Every Shirt Tells a Story: A Posh Trip Down Memory Lane

Blue might be the colour, but Peterborough United kits have come in a huge range of styles and designs during the club’s history.

The different shirts represent not just moments in time, but promotions and relegations as well as important victories and crushing defeats.

For Posh fans, there is just one place to go to take that trip down memory lane.

The Old Posh Shirts website houses a massive collection of Posh tops dating back to the mid-1970s, alongside photos of a range of other memorabilia.

It’s run by Nick, known to the world as OldPoshShirts on social media and the proud owner of around 300 Posh tops as part of a collection of nearly 2,500 football shirts.

The extensive collection offers a rare glimpse into the evolution of football fashion and the heritage of Peterborough United.

Early days

The 40-year-old’s first Posh game was in early 1993 before becoming a season ticket holder in 2009. Having young children limits his visits to matches these days.

His love of shirts started early.

“I used to ask for a football shirt for Christmas most years growing up and would try and get the new Posh shirt.”

“I've always been a big collector of things but properly started to collect old Posh shirts about 25 years ago. For me, I like the nostalgia element, and the memories associated with a particular shirt.”

“The first big additions to my collection came when I bought nine shirts from the 1970s and 1980s from someone who had looked to be opening a Posh museum. I believe he'd got as far as having blueprints drawn up, but as the club changed hands, these things got put on hold.”

Going on the web

“I set up my website about 10 years ago as a way of displaying my collection. There's no point in hoarding these shirts just to keep to myself; I want to share them and display them for others to see.”

“As my collection became more complete, I found myself doing more research into our past, digging out old photos and newspaper clippings, so I've been trying to add as much of this sort of thing to the site as I can.”

“Some of the shirts, such as the away shirts from the 1980s and goalkeeper shirts worn by Eric Steele and David Seaman, I haven't seen anywhere else.”

“I have roughly 300 Posh shirts in my collection, as well as many other pieces of memorabilia, but I also have a sizeable collection of national team shirts, featuring at least one official shirt from each of FIFA's 211 members. I reckon I must have close to 2,500 in total.”

Although Nick’s collection can be seen around the world through the website, the items are all safely filed away.

“Every now and then I'll have a big session re-ordering them, taking photos, and updating my spreadsheet. It's fun, but incredibly time consuming.”

Top 3 Home Shirts

1999/2000

This was my first experience of a successful Posh side, and I have good memories of young players like Davies, Etherington and Drury playing in this. We had some really special players back then, and it's a shame that we never got to see them play with Posh at a higher level.

1981/1982

Well before my time, but the Umbro shirt is such a strong design. Topped off with the SodaStream sponsor. This was the season that we absolutely bottled it, had we got promoted then this would have been iconic. It's also the only home shirt from the 1980s that is still missing from my collection.

1989/1990

A very smart shirt, the Perkins sponsor is great, the classic badge, and the red trims really add to it.

Sourcing the shirts

Nick gets the tops from a wide range of places, including charity shops, auctions, eBay, social media, and through friends.

“I don't really dedicate any time to actively searching. It's mainly done through social media interactions and word of mouth. I've got a good network of friends through Posh, and some fans have been very generous trusting me with their old shirts.”

“My most obscure find is probably through a mate who mentioned his dad had an old shirt somewhere in his garage. Turns out, when his dad was a kid, he’d run on the pitch and managed to get Joe Neenan's green Umbro goalkeeper shirt. Goalkeeper shirts from the 1980s don't come up very often, so it was a fantastic find.”

“Other than my shirts, I've picked up old newspapers from eBay, and also from a few people from Twitter. I love reading through and finding out about Posh from before I was going to games. I also try to pick up bits of weird merchandise; I recently managed to add a toothbrush to the collection.”

In demand

There’s been plenty of interest in people wanting to buy items from Nick’s collection.

“I get a fair few people asking me about the older shirts, but I don't really sell them. Some of them have been gifted to me by friends or fans I've got to know through social media or fans' forums, so obviously I don't want to be profiting from that. I also find it incredibly difficult to put a value on them.”

The collection also opens a window into the past for Nick.

“It's hugely important; being able to hear first-hand accounts from players and fans from previous generations is invaluable. We're a relatively new club, but as time goes by these memories will be lost.”

Top 3 Away Shirts

2000/2002

I don't know why, but I have a great fondness for this kit. We were pretty successful on the road wearing it. I recall one particular game where we prevented Reading's promotion by holding them to a 2-2 draw.

1996/1997

The Grandad collar was excellent.

2021/2023

This away shirt was very bold, and different to anything that we'd had before.

Puma have done a good job with our away shirts

Retro success

Away from the world of collectors, retro football tops have been in demand from many fans.

“I'm well up for retro shirts. Some of the old ones weren't of the greatest quality, so as great as the authentic ones look, it makes sense to have modern reproductions.”

“I lent my shirt to the club for the 1992 reproduction. That's why it has the number 5 on the back, because mine did, while the new Umbro shirts look absolutely fantastic.”

“I've also lent shirts from my collection to the club for various photo shoots with players. Joe Ward was wearing my Pizza shirt in the release video for the Pizza shirt, and Jonson Clarke-Harris wore my old Jamaica shirt when he got his call up.”

Nick’s verdict

Nick has seen at close hand the way Posh kits have changed and developed through the decades.

“In general, I like the way kit design is going. Puma can take a lot of credit for that, allowing clubs to have fairly bespoke designs. In my opinion, this is a big improvement on Nike, which seems to release the same shirt every year. This year's third kits with the 'winged lions' are a nice touch.”

“I've also liked that we've tried to incorporate some retro elements in a few of our shirts, like the recent one based on the 1990/1991 design, and the 1970s badge on last year's away kit.”

“We've followed some of the recent shirt trends with our black/gold shirt, pink away shirts and the map of the city, and we've done well to avoid a 'blackout' shirt, which has been done to death by other clubs.”

“And what else would Nick like to see?” I would really like to see more elements from designs seen around the city incorporated into future designs. York City and Coventry City have both had shirts based on designs from their respective cathedrals, and our cathedral is the best in the country.”

What’s next

Nick’s collection was a big part of the recent Peterborough United exhibition at the Peterborough Museum, but he would love to display more of his stuff on a more permanent basis.

“Some football clubs have excellent archives online, and a few have museums holding all sorts. I feel Posh are really lacking in this respect.”

“I know the Supporters' Trust have been doing a lot recently, but it would be fantastic to have somewhere with a full match-by-match history with match reports, photos, and videos.”

Memories from Wembley, 1992

Photo credits: Stephen Glover, PoshboyAlan, robbieb1971

But what about the collection?

“I'll continue to look out for older shirts that are missing from my collection, but realistically I suspect that many of these no longer exist. They were often donated to school teams and eventually thrown out, but there's always hope.”

“I would like to add more old photos and newspaper clippings to my website. Recently I was able to collate lots of photos from the play-off win in 1992, but I have very few fan photos from 2000. It would be great to add more.”

So, if you stumble across an old Peterborough United shirt while scrolling through eBay or rummaging through clothes at a car boot sale, remember there’s man who will definitely be interested.