Luton Town Shirt History
Luton Town is a club that is proud of its routes, so let’s see what we can find out through their kit manufacturing and sponsorship history.
Luton Town Shirt History - A4 Download
Luton Town Kit Manufacturer History
2020 – present – Umbro
Umbro and Luton Town have previous, with this being their third spell together. It was a steady first year in their reunion campaign, but Umbro did use this as an opportunity to produce a modernised, stripped back version of a classic from the early 90’s in the form of their white away shirt which had orange and blue graphics on its sides. A small feature on all the jerseys from that campaign was a banded colour identity print to celebrate their 135th anniversary.
For the second year, Luton’s proud orange home shirt was marked with a subtle tonal pattern which is inspired by the aforementioned hat trade links. Its weaved patterns were associated with the straw used by local milliners. The third shirt for the 2021/22 season is a piece of history, with the name of every fan that who generously supported the club throughout the Coronavirus pandemic imprinted.
Promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history means that the 2022/23 collection will forever be strips that fans are fond of. The home shirt, which was worn during their play-off final win against Coventry City, drew inspiration from the 1989/90 away top with its orange and white rhombus patterning.
Fittingly, the home top for their first season in the Premier League is reminiscent of the one worn in 1974/75 – the year that the club last played in the first division. It was orange with one vertical white stripe running through the crest area and one vertical blue stripe outlining it to its left. It also had a tonal diamond pattern in its background. Their third strip for this season pays tribute to their home, Kenilworth Road, as the pink and purple pattern represents its abstract aerial outline.
2016 – 2020 – Puma
Impressively, when this deal first started in 2016, the Hatters were a League Two club, but when it came to an end they had risen all the way to the Championship – this means that, despite the shirts being bland on the most part, a good few are weighted in Luton history with key moments attached.
The club experienced back-to-back promotions in 2017/18 and 2018/19 and coincidentally, the most striking shirt from both campaigns was the third strip. The 2017/18 version had a white base with grey somewhat spotted vertical stripes with its sleeves having a purple colour block running down them. The 2018/19 third jersey combined navy and purple in a gradient stripe format.
Luton’s 135-year anniversary celebrations began in 2019/20 and although the home top worn that year is eye catching, it is the alternate strips that have the most interesting features. Both tops incorporate chequers with the away paying tribute to the Hatters’ flag and the third using colours first used by the club in 1885.
2013 – 2016 – Fila
Fila joined Luton on their National League winning campaign and the chequered polo home top worn that season is probably the most attractive design of this partnership.
Stitching acknowledging Luton’s title winning achievements appeared on the following home top worn in 2014/15.
2008 – 2013 – Carbrini
In 2009, Carbrini were part of a historic moment in Luton’s history as the club decided to ditch white as their primary colour and go back to orange for the first time since 1999. The orange has stuck ever since, although it did come down to fan vote in 2014.
The one and only white home shirt that Carbrini produced had a central club crest, as did the away top used in the same year.
There are large similarities between the final home top the JD owned brand produced in 2012/13 and the home shirt used by Luton in 2023/24.
2007 – 2008 – Puma
The orange and white away top that Puma produced had a few more features than their white and black home strip did, but, nevertheless it was an extremely basic collection.
2005 – 2007 – Diadora
Each shirt that Diadora produced had a centralised club crest and the home top, which was white with small orange and navy details, survived both seasons.
In 2005/06, a black away jersey was worn, although it was considerably less interesting than the orange away kit that succeeded it in 2006/07.
2001 – 2005 – Xara
The home and away shirts used for the first two seasons of this partnership had classy V-neck and polo neck combined collars which made them particularly pleasing on the eye. The away shirt featured an interesting design, as it’s navy base, which was embossed with tonal horizontal stripes, had two vertical orange stripes outlined with white pinstripes on either side of the sponsorship feature and club crest.
The home shirt used from 2003 until 2005, which had an orange neckline and sleeve cuffs but navy shoulders to go with its white base and sleeves, was also a pleasant look.
1999 – 2001 – Olympic
Olympic produced the first orange Luton home shirt since 1974 in 1999, although it was soon demoted to their away kit in the following year. A white jersey, which was originally released as an away top, was then promoted to their home strip.
Despite the drama, the third top that was worn in both seasons was the most striking look with its blue vertical pinstripes and sleeve cuffs matched with its silky silvery base. It also had a blue polo collar that had ‘LUFC’ stitched into its rear.
1995 – 1999 – Pony
Pony supplied two steady home shirts within this four-year-deal, however they seemingly unimpressed supporters with their yellow 1996/97 away strip.
Although, those displeased probably would have been won over by the replacement away shirt which was then worn for two seasons. The most impressive feature of the orange kit was its white and orange hoop-striped neckline which had an outline of blue.
1994 – 1995 – In House
If you think that the navy away kit which has orange and white abstract stripes is the craziest design of this campaign of in-house manufacturing, then please take a look at the goalkeeper jersey…
1992 – 1994 – DMF Sportswear
Three polo necked shirts that followed the same design brief were manufactured by DMF Sportswear in the first campaign, but, in the second year, the third kit was replaced by a bespoke maroon and orange striped concept.
