Historical Football Kits

 

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Wycombe Wanderers

Formed 1887

Promoted to Nationwide Division Three 1993

Kit History

1887 f

wycombe wanderers 1896-97

1896-1897 n

wycombe wanderers 1898

1898-1899 m

wycombe wanderers fc 1901-1906

1901-1906 p

wycombe wanderers 1906

1906-1907 n

wycombe wanderers 1908

1908-1909 n

wycombe wanderers 1909

1909-1912 n p

wycombe wanderers 1919-1920

1912-1921 m q

wycombe wanderers 1924

1922-Sept 1929 n o p

Nov 1929-1937 a l p

wycombe wanderers fc 1937-46

1937-1946 p

wycombe wanderers 1946-47 kit

1946-1948 l n

wycombe wanderers 1949-50

1949-1950 n

wycombe wanderers 1955 kit

1954-1956 n o

1956-1959 l m n

wycombe wanderers 1959-63

1959-1963 n

wycombe wanderers 1963-64

1963-1964 n

wycombe wanderers fc 1964-65

1964-1965 p

wycombe wanderers 1965-66

1965-1966 n

wycombe wanderers 1966-67

Aug-Dec 1966 n

wycombe wanderers  circa 1967

Dec 1966-1968 m

wycombe wanderers 1971-72

1969-1972 b n

wycombe wanderers 1973

1973-1974 n

Bukta

1974-1975 b k l

buy football shirts from uk soccer shop
Umbro
wycombe wanderers 1975

1975-1976 n

Umbro
wycombe wanderers 1976-77

1976-1978 n p

Adidas
wycombe wanderers 1979-80

1979-1980 n s

Umbro/Adidas
wycombe wanderers 1979-80 cold weather kit

1979-1980 s

Cold weather kit
Bukta

1980-1982 b n

wycombe wanderers 1982-83

1982-1983 n r

wycombe wanderers 1983-84

1983-1984 n

wycombe wanderers 1984-85

1984-1985 n

wycombe wanderers 1985-86

1985-1986 m

wycombe wanderers 1986-87 kit

1986-1987 l n

early season
wycombe wanderers 1986-87

1986-1987 n

worn for most of season
Umbro
wycombe wanderers 1987

1987-1989 g n o

Umbro
wycombe wanderers 1989-90 kit

1989-1990 k n

Brooks

1990-1992 g n

Vandanel

1992-1994 c n

Vandanel

1994-1996 c n

Mizuno

1996-1997 d e h j

Mizuno

1997-1999 d n

Avec

1999-2001 c

Prostar

2001-2002 c

Prostar

2002-2003 c

Prostar

2003-2005 c d

Prostar

2005-2007 f

Prostar

2007-2009 f

Joma
wycombe wanderers 2009

2009-2011 f

Kappa
wycombe wanderers fc 2011-12 home kit

2011-2012 f

Kukri Sports
wycombe wanderers fc 2012-13 home kit

2012-2013 f

Kukri Sports
wycombe wanderers 2013-14 home kit

2013-2014 f

Kukri Sports
wycombe wnadrerers 2014-15 1st kit

2014-2016 f

O'Neills
wycombe wanderers 2016-17 1st kit

2016-2018 f

O'Neills
wycombe wanderers 2018-19

2018-2020 f

O'Neills
wycombe wanderers 2020-21

2020-2022 f

O'Neills
wycombe wanderers 2022-23

2022-2023 f

 

Background

wycombe wanderers 1956-57 fa amateur cup finalistsSome sources claim that the club was founded in 1884 but 1887 is now thought to be the real year of Wycombe’s foundation. Their first colours were the “varsity” combination of Oxford and Cambridge blue. Originally the team played in halved jerseys, changing to stripes sometime early in the twentieth century. The now traditional quartered shirts were introduced around 1930. The club's nickname of "The Chairboys" is thought to have been coined because the young men who formed the club were apprentices in the furniture making industry.

In 1896 Wanderers joined the Southern League Second Division but they made little impression, finishing in or near the bottom of the league. As an amateur club playing against professional teams, Wanderers could not compete and they left to join the Great Western Suburban League in 1907.

After the Great War, Wycombe joined the amateur Spartan League, winning the championship in 1921 after which they moved up to the Isthmian League. The captain of the side, Frank Adams, owned the lease to wycombe wanderers crest 1930Loakes Park, the club's home since 1895. He made a gift of the lease to the club in 1947. Wycombe continued to compete in the amateur Isthmian League for over 60 years, winning the FA Amateur Cup in 1931. The first evidence we have of the team wearing a crest comes from the 1931 Amateur Cup final. The crest featured a chained swan derived from the Buckinghamshire coat of arms, a motif thought to date back to Anglo-Saxon times when swans were bred in the county for the king's pleasure. (To this day, swans remain the property of the Crown.)

Wycombe won the Isthmian League title for the first time in 1956. In the 1960s four more championships were won and, after installing floodlights, the team spent one season wearing striped shirts (which were traditionally worn by the reserves). This experiment proved unpopular and the quarters were reinstated the following season.

wycombe wanderers crest 1973In the late 1960s, Wycombe followed the trend for ditching traditional colours, considered old fashioned at the time, in favour of plain Cambridge blue shirts and Oxford blue shorts. Programme notes researched by Dave Peatey state, Wycombe wore their new plain sky blue shirts and dark blue shorts for the first time in theĀ game on December 31st 1966 against Corinthian-Casuals. The quarters may have made a few more appearances but were definitely retired by 1969-70.

From 1973 a simple monogramme was worn on the team's shirts until this was dropped wycombe wanderers crest 1982when they adopted an Adidas strip in 1979. A modified version was used between 1980 and 1982 with horizontal lettering. Then, for the 1982-83 season the chained swan re-appeared, now rendered in outline and embroidered directly onto the shirt. This crest made several appearances during the decade.

In 1985, having won the Isthmian League title for the seventh time, Wycombe stepped up to a higher league, winning promotion to the Gola Football Alliance (forerunner of the Conference).

wycombe wanderers crest  1990The following season Wycombe were relegated but it took them only one season to return to what was now the GM Conference. In February 1990 Martin O'Neill arrived as manager and the club now mounted a serious challenge for promotion to the Football League, reinstating their quartered shirts adorned with an updated version of the traditional crest. At the end of the season they moved to a purpose built Adams Park wycombe wanderers crest 1999Stadium after 95 years at Loakes Park. In a triumphant 1992-93 season The Chairboys won the FA Trophy for the second year in succession as well as the Conference Championship and promotion to the Football League.

In 1994, the team colours changed subtly. Wycombe won promotion to Nationwide Division Two via the play offs that season and held on wycombe wanderers crest 2001until 2004 when they were relegated to Coca Cola League Two.

In 2001 a modernised crest was introduced that showed the swan walking in the correct direction. Eight years later the traditional shades of varsity blue wycombe wanderers 125th anniversary crest 2012-13were reintroduced when Joma became Wycombe's kit partner in 2009.

The team's original halved shirts were re-created for their 125th anniversary in 2012-13 along with a special crest, which added beech tree leaves to symbolise their roots in furniture making.

The team finished third in League Two in 2017-18 to gain automatic promotion to the third tier. Third place on points-per-game at the end of the truncated 2019-20 season took them into the play-offs where a 79th minute penalty in the empty Wembley Stadium earned them a place in the Championship for the first time. The step up proved too much and they were relegated in 22nd place after one season at the higher level.

You are welcome to Contact Me with corrections and additions.

Sources

Photograph courtesy of the Chairboys Website. Crests are the property of Wycombe Wanderers FC.