Historical Football Kits

 

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Forfar Athletic

Formed 1885

Founder member of the re-formed Scottish Second Division 1921. Elected to Scottish Division Two 1926 after the collapse of the Scottish Third Division.

Kit History

 

 

 

Angus Athletic

 

1882

angus athletic 1882

1882 j

 

 

 

Forfar Athletic

 

1885

 

Formerly Angus Athletic Second XI

forfar athletic 1885

1885-1889 a j

forfar athletic 1889

1889-1895 a j

forfar athletic 1895

1895-1896 j

forfar athletic 1905

1905-1909 j

1909-1914 j

forfar athletic 1922

1922-1936 b j

forfar athletic 1927-29 home kit

1927-1929 Home j

forfar athletic 1935-36

1935-1936 l

forfar athletic 1936

1936-1948 c j

forfar athletic 1948-49

1948-1949 i

1949-1950 j

forfar athletic 1950

1950-1955 j

forfar athletic 1955

1955-1957 j

1957-1960 j

forfar athletic 1960

1960-1963 j

forfar athletic 1963

1963-1965 j

Aug-Dec 1967 j

forfar athletic 1968

Jan-May 1968 j

1968-1969 j

forfar athletic 1969

1969-Dec 1972 j

forfar athletic 1973

Jan 1973-1974 j

forfar athletic 1974

1974-1977 e j

Admiral
forfar athletic 1977

1977-1980 g r

Not branded
forfar athletic 1980-81

1980-1981 n

Bukta
forfar athletic 1981

1981-1982 g j

Bukta
forfar athletic 1982

1982-1983 i j r

Bukta

1983-1984 d j

Sponsored from December 1983
Bukta

1984-1986 i j

Spall
forfar athletic 1986

1986-1987 i

Spall

1987-1988 h

Matchwinner
forfar athletic 1988

1988-1989 g j r

Matchwinner
forfar athletic 1990

1990-1991 g k

Matchwinner
forfar athletic 1991

1991-1992 g k

Matchwinner
forfar athletic 1992

1992-1994 g o

HM Sportswear
forfar athletic 1994-95

1994-1995 l m

Le Coq Sportif
forfar athletic 1995-97

1995-1997 m

Spall
forfar athletic 1997-99

1997-1999 m

Spall
forfar athletic 2000

1999-2001 h p

Spall
forfar athletic 2001

2001-2002 f

Paulas Benara
forfar athletic 2002

2002-2004 d

Paulas Benara
forfar athletic 2004

2004-2005 d

Paulas Benara
forfar athletic 2005

2005-2006 g

Paulas Benara
forfar athletic 2006

2006-2007 d

Macron

2007-2009 d

Bukta
forfar athletic 2009-10

Aug-Oct 2009 d

Pendle
forfar athletic 2009-10 home kit from october

Oct 2009-2011 d q

Pendle
forfar athletic 2011-12 home kit

2011-2012 d

Pendle
forfar athletic 2013-14

2012-2014 d r

Pendle
forfar athletic 2014-15 1st kit

2014-2016 d

Pendle
forfar athletic 2016-17 1st kit

2016-2018 d

Pendle
forfar athletic 2018-19

2018-2020 d

Pendle
forfar athletic 2020-21

2020-2022 d

Pendle
forfar athletic 2022-24

2022-2024 d

 

Background

forfar athletic 1954-55 team groupThe club had started out as Angus Athletic's second XI and were known as "The Loons," a local dialect word for "lads" or "young men," since they were generally younger than the players in the first team. In 1885 the players broke away to form their own team and on 16 May 1885, Forfar Athletic beat Our Boys Rangers of Dundee 1-0 at Station Park in their first ever fixture. The driving force behind the club was James Black who devoted his life to the club as player, manager and administrator for 65 years. Remarkably, Forfar still play at Station Road.

