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Our Club Kits causing a stir over 90 years
Ground-breaking, Unique, Colourful, Shocking, and Infamous!
2021 sees the 90th anniversary of Banbury United Football Club. Beginning life in August 1931 as Spencer Sports Club and playing local sides in friendlies before joining, as Banbury Spencer, the Banbury Junior League for their first season of competitive football in 1933/34.
Over its 90 years history the club’s kit has certainly raised a few eyebrows!
Season 1933/34 and up to season 1938/39 saw Banbury Spencer’s kit colourful enough with scarlet and white halved shirts. Above is a team photo from season 1934/35, obviously originally a black and white photo but the kit was coloured in for a postcard issued at the time.
Nothing overly shocking with the above but it was the introduction of a new kit at the start of season 1939/40 which would cause some ridicule and comment from opposition supporters through the 1940s and 1950s.
Though War Clouds were looming menacingly over Europe, the 1939/40 season began as normal. Banbury Spencer’s first game was at home to Gloucester City in the Birmingham Combination on Saturday 26th August 1939. Three second half goals, from Alby White, Tommy North and Doug Woodward, gave Spencer a 3-1 win. The game against Gloucester was though more notable for Spencer turning out for the first time in their new colours of scarlet and gold halved shirts and scarlet shorts. With club shirts generally being very staid at the time, these so called “fancy colours”, very much an innovation for the time, caused plenty of comment from supporters of opposing sides in the coming years, with “wolf whistles” and similar humorous comments abounding!
The colourful shirts even made the national Press! Monday 15th February 1950 saw an article by Jon MacAdam in the Daily Express which bemoaned the lack of variety of colour in football kits, suggesting that more clubs should be following the lead of Banbury Spencer. Extracts from the article appear in the image below.
Banbury Spencer became Banbury United in 1965 and it was not long before part of their kit was raising eyebrows! The scarlet and gold had been ditched in the early 1970s for a rather uninteresting white and blue kit but it was the shorts introduced at the start of season 1972/73, worn intermittently that season but regularly the following season, which would cause a stir, as they were blue and white vertical stripes! Perhaps the shorts inspired the players, or maybe the players were so embarrassed they had to play well to shut up the opposing players and supporters, for this was a good period for the club, reaching the FA Cup First Round and forcing a replay against Northampton Town in season 1973/74, with those shorts in full view!
Below is a team photo from season 1972/73 and a photo taken at the First Round replay game at Northampton Town’s County Ground in season 1973/74.
By the late 1990s, United had moved back to close to Banbury Spencer’s post-war scarlet and gold colours.
Season 2020/21 would see the introduction of a new kit supplier, The Terrace, and from a choice of four designs the kit for the season was chosen by a vote of supporters.
A unique kit for sure and this was seen widely during the club’s run to the First Round Proper of the FA Cup, including TV coverage. Not all comments on the kit were favourable, though plenty were, and it certainly was noticed! The kit even got a place in the top ten in an article on www.footy.com that looked at the top non-league kits of 2020/21.