With unique design and some of the most famous football clubs on earth Admiral made revuloution in kit design in the mid 70’s. The company based in Wigston, Leicester, did the outmost of their approach as kits no longer had little or no other function than to seperate the two teams from each other.
The use of badges and brand logo made it very special as other competitors such as Adidas, Puma and Umbro also lifted their approach and made new designs.
Leeds and Don Revie became a pioneer and with both the England manager to be and the company having a long relation to Leicester we don’t know but it was Allan Clarke, Billy Bremner and Peter Lorimer among those players to really put this brand on the map.
Soccervoice do have a grand update on all those players from those fantastic seasons of the 70’s and by browsing our site you will of course find more than just the obvious transfer rumour.
Their massive global approach also involving NASL clubs and several national teams made it impossible not to recognize this massive brand and despite leaving the life of glamour they had their shirts around among professional football clubs with Shrewsbury Town one recent member.
Leeds is special as their two last league winning titles were both appearing in Admiral kits with 18 years seperating the two fantastic happenings. 1974 and 1992 kits are of course very memorable as they stand out as special seasons in the history of the club.
England did appear in Admiral for their 1982 World Cup and had appeared in this brand since Don Revie took over in 1974. Be shure to check out all the fantastic products of retro appearances.
The factory closed in the mid 80’s but still they managed to keep it in some way a trade as clubs continued to weare the brand. If you like to look back on those great days of football kit production don’t miss out on this solid documentary as it is very special
They also became famous as they launched replicas for kids and also the soft start of fans wearing football shirts to games and not hat and coat of the old days. The company struggled after their massive growth but still managed to keep the brand alive in a sort of way with new owners taking on the past in present.
Looking back at the teams that did wear Admiral you had the FA Cup final in 1976. Both Southampton and Manchester United used Admiral. Then in 1977 you had Manchester United lifting the cup in Admiral shirts. Manchester United were back in 1979 still in Admiral. West Ham did win it in 1980 wearing Admiral.
1980 was the last FA Cup winner to be seen in an Admiral kit to date. Then strange to see Leeds lifting the league trophy in Admiral and the last time we did see such a kit on a league winner. In the 1992-93 season still Admiral was around with Southampton, Leeds, Middlesbrough and Wimbledon all wearing Admiral. Looking at previous league winners you do not find others than Leeds in the list of winners. League Cup winners are none, with Southampton in 1979 to date the only team to be in Admiral shirts in such a final.
The brand has survived over the years and very much alive today with a bit of a different outlook and not competing for the deals among top football clubs anymore, but that might be a key reason for them still being able to produse clothing and sportswear for the public.
Admiral made a great number of shirts in different colours but still that brown Coventry City away shirt is the one seen as the most valuable collectors item as it is rear and difficult to track down.
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