Historical Football Kits

 

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Leeds United

Formed 1919

Elected to Division Two 1920

Kit History

leeds united 1919-1920

1919-1920 q

leeds united 1920-21

1920-1921 z

1920-1923 a q t

1923-1925 a f q

leeds united 1925-26 kit

1925-1926 q

1926-1930 q t

leeds united 1930-33 kit

1930-1933 q

1933-Sept 1934 b q

leeds united 1934-35

Sept 1934-1935 x

leeds united 1934-1938 kit

1935-1938 a q

leeds united 1938-39 kit

1938-1939 a n q

leeds united fc 1939-40

1939-1940 t

Possibly adopted late previous season

1944-1946 q t

leeds united 1946-48 kit

1946-1947 q

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1947-1948 t

leeds united august-september 1948

Aug-Sept 1948 t

Oct 1948-1949 a t y

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leeds united 1949-50

1949-1950 t y

leeds united 1950-53

1950-1953 a f q t y

1953-1955 a f q t y

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early 55-1956 a f q y

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leeds united 1955-56 kit

mid 1955-1956

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Sept 1956-1959 a

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1959-Sept 1961 a

leeds united 1960-61

Sept 1960-1961

1961-1964 a

Umbro

1964-1971 c

leeds united strip august 1967

30 Aug 1967 t

v Dinamo Zagreb
leeds united 1968 league cup final kit

2 March 1968 v

League Cup Final
leeds united 1971 fairs cup final

3 June 1971 w

Fairs Cup Final 2nd Leg

1971-Feb 1972 c w

Feb 1972-1973 1 s w

Feb 1972-73 2 c l s w

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leeds united 1972-73

1972-1973 3 s w

Umbro
leeds united eraly 1976-77 season kit

Aug-Dec 1973 r t w

Admiral

Dec 1973-1974 c l w

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Admiral
leeds united 1973-74 v neck version

Dec 1973-1974 alt t

Umbro/Admiral
leeds united 1973-74 alternate kit

Dec 1973-1974 alt w

Admiral
leeds united 1974-76

1974-1976 w

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Admiral

1976-1977 c l t

Admiral

1977-1979 c l

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Admiral

1979-1980 l

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Admiral

1980-1981 c m t

Umbro

1981-1983 c g m o

Umbro

1983-1984 g m p

Umbro

1984-1985 g j m

Umbro

1985-1986 c m

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Umbro

1986-1988 c m

Umbro

1988-1989 c h i m

Umbro

1989-1990 i m

Umbro

1990-1991 c k m t

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Umbro

1991-1992 c k m t

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Admiral

1992-1993 c m

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Asics

1993-1995 c m

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Asics

1995-1996 c m t

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Puma

1996-1998 c m

Puma

1998-2000 c m

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Nike

2000-2002 c m

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Nike

2002-2003 d k m

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Nike

2003-2004 d k m

Diadora

2004-2005 d m

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Admiral

2005-2006 e m

Admiral

2006-2007 e m

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Admiral

2007-2008 e

Macron
leeds united 2008-09 home kit

2008-2009 e

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Macron
leeds united 2009 home kit

2009-2010 e

Macron
leeds united 2010-11

2010-2011 e

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Macron
leeds united 2011-12 home kit

2011-2012 e

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Macron
leeds united fc 2012-13 home kit

2012-2013 e

Macron
leeds united 2013-14

2013-2014 e

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Macron
leeds united 2014-15 1st kit

2014-2015 e

Kappa
leeds united 2015-16 kit

2015-2016 e

Kappa
leeds united 2016-17 1st kit

2016-2017 e

Kappa
leeds united 2017-18

2017-2018 e

Kappa
leeds united 2018-19

2018-2019 e

Kappa
leeds united 2019-2020 1st kit

2019-2020 e

Adidas
leeds utd 2020-21

2020-2021 e

Adidas
leeds united 2021-22

2021-2022 e

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Adidas
leeds united 2022-23

2022-2023 e

 

Background

leeds united 1919In October 1919 Leeds City was compulsorily wound up by order of a joint FA and Football League commission after the club refused to open its accounts following allegations that it had illegally paid guest players during the Great War. On the same day that City's assets were sold off Leeds United was formed. The new club took over Leeds City Reserves' fixtures in the Midland League and moved into Elland Road. The team wore black and white stripes in that inaugural season.

