Since reaching the football league in 1999, Cheltenham have worn 15 different shirts for home games at Whaddon Road, two of which being special one offs. The club have predominantly worn red and white stripes, but as you are about to see there have been many variations and alterations to the clubs’ now iconic pattern. Here you’ll be able to read up on the shirts worn from 2010 to 2020 and hopefully learn a thing or two about the designs and inspiration for shirts donned by the robins.
2020/21
Launched with the marketing campaign of Made of Cheltenham and #CheltenhamUnited, the current Cheltenham Home shirt diverts from the red and white stripes of recent years and goes for a classic red base with white pinstripes, a design seen in the 60s where the club donned pinstripes between 1965 and 1968, with the only changes to the kits design in that period being a change of socks. Pin stripes were also used between 1981 and 1983, although they were much thinner, and the 2020 design is much more like the 60s counterparts. This shirt differs from its ancestors as it features white sleeves with black trim along the cuff of the sleeves. The Mira and Errea logo go well with the design as they appear in white on the front of the shirt, with Marchants also in white on the back, with the black trim standing out as the only parts of the shirt in that colour (but complementing the black change of shorts which the players have admitted to preferring). The kit is accompanied by red socks, akin to the kits between 1966 and 1968. The phrase Salubritas Et Eruditio, from the town’s coat of arms, can be seen on the inside of the shirt, as with the away shirt.
Notable Players: Liam Sercombe, Andy Williams, Chris Hussey.
Memorable Match: CTFC 2-1 FGR 31/10/2020
2020 – Hollie Gazzard
Using the template of the azure away kit, a predominantly white shirt with white, pink and purple trim around the collar and sleeves, and the same colours used as the vertical lines across the shirt. Two variations of the shirt were used, in order to comply with FA rules against faces on shirts, the match worn strip featured only the name of the trust while another variant with the full logo was also sold to supporters. It’s another example of a fantastic Cheltenham shirt and one of the best the club has worn. It’s not the first time Cheltenham have worn a white shirt at home, with the club possibly having worn the colour in the 1983/84 season and for a spell between 1938 and 1946 where the main colour of the shirt was white. The match itself was played in horrible conditions but goals from Alfie May and Reuben Reid sealed a 2-1 victory over Leyton Orient. Kirby & Knott make a solitary appearance blow the number on the back. Smile often, think big.
Notable Players: Alfie May, Reuben Reid, Ryan Broom.
Memorable Match: CTFC 2-1 Leyton Orient 15/02/2020
2018-2020
Another shirt taking inspiration from previous incarnations, although with much less subtlety, the home shirt introduced ahead of the 2018/19 season is an almost carbon copy of the shirt worn in the 1998 FA Trophy triumph over Southport and the promotion to the football league the following season, made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of reaching the football league in 1999/2000. The differences come in the updated badge and sponsors and the simplification of the background design, with the older variant featuring very faint diagonal lines going from the top left and down, and the modern design being only white with no accents. The back also removed the large red square for numbers and has the red and white stripes going all the way down, with a large black Marchants logo at the top. On the inside of the shirt you can see commemorative printing showing a large 20 and the date of the club’s promotion, 22/4/1999. The shirt was released with the marketing campaign of Old Heroes, New Legends and #OurTown. The slogan almost came true as after a disappointing start to life in the shirt, promotion winner Michael Duff was appointed manager and the club reached the play offs the following season, losing to Northampton. The template has since been used by Lincoln City, seemingly combining this shirt with Cheltenham’s pin stripe design to make their current strip.
Notable Players: Jacob Greaves, Johnny Mullins, Nigel Atangana
Memorable Match: CTFC 3-2 Bradford 17/9/2019
2016-2018
A unique design in the history of Cheltenham and of football as a whole. It divided opinions with some thinking the shirt to be awful, with Plymouth Live calling it the worst shirt in the league, and some thinking it wasn’t that bad. There’s a lot going on with this shirt, it’s divided into four quarters with the top left being plain white with a diagonal red and white fade going down into the bottom left which becomes red and white stripes. The top right houses the badge, with a red stripe above and below, which also has a fade going down to a mainly red quadrant. In the middle sits the Mira logo, surrounded by a large white rectangle which goes some way to backing up the argument of this being a poor design. The sleeves, which are different colours (seen only before in the 1995/96 design which has red and black) feature black trim, similar to the 2020 shirt, but with an accompanying black collar to tie it all together. The shirt was the first worn in the clubs new football league era and saw two relegation battles, with 21st and 17th place finishes, as well as a trip to Newcastle in the second round of the Carabao Cup, and hosting West Ham in the same competition the season after.
