Historical Football Kits

 

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Macclesfield Town

Formed 1876. Wound up 1897.

Hallefield FC took over ground 1897. Club wound up 1916.

Re-formed 1919. Wound up September 2020

Promoted to Division Three 1997. Relegated to the Conference Premier 2012

Promoted to League Two 2018. Relegated to the National League 2020.

Kit History

 

 

Macclesfield

 

1876-1897

 

Wound up in 1897

macclesfield fc 1877

1877-1882 p y

macclesfield fc 1882

1882-1888 p

macclesfield town 1888-1890

1888-1890 y z

macclesfield fc 1890

1890-1891 p

macclesfield fc 1891

1891-1893 p

macclesfield 1893-94

1893-1895 s t

 

 

Hallefield

 

1897-1899

 

Date of formation not known

hallefield fc 1897

1897-1899 p

 

 

Hallefield-Macclesfield

 

1899-1900

 

Formerly Hallefield

hallefield-maclesfield fc 1899

1899-1900 p

 

 

Macclesfield

 

1900-1916

 

Formerly Hallefield-Macclesfield

 

Wound up in 1916

macclesfield fc 1900

1900-1906 p

macclesfield town fc 1906-07

1906-1907 l p

1907-1910

macclesfield FC 1910-11

1910-1911 t

macclesfield 1914-15

1914-1915 u

 

 

Macclesfield

 

1919-1946

macclesfield fc 1926

1919-1927 p t

macclesfield 1923-25

1923-1925 u

macclesfield fc 1926

1925-1927 p t

macclesfield fc 1928

1928-1931 p t

macclesfield town fc 1931-32

1931-1934 t u

1934-1940

macclesfield fc 1940

1940 p

 

 

Macclesfield Town

 

1946

 

Formerly Macclesfield

macclesfield town fc 1947

1947-1948 p

macclesfield town 1948

1948-1953 l p t

1955 b

macclesfield town fc 1959

1959-1962 b p t

macclesfield town fc 1963-64

1963-1964 t

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macclesfield town fc 1966-67

1966-1967 t

macclesfield town fc 1967

Aug-Dec 1967 b p

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macclesfield town january 1968

Jan 1968 p

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macclesfield town jan-may 1968

28 Jan-May 1968 p

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macclesfield town fc 1968-69

1968-1969 t

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macclesfield town 1969-70

1969-1970 t x

macclesfield town fc 1970

1970 FA Trophy p q

macclesfield town fc 1970-73

1970-1973 p

macclesfield town fc 1973-75

1973-1975 m p

macclesfield town fc 1975-76

1975-1976 p t

macclesfield town fc 1976

1976-1977 p

macclesfield own 1977-78

1977-1978 A

Umbro
macclesfield town 1978-79

1978-1979 A

Detailing TBC
Adidas

1979-1980 b

Corroboration needed
Umbro
macclesfield town 1980-81

1980-1981 A

Umbro
macclesfield town 1981-82

1981-1982 A

Umbro
macclesfield town 1983-84

1982-1984 v A

macclesfield town fc 1984-85

1984-1985 t

Umbro
macclesfield town fc 1985

1985-1986 p

Umbro
macclesfield town fc 1986

1986-1987 p

Umbro
macclesfield town fc 1987-88

1987-1988 o

Umbro
macclesfield town fc 1988-89

1988-1989 d f g

Adidas

1989-1990 d f t

Umbro

1990-1991 d p t

Ribero
macclesfield town fc 1991-92

1991-1992 j p t

macclesfield town 1992-93

1992-1993 t

Strata
macclesfield town 1993-94 kit

1993-1994 g p t

Strata

1994-1997 a d p t w

Super League

1997-1998 a e p

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Super League
macclesfield town fc 1998

1998-1999 p

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Silkman Leisure

1999-2000 a e k o p

Silkman Leisure

2000-2001 a k o p

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Silkman Leisure

2001-2002 a e k o t

macclesfield town fc 2002-03

2002-2003 t

macclesfield town fc 2003-04

2003-2004 t

Vandanel

2004-2005 a f k o

2005-2006 a j

A-Line

2006-2007 a f

A-Line

2007-2008 c f

Adidas

2008-2010 c h

Adidas
macclesfield town 2010-11 home kit

2010-2011 c

Adidas
macclesfield town fc 2011-12 home kit

2011-2012 c

Adidas
macclesfield town fc 2012-13

2012-2013 c r

Carbrini
macclesfield town fc 2013-14

2013-2014 c

Carbrini
macclesfield town 2014-15

2014-2015 c

Carbrini
macclesfield town 2015-16 kit

2015-2016 c

Umbro
macclesfield town 2016-17 1st kit

2016-2017 c

Umbro
macclesfield town 2017-18

2017-2018 c

Macron
macclesfield town 2018-19

2018-2019 c

Nike
macclesfield town 2019-20 1st kit

2019-2020 c

 