The chairman of Huddersfield Town, J Hilton Crowther, immediately proposed amalgamating the new club with Huddersfield and setting up the new operation at Elland Road. After an outcry in the Huddersfield press and some frantic fund-raising, the board and supporters of Huddersfield bought Hilton Crowther out, allowing him to take over Leeds United, who adopted the blue and white stripes of Huddersfield. This is a rare example of local rivals wearing identical kits.

There was considerable sympathy among rank and file League clubs for the plight of Leeds City (many of which had committed the same offence during the war but had not been caught) so it came as no surprise when United's application to join the expanded Second Division in 1920 was overwhelmingly supported by the clubs. Ironically, their first fixture was against Burslem Port Vale, who had taken Leeds City's place in the League the previous season. Leeds lost 0-2. In 1924 Leeds United won the Second Division championship and spent three seasons in Division One followed by relegation in 1931. They bounced back immediately and remained an undistinguished First Division side until immediately after the Second World War when they again dropped into Division Two.

leeds united crest 1934In September 1934, United adopted blue and old gold as their colours, similar to those of Leeds City, with whom they shared the nickname of "The Peacocks." Like that of their predecessor club, the new crest was based on the coat of arms of the city of Leeds and was worn until 1961, when the old colours were dropped. The owls were taken from the arms of Sir John Saville, Leeds' first alderman while the three stars are from the coat of arms of Leeds' first mayor, Sir Thomas Danby. The importance of wool in the economy of the region is signified by a fleece.

In 1955 the remarkable John Charles led United back into the First Division with 29 goals in 42 games. Charles scored an astonishing 38 goals in 40 games the following season to take Leeds to a creditable eighth position but the club were forced to sell him to Juventus to raise funds after fire destroyed their West Stand in 1956-57. Without his inspiration on the pitch, United struggled and dropped back into Division Two in 1960.

It has long been accepted that Don Revie introduced Leeds' famous all-white strip when he was appointed manager in 1961 but research by Martin Jarred and Malcolm MacDonald has established that under Jack Taylor, the team turned out at Elland Road on 17 September 1960 in their white change shirts with their usual white shorts. This became their first choice strip for the rest of the season.

In 1961 the Don Revie took over as as player/manager. His radical vision was to transform the underachieving club into the Real Madrid of Yorkshire. Out went the old blue and gold and in came an all white strip. Although it seemed an act of arrogance at the time, it was all part of Revie's plan to make everyone believe that leeds united crest 1964Leeds United were not just another make-weight club side. It was perhaps a measure of local cynicism (or "common sense" as they say in Yorkshire) that this radical change of strip was met with indifference. At first the new strip was worn without adornment but in 1964 a badge, featuring an owl was introduced.

Revie's regime made Leeds a major club in domestic and European competition. They stormed back into Division One in 1964 with an uncompromisingly physical style that won few friends. He then built sides capable of playing sublime football but which all too often leeds united crest 1971cracked under pressure. In Revie's ten year reign, Leeds won two League championships, one FA Cup and one League Cup. (In the 1968 League Cup win, the club's first major trophy, the blue owl crest was rendered in gold.) They were runners-up five times in Division One. "Super Leeds" introduced all sorts of gimmicks including coloured number tags attached to the players' stockings and, during the 1973-74 season, players could choose shirts with various collar styles and with long or short sleeves. In fact, no fewer than six variants could appear on the pitch in the same match. Revie also leeds united crest 1973signed a contract with Admiral, a brand new sportswear firm, to produce branded kits that could be sold as replicas to supporters.

In 1973 an enigmatic new badge was introduced, which became known as the "smiley crest." It took considerable imagination and a cricked neck to see that the two yellow segments are highly stylised versions of the letters "L" and "U".

When Revie left to manage the English national side in 1974, the board appointed Brian Clough as manager. Clough, an outspoken critic of Revie's methods had previously described the Leeds' players as cheats and further alienated the team by bringing in several players from his leeds united crest 196former club, Derby County. He was forced out after 44 days in the job (the settlement he received gave him financial security for life). Jimmy Armfield took his place, sold off all the players Clough had brought in and took the club to the European Cup Final in 1975.

leeds united crest 1977In 1976 a mirror image of the crest was used with the colours reversed out which made the "LU" conceit easier to see. This was dropped the following season and replaced with a new design that placed the (original) smiley badge inside a roundel bearing the club's name.