In 1891, Forfar became founder members of the Northern League along with Arbroath, Montrose, St Johnstone, Aberdeen and three clubs from Dundee. After an initial struggle, the club won the competition in 1896. The rivalry with Arbroath was particularly intense and while the fishing port had outgrown the town of Forfar, the latter remained the county town of Angus (still known as "Forfarshire" at the time). It was not uncommon for there to be crowd trouble when the two sides met leading to denunciations from the pulpit and in the letter pages of the local press. Until well into the twentieth century, the club drew on local talent, mainly young men who worked in the area's jute mills.

The Loons won the Forfarshire Cup for the first time in 1906, beating Arbroath after a replay. They regularly competed in the Scottish FA Cup, from time to time being drawn against one of the big clubs from the Scottish League. In February 1911, they played Falkirk (who had finished as runners up in the Scottish First Division the previous season) at Station Park and won 2-0. In 1913 Forfar entered teams in both the Central and Northern Leagues but when the Great War broke out, the club closed down for the duration.

In 1921 the Central League, which had been strengthened by disenfranchised former members of the Scottish Second Division, was incorporated into the Scottish Football League. Forfar did not do very well at all and were relegated in 1925 to the newly formed Third Division. The following season this ill-fated competition was abandoned as it became clear that the members could not afford to continue on the meagre receipts they received and Forfar were in limbo. At the end of the season, however, Forfar applied for election to the Second Division and were successful, replacing bottom-placed Broxburn United.

During the 1930s the club generally finished in mid-table until competition was suspended on the outbreak of World War Two. In 1946 the Scottish League was reinstated but controversially restructured into three divisions. Forfar were placed in the new C Division made up largely of reserve sides. In 1949, the club won their divisional championship and were promoted to Division B. The death of James Black at the age of 85 cast a shadow over the club in 1951. With his passing the club came under the control of the Callendar family but they made little progress, remaining firmly rooted in the lower reaches of the Second Division. Green shirts replaced the light blue and navy, worn since 1936 but that was about all that changed. In the early 1960s, the team's form was abysmal (giving rise to the joke that they had changed their name to "Forfar Nil") and in 1966 they finished in last place. After being thumped 1-8 by Berwick on Christmas Day, the directors were shaken out of their complacency and finally decided to appoint a manager. Results gradually improved and in 1969 they finished in sixth place, which was regarded as something of a triumph.

Things went downhill again in the 1970s: crowds dipped below 500 and in 1974-75 they managed only a single win all season. The following season they were placed in the new Second Division, now the third level of Scottish football following the formation of the forfar athletic crest 1977Premier Division. In the summer of 1976 Sam Smith took over as chairman injecting a more business-like approach.

The Admiral strip adopted in 1977 was unusual in having the vertical stripes stitched into the right side of the shirts and shorts rather than the left. The club's initials were forfar athletic crest 1980embroidered onto the left hand side of the shirt, the first time that any sort of emblem had appeared.

In 1979 the team won the Forfarshire Cup for the first time in almost 50 years. The following season a proper crest was worn for the first time: this incorporated four emblems from the arms of the royal burgh: a Scots pine, a bull's head, a stag's head and a triple towered castle. The earliest version was rendered forfar athletic crest 1983in five colours but this was later simplified.

In 1982 Forfar hit the headlines when they beat Hearts at Tynecastle in the Scottish FA Cup and then held Rangers to a 0-0 draw in the semi-finals. In 1984 the club won the Second Division championship by 16 clear points and in 1986 they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier Division. The 1980s were, without doubt, the club's high point and in 1992 they were relegated to Division Two (third tier). For the rest of the decade they were relegated and promoted with bewildering regularity between the second and forfar athletic crest 2007third levels. Between 2000 and 2006 they led a relatively settled existence in Scottish Division Two (third level) before being relegated back down to the lowest division.

Around 2007 the crest was given a face lift with the four emblems now appearing out of a shield while the lettering was printed against a navy blue circle.

Due to problems with their kit supplier, Forfar switched from Bukta to Pendle in October 2009 along with several other Scottish clubs after the SFL agreed to a change in their registered strip. For the 2011-12 season the club took the unusual decision to recycle the previous season's striped change kit as their new first choice.

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Sources

Crests are the property of Forfar Athletic FC.