Aston Villa have unveiled our commemorative kit which will be worn in the club’s 150th anniversary match.
The special strip will take centre stage in Friday night’s FA Cup third-round tie against West Ham United at Villa Park, as the club continues its season-long celebrations of the milestone.
Learn more about the history and heritage that informed the design of the anniversary kit…
The Colours
The black shirts are modelled on the first kits worn by the club before the transition to our famous claret and blue colours.
The club adopted black shirts in 1878 and the oldest squad photo on record shows the players in black tops, white bottoms and black socks (see above).
While paying homage to our beloved club’s history, the shirts also feature adidas’ Aeroready technology as well as the famous three stripes in all black.
Principal partners Betano and Trade Nation have both kindly donated their branding space back to the club for the fixture, allowing us to create this historic look.
The Crest
Villa were the original trendsetters in 1878 when they became the first team in the UK to put a crest on their playing kit, adopting the Scottish lion rampant – with the motifs sourced from Scotland by former director William McGregor himself
Honouring our club’s pioneering spirit, the anniversary crest revives the historic kit’s design, featuring a redrawn Aston Villa lion from our archives, now modernised and oriented to match its original placement.
The crest is also inspired by League Champions medals from the 1890s, and the text around the lion has been taken from the gates of our famous home at Villa Park.
The Details
Supporters will have seen that Villa’s 2024/25 home, away and third kits each carry the AV150 logo on the back of the neck for this special season.
And the anniversary kit is no different, sporting a gold version of the logo that stands out boldly against the black shirt.
The commemorative strip carries an additional symbol on the front of the shirt inspired by the stained glass windows at Villa Park.
The two-way glass is a reminder to celebrate our heritage by looking back, but also to build progressively in the same spirit by looking forward.
The Kit Shoot
Aston Villa are one of only two Premier League clubs who boast 150 years of history, and the anniversary kit harks back to a pivotal moment in football history when Villa were influential and competing at the top – much like today.
This milestone deserved a fitting set of images to mark the importance of the past and also suggest our huge optimism for the future.
We assembled a group of influential Villans from across the club’s history in recognition of the 150 years past and as a marker for the next 150 years to come – a formal moment of recommitment to how we were founded and the values we still share, brought to life in a heightened ceremonial kit shoot.
The whole scene was set on a raised platform with old wooden chairs and a large table, draped with black material.
Black leather history books were placed on the central table with ceremonial black flags hung behind the red rampant lion, which loomed large over the entire set.
The shirts will go on sale at 9am on Thursday, January 9 at our Villa Park store, online at shop.avfc.co.uk and via JD.
The anniversary shirt will also be launched with an accompanying culture wear range.
