Historical Football Kits

Coca Cola League Two 2008 - 2009

League Two is the fourth level of English football. The top three clubs are promoted at the end of each season while those finishing in fourth to seventh place contest the play-offs for the one remaining promotion place. The teams finishing in the last two places are relegated to the National Conference. League Two currently features two teams carrying the names of clubs that once graced the old Fourth Division - Accrington Stanley and Aldershot Town. These are both clubs that were formed after the originals were wound up and while they are separate entities, they carry the tradition of their predecessors with them.

The issue of relegation to the Conference will probably be settled off the field this season with Luton, Bournemouth and Rotherham all having had points deducted before the season begins. It is becoming practically impossible for clubs to exit administration through a Company Voluntary Agreement if they owe money to HM Revenue & Customs as the department insists that back taxes be paid in full.

Accrington Stanley

Designer: Prostar

Sponsor: Combined Stabilisation

Stanley's new home outfit is all red with no trimmings aside from the club crest and maker's logo. The old Stanley almost always wore white shorts and the new incarnation of the club has also done so in recent seasons, but all-red has been worn far more frequently. The new away kit is equally unadorned and in plain yellow.

Thanks to Arthur Cowburn for the away kit details.

Aldershot Town

Designer: Carbrini Sportswear

Sponsor: EBB Paper

Aldershot celebrate their debut in the Football League in an all-red strip trimmed in blue and white. Beneath the rising phoenix badge the legend Back in the Football League 2008 is embroidered. Their away kit is the same design but in yellow.

The blue third kit (spotted by Adam Balchin) was launched in December in good time for the Xmas rush.

Barnet

Designer: Vandanel

Sponsor: Mortgage Express

Barnet return to their usual deep amber and black colours for the new season with a striking home kit. The new away kit is white over red with black trimmings. Vandanel have replaced Hummel as Barnet's kit partner.

My thanks to Rob Robertson, Barnet's kit manager.

AFC Bournemouth

Designer: Carbrini Sportswear

Sponsor: Carbrini Sportswear

The Cherries' deal with Carbrini Sportswear, which is a brand of JD Sports, is something of a landmark for the south-coast club. It is the most lucrative in the club's history and set to last for three seasons. JD Sports are manufacturing the kits as well as sponsoring the shirts under their youth brand, which is appearing this season on the shirts of Charlton and Dundee United as well. It remains to be seen how the fans will respond to the strip, as they generally favour the black and red stripes that were worn last season.

The Cherries' have been handed a 17-point penalty for failing to achieve a CVA with their creditors.

The home kit was reported by Duncan Harman and Alec Hitchman; Mark Wild helped out with the away kit and Colin Russell spotted the third kit.

Bradford City

Designer: Surridge

Sponsor: Bradford & Bingley Building Society

Bradford City's new away kit is based on a standard Surridge template in white with black, claret and amber trim. The new home kit is not much different to last seasons: the stripes are notably more narrow than standard, while the sleeves are predominently claret.

HFK's reporters were Toffee Mad and Adrian Jugdoyal.

Brentford

Designer: Puma

Sponsor: Hertings Fittings (Home) MKT Computers (Away)

The Bee's latest home kit features Puma's new "vampire neck" detail. The usual red and white stripe is now rendered with solid red sleeves and a black insert on the sides and inner sleeve. Away from home the Bees will change when necessary to a sky-blue and navy kit.

Alex Cavell provided information on the away kit and Lance Boyd helped with the away kit.

Bury

Designer: Surridge

Sponsor: Bury Metropolitan Council

Bury's home kit is a traditional pattern for the club and based on a new Surridge design. The all-red away kit uses the same template. Last season's chocolate and blue outfit now serves as a third kit.

Thanks to Oliver Kukolj and Michael Sneddon.

Chester City

Designer: Prostar

Sponsor: Cestrian Financial Services

Having played in a light blue and white strip last season, City have returned to a more familar mid blue for 2008-09. Chester's new away kit is very similar to last season's but based on a new template.

Thanks to Oliver Kukolj.

Chesterfield

Designer: Bukta

Sponsor: Vodka Kick

After complaints from supporters last season, Chesterfield have switched to Bukta as their kit supplier and are turning out in a variant of that company's latest template. Bukta are the oldest brand name in UK sportswear and are enjoying a period of resurgence after several seasons without contracts with leading English teams. The kit features the largest shorts seen on an English pitch since the early Fifties. The away strip is an unspectacular all-red affair with white trim down the shoulder and sleeves.

Away kit reported by Oliver Kukolj.

Dagenham & Redbridge

Designer: Vandanel

Sponsor: West & Coe

The Daggers retain last season's home kit for the new season. The shirts are all-red on the reverse. The gold away kit is virtually unchanged from last season but with updated trim.

Jack Connor sent information on the away kit.

Darlington

Designer: Vandanel

Sponsor: Darlington Building Society

Darlington's new home kit is a variant on their traditional style but the white hoops only appear on the front of the shirt, the reverse being all-black. The sleeves are mainly white and red trim adds a welcome splash of colour. The away kit is unchanged and features the names of supporters who subscribed individually to support the club financially.

Reported by Paul Reid.

Exeter City

Designer: SHO

Sponsor: Flybe.com

Exeter celebrate their return to the Football League after the club was bought by the Supporters' Trust from its former owners, found guilty of fraudulent trading last year. Their new away kit, worn in their debut game at Darlington, is all-blue. The new home strip has sleeves that are predominantly red while the body is all red on the reverse.

Thanks to Oliver Kukolj for the home kit and to Ben Gershaw for the third kit.

Gillingham

Designer: Vandanel

Sponsor: krbs.com

The Gills turn out this season in the same kits worn in 2007-08.

Thanks to Lee Capeling and David King.

