Fulham Shirt History
Established in 1879, Fulham are proudly London’s oldest football club, let’s delve into their shirt manufacturer and sponsorship history.
Fullham Shirt History - Checklist
Fulham Kit Manufacturer History
2013 – present – Adidas
Adidas are enjoying their third spell with the Cottagers and while the first campaign of the reunion was probably a little underwhelming, the second was most definitely unique. For the 2014/15 season, Fulham wore a home shirt which the club described as ‘taking their distinctive past and fusing it with the future’. It was their usual primary colour, white, but it unusually had bold light grey horizontal stripes and an orange neckline and sleeve cuffs. The distinct orange theme continued onto their away jersey where it was paired with tonal black stripes – it resulted in a cool shirt.
In contrast to the above, the 2015/16 home jersey was much more traditional as it was inspired by the kit worn in the 1975 FA Cup final against West Ham – although Fulham lost, to date, it is the first and only time that they have reached the final.
Moving on to the much more modern 2022/23 version, where its key feature is the smart, small wavy red pattern imprinted on its black collar and sleeve cuffs. This graphic is said to represent the River Thames, which runs alongside Craven Cottage.
The 2023/24 Fulham home top is also fairly impressive – the black sleeves on the ‘grandad collar’ design has red Adidas stripes going down one arm and white on the other. London’s Original Football Club’ was printed on the reverse of the neck. History was made in its accompanying away top as Fulham wore pink on their travels for the very first time. This came after their smart mint and navy away jersey which was donned in 2022/23 – it’s eye-catching graphic provides a ‘modern interpretation of the Craven Cottage brickwork’.
Finally, in 2018/19, a half white, half black 140th anniversary top was brought to the shelves.
2010 – 2013 – Kappa
Fulham had a three-year stint with Italian sportswear brand Kappa from 2010. The most interesting home design came in 2012/13 with its black pinstripes running horizontally. Large Kappa logos were placed on its side panels and, like on all of the shirts that campaign, the word ‘Kappa’ featured just below its right shoulder.
However, perhaps more interestingly, in Kappa’s first and last season they released special tonal versions of the home shirts.
Not many of the alternate jerseys worn within this period are that impressive, but perhaps making up for that is the story behind their yellow third kit donned in 2011/12. The shirt featured a photo of Fulham legend Johnny Hayes on its front. Haynes played 594 times for the club, scoring 146 goals. Kappa, and this shirt, received the ultimate exposure in this campaign due to Fulham’s rare participation in the Europa League.
2007 – 2010 – Nike
Nike possibly surprised a few in their fist campaign (2007/08) by releasing a polo strip that had no black elements to it at all, bar its sponsorship features. This was perhaps resembling a shirt worn in 1974/75.
However, this wasn’t the most surprising thing of this era, as Nike were involved with the club throughout an incredible couple of years. The Cottagers unexpectedly qualified for the 2009/10 Europa League campaign and went all the way to the final, where they were beaten 2-1 by Atletico Madrid. Despite this, the simple 2009/10 strips will go down as Fulham favourites as they picked up some memorable results along the away, such as beating Juventus.
Nike provided the club with three red and black away tops during this period, with the most eye-catching being the half red, half black version worn in 2008/09.
2006 – 2007 – Airness
Airness is more popular amongst African nations and it is even present at the 2024 African Cup of Nations. Their year with Fulham is the only time that they have supplied a Premier League outfit, although they have been involved in club football before over in France.
Although their year with the Cottagers wasn’t much to write home about, the story behind the birth of Airness is truly inspiring and we would highly recommend checking it out.
2003 – 2006 – Puma
The London club donned the same home top for the first two seasons of their deal with Puma, but luckily the design was a success with Fulham followers. It had a black sleeve that curved into the shirts white base and its stitching was rather evident right across it. Its small red sleeve cuffs topped it off. The 2005/06 home jersey was also impressive, with one shoulder featuring a red colour block and the other having a black one.
The 2003/04 away shirt had bold red stitching on its black base – this matched its curved red side panels and neckline – it looked quite cool.
1997 – 2003 – Adidas
Some sublime strips were put together during Adidas’ second spell with the club. For the first two seasons the German brand kept the same home top, except they changed their branding in the second season from the word ‘Adidas’ to their actual logo. Its white base had thin tonal stripes and a black colour block running vertically across its centre. Three white stripes ran towards the edges of the colour block and three white hoops ran through its polo collar. A just as smart, not too dissimilar, shirt was worn at home from 1999 until 2001.
None of the shirts released during this time are particularly bad looking, but it is the early years of the deal that shone the most. This is emphasised by the classy red and black hooped alternate shirt used from 1997 until 1999 and their silky green and navy top donned in 1999/00.
1996 – 1997 – Le Coq Sportif
French brand, Le Coq Sportif, only had one year with Fulham but they certainly left their mark. Their home top featured a funky, zig-zag like pattern across it and it also had white and black chequers on its sleeve cuffs and polo collar. The away shirt was plastered in red and black chequers.
1993 – 1996 – Vandanel
Founded in Milton Keynes, Vandanel have a history of partnering with England’s lower league clubs. The home strip worn from 1994 until 1996 especially has a retro feel to it with its unusual neckline that includes a small Fulham crest at the heart of it.
