Norwich City Shirt History

Before switching to their more associable, unmissable canary yellow and green in 1907, Norwich City actually originally wore sky-blue. Let’s go on a journey through the Canaries history via their kit manufacturing and front of shirt sponsorship history.

Norwich City Shirt History Checklist

Norwich City Kit Manufacturing History

2021 – present – Joma

The Canaries’ deal with Joma is expected to run until at least the end of the 2027/28 season and this will no doubt please supporters with the designs so far receiving quite a high amount of praise. 

Content creators Copa90 and the FourFourTwo publication both highly regarded the 2022/23 collection, with the latter voting one of the shirts as that seasons ‘Best Kit in Europe’. Inspired by the 80’s, the home shirt was an impressive V-neck design with green pinstripes running down its yellow base. The away jersey that accompanied it was an elegant combination of ruby red and gold, while the third kit had a modern tie-dye look bring together purple, pink, xenon blue and turquoise green.

The home and away strip worn in the season prior to this was a nod to their nickname, with the pattern on its sleeves embodying the wings of the canary which is seen as part of their club crest. All of the shirts from this campaign, including their coral third strip, had the clubs six values printed on the inside of the collar – these are growth, integrity, belonging, resilience, pride and commitment. 

In 2023/24, history was made with the home kit parading ‘sublimated horizontal green stripes for the very first time’. Despite this, the purple and lilac third strip actually caught the most eyes, with the funky sleeve pattern paying homage to the famous 1992 – 1994 away kit.

2011 – 2021 – Errea

Norwich supporters will have fond memories of the first Errea collection with it being worn for their first Premier League campaign in six years, however, up until 2014/15, where a sophisticated home polo look was released, all of the jerseys were fairly pleasant without having hugely noteworthy designs. Though, notes were made for the wrong reasons in 2015/16, with both the home top and the third jersey being less than impressive.

Although, Errea made amends in the 2016/17 campaign by supplying a white third top which saw the return of the distinct all-over green pattern which appeared on the iconic 1992 – 1994 home strip. The black away kit which also came that season was decent as well, with a conjoined vertical yellow and green stripe running through the club crest. 

Albeit the pattern was ever so slightly different, the 2018/19 home top also paid tribute to the aforementioned 1992 – 1994 home shirt. In that same season, the Italian brand supplied Norwich with a lovely white third top which had both yellow and green sashes on its front. It’s accompanying third jersey is also eye catching, to say the least. 

Errea’s time with Norwich came to a memorable end in 2020/21 given the clubs Championship winning efforts. That year’s teal away top was eye-pleasing with it incorporating alternating yellow and white pinstripes. Bold would be the word to describe the third top from that year, with it featuring a unique pattern on its front in pink, white and purple.

For the final game of the 2020/21 campaign, the players played in a special shirt which was dedicated to the supporters. A montage of fan images was imprinted into its yellow base in green and it was available to purchase for £30 with £5 of the fee being donated to various crowd funding initiatives.

2001 – 2011 – Xara

Xara provided Norwich with the same two home and away shirts for the first two seasons which were both quite minimal, albeit smart. They are designs which now signify an important landmark in the Canaries history with them being worn for their centenary year in 2002/03. In celebration of the landmark, Xara worked with the club to release a special edition sky-blue and white top which it is thought to replicate the shirt worn for the first four years of the club’s existence. 

In 2003/04, Norwich wore a stylish but minimal green away kit, before switching to tonal green stripes for two years after this. The home shirt worn alongside both of them from 2003 until 2005 was also fairly simplistic, but pleasant, with its key features being green side panels and green colour blocks on its sleeves. 

Another special edition shirt came in 2007/08 and this one was in celebration of the club surpassing 20,000 season ticket renewals over the last three seasons. A lovely feature was the fact that it included every season ticket holders name within that period in an embossed background. 

The Canaries achieved back-to-back promotions in 2009/10 and 2010/11, remarkably going all the way from League One to the Premier League. As a result, both of these collections will have fond memories attached to them for supporters, even if the home shirt from 2009/10 is the same one which they wore as they felt the pain of relegation to League One in 2008/09. Only one shirt was present for both promotions and that is a white polo away jersey which had a few green touches. 

1999 – 2001 – Alexandra

Norwich donned the same two shirts throughout Alexandra’s two years of supplying for the club - for retro lovers, they are perhaps classical in your eyes, with old-school feels etched into them. 

The home jersey had a grandad collar with one vertical green colour block running down one side, which also crept onto its front. The away strip had a cool crossover V-neck collar which was made up green, white and yellow, matching its sleeve cuffs.

1997 – 1999 – Pony

Like Alexandra, Pony provided the same two jerseys for both seasons. They each followed the same concept of being a polo design with the collar being a different colour to its base. The home was yellow with a green collar, while the away was green with a yellow collar. 

1994 – 1997 – Mitre

To say this was an interesting time for Norwich shirt designs might be downplaying things a little, given the outrageously patterned blue away top worn from 1994 until 1996. It’s red replacement, which was released in 1996/97, albeit toned down, also had intrigue about it with its blue and white gradient stripe pattern running over its shoulders and onto the top of its chest.

