Aston Villa Away Shirt Colour 2015/16
For weeks now the more curious Aston Villa fans on social media have known that the away top for the 2015/16 season was yellow. The kit was ready back in May with the promotional photoshoot taking place a week before the FA Cup final, and keeping such basic information like its colour was always going to be difficult.
Today, in the club’s teaser campaign for the shirt launch on July 7th, Gabby Agbonlahor is clearly seen (see above picture from the club) with a yellow shirt on, which is obviously the change strip top.
Yellow History
Villa first introduced yellow into it’s away shirt colour palette in 1969, wearing it throughout the early 1970’s. The yellow shirt and blue shorts combo also began to be worn by Arsenal at the same time, with whom the colours became more synonymous with.
After a recent period of black, white and… luminous lime green, it’s actually been 10-years since Villa players wore a yellow away shirt, with the last one being the hummel shirt of 2005/6.
In that season under David O’Leary, Villa finished a miserable 16th on 42 points, a finish which lead to O’Leary’s sacking. It was also Doug Ellis’s swansong season before Randy Lerner took over.
Villa also went yellow two seasons before that in Diadora’s last year as the club’s shirt manufacturers. That season David O’Leary managed a sixth place finish, which only Martin O’Neill has matched since.
Previous to that you have to go back to the early 1990’s when there was a yellow change shirt (a rather hideous one), which was used more of a third kit.
Yellow Blues
The worst yellow away kit of all, certainly in terms of what happened on the pitch was the Henson made shirt of the 1986/87 season, the away kit that Villa were last relegated in.The design was pretty good, but it didn’t exactly inspire the players to great things.
With the recent rumours of Villa’s best players being tempted away and the ownership uncertainty, lets hope the return of a yellow away shirt doesn’t result in the same fate. With the following season’s Premier League teams being privy to the windfall of the improved TV deal, which kicks in at the start of the 2016/17 season, financially speaking next season will be the worst season ever in English top-flight football to get relegated.
For that reason alone, after surviving the last few seasons, you wouldn’t put it past Villa to choose the forthcoming season to finally drop!
If ever there was a season to get Villa back on track this is it, because you just wouldn’t trust them in another relegation scrap. May yellow bring Villa some luck for a change.
UTV
Follow MOMS on Twitter – oldmansaid
Used to fly the Claret and Blue out of one side window of the car, with the Yellow and Blue scarf out of the other, whenever Villa won or drew at away matches, during their time in the 3rd Division. Doug Ellis would come past, in his Roller, and wave. Good days. Don’t think we will ever have the same atmosphere at matches again (I hope I’m wrong, on this).
Er…we won the 3rd in yellow mate. And we all had yellow and blue woolly scarves, never seen that happen since for any other change strip ie no green, navy and red striped scarves afaik.