Historical Football Kits

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Walsall

Formed 1888

Founder member of Division Two 1892. Failed re-election 1895.

Elected to Division Two 1896. Failed re-election 1901.

Founder member of Division Three (North) 1921

Kit History

Background

In the late-nineteenth century The West Midlands was a hotbed of association football and the industrial town of Walsall boasted two clubs. Walsall Swifts had been formed in 1873 as Victoria Swifts while Walsall Town were formed a year later. From 1881 both clubs shared The Chuckery ground and in 1888 they amalgamated to become Walsall Town Swifts, adopting red and white as the new club’s colours. The club joined the Football Alliance in 1889 and became founder members of Division Two in 1892 when the Alliance was incorporated into the Football League. In 1893 they became simply Walsall FC although they continued to be known as "The Swifts” and this theme features in the badges worn from the late 1970s onwards.)

Re-elected after their first season, the Swifts were less fortunate in 1895 when they were voted out after finishing 14th out of 16. After a season in the Midland League, they were elected back into Division Two but, after six mediocre seasons, they were again voted out in 1901 and returned to the Midland League.

Struggling financially, the club moved down to the Birmingham League in 1903 and having reduced their outgoings, managed to survive. Now known simply as Walsall FC, they had an undistinguished twenty-year career at this level. In 1920 the club adopted the claret and blue of neighbours Aston Villa and immediately their fortunes changed. Despite a modest fifth place finish in the Birmingham & District League, they were invited to join the new Third Division Northern Section in 1921.

Because of their central location, Walsall competed in both the Northern and Southern sections of the Third Division during the period between the wars. In 1933, while playing in Division Three (North), the club gained their greatest ever FA Cup win, beating Arsenal, then Division One champions by 2-0. Performances in the League did not improve, however, and the club had to apply for re-election in both 1938 and 1939.

After the Second World War the Saddlers made a promising start, finishing fifth and third in 1947 and 1948 respectively in Division Three (South). In 1949 Walsall reverted to red shirts only to finish in the re-election zone for the next four seasons. Lucky to survive, the club’s fortunes took a dramatic turn for the better at the end of the decade. Successive promotions in 1960 and 1961 took them all the way to the Second Division. In 1963 Walsall were relegated back into the Third Division were they stayed for the next 25 years, apart from one season spent in Division Four (1979-80). During this period the club adopted white shirts and red shorts, an unusual combination at the time, and also played in all white before reverting to red shirts in 1977.

In 1988, playing in all-white once again, Walsall were promoted to the Second Division via the play-offs but suffered successive relegations that took them to Division Four in 1990. Five years later the club was promoted again having adopted a new badge that combined the familiar swift theme with an animal hide, marking the town's association with tanning and saddle making - they are also now known as "The Saddlers." In 1999, Walsall were in Nationwide Division One (the old Division Two) but were relegated the following season. During this decade, black was introduced to the strip for the first time and a sponsorship deal with local brewery, Banks’s kept them afloat.

In 2001 the club returned to Nationwide Division One after beating Reading 3-2 in the play-off final but were relegated in 2004 and again in 2006 to return to the lowest division, now known as League Two. The following season they finished as champions and returned to League One.

Sources

• (a) Walsall FC - Images of Sport (Geoff Allman)
• (b) Football Cards
• (c) empics
• (d) Walsall Official Website
• (e) West Midlands Football (Tony Matthews 2004)
• (f) Ralph Pomeroy
• (g) Stephen Whittall
• (h) Association of Football Statisticians - provided by Pete Wyatt
• (i) Pete's Picture Palace
• (j) Mark Parker
• (k) David King
• (l) Neil Morris
• (m) Alick Milne
• (n) Football League Review