Adidas went on a major brand offensive for the 1980-81 season, supplying a great number of teams in the English Football League and abroad.
Brentford were one of the teams to get the Adidas treatment and their new shirts saw a change from the standard uniform stripe of the past 55 years.
Adidas chose to place just three red stripes centrally on a white tee, with the brand and club badges uncomfortably placed within the inner most white stripes.
The famous Adidas three stripes ran in red from the collar to the cuff.
New London based manufacturer Osca produced the 1981-82 shirt, and would remain technical partners for the next 5 seasons.
Their first offering saw a return to standard red and white stripe on the main body and arms, with red V-neck and cuffs.
As shirt sponsorship was permitted by the Football League, DHL joined as Brentford’s first shirt sponsor.
For the 1982-83 season their logo was added to the previous season’s shirt.
In what look appeared to be an attempt to give more prominence to the shirt sponsor, Osca removed stripes from the top half of the front of the shirt for 1983-84 and shifted the stripes, giving a central white stripe.
This change didn’t last long though as a fully striped shirt returned for 1984-85 with the addition of a black collar and cuff.
This shirt also saw the introduction of new sponsors KLM, initially with a thin white backed logo.
This iconic partnership would last for 11 years and saw the roof of the New Road stand painted blue with the phrase ‘next time fly KLM’, which was visible from passing aircraft.
This shirt was worn for two seasons with the only change being the sizing of the sponsor logo.
Bradford based SPALL produced the shirts for the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons. They opted to decrease the size of the stripes and add white elements to the collar and cuffs, but a more controversial shirt was to come from new shirt suppliers Hobot.
The mid to late 1980’s saw the start of great experimentation with club colours and designs due to the advances in manufacturing and printing techniques.
The Brentford stripes were given an overhaul, and the red and white stripes were narrowed like never before with every second red stripe encased in a black pinstripe.
Views were mixed with Brentford looking like they were playing in pink from a distance.
As the club celebrated their 100-year anniversary the manufacturers logo was removed to give prominence to a one-off club badge celebrating the milestone.
Local company CHAD joined as partners for the 1990-91 season, and their return to a more conventional red and white stripe, with black trim and piping, was made iconic as Brentford won the Third Division Championship in 1992.
These shirts also saw the first wearing of a Football League badge which was worn on both sleeves.
The reorganisation of the Football League meant that Brentford would be playing in Division One for the 1992-93 season, and a shirt worthy of their elevated status was produced by new technical partners Hummel.
Advances in jacquarding (designs woven into the fabric) saw a version of the Hummel chevrons zigzagged into the cloth of this thick red and white striped shirt.
Finished with a red collar and worn in the fashionable 90’s baggy style, the shirt was worn until February 1995 when the relationship with KLM was suddenly ended.
For the remainder of the 1994-95 season the Bees wore an unbranded Hummel shirt with no sponsor but donning a new club badge.
This ‘Middlesex’ badge was like the 1971-72 version, with the Middlesex coat of arms and beehive making a return.
Unusually, Brentford had 2 shirt suppliers for 1994-95; Hummel for the Home shirts and Core for the away.
Core took over production of both shirts for 1995-96 with their Home offering reversed the stripe configuration of the previous model on a dimpled fabric.
Manager David Webb continued his experiment of matching the home shirt with red shorts, believing they were luckier than the black.
Next Time
As new manufacturers enter the football market, Brentford begin relationships with many now defunct suppliers.
The red and white design with is played with further as the club’s rise to the Premier League begins…
Brendan’s website has all you need to know about the history of Bees shirts
https://www.brentfordshirts.com/
Brendan Nevin