Historical Football Kits

 

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Raith Rovers

Formed 1883

Elected to Scottish Division Two 1902. Withdrew 1917.

Reinstated in Scottish Division One 1919

Kit History

raith rovers 1883

1883 p

raith rovers 1887

1887 a p

raith rovers 1889

1889 t

raith rovers 1889

1890 p t

raith rovers 1891-92

1890-1892 t

1893-circa1900 a t

raith rovers 1903-04

1903-1904 t

raith rovers 1906-1907

1906-1907 t

raith rovers 1912-17

1912-1917 a

raith rovers 1920-21

1920-1921 y

1921-1922 t

1922-1927 a t

raith rovers 1927-30

1927-1930 t

1930-1931 a

raith rovers 1931-33

1931-1933 a

1933-1934 a

raith rovers 1935-38

1935-1937 a c d

1937-1939 a

raith rovers fc 1945-46

1945-1946 v

raith rovers fc 1947-49

1947-1949 v

raith rovers 1949-50

1949-1950 a t x

raith rovers 1950-51

1950-Jan 51 x

raith rovers 1950-1953

Feb-May 51 m x

raith rovers 1951-52 august

August 1951 x

rovers 1951-52 december

December 1951 x

rovers 1951-52 january

January 1952 x

rovers 1951-52 march

March-May 1952 x

rovers 1951-52 january

Aug-Dec 1952 x

raith rovers 1952-53

Jan-March 1953 t x

raith rovers 1954-55

March-May 1953 t x

raith rovers 1953-54 hooped top

August 1953 x

raith rovers 1953-54 plain tops

Feb 1954 x

raith rovers 1954-55

1954-1955 x

raith rovers 1954-1956

1955-1957 a x

raith rovers 1956

1956-Dec 57 alt a e

Also appeared 1955-56
raith rovers 1958

Jan-May1958 a f x

raith rovers august 1958

Aug 1958 x

raith rovers 1958-59

Sept 58-1959 t

1959-1960 a c t

1960-Oct 1962 a x

raith rovers 1961-61

Oct 61-1962 x

1962-1963 a

raith rovers 1962-63

1962-1963 alt v

Warm weather kit

1963-1964 a g

raith rovers 1964-1972

1964-1969 a t

raith rovers 1969-70

1969-1970 x

raith rovers 1964-1972

1970-1971 A

raith rovers 1971-72

1971-1972 w

1972-1973 a t

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1973-1974 a

buy football shirts from uk soccer shop
raith rovers 1974-75

1974-1975 a

Bukta
raith rovers 1975-76

1975-1976 v

Bukta
raith rovers 1976-77

1976-1977 v

Bukta

1977-1978 a

Bukta

1978-1982 a i k u

Bukta
raith rovers 1982-83

1982-1983 x

Bukta
raith rovers 1984-85

1984-1985 u

Spall

1985-1986 k u

Spall

1986-1987 e u

Spall
raith rovers 1987-88

1987-1988 u

Spall

1988-1989 e

Spall

1989-1990 k

Spall
raith rovers 1990-91

1990-1991 s

Spall
raith rovers 1991-92

Aug1991-Feb1992 j x

Spall

Mar 1992-1993 j x

Diadora
raith rovers 1993-94

1993-1994 j

Diadora

1994-1995 j

Raith Rovers (own brand)
raith rovers 1995-97

1995-1997 j q u v

Netbuster

1997-1998 k u

Xara
raith rovers 1998-99

1998-1999 u

Xara
raith rovers 1999-2000

1999-2000 l

TFG

2000-2001 k

TFG

2001-2002 k

TFG

2002-2003 k

Xara
raith rovers 2003-2005

2003-2005 k

Xara

2005-2006 k

Xara
raith rovers 2006-07

2006-2007 k

Puma

2007-2008 n

Puma
raith rovers 125th anniversary kit

2008-2009 o

Puma
raith rovers 2009

2009-2010 o

Puma
raith rovers 2010-11 home kit

2010-2011 o

Puma
raith rovers home kit 2011-12

2011-2012 o z

Puma
raith rovers 2012-13

2012-2013 z

Puma
raith rovers fc 2013-14 home kit

2013-2014 o

Puma
raith rovers 2014-15 1st kit

2014-2015 o

Puma
raith rovers 2015-16 kit

2015-2017 o

Puma
raith rovers 2017-18

2017-2019 o

Puma
raith rovers 2019-20 1st kit

2019-2020 o

Joma
raith rovers 2020-21

2020-2021 o

Joma
raith rovers 2021-22

2021-2022 o

Joma
raith rovers 2022-23

2022-2023 o

 

Background

raith rovers fc 1887Raith Rovers are based in Kirkcaldy, an industrial coastal town in the Kingdom of Fife to the north of Edinburgh. Their local rivals are East Fife, Cowdenbeath and Dunfermline Athletic.

