Traditions of Derry City F.C. - Colours and Jerseys

Colours and Jerseys

Derry City wore claret and blue jerseys with white shorts for their first season of football - 1929-30. These were the identical colours to those of Aston Villa, who were a globally renowned footballing power at the time. This scheme lasted until 1932, when the club's first change of colours saw the club directors decide that white jerseys with black shorts should be worn by the team for the 1932-33 season. The style, like that which had come before it, lasted just two seasons and was replaced by the now-traditional red and white "candystripes" with black shorts upon the club's changing of its official colours to that of the modern day for the beginning of the 1934-35 season.

The current colours of the red and white striped jersey with black shorts are derived from an early connection with Sheffield United, who wear the identical pattern. Specifically, the colour-change should be attributed to Billy Gillespie. Gillespie, a native of nearby Donegal, played for Sheffield United over a twenty-year period from 1913 until 1932, and scored over 137 league and cup goals in 492 games for the South Yorkshire side, as well as captaining them to FA Cup success in 1925. He was the club's most capped player with 25 for Ireland and had started out with Derry Celtic before embarking on a career across the Irish Sea. The man was held in such high regard in his home country that when he left United in 1932 to replace Joe McCleery as manager of Derry City, the club changed their strip to red and white stripes within two years of his arrival in reverence to him and his time at the Blades.

Derry have remained in the red and white stripes since, except for the seasons between 1956 and 1962, when the club's players donned an amber and black kit. Derry had been performing poorly and it was felt that a change of colour might help rejuvenate the team. At the time, the colours were strongly associated with Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were a power-house of English football during the 1950s. However, the colours brought Derry no such luck and were unpopular with the fans who sought a return of the by-then traditional red and white stripes. The seasons were a lean time for the club, with an Irish Cup final defeat to Glenavon FC in 1957 being the highlight.

A re-introduction of the "candystripes" for the 1962-63 season saw the fortunes of the club improve as Derry entered their most successful spell in the Irish League. The colours have been retained ever since. Jerseys over the years, although in keeping with the red and white tradition, have varied slightly in the sense that certain seasons saw Derry wear thinner stripes while others saw thicker or stripes with varying thicknesses being worn by the players on the field.Derry now wear white socks when sporting their full home rig, while they originally wore black ones. Similarly, the club adopted white shorts instead of black ones for a spell in the early 1970s and later in 1985 for their initial season in the League of Ireland. The club's away tops have varied in colour from plain white, to navy and green stripes, to white and light-blue stripes, and to black.

Derry have had their kits supplied by various manufacturers over the years, including Adidas, Avec, Erreà, Fila, Le Coq Sportif, Matchwinner, O'Neills, Spall and currently, Umbro. Commercial sponsorhip logos to appear on the front of shirt have included Northlands (a local alcohol and drugs treatment and awareness organisation), Warwick Wallpapers, Fruit of the Loom, Smithwick's, and AssetCo. Other sponsorship logos to have appeared on the sleeve have included the Trinity Hotel, Tigi Bed Head and Tigi Catwalk. For the 2007 season, the logos of local media, Q102.9 and the Derry News, appear on the back of the shirt just below the neck, along with the logo of Meteor Electrical on the jersey's front.