Background

macclesfield fc 1906-07 team groupOrganised football in Macclesfield can be traced back to 1873 when the 8th Cheshire Rifle Volunteers (Volunteer Rifle Regiments were a forerunner of the Territorial Army) adopted team games in addition to gymnastics and athletics. They played their first game against the Free Grammar School on 29 March 1873, losing 0-3. In November of 1873 a second fixture against members of the Olympic Cricket Club was played ending 0-0. More games followed as new teams emerged in the town under various rules, usually agreed between the captains beforehand.

As the game grew in popularity the riflemen and cricketers decided to join forces and in October 1876 the Courier announced the formation of Macclesfield Football Club. One week later they played their first fixture against Stoke, at the time one of the strongest teams in the Midlands. A flexible attitude continued to be taken to the rules of the game at least until the team began to take part in proper competitive matches as opposed to friendlies.

Macclesfield was at the time the centre of silk production in the UK with 120 mills and dye houses so it was inevitable that the football team would become known as "The Silkmen."

By 1882 Macclesfield were the strongest team in the town and entered the FA Cup for the first time. When professionalism was recognised in 1885 Macclesfield took advantage of the new rules to consolidate and build up their team, winning the Cheshire Cup in 1890 and 1891, their first senior honours.

In 1890 Macclesfield joined the Combination League and a year later they moved into the Moss Rose Ground where the modern club still plays, leaving behind their notorious Victoria Road mud-bath pitch. In 1895 the club was in financial difficulties and a limited company was formed, raising £500 from issuing shares. It was not enough to keep the club solvent and in 1897, having finished bottom of the Combination, the club was wound up.

Moss Rose was promptly taken over by the amateur Hallefield FC, members of the Stockport & District League. Several amateur players and a number of officials from the defunct club now joined Hallefield who stepped up to the North Staffordshire & District League in 1898.

In 1899 they played as Hallefield-Macclesfield FC before becoming Macclesfield in 1900 and joining the Manchester League. In 1911 they moved up to the Lancashire Combination Second Division and won promotion to the First Division in 1914. When the FA announced that formal competition would be suspended at the end of the 1914-15 season, the club closed down. Macclesfield continued to exist on paper until March 1916 when it went into liquidation to pay off pre-war debts. The remaining assets, consisting of the grandstand, were bought by Councilor Walter Brown.

In August 1919 a new club was formed as Macclesfield FC and agreement reached with Cllr Brown to use Moss Road once again. They joined the Cheshire League where they had a modest career.

macclesfield fc crest 1940The club closed down for the duration of the Second World War after winning the Cheshire Senior Cup final in 1940, a match in which a crest was worn, perhaps for the first time.

After a newspaper campaign to raise support, a new limited company was formed in April 1946. Deteriorating wooden supports on the main macclesfield town fc crest 1948stand were replaced, the changing rooms rebuilt and, thanks to the donation of clothing coupons, playing kit (in royal blue and white) and boots were purchased. As a gesture towards the communal support received by the club, the new title of Macclesfield Town was adopted.

In 1948 a crest was adopted that bore a lion carrying a wheat sheaf taken from the coat of arms of the town.

It was not until the 1960s that "The Silkmen" began to make an impression outside of Cheshire, making three appearances in the FA Cup First Round. In 1968 they featured on Match of the Day when they were beaten by Fulham in the third round by 4-2, having led 2-1 at half time. macclesfield town fc crest 1970 fa trophy finalThe following season Macclesfield, once again wearing the club crest, became founder members of the Northern Premier League and clinched the title at the first attempt.

In 1970 they won the new FA Trophy at Wembley wearing a special all-blue outfit for the occasion.

The promise of these early successes soon faded, however, as financial problems forced the club to cut back on playing staff and by the end of the decade they were struggling to survive at the foot of the NPL. One of the more creative ways the club was kept going by the local business community was a sponsorship deal with Harry Kearn's FMK company under which macclesfield town fc crest 1985Macclesfield played in FMK's corporate colours of tangerine and black in 1975-76.

