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Arsenal Retro Shirts: Every Classic Kit Explained
433FC stocks 48 Arsenal retro shirts running from a 1971/79 away shirt through to the 2010s, including the 1991-93 bruised banana and the 2005/06 redcurrant Highbury farewell shirt. The 2000s are the deepest section with 22 lines. All are replica reissues rather than licensed originals or match-issue shirts.
Arsenal’s retro appeal is concentrated in a handful of shirts that everyone can picture: a bright
yellow away kit covered in black zig-zags, a deep redcurrant home shirt that said goodbye to Highbury, and the
red-and-white-sleeved template Herbert Chapman gave the club in the 1930s and nobody has dared change since. Our
48 Arsenal retro lines start with a 1971/79 away shirt and run through the Adidas, Nike and Puma eras. Because
Arsenal’s home shirt barely moves, the away kits are where the collecting happens.
Which Arsenal eras does this range actually cover?
This range is weighted towards the Nike years, but the Adidas section is the collectible one:
- 1970s — 2 shirts. Both 1971/79 away shirts, from the yellow-and-blue change kit that became
Arsenal’s second identity. Umbro made the kits then and there was no sponsor. - 1980s — 3 shirts. Covering 1983/86 and 1988/89, including the away shirt from the season
Arsenal won the title at Anfield on the final day. JVC arrived in 1981 as the club’s first sponsor. - 1990s — 13 shirts. The Adidas peak and the Nike handover: 1990/92, the 1991/93 bruised banana,
1992/93, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1997/99 and 1998/99, the last of which is the Double season. - 2000s — 22 shirts, the deepest slice. Nike throughout, with SEGA and Dreamcast, then O2 from
2002 and Emirates from 2006. Includes 2004/05 and the 2005/06 redcurrant. - 2010s — 5 shirts. Including the 2011/12 home marking the club’s 125th anniversary.
What is the Arsenal bruised banana shirt?
The 1991-93 away shirt: bright yellow with bold black zig-zag graphics, made by Adidas under the JVC sponsorship. It was the last shirt in English professional football to carry the Adidas trefoil. Players reportedly disliked it at first, and it is now among the most valuable Arsenal shirts on the resale market.
Why is the 2005/06 Arsenal shirt dark red instead of the usual bright red?
Because it marked the last season at Highbury after 93 years. The redcurrant shirt carries Highbury commemorative badging with the dates 1913 to 2006, and is said to be inspired by the shade Arsenal are believed to have worn in 1913, though kit historians dispute how dark that original really was.
Two Arsenal shirts in this range carry unusually strong stories for their season. The 1988/89 away was on the
players at Anfield on 26 May 1989, when Michael Thomas scored in the closing seconds to win the league on goals
scored. And the redcurrant’s send-off came on 7 May 2006, the last competitive match at Highbury, when Thierry
Henry scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Wigan Athletic and kissed the turf.
| Season | Maker and sponsor | What made it famous |
|---|---|---|
| 1971/79 | Umbro, no sponsor | The yellow-and-blue change kit of the club’s first Double era. |
| 1988/89 | Adidas, JVC | The away shirt worn at Anfield when Michael Thomas won the title in the final seconds. |
| 1991/93 | Adidas, JVC | The bruised banana. The last English professional shirt to carry the Adidas trefoil. |
| 1998/99 | Nike, JVC | The design worn through the 1997/98 Double, sealed 2-0 against Newcastle at Wembley. |
| 2004/05 | Nike, O2 | The tail of the unbeaten era, one season after the Invincibles. |
| 2005/06 | Nike, O2 | Redcurrant, badged 1913 to 2006 for the farewell season at Highbury. |
What should you look for when buying Arsenal retro shirts?
Arsenal shirts are among the most counterfeited in the game, and the three most targeted are the bruised banana,
the 2003/04 Invincibles home and the black-and-gold away. On the vintage market that matters enormously; on a
reissue like ours it simply means you should know what you are buying and from whom. A good original bruised
banana in wearable condition runs into the hundreds of pounds, which is the gap a reissue exists to fill.
The white sleeves are the other thing to watch, because they are the one part of the Arsenal shirt with a real
history of being messed with. Herbert Chapman added them in the 1930s and they have survived almost everything
since, but not quite everything: Arsenal tried all-red in the mid-1960s and it proved unpopular, the early-1990s
Adidas home broke the sleeve into shoulder blocks, and in 2008/09 the sleeves went red with a broad white stripe.
When Adidas first took the contract in 1986, the board would only allow the three stripes on the sleeves.
Are 433FC Arsenal retro shirts authentic reissues or replicas?
They are replica reissues rather than licensed originals, and we are not an official club store. We reproduce the colourway, crest and sponsor print of the original season on modern fabric. Original bruised banana shirts in good condition trade well into the hundreds of pounds on the vintage market.
How should an Arsenal retro shirt fit?
The early-1990s Adidas reproductions are the roomiest in the range, cut long in the body and sleeve like the originals. The Nike shirts from 1998 onwards are trimmer, and the 2000s reproductions are closer to a modern fit. If you are buying the 1991-93 away and want it to hang correctly, take your normal size.
Adult sizes run S to XXL with some lines extending further; long-sleeve versions and kids’ sets carry their own
size runs on each product page. Browse the complete Arsenal collection for current kits
alongside these reissues, the full retro football shirt collection for more than 2,000
classics, or read our guide to the most iconic retro football kits.
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