In 1891, Raith joined the Midland League for a single season. They appear to have played only friendly and cup matches until 1901 when they joined the Northern League. The following season they applied successfully for membership of the Scottish Second Division. They finished first, second and first between 1908 and 1910 when they were finally elected to Division One. In 1913 they reached the Scottish Cup final for the first and so far, only, time, losing 0-2 to Falkirk.

raith rovers crest 1912The first evidence of a crest comes from the 1912-13 season, which is very early: few Scottish clubs wore crests at the time. The lion rampant (a common Scottish motif) is holding a belt buckle device which comes from the copat of arms of the Ferguson clan. Lord Ferguson Munro, head of the clan, was Rovers' first president. This was embroidered onto a square patch and sewn on to the players' shirts. After 1922 it was embroidered raith rovers crest 1922onto a shield.

Raith struggled at the higher level and in 1915 they had to seek re-election. The following season they finished last but, with the Second Division suspended, there was no re-election process that season. At the end of the 1916-17 season, Raith, Aberdeen and Dundee were persuaded to retire from the league due to the difficulty of travelling during wartime. They were welcomed back in 1919.

In 1922, Rovers enjoyed their finest ever season, finishing third in Division One behind the Old Firm. In 1926 they were relegated but they bounced back immediately only to drop back into the Second Division in 1929. Here they languished for nine seasons before winning the divisional championship in 1938. They could not cope, however, with the higher standards and raith rovers crest 1949were relegated immediately, having finished bottom of the twenty team First Division.

After the Second World War, Raith resumed their career in Division “B” (the second tier) and in 1949 they were promoted as champions. Perhaps to mark this achievement, the Scottish rampant was adopted the following season before the traditional badge was reinstated.

raith rovers crest 1950The club consolidated in mid-table throughout the 1950s, managing to finish fourth in 1957 but in 1963 they went back down to the Second Division for four seasons. Two seasons of struggle back in the top division ended with relegation in 1970 and in 1975, the club was placed in the new Division Two (the new third tier) following the formation of the Premier Division.

raith rovers crest 1972Crests fell out of favour in the 1960s and in a further attempt to modernise their appearance, the team adopted a smart white strip with navy bands (previously their change kit). All blue was adopted in 1972 with simple cypher appeared on the shirts. A new badge was introduced in 1976 and for a few seasons this alternated with the cypher until 1985, when another new design was introduced.

raith rovers crest 1976The club bounced between the Second and First Divisions until 1987 when they settled into the First Division (tier two) for the next five seasons. In 1993 Raith ran away with the First Division title and made their debut in the Premier Division. The disappointment of relegation the following season was set off by a remarkable victory over Celtic in the Coca Cola Cup (formerly the Scottish league Cup) and a return raith rovers crest 1985to the Premier Division in 1995. The Cup win meant that Raith qualified for the UEFA Cup where they were knocked out by eventual winners, Bayern Munchen after leading 1-0 at half-time in the Olympiastadion.

This success enabled the club to redevelop their Stark’s Park ground, which was opened in 1995. However, Raith could not hang on to their place in the Premier Division and were relegated in 1997, 13 points adrift at the foot of the table. raith rovers crest 1998Worse was to follow in 2002 when they slipped briefly into the Second Division (third tier).

The traditional crest was reinstated in 1998.

The 2004-05 season proved disastrous: with a team made up almost entirely of continental players from the lower French divisions Raith finished last with just 16 points and returned to the Second Division. The following season the very future of the club was thrown into doubt when property developers Colin McGowan and Alex Short, whose company, West City owned a 50% stake in the club, threatened to sell Stark’s Park for housing. After months of wrangling a deal was struck and the New Raith Rovers Limited consortium completed a £1.2m buyout in December 2005 to secure the club’s future.

Stark’s Park is situated in Pratt Street, Kirkcaldy, perhaps the most unfortunate address in football.

To mark their 125th anniversary, Raith revived the halved shirts, originally worn in 1887, for the 2008-09 season. Fittingly, the team won their divisional championship that season. Another retro inspired kit appeared in 2013-14 based on the iconic strip won 50 years earlier. The best selling crime writer, Val McDermid, who hails fom Kirkcaldy, first sponsored the team shirts in 2013-14.

When the 2019-20 season was brought to an early close, Raith were top of League One, a point ahead of Falkirk. Final positions were settled on a points-per-game basis, resulting in Raith being declared champions by 0.03 of a point. The following season Rovers reached the promotion play-offs but were knocked out by Dundee at the semi-final stage.

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Sources