1989 – 1992 – Umbro
Umbro’s impressiveness from this spell is proven by the fact that the brand has tried to emulate modern versions of at least two of these designs since. If you think the rhombus patterning from this fantastic range looked good in orange and white, then just take a look at the 1989 – 1992 blue version…classy.
1979 – 1989 – Adidas
Adidas opted for Adidas Originals branding throughout this deal and they made some unique moves in its early years. For example, in the first campaign they placed their brand emblem right under the polo collar, and in the second, they moved it even further down to just under the front of shirt sponsor. On both of these occasions the club crest unusually appeared on the shirts right.
Both of the final two collections included home shirts that made use of a form of tonal stripes, however, interestingly, while the 1987 – 1989 collection featured no orange at all, it was a key element to the stunning 1984 – 1987 home top. The away shirt used during the latter period was also predominantly orange.
1974 – 1979 – Admiral
Admiral’s home and away shirts followed the same concept of having one stripe, outlined by pinstripes, running through the club crest which was placed on the shirts left. The home top was orange, while the away top was white.
1970 – 1972 – Umbro
Sandwiched between periods of unbranded shirts is Umbro, the clubs first ever supplier, however their logo didn’t feature on any of the jerseys.
Luton Town Shirt Sponsor History
Let’s delve into the history of the Bedfordshire clubs front of shirt sponsor…it’s quite a list!
2022 – present – Utilita
Energy supplier, Utilita, only sponsored the home top in 2022/23, before deciding to sponsor all three in 2023/24.
Part of the new agreement is that Utilita’s arm charity, Utilita Giving, donates £2 for every Luton shirt sold to local charities, including Luton foodbank, for the 2023/24 campaign.
2020 – 2022 – JB Developments
JB Developments is a construction business that sponsored just the home shirt. Their relationship with Luton seemingly turned sour – the club ended their deal with the company early due to ‘ongoing contractual breaches’.
2019 – 2023 – Ryebridge
Civil Engineering business, Ryebridge, sponsored the clubs third kit for four years. Each time the shirts included various formats of their logo and name.
2018 – 2023 – Star Platforms
Star Platforms offers powered access platform hires, sales and training across the UK. Their logo featured on just the away shirt for five seasons. Their joint Managing Director, Steve Simmons, is an avid Luton Town fan, so that may have something to do with their orange and blue branding...
2018 – 2020 – Indigo Residential
Indigo Residential is a Luton based business that works within the property market. They had a text-base feature and only appeared on the home top.
2018 – 2019 – Northern Gas & Power
Global energy procurement specialists, Northern Gas & Power, sponsored the third jersey for a year - their green and blue colouring fitted in fairly nicely.
2016 – 2018 – SSangyong Motor
South Korean Automobile franchise, Ssangyong, had their laid-back branding on all of the shirts for two seasons.
2015 – 2016 – Barnfield Collage
Luton based further education collage, Barnfield Collage, sponsored all of the strips for one campaign.
2009 – 2015 – EasyJet
Coinciding with their switch to an orange shirt, EasyJet, who are branded orange, sponsored every shirt for six seasons. In a closing statement, the club revealed that the Luton-based airline went the extra mile for the club and community – this included helping 18,000 school children in Bedfordshire receive over 6,500 hours of free curriculum time football coaching and PE lessons.
2008 – 2009 – Carbrini
Not only did Carbrini manufacture the shirts, but they also sponsored them for the 2008/09 season. Sadly, the stick-on black background approach looked a little tacky.
2005 – 2008 – Electrolux
Electrolux is a Swedish global leader in home appliances. Their name and logo combined feature had an elegant look.
2003 – 2005 – Travel Extras
The pairing with Travel Extra’s orange and blue text-based branding was a good one.
1999 – 2003 – SKF
Like Electrolux, manufacturing business SKF was also founded in Sweden. Despite the background of their feature combining white, blue and red, it surprisingly didn’t look too bad.
1991 – 1999 – Universal Salvage Auctions
Salvage Auction company, Universal, is a Bedfordshire based business that sponsored just the home top for one campaign in 1991/92, but then all of the shirts from the following season onwards.
Their logo, which contains just their abbreviation (USA), was used on its own for the first year and, albeit colourful, it wasn’t exactly clear who they were. Although they cleared this up for the remainder of the deal by including variations of their full name.
1990 – 1992 – Vauxhall
Well-known British car company, Vauxhall, had their text-based feature on every shirt during the first season of the partnership, but only sponsored the away and third strip in the second campaign.
1982 – 1990 – Bedford Trucks
Bedford Trucks, otherwise known as Bedford or Bedford Vehicles, opted for simple all-text features throughout the deal.
Their vehicle brand was manufactured by Vauxhall and impressively they were a leading international lorry brand.
1981 – 1982 – Tricentrol
Tricentrol was mostly known around Bedfordshire for their buses and coaches, although Luton’s very first front of shirt sponsor has an interesting history.
Conclusion
Luton’s current manufacturers, Umbro, are currently cashing in on the designs from the club’s earlier days and supporters are seemingly loving it. It’ll be interesting to see whether they continue to reproduce Luton classics or whether they’ll create new wonderful bespoke designs that supporters will want to see modernised for reuse in the future.