The away kit worn from 1994 until the end of the partnership is noticeably a polo version of the previously mentioned 2008/09 Nike strip.
All of the shirts from this period have ‘Vandanel’ subtly imprinted into their background.
1992 – 1993 – DMF Sportswear
DMF Sportswear followed a similar concept to their predecessors on the home strip, but designed the away and third jersey quite differently.
On their travels, Fulham wore either a red polo with that had a white collar and white hoops running on its arms or a tonally chequered blue strip that also had hooped sleeves, but this time in navy.
1990 – 1992 – Ribero
Ribero are now more prominent within cricket and bowls. They had a steady two-year stint with the Cottagers as they produced minimal strips with not too much to them.
1987 – 1990 – Scoreline
Scoreline placed their branding on the shirt’s shoulders for the first two-years of the partnership as part of three lovely tonally striped central crest designs.
1984 – 1987 – Umbro
Fulham wore the same plain V-neck shirts throughout the whole of this deal.
1981 – 1984 – Osca
Osca were the first brand to introduce pinstripes to a Fulham shirt in 1983/84. Both the home and away top had black pinstripes printed onto their bases, which were white and red respectably. Prior to this, Osca produced two plain shirts with black colour blocks on the shoulders.
1977 – 1981 – Adidas
This was the start of a blossoming relationship between the Cottagers and Adidas. Despite their minimal designs, the shirts from this era still look remarkably smart with their Adidas Originals branding. Both polo and crewneck versions of the home and away jerseys were released.
1974 – 1977 – Umbro
Umbro were the first brand to manufacture for Fulham. An all-white home top was donned for the first year, but they introduced a black polo collar in their second and third.
Fulham Shirt Sponsor History
The Cottagers have a fairly long list of front of shirt sponsors, so let’s get right into it…
2023 – present – SBOTOP
Online bookmaker, SBOTOP, have a non-overpowering feature with their simple logo beside their name. It complimented the shirt quite well.
2022 – 2023 – W88
Fellow betting firm, W88, had the opportunity before SBOTOP but their feature wasn’t anywhere near as impressive. It was quite large and it took up a lot of space.
2021 – 2022 – World Mobile
World Mobile is the first mobile network built on renewable energy, however despite their good intentions, due to their multicoloured logo, their sponsorship on the home and third shirt is a little bit of an eye sore.
2020 – 2021 – BetVictor
BetVictor is a gambling company based in Gibraltar. They had a simple, thin text-based feature.
2018 – 2020 – Dafabet
Yet another betting firm in Dafabet had the opportunity from 2018 until 2020. Their branding complimented the shirt fairly decently.
2017 – 2018 – Grosvenor Casino
Grosvenor Casino is a UK casino chain, but they also have sister casinos in Belgium. Their feature promoted their website URL and their logo was place above it.
2015 – 2017 – Visit Florida
Visit Florida is the state's official tourism marketing corporation. Their mostly text-based feature was underlined by wavy streaks.
2013 – 2015 – Marathon Bet
Marathon Bet is another sports betting company. Their feature wasn’t impressive, but it definitely wasn’t the worst of this collection. Regardless of the shirt colour, they opted for the use of a white background.
2010 – 2013 – FXPro
FXPro claim to be the ‘world’s number one’ online forex broker. ‘FXPro’ was written in a large font throughout the sponsorship, but, in only their first year, it also ‘Trade Forex Like A Pro’ printed underneath.
2007 – 2010 – LG
LG is an extremely popular South Korean electronics company. Their recognisable branding took the centre spot for three years.
2005 – 2007 – Pipex
Pipex was the United Kingdom’s first commercial internet provider. In their second year, Pipex chose to spice up their simple text-based feature by placing a red rectangular colour block around the I and the middle P. It certainly made it stand out more.
2003 – 2005 – Dabs.com
E-commerce retailer, Dabs.com, was acquired by BT but officially retired in 2016. They used their feature to promote their website, although the dot within the URL was smartly replaced by a small version of their logo.
2002 – 2003 – Betfair
There are claims that Betfair operate the worlds largest online betting exchange. The slim text-based feature read their website.
2001 – 2002 – Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is a well-known multinational restaurant chain that has a history of over 40 years. Perhaps surprisingly, the hut’s logo didn’t look that bad at the centre of a Fulham shirt – they got the sizing correct.
1998 – 2001 – Demon Internet
Demon Internet was a British internet provider that is now known as Vodaphone. Their all text feature doesn’t give you much to dislike
1993 – 1998 – GMB
Trade union GMB ended a two-year ‘sponsor free’ stint. The union has over 560,000 members and their logo suited the Fulham strip. The deal ultimately ended because Fulham wanted to strike bigger deals.
1989 – 1991 – Teleconnect
Other than kit suppliers, Teleconnect were the first brand to print their logo on a Fulham shirt. The two sponsors prior to this featured only text.
1985 – 1987 – Prestige Travel
Prestige Travel is a travel company – they had two seasons with the Cottagers.
1984 – 1985 – William Younger
William Younger was a Scottish Brewer and they were the clubs first front of shirt sponsor.
Conclusion
Whilst acknowledging that the Cottagers’ colours perhaps provide little room for creativity, it has to be said that, given their long-standing relationship, Adidas have a good understanding of their brand and they are continuing to provide innovative ideas to make the jerseys as interesting as possible.