In 1905 the Directors of the Crystal Palace company, which held the FA Cup Finals, felt there was sufficient demand to create a football club and for advice turned to the foremost team of the time, Aston Villa. They sent down one of their senior ex-players to help and naturally the first kit selected was claret and blue.

In the 1930's white shirts and black shorts were introduced which then re-appeared in the late 1950's before claret and blue stripes in different widths were experimented with in the 1960's.

In the early 1970s Malcolm Allison arrived as manager and he introduced red and blue stripes, copying Barcelona in the hope their success would be replicated. The colour theme has continued in different format upto the current season with the exception of the centenary kit which embodied wide claret and blue stripes but was sparingly used.

Research was carried out in conjunction with the Club.

This print is official merchandise of Crystal Palace and can only be obtained from the Club. If you experience any difficulty please contact us.