Notable Players: Harry Pell, Billy Waters, Mo Eisa
Memorable Match: CTFC 2-1 Swindon 7/8/2017
2017 – Blue for Crewe
December 2019 saw Cheltenham don a blue strip for the first time in a home fixture. The club wore the colours of the British Lung Foundation in a show of support for the club’s fitness coach Ian Hutton and his fiancé Vicky Veness and to raise money for the charity. Mira graciously agreed to allow the British Lung Foundation logo to take centre stage on the front of the shirt, featuring as the only sponsor on the top. The shirt itself was a template used by Bath City as their away kit, obviously with their own badge and sponsors. The torso is plain blue and the shoulders are white, going around the collar and part way down the top of the sleeves. The match finished 1-0 to Cheltenham with Jamie Grimes scoring the winner.
Notable Players: Jamie Grimes, Joe Morrell, Daniel O’Shaugnessy
Memorable Match: CTFC 1-0 Crewe 9/12/2017
2014-2016
A rare instance of a shirt seeing a promotion and relegation, this strip was worn as the club were relegated from the football league but then bounced back the following season under Gary Johnson. It’s a fairly simple strip featuring red and white stripes and a white collar with white sleeve cuffs, it’s nothing special but also nothing bad, but will be remembered for the players that wore it. The likes of Craig Braham-Barrett and Omari Sterling-James one season and then the title winning heroes of Danny Wright, Aaron Downes and Harry Pell the next. There can’t be many other shirts to have seen such a juxtaposition especially with the modern trend of replacing them each year, something I am thankful Cheltenham to not partake in. The Errea and Mira logos sit on the front in black, the first time Mira had been seen in that colour since 2010/11, with a small Marchants logo in the same colour just below the back of the collar.
Notable Players: Danny Wright, Aaron Downes, Kyle Storer
Memorable Match: CTFC 2-0 Halifax 16/4/2017
2012-2014
The end of a brief spell of single kit seasons, this shirt saw the return of stripes but kept the elegant ruby from the previous season’s anniversary kit. This is the last shirt to not feature a Marchants logo and instead has the Gloucestershire College logo above the player name on the back. This design, although bringing stripes back, doesn’t heavily feature the. The front of the shirt has 2 white stripes, each cut in half by the ruby hoop for the sponsor, before continuing down. The shirt is mainly ruby, with the front and back featuring the colour prominently, the name and number being printed onto ruby rather than white. The colour and sleeve trim are also ruby, with the sleeves being white to give more of a red (although ruby) and white stripe feel to the shirt. It was worn as Cheltenham missed out on automatic promotion to league 1 late into the season and losing to Northampton in the playoffs, before a disappointing 17th place finish the season after. Rangers star Kemar Roofe was on loan at the club while this shirt was worn.
Notable Players: Kemar Roofe, Marlon Pack, Byron Harrison
Memorable Match: CTFC 3-0 Exeter 27/10/2012
2011-2012
The 2011/12 season saw a brief soiree into the club’s past as the town returned to its plain ruby roots. It was released as the clubs 125th anniversary shirt, something that only became apparent the year before when, in 2010, the club released the information that it had been founded 5 years before previously thought, and the upcoming season would mark their quasquicentennial. While it is unclear what colour shirts were worn in the early years of the club, thought to perhaps be white after a report in the Cheltenham Chronicle (from 29/8/1896) saying the shirts were common with their opponents, the club made the decision to switch to ruby shirts (from the same report), giving them their nickname of ‘the rubies’ (to be brought back perhaps?). With the inspiration the shirt found, the anniversary kit was released, paying homage to the very early days of the club, and one of the most beautiful shirts in Cheltenham’s modern era was born. The white of the Errea and Mira logos, and the white Barr Stadia logo at the bottom of the back of the shirt, go very nicely with the white trim on the collar, and with the embroidered ‘125th Anniversary’ above the player name on the back tops it all off.
Notable Players: Steve Elliot, Kaid Mohammed, Sido Jombati
Memorable Match: CTFC 4-1 Accrington 14/4/2020
2010-2011
The 2010 season saw the introduction of the new (and current) badge, the third iteration in the club’s history. The move away from the town crest and into a more modern approach in the robin also translated into the design, with a new take on the red and white stripes. The stripes returned from a 1-year hiatus and were accompanied by red shoulders which continued across and down the shirt, sloping from top left to the below the badge, something not seen before or after this design. Another unique feature is the black Mira logo having a white line to set it out from the stripes, this has been used previously for Bence in 2006-2008 but with no other occurrence. It also has a unique collar, with a slit going down the middle of the front to reveal whit behind the red, this is not something used in any other home design. To show off the new badge, the accompanying socks also featured the crest, another uncommon occurrence. This season saw a 17th place finish and early exits in all competitions.
Notable Player: JJ Meligan, Jeff Goulding, Andy Gallinagh
Memorable Match: CTFC 4-0 Bradford 28/12/2010
And so, the decade ends, 10 years that have seen Cheltenham reach the height of the playoffs and the lows of the National League (winning the title of course) playing in the modern robin badge and no two similar shirt designs. Coming soon will be the shirts from 2000 to 2009 featuring the town crest and more than just Mira on the front. Away kits history for 2010-2020 and 2000-2010 will soon follow as well as a deeper look into the club’s kit history from before the turn of the century and back to the 1800s.
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