For the rest of the decade Leeds remained a strong side but did not challenge for honours. An impatient board replaced Armfield with Jock Stein but with supreme irony, he matched Clough's record of 44 days in the job before being persuaded to leave to manage the Scottish national team.

leeds united crest 1981During the 1980s former "Super Leeds" players Allan Clarke, Eddie Gray and Billy Bremner all had a crack at managing the club, which dropped into the Second Division in 1982. The crest was redesigned twice during the decade: the first makeover in 1980 introduced a stylised peacock to the centre of the roundel (the club's nickname of "The Peacocks" is a hangover from the old days when blue and gold were their first choice colours). This leeds united crest 1984lasted until 1984 when it was replaced with an entirely new design based on the Yorkshire rose.

In 1988 Howard Wilkinson replaced Bremner as manager and guided United to the Division Two championship. Two seasons later, in 1992, United were crowned League champions for the third time. There followed a succession of high profile management appointments, dubious transfers and board room battles that eventually delivered the club into the hands of Peter Ridsdale.

Between 1997 and 2002 the club never finished lower than fifth in the premiership while Ridsdale spent money leeds united crest 1998as if it was water in an effort to secure success in Europe. To reflect this ambition, Ridsdale had the crest redesigned to a more "European style." this was adapted slightly a year later with the addition of a football behind the white rose.

leeds united crest 1999Leeds came within a whisker of success but ultimately they failed and in 2004 they were relegated. The enormity of the debts run up by Ridsdale was such that creditors were prepared to consider almost any alternative to bankruptcy and after a protracted wrangle the club was sold. In the process Leeds were forced to sell off every player of any value and faced oblivion. In 2005, Ken Bates, the controversial one-time owner of Chelsea, bought the debt-ridden club.

At the end of the 2006-07 season, United were relegated to League One (the third tier) for the first time in their history. In an attempt to clear their debts, the club went into administration just before the end of the season (the ten-point penalty now made no difference - a loop hole promptly removed during the close season) and Bates offered to buy the club back from the administrators, initially offering creditors a paltry 1p in the pound. Despite finding that Leeds had not complied with their strict insolvency policy, the Football League Board allowed the club to continue in membership albeit with a further 15 point penalty applicable in the 2007-08 season. Leeds almost overcame the disadvantage and reached the play-off final where they surprisingly lost to Doncaster.

Bates continued to court controversy and revealed to journalists that he was not in fact the owner of the club but he refused to reveal the identity of those in control, fuelling demands for greater transparency at at time when shady dealings were leading several clubs into dire trouble. In 2011 Bates retracted his statement, having presumably discovered that he did indeed, own the club.

After a strong campaign in the 2009-10 season Leeds finished as runners-up in League One to finally regain a place in the second tier.

On 21 December 2012, Bates sold his controlling interest to the Bahrein-based Gulf Finance House (GFH) who promptly put the club and its assets up for sale. A takeover bid from Sport Capital collapsed on January 30 2014 amid allegations that GFH had invited a last minute bid from Massimo Cellino, owner of the Italian club Cagliari and the following day the manager, Brian McDermott, was dismissed, apparently on the instructions of Cellino. As the Italian did not own the club at that point McDermott's dismissal was reversed and the Football League subsequently found that Cellino's convictions in the Italian courts for financial misdemeanours made him unfit to be a chairman. He was eventually permitted to join the club as president in May 2015.

Leeds became embroiled in a contractual dispute with their kit supplier, Macron, in 2015 and Kappa (who supplied Cellino's Cagliari club) were brought in. Their first strip was without short sponsorship due to a leeds united 2018 centenary badgeseparate legal dispute with Enterprise Insurance.

In 2017 Cellino sold his shares in the club to Italian businessman Andrea Radrizzani.

In February 2018 the club revealed a new crest to mark their centenary in 2019, provoking howls of outrage on social media. Over 10,000 people were apparently leeds united centenary crest 2019consulted and the design was intended to "represent the passion and the unique identity that runs through the club" and depicts the "Leeds Salute." Within two hours 16,000 people had signed an online petition demanding that the new badge be withdrawn leading the club to announce there would be "a rethink" and the controversial design was dropped like a hot potato shortly afterwards. It was not until the new 2019-20 strip was released in July 2019 that the revised centenary crest was finally revealed.

After missing out on promotion in 2018-19 under new coach, Marcelo Bielsa, Leeds finished the 2019-20 season ten points clear at the top of the Championship, earning promotion to the Premier League after an absence of 16 years.

You are welcome to Contact Me with corrections and additions.

Sources

Crests are the property of Leeds United AFC. Crest artwork by WAFLL. Photograph courtesy of Leeds United FC History (c) Neil Roche.