- As always with Dutch content, we are indebted to Dirk Maas for the assistance provided
Feyenoord began the 1991-92 season with the same kit as they had had in 1990-91, but, while the designs wouldn’t change, there would be a notable alteration, resulting in nine different variants being used.
As usual, the home shirt was the classic red-and-white-halved design, with black shorts and socks. Against PSV in the Dutch Super Cup and other early-season games, a white and blue change kit was used. Against VVV Venlo, there was an outing for the unusual blue and red shirt which referenced Feyenoord’s early incarnation as Wilhelmina – this had been used against Ajax the previous season.
However, a problem arose when financial difficulties for the Feyenoord sponsor, technological firm HCS – sponsors since the beginning of 1989-90 – prevented them from keeping up their commitments. Feyenoord went to court to successfully extricate themselves from the deal, with the Groningen game on October 27 the last time HCS appeared on the shirts.
Away to De Graafschap on November 3, Feyenoord turned out in a sponsorless, and crestless, version of a green and white version of the white and blue change shirt.
Feyenoord nailed down a new sponsor quite quickly, that of Stad Rotterdam Verzekeringen (‘City of Rotterdam Insurance’). The next game after De Graafschap was against Swiss side Sion in the European Cup Winners’ Cup but Uefa refused to allow a second sponsor’s logo on the shirts, with HCS having appeared in the earlier rounds.
Instead, the Eredivisie game against Utrecht on November 10 was the first in which the new sponsor received exposure, while it was also added to the green shirt for the remainder of the season.
In the spring of 1992, Uefa and Feyenoord came to a compromise, with the shirts allowed to have ‘Stad Rotterdam’ but not ‘Verzekeringen’, though the company was sufficiently well known that it wasn’t needed.
Unusually, on the home shirts, it appeared on the right half of the chest. These variations first appeared against Tottenham Hotspur in the Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final, a tie in which the home side changed kit in each leg.
A win there propelled Feyenoord to the semi-finals against Monaco, with the away teams changing this time, Monaco having to come up with a special third shirt.
Feyenoord would exit the competition in the last four, though – perhaps with sponsor size regulations to contend with – the European-issue shirts would also appear in the 1992-93 Cup Winners’ Cup. Stad Rotterdam Verzekeringen remained as sponsors until the end of 2003-04.