Their fortunes revived to some extent during the 1980s and in 1987 they won a treble of the Multipart Northern Premier League title, League Challenge Cup and President's Cup. macclesfield town 1989 fa trophy final crestMore important, however, was that they were promoted to the GM Vauxhall Conference. The lion and wheat sheaf crest became a permanent feature of the team's shirts during this period. The shield on the version worn from 1992 was modified slightly.

After seven seasons consolidating, Macclesfield won the Conference championship but were denied promotion to the Football League because their ground did not meet the required standard. The following season they won the FA Trophy for the second time and in 1997 they were macclesfield town fc crest 1992Conference champions once again. Investment in safety improvements meant that this time promotion to the Football League was assured.

In their first ever season in the League, Macclesfield stormed to promotion as runners-up in Nationwide Division Three. It proved too much and they were relegated the following season.

macclesfield town fc crest 1999In 1999 there was a slight change of image as the started to play in all-blue with an updated crest. The new strips were launched under the club's own brand, Silkman Leisure.

In December 2005 the FA ordered the club to pay a fine of £62,000 plus £195,000 in compensation to the Football Foundation due to irregularities in the financing of a stand built between 2000 and 2002. Macclesfield had always struggled to attract support because of their proximity to so many big-city clubs and were reportedly losing £25,000 each month.

A new crest was supposed to have been introduced in 2007 but it attracted criticism from many supporters and was dropped until a more acceptable design was approved. macclesfield town fc crest 2008This appeared in the 2008-09 season for the first time.

The club now took 1874 as the date of their formation although this is dubious as the original Macclesfield FC was not constituted until 1876. Furthermore, that club was wound up in 1897 and a quite different club, Hallefield FC then took up residence at Moss Rose before it too went out of business in 1916.

Macclesfield's fifteen year career in the Football League ended in 2012 after a disastrous run during which the team failed to win a match between January and the end of the season in May. Six years later Macclesfield won the National League with a ten point margin and returned to the Football League.

The 2019-20 shirt was without sponsorship, part of Paddy Power's "Save Our Shirt" promotion. During the course of the season the EFL's independent disciplinary panel penalised the club a total of 13 points for various breaches of the competition rules including late payment of players' wages and failing to fulfil two fixtures with a further four-point penalty suspended until the following season. This left them one point above Stevenage at the foot of League Two when the competition was ended early (only one team would be relegated this season due to Bury's expulsion.) In August the EFL appealed the decision resulting in the suspended points being applied immediately and relegating the club to the National League.

At a hearing in the Insolvency and Companies Court in September 2020 the judge issued a compulsory winding-up order after hearing the club was £500,000 in debt including £190,000 owed in tax while the club's former manager and a financial lender were each owed £173,000. The winding up process was begun in January 2019 and had been adjourned 12 times.

With acknowledgements to Saga of the Silkmen - The History of Macclesfield Town FC (Graham Phythian 2001) from which a great deal of the club's history prior to 1948 is derived.

You are welcome to Contact Me with corrections and additions.

Sources

  • (a) empics
  • (b) Club Colours (Bob Bickerton 1998)
  • (c) Official Macclesfield Town Website
  • (d) Alliance to Conference (John Harman 2005)
  • (e) David King
  • (f) Information on kit supplier provided by Mark Holland
  • (g) Ralph Pomeroy
  • (h) Daniel Mágés
  • (i) Richard Swann
  • (j) Mark Holland
  • (k) www.footballjerseymuseum.co.uk
  • (l) Simon Monks
  • (m) Richard Ralph
  • (n) Richard Young
  • (o) Keith Ellis (HFK research Associate)
  • (p) Saga of the Silkmen - The History of Macclesfield Town FC (Graham Phythian 2001)
  • (q) Will Pike
  • (r) Simon Ståål
  • (s) Athletic News (23 October 1893) submitted by Kingsley (Wrexham AFC)
  • (t) Silkmen Archives submitted by Michael Chatwin
  • (u) Mark Bettany
  • (v) Michael Gluck
  • (w) Alliance to Conference 1979-2004 submitted by Michael Gluck
  • (x) Neil Morris
  • (y) Charles Alcock's Football Annuals 1869-1891 researched by Robin Horton
  • (z) The Straw Plaiters
  • (A) Mark Alton

Crests are the property of Macclesfield Town FC.