Look back in amber and black (mostly) at the history of the Hull City playing kit.
During their inaugural League season, Hull City wore wear black and amber striped shirts and black shorts, a trend they continued up until the Second World War with the exception of one season. The shirts were essentially the same design up to 1939 with just the colour of the shorts alternating between black and white over the seasons.
History of the Hull City Strip
Feature by Historian
Updated Thursday, 3rd January 2002
The records do not show whether the nickname "the Tigers" comes from the shirts worn or whether the shirts were changed to match the nickname. It is however clear that the team wore white shirts and shorts in their first game played against Notts County in 1904.
In the 1935-36 season, they broke with tradition and wore a sky blue outfit to match the City of Hull colours. This was unpopular with the fans and did not bring luck on the pitch so was abandoned.
After the end of the War they had one season in sky blue again but quickly changed to plain amber shirts, which they retained up until the early 1960's when they again reverted to stripes.
During the 1960's the Tigers also had a short spell with amber shirts and shorts with two black rings on the shirts. From the mid 1960's until the mid 1970's stripes were prominent by their absence.
Since the mid 1970's until the present day the strip has fluctuated between the two versions of plain shirts and stripes. During the Robinson era in the 1980's, a small amount of red was added to the strip but this is no longer a feature of the strip.
It is an interesting fact that the only thing the Tigers have achieved in stripes is the 1932/33 Div 3 (N) championship and quite a few relegations. The rest of the team's League success has been achieved in plain amber shirts.
The shirt for the past three years has been voted on by the fans who have comprehensively chosen a plain amber design with stripes banished. The Club's new management are known to favour a plain design and it has been suggested that the sky blue element of 1930's and 1940's may return in the away strip. This may be a welcome relief for fans after the burgundy, purple, claret and blue away shirts of recent years.
Click here to see graphics of every Hull City home kit
