Here you will find various updates to TRUE COLOURS including kits for the seasons covered that were released too late for the book’s publication dates and also various corrections and additions that have been discovered since the books were released. Every effort has been made to make the books as accurate as possible but if you know of any errors then please get in touch using the contact form.

05–06 Missing kits

Everton third kit 2005–06
Released by the club after the copy deadline for True Colours volume 1 had passed, this vivid yellow third kit became the latest addition to the ever-growing Umbro/Everton back catalogue. The shirt featured an asymmetrically trimmed cut-away neck and navy and white horizontal pinstripes to which flashes of navy were added in typical Umbro style. However, like the 00-01 and 03-04 outfit this kit was never worn on active duty.

Portsmouth third kit 2005–06
Like the above Everton kit this white and navy Pompey outfit was unveiled too late for inclusion in True Colours volume 1. Also, like the Everton strip it only lasted one season and attracted criticism in some quarters for actually being rather superfluous to requirements. Unlike the Toffeemen’s outfit though this strip did actually make an appearance on the pitch. It was premiered, just before Christmas 2005, in the club’s 3–0 away defeat to Manchester United.

Liverpool Euro kit 2005–06
Following Liverpool’s incredible Champions League success of 04–05 the team sported a unique home strip in the following season’s competition. The shirt (which was trimmed luxuriously in gold) loosely followed a similar design to that worn by West Ham and Bolton (other Reebok clients) and included loose diagonal shadow bands and unique gold flashes on each shoulder. The other prominent design feature was the addition of five stars above the club badge (which despite rumours did not return to the popular ‘Liver Bird’ technique) to symbolise the Red’s five European Cup/Champions League victories.

Middlesbrough third kit 2005–06
The last of the 05–06 season shirts that did not make into True Colours was this very rare Middlesbrough third kit, worn only once in the March 06 UEFA Cup Quarter Final tie at FC Basel. The Swiss side’s red and blue kit meant that both of Boro’s designated outfits clashed and this classy all white number was worn to solve the problem. The collar matched that to the club’s standard all blue jersey with black panels and reversed stitching were added to each sleeve. Unusually the Errea logo was placed centrally on the shirt. Boro lost the game 2–0 but recovered to win 4–1 in the return home leg and proceed onto the final. Sadly the club couldn’t overcome the mighty Seville and were soundly beaten 4–0.

Wales kits

Thanks to Shakey at the excellent www.footballmatchshirts.co.uk site I am able to correct a couple of errors that appeared in the Wales section of True Colours Volume 2 and include a rare third kit from the late 80s.

Wales away kit 1984–1987
There seems to be a commonly held belief that the second Wales adidas away kit of the 80s simply reversed the colour scheme of the home and comprised of white shirts and red shorts. It appears this is inaccurate and in fact Mike England’s men continued with a yellow and green away strip – although now fashioned into a fairly plain design. The origin of the mythical white away kit of these period seems to stem from, of all places, Subbuteo, who at the time produced a miniature version of the Wales team decked out in incorrect white strips!

Wales away kit 1987–1990
The colour scheme of the rather splendid Hummel away kit was actually yellow and black, and not yellow and green.

Wales third kit 1987–1990
As well as the standard red kit and yellow and black away, Hummel also produced an all white third kit for the Welsh side during their tenure as kit supplier. The kit was worn only once in September 1988, away against Holland in Wales’ first Italia 90 World Cup qualifier - the Dutch side’s orange shirts obviously just a little too similar to both the Welsh red and yellow. The match ended in a 1–0 victory for Holland.

While we are on the subject of Wales kits, it might be a good opportunity to include the country’s new kits:

Wales third kit 2007–2008
Wales have never been shy in adopting third strips, and this design was worn for the first time in a May 2007 friendly against New Zealand in Wrexham – forcing the ‘all whites’ to change to their blue away kit. The match ended in a 2–2 draw. The strip features a brave design of red and green alternate sleeves which are then flipped for the shorts. The shirt also includes a more restrained neck than the hefty V-necks worn on the Welsh home and away kits of the time.

Wales home kit 2007–2008
There appears to be some confusion in the Wales kit camp at the moment – the side took to the field in this new home kit for a friendly against the Republic of Ireland (a 2–2 draw) and their final European Championship qualifier against Germany in November 2007 (a 0–0 draw). The shirt is not as radical as the previous design, its main design feature being a watermarked dragon print. Kappa have announced that the jersey will be officially launched on St David’s Day (March 2008) with replicas also available then. A new away kit will follow in April. However, the Football Association of Wales have also announced their new kit deal with JJB Sports who will be launching their Welsh strips in August 2008! Meaning that Wales will sport their final set of Kappa strips for just 9 months. Its an unusual move and perhaps the country might have been better sticking with the existing Kappa outfits (which were only introduced in 2006) rather than opting for these short term new kits.

