About RKH
Going beyond the "Man in Black"
Football referees have, for many years, been identified with this term for the quite simple reason that this was the only colour they wore on the pitch. The FIFA World Cup, for example, was 44 years old before a referee stepped foot on a field donning any other colour. In England, teams were prohibited from wearing black until the early 1990s in order to accommodate the match officials’ traditional outfit.
In the last 30 or so years, however, the term “Man in Black” is no longer accurate, for two reasons. First and foremost, it is not a male-only position. Secondly? Referees have been able to open up the colour palette to seemingly limitless possibilities.
In the 21st century, outfitting referees is no longer an afterthought, or a task undertaken with little consideration. There are manufacturing agreements to look at, sponsorships to be won, and kit clashes to consider. We are at a point where photoshoots are organized for new referee kits just as they are for the kits of teams themselves.
Referee Kit History exists to paint that picture, quite literally – using far more than just black ink.
It’s where fashion meets football’s most hated figures.
What you’ll find on RKH
RKH divides the kits into two different formats: by Competition, and by Season.
Each league, cup, or competition for which I have rendered kits will have its own section, where you can browse the evolution of kits used over the years. I endeavour to broaden the more recent seasons as opposed to filling out more ancient ones, as they are more relevant as well as being easier to source the necessary images, logos, and materials necessary to digitally render them.
In addition, I have created a selection of season pages, where the kits worn across leagues are showcased next to each other in the year they were used. There is a limited number of these pages (again comprised mainly of recent seasons), as the number of completed renderings varies for each league.
The inspiration behind RKH
There are a number of excellent football and sports websites dedicated to fashion, design, and logos and uniforms that I’d be remiss to not acknowledge here for forming part of the inspiration to create RKH.
Museum of Jerseys is perhaps most to thank, as I based my kit template, with some tweaks, off of the one they use for their excellent website.
Historical Football Kits has an extensive database of the kits worn by English and Scottish teams that goes back far longer historically than I could ever hope to accomplish here.
And, despite being a non-football website, The unofficial NHL Uniform Database is perhaps most directly the inspiration behind the format of the website, once again at an unbelievably impressive and comprehensive level.
Contact
Follow RKH on Twitter @refkithistory!
If you have any questions, clarifications, corrections, or relevant images or information, feel free to drop me an email at refereekithistory@gmail.com.
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