KIT DESIGN

In 1895, two years before the club became professional, a small group of Nottingham Forest players, Fred Beardsley, Bill Parr, Charlie Bates, joined Arsenal FC and brought their old red kit along with them. Working to a tight budget, the club decided the most inexpensive way of acquiring a strip was to kit out the team in the same colour as the ex-Forest players. The original kit was a dark red, with long sleeves, a collar and three buttons down the front. The shirt was worn with white knee length shorts and heavy woollen socks with blue and white hoops. The goalkeeper wore the same attire apart from the shirt, which was a hand knitted cream woollen polo neck jumper. It was this dark red kit that the team wore during thire first season at Highbury in 1913/14.

In 1950's, a second kit was developed to combat a clash of colours with opposing home teams with similar kits. And in 1960's, the club moved away from the woven rugby shirts style to a new knitted cotton jersey in around 1960. The clubs famous cannon graphic appeared on the shirt for the first time in the early 1970's. It was this shirt that Arsenal won their first famous double, both the League Championship and the FA Cup in the 1970/71 season. In the late 1970's, the shirt featured a kit manufacturer's logo for the first time, in this case 'UMBRO'. And in 1982 'JVC' became the clubs first shirt sponsor, which in turn made way for 'SEGA' in 1999. Three yeras later and 'O2' replaced the games company before themselves making way for, from the start of the 2006/07 season,'FLY EMIRATES'. This particular deal will last eight years.

For season 2007/08, the first at Emirates Stadium, a welcome return to the famous red and white of Arsenal was made. For season 2007/08 Arsenal will wear a new away kit with a design that celebrates the pioneering spirit of legendary Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman. The new kit embraces design features that highlight Chapman's influence over the game to this day, and sees a return to the white away shirts worn throughout the clubs's history.