The polo necked home strip which was used from 1994 until the end of the 1995/96 season was also spiced up by patterning, with a cool stitched in black and yellow decoration hooping around its green collar.

1992 – 1994 – Ribero 

Norwich donned the same Ribero supplied jerseys for both of these campaigns and we have already alluded to the home and away tops interesting patterning in previous sections, although this isn’t the only reason that they are well remembered. 

In 1992/93, the Canaries secured their first ever European slot and in the following year it made for some special memories, with the most remarkable being eliminating Bayern Munich.

1989 – 1992 – Asics

Asics provided the same home and away top for the whole of this three-year period with them both following the same concept. 

Each of them had green diagonal stripes on one side of its chest, while also incorporating tonal base stripes throughout. Traditionally, the home top had a yellow base, while the alternate kit was white. 

1987 – 1989 – Scoreline

The Canaries wore two minimal, but pleasant V-neck jerseys throughout this period of time. Tonal pinstripes were a key feature. 

1984 – 1987 – Hummel

Hummel supplied two sets of shirts and they both featured the Danish brand’s famous chevrons running down their sleeves. 

Norwich’s second division title winning efforts in 1985/86 means that it is the jerseys worn in that campaign that are weighted in the most history, however basing things purely on design, the 1986/87 collection is definitely the most pleasing with the aforementioned chevrons making up an embossed tonal feature throughout.

1981 – 1984 – Adidas

Classy pinstripes were the key feature of this sound era of Adidas Originals branded Norwich shirts.

1976 – 1981 – Admiral

Admiral, who headquarter in Manchester, supplied the same two polo necked shirts for the whole of this five-season partnership. The home was traditionally what you’d expect, while the away had a white base but green sleeves. 

1972 – 1976 – Umbro

Umbro were the first manufacturer to strike a deal with the Canaries. They began with simplistic crewneck designs for the first two seasons, before introducing polo collars from 1974/75 onwards. 

Norwich City Shirt Sponsorship History

Norwich’s front of shirt sponsorship history includes a partnership with a popular Australian lager, any guesses for who that is? Let’s get right into it…

2021 – present – Lotus Cars

Lotus Cars first appeared on a Norwich Jersey in 2002, so it was a flash from the past when Norwich announced their new deal with the car dealership in 2021.

The dealership, who started out as a petrol station, had their logo on the front in 2021/22, but switched to a text-based feature from 2022/23 onwards.

 

Lotus have donated the slot for one off games to charities such as Norfolk and Waveney Mind and Samaritans.

2019 – 2021 – Dafabet

Dafabet’s original deal with Norwich was announced as ‘record-breaking’, however it was brought to an end 12 months early. The slot featured the gambling company’s logo above their brand name. 

2017 – 2019 – LeoVegas

Swedish company, LeoVegas, is a mobile gaming company and a provider of online casino and sports betting services. 

The LeoVegas feature was a paw-print inspired text-based one, which admittedly came across childish to some.

2008 – 2017 – Aviva

Aviva deals in the insurance market and they had a lengthy spell with the Canaries which fell just short of a decade. 

Their logo, albeit a little large, was a constant feature for most of the partnership barring in the final campaign which was dedicated to the Aviva Community Fund.

2006 – 2008 – FlyBe

British airline FlyBe promoted their URL throughout their feature and it unfortunately didn’t look the best. FlyBe sadly ceased operations in March 2020. 

2003 – 2006 – Lotus Cars / Proton

Malaysian car company Proton bought a majority share in Lotus Cars in 1996 and their logo appeared on the Norwich home shirt from 2003 until 2006. 

Throughout the same period, Lotus’ branding took over the away top and, to be fair, neither of them looked horrendously bad. 

2001 – 2003 – Digital Phone Company

Digital Phone Company is ‘East Anglia’s longest established and largest independent mobile phone retailer’. 

They had a text-based feature where the D and the P were much larger than the rest of the letters. 

1997 – 2001 – Colman’s

Colman’s is an English manufacturer of condiments which has deep roots in Norfolk. They had a reasonably pleasant curved all-text feature.

1992 – 1997 – Norwich and Peterborough Building Society

Norwich and Peterborough Building Society started out with a stick-on feature which included their logo, before switching to a text-based look with no logo and no background. 

1989 – 1992 – Asics

Throughout the three-years that they manufactured for the Canaries, Asics also took the opportunity to secure a deal for the front of shirt sponsorship slot. 

The sports brand promoted their sports shoe products and it thankfully was done in a none dramatic fashion. 

1986 – 1989 – Foster’s

You might have guessed it, but the Australian lager retailer which Norwich had a relationship with was Foster’s. They had a simple text-based feature.

1983 – 1986 – Poll Withey Windows

Poll Withey Windows is now known as Norfolk Windows. The window fitting firm, which has claimed to do work for the Royal Family in the past, was the club’s first ever front of shirt sponsor. 

Conclusion

The Ribero era is by far the most memorable and arguably most famous Norwich collection, but the sound chevron imprinted kit from Hummel definitely goes under the radar. With respect, it is fantastic to see a less popular brand in Joma currently experiencing a great deal of success with the Canaries, and we would love to see more classics of the future continue to be manufactured…