Grimsby Town

Designer: Errea

Sponsor: Young's Frozen Food

Errea take over from Nike as Grimsby's kit providers and, in keeping with their philosophy of creating unique designs, the Italian company has come up with a look that is both traditional and contemporary. Red trim, which has featured in Grimsby's kits since the late 1930s on and off, returns prominently. The away kit has flowing white trim on a plain red shirt.

Lincoln City

Designer: Umbro

Sponsor: Star Glaze Windows (H), Haart Estate Agents (A & 3rd)

In recent seasons, Lincoln have stuck to tradition with their home kits, making minor changes each year and 2008-09 is no exception. The Umbro design has cleaner lines than last season's offering and the stripes now extend down the sleeves. Last season's away kit is retained and a new third strip has been introduced, with the minimum of fuss, that is unusual to say the least. The enigmatic colours are described as navy and old gold on the club's site.

Thanks to Max Harlow for help with the third kit.

Luton Town

Designer: Carbrini Sportswear

Sponsor: Carbrini Sportswear

Luton start the new season on minus 30 points. The Football League deducted 20 points because the club failed to negotiate a company voluntary agreement (CVA) after going into administration last season. A Football Association commission has slapped an additional ten-point penalty on the club for infringing the rules on payments to players' agents. Because of the uncertainty over their future, their kit deal with Carbrini Sportswear was delayed and the team kicked off wearing the kit worn by a "Luton Legends" side who played an Arsenal Pro-Celebrity side in May 2008 to commemorate the Hatters' 1988 Littlewoods' Cup victory. The new kits were delivered in mid August and feature navy in place of black following a poll of fans, who favoured a return to the scheme worn in the 1980s. The orange third shirt appeared for the first time in January 2009 at Darlington.

Details provided by Simon Monks, HFK's Luton expert and James Garley : David Dobberson and Mark Wild also contributed.

Macclesfield Town

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Cheshire Building Society

The Silkmen's choice of standard Adidas templates for this season comes as something of a disappointment after last season's imaginative effort. The flowing trim on the home shirt could, with a bit of imagination, be likened to a skein of silk, the motif that A-Line used in 2007-08.

The smart gold and green third kit was used just twice, at Chester and Grimsby. The match worn shirts were then sold off to supporters.

Morecambe

Designer: Puma

Sponsor: Mopay.co.uk

Morecambe turn to Puma for their kits after many years in partnership with Umbro. The new home kit is in traditional red and white with the addition of discrete navy and white trimmings. The change kit is based on the same template in pale blue and navy.

Thank you Juliette Smith.

Notts County

Designer: Vandanel

Sponsor: Forward Pest Control (Home), Marston's Smooth Bitter (Away)

County's new home kit, designed by the French company, Vandanel, has a classic look, the stripes being a more traditional width and extending down the sleeves, unlike recent outfits. Amber seams and trim are a reference to the club's earliest kits, which were amber and black. The striped shirt carries the Marston's logo away from home, when it may be used with white shorts and socks if required. The home stockings have "1862" down the reverse, the year of the club's formation. The historical theme is picked up with the away kit, one of many halved designs evident this year. Chocolate and blue were County's colours between 1880 and 1890.

Thanks to Toffee Mad and Richard Williams.

Port Vale

Designer: Vandanel

Sponsor: Harlequin Properties

Vale have gone for a completely new look this season with a home kit in classic black and white stripes. In fact the new outfit is almost identical to Notts County's. Early in their history the teams did wear stripes in various colours including amber and black - amber regularly features in the team's strips - but this is the first time ever they have worn black and white stripes. It remains to be seen how this outfit will go down with supporters. The new away kit is a smart outfit in navy and light blue.

I'm grateful to Alexander Perkin, Robert Bergstrom and Toffee Mad.

Rochdale

Designer: Nike

Sponsor: MMC Estates

The black and white striped shirts worn in Rochdale's centenary season proved a real hit with supporters, who protested loudly when it was proposed to drop them for final league game last season. The new shirts were instead unveiled on 1 June: the stripes are retained but now combined with blue and based on Nike's Milan template. The blue is rather lighter than the shade worn by the club since the 1960s. A new white away kit has been introduced while last season's gold change kit is retained as a third kit, but with gold shorts replacing black.

Thanks to Mark Wilbraham and Matt Smith.

Rotherham United

Designer: Carlotti

Sponsor: Parkgate Shopping Centre (Home), Redtooth Poker (Away)

After entering administration in March, The Millers have been penalised 17 points for failing to conclude a Company Voluntary Agreement with their creditors. Home games are to be played at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield this season after negotiations with the club's landlords broke down in the Spring and the club face expulsion from the League if they fail to return to Rotherham within four years. Against this catalogue of misfortune, the launch of their new kits seem almost an irrelevance. The traditional white sleeves are dropped for this season in favour of a new template introduced by Carlotti.

The white third kit was used when the Millers visited Bradford City (25 April) because their red and yellow kits both clashed with City's home shirts.

Thanks to Neil Adamson and Colin Russell.

Shrewsbury Town

Designer: Prostar

Sponsor: Greenhous Group (Home) Redhous Property (Away)

Shrewsbury have adopted a new badge and a new kit supplier for the 2008-09 season. Their traditional blue colours are offset attractively with amber and white trim - these have been the team's secondary colours at various points in their history and are currently combined in their outfits. The away kit is all-black, a very popular combination at the moment, with red and white trimmings.

Thanks to Andy Gallagher, Alec Hitchman, Jack McMahon and Matt Smith.

Wycombe Wanderers

Designer: Prostar

Sponsor: Dreams

Wycombe's kits are unchanged this season: in fact club policy is to change both sets every two seasons rather than change one kit in alternate years, which is more common.

Thanks to Dave Peatey.