Discover the Complete History and Design of the Boro Football Kit Collection
I remember the first time I saw Middlesbrough's classic red home kit from the 1970s displayed at the Riverside Stadium museum. The worn cotton fabric, the faded sponsorless crest, the subtle stitching patterns - it told a story far beyond just being sportswear. This connection between football kits and cultural identity reminds me of that fascinating quote from boxing champion Manny Pacquiao I came across recently: "Alam namin na pag umabot ng (full) rounds, dehado pa rin yung decision. Kaya pinag-handaan namin talaga." He was talking about boxing preparation, but that mentality of thorough preparation and understanding potential disadvantages perfectly mirrors how Boro's kit designs evolved through challenging periods in the club's history.
The early Boro kits from 1876 weren't even the iconic red we know today. They started with Cambridge blue shirts with a crimson shield, a far cry from the bold crimson that would become synonymous with the club. I've always found it fascinating how the club settled on red around 1899, coinciding with their professional era beginnings. The first proper home kit I'd consider historically significant emerged in the 1903-04 season - a simple yet striking crimson shirt with white collar and cuffs, worn during their FA Cup semi-final run. That design established what would become Boro's visual identity for decades, though the materials were brutally practical rather than stylish. Heavy wool blends that must have been unbearable when soaked with rain and sweat, yet players wore them through 40-50 matches per season without complaint.
What really grabs me about kit history is how it reflects broader societal changes. The interwar period saw Boro adopt more sophisticated designs, with the 1927-28 kit featuring a distinctive V-neck and cleaner lines just as the club was establishing itself in the First Division. Then came the revolutionary 1950s - the era of Boro's first major kit sponsorship deal with Datsun in 1979, worth about £75,000 annually, which seemed astronomical at the time but looks quaint compared to today's multi-million pound deals. I've handled original 1966 wool jerseys in my research, and the quality difference between those and today's moisture-wicking fabrics is staggering. Players then essentially competed in what felt like heavy sweaters, while modern kits weigh less than 150 grams.
The 1970s brought what I consider Boro's design golden age. That iconic 1973-74 home kit with the cleaner Umbro diamond pattern coincided with the club's promotion to Division One. I'm particularly fond of the 1986 away kit - that bold yellow and blue design broke from tradition but captured the era's experimental spirit. Then came the Riverside Stadium era in the 1990s, which introduced more technical fabrics and bolder designs. The 1997 away kit with its subtle pattern referencing Middlesbrough's industrial heritage showed how kits could tell deeper stories.
Modern Boro kits have become technological marvels. The current Hummel partnership has produced some of the most innovative designs, incorporating advanced cooling technologies and recycled materials. Last season's home kit used approximately 12 recycled plastic bottles per shirt, a small but meaningful sustainability step. What fascinates me is how kit sales have become crucial revenue streams - Boro's 2015-16 promotion season saw kit sales increase by roughly 47% compared to the previous Championship season, demonstrating how on-field success directly impacts commercial performance.
Looking at Boro's kit evolution reminds me why I find football aesthetics so compelling. Each design choice - from collar styles to shade variations - represents a moment in time. The move from local manufacturer Jack Dunning's early 20th century designs to global partnerships with Adidas and Hummel traces the sport's commercialization journey. I've always preferred the cleaner, traditional designs over the overly busy modern templates, though I appreciate the technical advancements. That Pacquiao quote about preparation resonates here too - Boro's kit designers clearly understood that reaching the "full rounds" of a season required equipment that could withstand the demands of modern football.
The cultural significance of these kits extends far beyond the pitch. I've interviewed supporters who remember specific kits marking life milestones - promotions, cup finals, personal memories. The 2004 League Cup winning kit remains particularly iconic, with its association with Boro's first major trophy. These garments become woven into supporters' identities, displayed in homes, worn to matches decades later, passed through generations. The emotional connection transcends the fabric itself, representing shared experiences and community identity.
What strikes me most about studying Boro's kit history is how it mirrors football's broader narrative - from local community project to global business, from practical sportswear to cultural artifact. The attention to detail in modern kits, from moisture management to strategic color psychology, shows how far we've come from those simple crimson shirts. Yet the emotional resonance remains remarkably consistent. Each new season brings anticipation not just for results, but for how the next chapter will look and feel. That continuity, that thread connecting 1876 to today, is what makes football kit culture so enduringly powerful.
We are shifting fundamentally from historically being a take, make and dispose organisation to an avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle organisation whilst regenerating to reduce our environmental impact. We see significant potential in this space for our operations and for our industry, not only to reduce waste and improve resource use efficiency, but to transform our view of the finite resources in our care.
Looking to the Future
By 2022, we will establish a pilot for circularity at our Goonoo feedlot that builds on our current initiatives in water, manure and local sourcing. We will extend these initiatives to reach our full circularity potential at Goonoo feedlot and then draw on this pilot to light a pathway to integrating circularity across our supply chain.
The quality of our product and ongoing health of our business is intrinsically linked to healthy and functioning ecosystems. We recognise our potential to play our part in reversing the decline in biodiversity, building soil health and protecting key ecosystems in our care. This theme extends on the core initiatives and practices already embedded in our business including our sustainable stocking strategy and our long-standing best practice Rangelands Management program, to a more a holistic approach to our landscape.
We are the custodians of a significant natural asset that extends across 6.4 million hectares in some of the most remote parts of Australia. Building a strong foundation of condition assessment will be fundamental to mapping out a successful pathway to improving the health of the landscape and to drive growth in the value of our Natural Capital.
Our Commitment
We will work with Accounting for Nature to develop a scientifically robust and certifiable framework to measure and report on the condition of natural capital, including biodiversity, across AACo’s assets by 2023. We will apply that framework to baseline priority assets by 2024.
Looking to the Future
By 2030 we will improve landscape and soil health by increasing the percentage of our estate achieving greater than 50% persistent groundcover with regional targets of:
– Savannah and Tropics – 90% of land achieving >50% cover
– Sub-tropics – 80% of land achieving >50% perennial cover
– Grasslands – 80% of land achieving >50% cover
– Desert country – 60% of land achieving >50% cover
