Search on in earnest to find Leith Athletic's change strip of yesteryear

Published on Saturday 28 March 2009 10:26

A REQUEST from club official Ian Marinello has sparked off a search by football historians and those generally interested in the game.

It concerns the away strip colours of the famous old club Leith Athletic.

No-one is sure what form the strip should take and Athletic's under-16 secretary Marinello explained. "Leith Athletic this season as a club gave every 11-a-side team money towards their home strip so every team would have same strip, currently Nike black and white stripes, black shorts and black socks.

"Next season, funds permitting, the club hopes to do the same with an away strip.

"I have checked out the internet on the original Leith Athletic team that was in the old Scottish First Division but can't find any information on the colour of an away strip."

George Park, the author and publisher of the highly-regarded history of St Bernard's FC, was asked for help and he replied: "Leith Athletic's alternative strip? That a difficult one and I will need to look further into it.

"I doubt if they needed to use an alternative strip very often and any team photographs or individual photographs of Leith players I have ever come across in my researches depict the black and white stripes on the jersey.

"The only other Scottish League teams that wear these colours, as far as I am aware, are St Mirren and Dunfermline Athletic. I doubt if Leith played the former very often and my best bet would be to try and identify a match with the Fife team and see if the newspaper report mentions a change of strip.

"I wonder if it was mandatory for a club to nominate and hold another strip years ago. It could be a club like Leith simply borrowed a strip off either Hibs or Hearts when necessity arose. If I were to guess, it would be an all-white jersey."

But other help was at hand in the shape of Eddie Henry, of East Calder Colts, who said: "Regarding Leith Athletic's club colours, I have looked up the excellent book Rejected FC of Scotland by Dave Twydell.

"This has a great piece on Leith Athletic in it and lists the club's first colours as chocolate and white quarters worn in 1887.

"However, I don't know if the kids would fancy that as a kit!"

If anyone else can help trace the Leith Athletic change of strip colours contact Ian Mackay at [e-mail]