Middlesbrough kits

Friend of the site and self-confessed Boro anorak Shaun Wilson has let me know of a couple of Middlesbough kits that were missing from True Colours. He also pointed me in the direction of a wonderful collection of Boro shirts: www.flickr.com/photos/boro_shirts.

Middlesbrough third kit 1986–1987
As well as the red home and royal blue away kits of this period, Boro also donned this Hummel sky blue/navy blue third outfit. The design followed that of the home and away. The sponsorship situation at this time was a little cloudy; this jersey did not feature the standard Dickens logo of that season and was mostly worn unsponsored although the logo of ICI’s polyethylene plastic film product, Visqueen, did appear on the shirt by the end of the campaign. ICI of course came on board as the club’s main shirt sponsor a few years later in 1992.

Middlesbrough third kit 1988–1990
Following the pattern of the previous season, a white Boro third shirt also appeared in 1988. The design essentially just reversed the colours of the home jersey complete with the logos of Heritage Hampers and kit manufacturers, Skill. The shirt was also worn with the white home shorts.

Middlesbrough alternative home kit 1989–1990
Although I made reference to this outfit in TRUE COLOURS I though this might be an apt opportunity to illustrate it. The club’s achievement in getting to the Zenith Data Systems (ZDS) Final in 1990 marked the side’s first ever trip to Wembley. To mark the occasion a special one-off adaptation of their standard home shirt of the era was worn. The design, which was worn in just this game, was basically the same as the regular home jersey with the exception of a large, solid white chest panel that housed the Skill and Heritage Hampers logos and the club badge. Commemorative embroidery adorned the badge which also featured on the white shorts. The shorts ditched the triangular side bar trims and added a chequerboard shadow pattern. The unique strip did not bring the club luck however as they lost the game 1–0 to Chelsea.

Miscellaneous Middlesbrough kits
Rather than their standard V-neck adidas blue away jersey of the late 70s/early 80s, Middlesbrough also sported a wing collared version of the shirt, minus club badge/sponsor’s logo).

Any kit fan won’t need reminding that in the early days of shirt sponsorship, sponsored shirts were banned from TV coverage. This occasionally would catch teams out if they arrived at a game that was due to be televised without an unsponsored set of kits. This situation happened twice to Boro; a 1981 visit to Manchester City meant the club were forced to borrow Manchester United shirts (can you imagine that happening today!), and in a 1983 trip to QPR plain adidas orange jerseys with black trim, minus club badge and of course sponsor, were worn by the club to ensure that the TV cameras could keep rolling.

Finally, the club’s 1994–95 jade/dark green away kit was also retained as third kit for the 1995–96 season, complete with the logo of Boro’s new shirt sponsor Cellnet. It was one of the few times an Errea Boro kit lasted for more than one campaign although it is unclear whether the strip was actually called into action.

Wolverhampton Wanderers kits

Wolves third kit 1991–1992
Clubs who wear yellow or gold shirts (Wolves, Watford, Norwich etc) seldom have to worry too much about away kits due to the relative lack of colour clashes in a season. The commercial advantages of change strips are obvious though in terms of replica sales. Nowadays, away shirts are often worn even when a clash does not occur in order to promote the kit to fans. With some exceptions though, it is rare for a team wearing yellow/gold to release a third kit as there is effectively no real requirement for the shirt other than to market another replica design. In the early 90s third kits were becoming popular for the first time and this era saw Wolves wear their only (as far as I can tell) official third outfit. The sky blue Bukta kit followed the design of the home and away, with a swish trim of black and old gold.

Wolves away kit 2006–2007, correction
One of the problems when putting together a book like TRUE COLOURS is dealing with the tight deadlines. All artwork had to be with the printers in the summer meaning a race against time to get all the new kits included. A side effect of this is that often the only reference material available was pre-release publicity shots and as many kit fans will know early prototype versions of kits can alter considerably from the final outfit. This was the case with this Wolves away kit. The definitive strip worn during the 2006–07 campaign as illustrated here, had different sleeve detailing to the illustration included in TRUE COLOURS VOL 2.

More updates to follow shortly.