5 classic NUFC kits from years gone by that we miss terribly
As the new season edges closer, one of the more pressing questions is still waiting to be answered: what will Newcastle’s new home kits look like?
Rumours and leaks are all over the internet - some from more credible sources than others - but so far not even a release date has been mentioned by the club. All we know for certain is that when the Championship season kicks off they won’t be wearing last season’s design.
There have been a number of missteps over the years, particularly when it comes to away kits. Thankfully it’s a bit harder to ruin the home strips, although arguably slapping ‘Wonga’ on the front and letting the company’s blue make its way into the design is pushing things pretty close.
If Puma are still looking for inspiration for the upcoming Championship season they could do a lot worse than taking their cues from the following five:
One that’s remembered more for the interesting approach to the design of the black and white stripes than anything else. Manufacturers Umbro decided to go with an uneven striped design, with three narrower black stripes followed by a wider one. It was also the first kit to feature the Newcastle Blue Star logo, taking over from Greenall’s in December 1991. Featuring a polo shirt style collar, Umbro’s final design for the club is also associated with the club’s near demotion to the third tier and the subsequent rise under Keegan to eventual promotion into the newly founded Premier League.
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1993 - 1995 (Home)
When Newcastle won promotion to the Premier League - and the riches it entailed - kit sponsors Umbro were ditched in favour of Asics. Although the kit, and Asics’ tenure as manufacturers, only lasted two seasons the strip is the one in which we announced our arrival on what was to become the biggest stage in world football. It’s associated with some of the most attacking football ever played by the club, topped off with Andy Cole scoring 41 goals as we ultimately finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Sadly this was the last time that the iconic Newcastle Blue Star logo was to grace the club’s kits on its own - by the time the next kit was released it had been replaced by new sponsors Newcastle Brown Ale.
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Hot on the heels of the Asics effort, adidas took over the manufacturing of the club’s strips to begin what would eventually become a 25 year partnership (with mixed results). These are the kits that will forever be associated with what could have been. Boosted by Sir John Hall’s millions Newcastle stormed to the top of the table and by Christmas were 10 points clear of second place Manchester United. The home kit’s most memorable feature was the old-fashioned collar, and its big moment in the spotlight was to be when it was worn by Alan Shearer on a makeshift gantry outside of the stadium when the world record signing was announced in the summer of 1996. The away one was also a fantastic effort that is well worth a mention, sporting a burgundy and blue hooped design that still looks good today.
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The 90s were a bit of a golden period for Newcastle strips. Adidas’ second offering ditched the traditional design in favour of a centrally-aligned effort that evoked memories of the ones worn in the 70s. At this point the club’s on-field fortunes weren’t quite as rosy: Keegan had gone earlier in the year and we ultimately wound up 13th in the first season this was introduced. New signings Ian Rush, John Barnes, and Stuart Pearce didn’t exactly set the world on fire, and manager Kenny Dalglish was gone shortly into this strip’s second season. Georgian lunatic Temuri Ketsbaia provided one of the more memorable moments, although it doesn’t technically involve the shirt: after scoring a winning goal he threw it into the crowd and gave the hoardings around the pitch a booting (including an adidas one, which must have gone down well). Shearer had to approach the crowd and get the shirt back so that Ketsbaia could finish the game.
The main reason this home kit makes this list though is for being associated with perhaps one of the club’s greatest ever results: the 3-2 victory over Barcelona in the Champions League at home. Cheers Tino.
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A kit fondly remembered for a whole host of reasons, not least the fact that it was worn through arguably the club’s most successful season since the ‘nearly’ years in the 90s. As Newcastle stormed to the top of the Championship this basic adidas strip got plenty of air time and became associated with one of the biggest periods of togetherness in Mike Ashley’s reign. The players seemed happy, we had a popular and universally liked manager, and we only lost four league games all season as we racked up an impressive 102 points and were promoted back to the Premier League at the first time of asking. It heralded a new wave of optimism that ran into the following season, however it was to be the last kits adidas designed for the club. The manufacturers walked away from the deal citing their unhappiness with Mike Ashley, and Puma took over for the following season. None of the new kits have made it into this list.
