The story of Everton’s home shirts during the 1980s takes us through 2 manufacturers, 2 shirt sponsors, and a lot of blue and white. Well, one would probably expect to see a lot of blue and white, despite the fact that early Everton kits in the 19th and early 20th centuries saw the team now known as the Toffees taking the field with black shirts, blue and white stripes shirts and even a couple of kits sporting rather fetching pink and white halves! However, by the 1980s the blue and white was, of course, firmly established as the colours of choice for Everton F.C.

Let’s start with the first shirt of the decade, which the team wore between 1979 and 1981.

1979-1982

Everton began the decade with this Umbro effort, complete with period a white full collar, white Umbro logos all down the sleeves. The shirt also featured the Hafnia logo printed, in white, across the front of the shirt. Hafnia, who made ham according to nsno.co.uk would remain the club’s sponsors for another three seasons.

This shirt was worn during a period of relative decline. Having finished third in 1977/8 and fourth in 1978/9, the club appeared to be genuine title challengers. However, by 1981, the club had narrowly avoided relegation to the Second Division and were firmly in the shadow of their more successful neighbours Liverpool. In 1981, manager Gordon Lee was no more.

Between 1981 and 1982 the club used the same shirt, but changed from blue socks to white socks. Howard Kendall took over as manager, leading the side to a eight-place finish.

1982-3

This next effort was only worn for one season, but was again manufactured by Umbro and sponsored by Hafnia. Featuring a more minimal design, the shirt had a white and blue v-neck collar, and blue and white edging at the bottom of the sleeves. The picture above is a modern reproduction, so does not feature the sponsor or manufacturer logo. The was a subtle change in badge too. The previous kits features the crest encapsulated in a white-filled circle. This season the circle was only outlined by white, with no fill. Everton finished seventh.

1983-5

The league kit between 1983 and 1985 saw a switch in manufacturer, to Le Coq Sportif. The shirt had subtle pinstripes, with a round collar with a white triangular trim. The circle securing the logo was replaced with a simple ‘EFC’ accompanied the famous mill image.

The 1983-4 season started off badly for Kendall’s side. In the bottom half for most of the season, a good run in the latter stages of the season saw the club finish in seventh place once again. The club were more successful in the FA Cup though, beating Watford 2-0 in the final. The short was embroidered with ‘FA Cup Final 1984’, as shown in the image above.

The 1984-5 season was much more successful, however, and saw the side win the Division 1 title with four matches to spare. The club also won the Cup Winner’s Cup, beating Rapid Vienna 3-1 in the De Kuip Stadium in Holland. The shirt was given special final embroidery for this final too.

1985-1986

Gary Lineker arrived from Leicester in 1985, in a move which contributed to the controversial departure of the ever-popular hitman Andy Gray, who returned to Aston Villa. Everton finished second place, after a tight season which saw arch rival Liverpool pip them both to the league title and the FA Cup in the first-ever all-Merseyside cup final. Perhaps the worst Everton shirt of the decade, the 1985-6 jersey featured amn obtrusive white upper half. The strip was again manufactured by Le Coq Sportif, but featured NEC as the sponsor for the first time.

1986-9

The next shirt was worn for three seasons – somewhat unusal by today’s standards! Umbro returned as the shirt manufacturer producing a shirt featuring a diamond highlight design, and a simple collar with white trim. It was worn to good effect in the 1986-7 season with the club again clinching the league title. Kendall left for Athletic Bilbao in the 1987 close season, and was replaced by Colin Harvey. The club finished fourth in 1987-8, and made history in the run-up to the 1988-9 season by becoming the first club to spend £2 million on one player – Tony Cottee from West Ham United. However Cottee could not help bring Everton any silverware, with a disappointing eighth place in the league compounded by another FA Cup final loss to the old enemy Liverpool.

1989-90

In the final year of the 1980s, Everton switched to a shirt with a full white collar and another highlight design with angled lines. The shirt also featured two short white stripes at the foot of the sleeves. The 1989-90 season saw Howard Kendall return to the club to steer them from 18th place to finish in ninth.