the date was moved to an as yet undecided date. The play off games verses Oxford had the addition of the ‘Thank You NHS” rainbow logo added to the chest.

 

 

2020-21

Nikes last contracted designs. Again we used template kits. Initially released with out back sponsor as Covers ended their contract. TotalAV were announced as their replacement on the 27th August with the logos being added from the 4th September in the club shop. Anyone who got the first release without the logo could go to the store and get it added. The usual change colour of white returned, with a slightly off the wall choice for the third kit…bright orange.

The white kit was used for the rearranges EFL Trophy final. The replicas were released with central match details, but on the day the details were under the Nike tick and an NHS heart placed centrally.

 

 

 

 

2021-22

The club managed to get a Nike template but with custom colouring for this seasons home shirt. The ladies shirt was the ‘off the peg’ version with a different shade of blue and black side trim.

The third shirt was a nod to the 90’s half and half kit with the red/black combo having a slightly off centre join. The away kit was white bodied with red and black sleeves, finished off with a gold side stripe.

 

 

2022-23

Our deal with Just Sports means another Nike template kit this year. A mainly blue affair, obviously, but with white detailing on the sleeves. The away kit is a return to black and gold. The design is a template from Nike but we have it in a colouring that so far I haven’t seen. It’s the same design as the home kit, but black and sleeve pattern in gold. The third kit takes on the main ‘mint’ colour the ladies team had last season and add a black and white sleeve.

 

 

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